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Down But Not Out

by Drew Clements westofmiskatonic@gmail.com

Welcome back to another edition of the internet's comic-book-blast-from-the-past column, Down But Not Out. If you're a movie fan, you might just appreciate this; you could call it a primer of sorts. In July 2006, Hollywood will be releasing yet another Marvel movie. If you're a Marvel fan, it's one of the most anticipated. If you're not a comic book fan, admit it, you'll probably still go see it. I mean, come on, you think comic fans by themselves generate the amount of money a movie like Spider-Man 2 makes?? NO! Just what the Hell am I talking about?? The demon rider himself... ol' flamehead... the Ghost Rider! That's right; this week we're going to be taking a look at the book that first introduced one of Marvel's darkest characters. Marvel Spotlight #5 - "Ghost Rider" Original Release Date: August 1972 Conceived & Written by: Gary Friedrich Drawn by: Mike Ploog Lettered by: Jon Costa Edited by: Stan Lee E-I-C: Roy Thomas Rain beats down on the city streets; it's night. A torrent of this magnitude would surely extinguish any flame foolish enough to attempt growth. That would be true for all flames... except those of the Hell-spawned variety. Sitting proudly atop the skull of a strange, brooding individual, this particular flame shouts its defiance to the falling streams. This creature--this troubled man with a flaming skull for a head--rides hard into the night on his powerful chopper. To his left, a man is mugged and murdered, but this demonic rider's personal torture overrides the horror of another's forced death. Unfortunately, the men responsible for the murder see the rider and pursue him, wanting to make sure that he cannot tell their tale to local authorities. Climbing into their vehicle, they hastily run it through the drenched streets in full pursuit of the bike and its pilot. Finding the streets too slick to outrun the car, the man pulls his bike into an alley and waits. The two murderers arrive and fully intend to put this man in his grave, but are too foolish to realize that the flaming skull atop his shoulders is no custom biker helmet. No... It’s his head! With a gesture of his hand, the demonic biker ignites the ground in front of the murderers with fire straight from the pits of Hell. Taking advantage of their distraction, the man from Hell speeds by, easily evading and losing them. The sun is rising! In the demonic rider's heart, he feels hope and excitement as he stashes his bike away and enters his hideout. Seconds pass and the sun fully rises and, as it does, the flaming skull fades and the man's true face reappears. Johnny Blaze is a cursed man, but it is his fault. Enough of those thoughts, though. Johnny wants to get his mind away from his unfortunate problems. Perhaps work will help? Yes, his job as a motorcycle stuntman is exciting and dangerous enough to get anyone's mind off of something horrible, right? Wrong. Once in his dressing room at Madison Square Garden, troubling thoughts continue to torture Blaze. His mind returns back to how it all started--to when he made that damning deal with Satan! **** Barton Blaze, a motorcycle stuntman, died while performing, leaving behind a son by the name of Johnny. Crash Simpson, the owner and headliner of the Crash Simpson Daredevil Cycle Show offers Johnny a place in his family and Johnny happily accepts. The years pass and Johnny decides he wants to follow in his father's and Crash's footsteps and begins training for the cycle show. One day, while riding with Mrs. Simpson on the back of his bike, the two-wheeled vehicle catches fire and Johnny has to lay it down. Mrs. Simpson jumps off the bike and Johnny puts it down at a tree and is instantly catapulted off. Mrs. Simpson runs to the aid of Johnny, but doesn't choose her path wisely; she runs right by the flaming bike and, just as she does, the twisted metal explodes, sending her to the hospital and her deathbed. Mrs. Simpson, at the edge of death, asks Johnny to promise to never ride in the cycle show. Johnny, finally calling the woman "mom" agrees. As soon as he nods, the woman falls into a never-ending sleep and is buried the next day. The years pass and Johnny stays true to his promise, making his way as a mechanic for the cycle show. Soon, Crash and his daughter, Roxanne, begin questioning as to why Johnny does not ride in the show. And the show gets bigger and more exciting and Johnny just watches--until one night when he finally sees that he can pick up and bike, ride and practice with it, but not compete in the show and stay completely true to his promise. Eventually the show grows so big that it is booked at Madison Square Garden, Crash's dream venue. Unfortunately though, Crash isn't as excited as Johnny and Roxanne are. Why? Crash's doctor has told him that he has cancer and only has, at the most, a month to live! The man feels sorrow over the fact that he doesn't have a son to take over the show after he passes. This leads Roxanne to volunteer Johnny, but the young man explains that he can't due to his promise. With a heart full of sadness and regret, Johnny leaves the room and finds that he has no one to turn to for help... except one: the Dark Lord! He's the only one with the power to help! Johnny summons Satan and strikes up a deal: if the Dark Lord will spare Crash of his cancer, Johnny will hand over his soul. The Demon King accepts Johnny's offer and soon the cancer disappears from Crash's body. At Madison Square Garden, three weeks later, Roxanne finds Johnny and begins shouting about Crash's newest stunt: he's preparing to jump twenty-two cars, the world record. Johnny then confronts Crash, who is completely ignorant of his cancer being gone, who tells Johnny that if he's going to die, he's going to die on a bike and not in some hospital bed. Unfortunately, Johnny is unable to sway the man and he ends up going forward with the stunt. Crash, giving one last thumbs up to Johnny before the stunt, climbs aboard his bike. With the crowd silent in anticipation, Crash puts his bike at full throttle and its engine roars through the quiet arena. Hitting the ramp at full speed, Crash's bike launches into the air and seems to hang there forever, before finally coming down--to his doom. The motorcycle hits two cars and sends Crash's broken body to the ground. Roxanne and Johnny watch as Crash's lifeless body is loaded into an ambulance and taken away. The world is silent around Johnny as he takes a walk toward the dressing room: he knows what he must do. In honor of the man, Johnny mounts his bike and speeds full throttle at the ramp in the middle of The Garden. The two-wheeled, metal demon launches into the air... and lands on the other side of the ramp. The crowd goes wild! Roxanne confronts Johnny, "How could you... after dad..?!" Johnny tries to explain, but before he can, Roxanne walks away and leaves the show to him. This was not what he wanted--Crash was not supposed to die! Full of grief, Johnny returns to his dressing room and collapses into a chair, exhausted. His rest is soon disrupted by the arrival of Satan, who has come to take his soul! Roxanne enters the room and puts herself between the Dark Lord and this unfortunate soul. She commands the foul creature to return to his kingdom and, at the force of her pure soul, does as she says. Roxanne explains that she had read Blaze's books on Satan when he wasn't around, so she knew what to do. The following night, as darkness falls, something happens. Flame erupts from the flesh of Johnny's face, melting away his skin and revealing a calcium-white skull. Soon, the shock fades and Blaze flees The Garden and the only person he cares for, Roxanne. *** The waking dream ends and Johnny finds himself back in his crumbling hideout. He wonders, silently, what to do--where to go? As he does, night falls and he reverts back to the demon rider. Knowing only that he must leave, the Ghost Rider mounts his chopper and heads out of town... ________________________ Whew! That's that! This story is one of the finest yarns ever to come out of Marvel. It stands up today just as well as it did back then and that is, of course, a credit to writer Gary Friedrich. The subsequent seven Marvel Spotlight issues, which feature the Ghost Rider, written by Friedrich, are also top-notch. Friedrich, who I have been hard-pressed to find REAL info on, is one of the more consistent Marvel writers and yet, not quite as well known as he should be. But that's what this ol' column is for though: bringing light to comics and creators that wouldn't ordinarily get that light. Friedrich had runs on X-Men (the original series, starting with issue #44), Captain America, Daredevil, and The Incredible Hulk. I can't speak for any of that, but this... this is damn good stuff. Mike Ploog's art is amazing! It's a perfect example of what Marvel was doing right in the 1970's; it's dark, dramatic, and detailed. In particular, the first page of this book is very memorable: it features Ghost Rider, out of view because of the thick rain, riding into view over three panels. Good stuff. Ploog is no stranger to Marvel, having done some fantastic work on Man-Thing and Monster of Frankenstein. Very detailed stuff. Overall, I'd say I like this book, wouldn't you? Yeah, you'd probably like it too if ya gave it a chance. And really, what better time than now, before Ghost Rider explodes all over multiplexes everywhere. You can go in having at least some sort of info on the character, which you can share with your uncaring friends! You best bet? The Essential Ghost Rider volume #1. See ya next week!