Ghost Rider (1990) # 11

"Through a Nightmare Revealed..."

Cover Date: March 1991

On Sale Date: January 1991

Writer: Howard Mackie

Artist: Larry Stroman
Inker: Mark Texeira
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Gregory Wright
Editor: Bobbie Chase
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

Cover Artist: Larry Stroman

Danny, dressed in the Ghost Rider's leather outfit, finds himself in a strange dimension, where he is confronted by a man on a large horse. The man introduces himself as Nightmare, ruler of the Dream Dimension, and that he wishes to speak to the boy's demonic counterpart, Zarathos. Danny tries to run, but is caught by the demon, who tells him that he only wishes to talk for a bit. Suddenly, a ringing telephone is heard, waking Danny from his dream. Dan gets dressed and leaves his house, telling his mom that it's Stacy's first day at police academy and he promised to drop her off. A little while later, Danny drops Stacy off at the academy, but she notices that he's acting strangely.

That afternoon, Danny goes to a basketball court to talk to a drug dealer named Stig that encountered the Ghost Rider a week earlier. Dan tells him that he wants to know where Zodiak is, or else he'll sic the Ghost Rider on him again. At the mention of the demon's name, Stig runs away in terror. Meanwhile, in the midwest, two brothers hassle a biker in a roadside diner. The biker pulls a gun and a knife on the two men, telling them that he wants to head East without making time to clean their blood off his boots.

That night, back in Brooklyn, Danny sits across from the basketball courts, waiting for any sign of Zodiak. After a while, a black limousine pulls up and the Zodiak exists, wanting to talk to Stig about him giving the Ghost Rider his location a week before. Dan triggers the transformation, but immediately finds himself and the Ghost Rider teleported back to the Dream Dimension. Nightmare tells the two that it took split second timing to grab them at the moment of their transformation. Nightmare turns his attention to the Ghost Rider, showing him visions of the demon Zarathos. Zarathos was a demon that was worshiped as a god, until Mephisto defeated him in battle. Stripping him of his hellfire, Mephisto toyed with Zarathos, placing him within various human hosts throughout the centuries. Eventually, the amnesiac demon was bonded to Johnny Blaze, and the nightmares he caused brought him to Nightmare's attention. Nightmare thought Zarathos lost after he was trapped in the Soul Crystal, but he now sees that he has returned. The Ghost Rider absorbs the memories given to him, but then rejects what Nightmare has said. He then threatens the demon lord, telling him that he must pay for the suffering of innocents that he has caused. Enraged, Nightmare sends a horde of demons to attack the Rider, nearly tearing him apart. Danny jumps on the Rider's motorcycle and rides forward, pulling his counterpart from the demons' clutches. The two then realize that the only way they can escape is if they merge totally into one being again, which they do. Knowing that he can't defeat Nightmare in his own realm, the Ghost Rider opts for escaping his realm.

The Rider returns to Earth at the same place and time he disappeared, and sees Zodiak across the street. He rides forward, determined to serve vengeance, but finds himself trapped by a mystical barrier. The Rider turns, expecting Nightmare, but instead finds Dr. Strange, Sorcerer Supreme of Earth.