Ghost Rider: Vengeance Unbound

AVENGERS # 214

SYNOPSIS
In the basement of Avengers Mansion, Captain America undergoes a rigorous training session as he attempts to process the recent court-martial of his fellow Avenger, Yellowjacket. While the Captain punishes his body, Tigra and Jarvis, the Avengers' butler, discuss the events that led to Hank Pym's dishonorable discharge from the team, with Jarvis sticking up for Pym despite the mistakes the man has made. Elsewhere in New York, Thor and Iron Man meet in their civilian guises to discuss the mental state of Pym, each of them wanting to help their former teammate as much as they can. At that moment, Pym's wife and fellow Avenger, the Wasp, sits at her home and works on fashion designs, sunglasses covering up the swollen eye given to her by the mentally unbalanced Yellowjacket. Janet goes to the front room of her house to meet with the downtrodden Henry, who attempts to apologize to her for what he did. Janet tells Pym that she's filing for divorce, and Pym can only apologize again as he takes his leave.

Hours later in New Mexico, Johnny Blaze sits atop a rocky hillside overlooking a deserted stretch of road. The curse with which he lives has cost Blaze everything he's held dear, outcasting him from society - and when a fancy sportscar zooms past him, all of his anger and frustration at life bubbles to the surface. As he rages against the unfairness of his situation while some rich playboy gets to have fun, Blaze transforms into the Ghost Rider and demands vengeance, starting with the owner of the sports car. In the car, Warren Worthington III and Candy Southern are enjoying a late night cruise when they see the Ghost Rider approaching in the rearview mirror. Warren, who is also the winged mutant known as the Angel, tells Candy not to worry - he recognizes the Ghost Rider as a friend from their time together in the Champions a few years ago. But the Ghost Rider has changed since Worthington knew him, becoming more demonic and vengeful - as the couple discover when the Rider runs their car off the road and into a ditch. When the Ghost Rider returns to admire his handiwork, he challenges the Angel to a race across the desert, a challenge Worthington accepts to get Candy out of harms way. When they are far enough away, the Angel attacks the Ghost Rider, but this only causes the Rider to bathe Worthington in hellfire, causing him to fall screaming to the ground. Hours later, Southern sits in the hospital with the comatose Angel and speaks with Captain America on the phone. While she'd hoped to reach Worthington's old teammate, the Beast, Captain America tells her that while the Beast is no longer a member the Avengers will be there the next day to find the Ghost Rider.

The next day, Johnny Blaze has taken a job as a gas station attendant in Alkalai Flats, his guilt over what he did to Worthington causing him to stay in the town until his former friend wakes up from his coma. He's working when he hears the news: the Avengers have arrived in town. At the small airfield, the Avengers - Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and Tigra - arrive and talk with the town's mayor. While Tigra goes shopping for more appropriate (re: western) attire, Captain America acquires a motorcycle from a local mechanic. Meanwhile, while Blaze prepares to leave town before he's discovered, the mother of a young boy comes to him yelling for help: her son, who idolizes the Avengers, has climbed a water tower while playing superhero and is now about to fall to his death. Johnny decides to change into the Ghost Rider to save the boy, but the demon instead decides not to - for there is nothing to avenge if the child dies by his own hand. As the boy falls, he's caught by Iron Man.

A few miles away, the Ghost Rider is found by Captain America and Tigra, who chase after the demon on their own bike. After a harrowing chase into a canyon, Cap and Tigra turn a corner to find that it's a dead end - and while the Ghost Rider simply rides his flame cycle up the canyon wall, the Avengers collide hard with the rocks. As they try to recover their senses after the wreck, the Rider returns and fries both of them with hellfire. Following his teammates' screams, Iron Man encounters the Rider and tackles him off his bike, confident that his hellfire can't penetrate his armor. This is a mistake, he discovers, when the Rider blasts flame into the openings for his eyes and mouth, sending him crashing to the ground. Finally, Thor confronts the Ghost Rider and proves that the hellfire has no effect on the Asgardian. When Thor throws his hammer at the Rider, the demon jumps on his hellcycle and outraces Mjolnir, stopping only when the hammer's throw has spent and it moves to return to its owner's hand. Gripping the handle of the hammer, the Ghost Rider uses its momentum against Thor, knocking the Thunder God for a loop with his own weapon.

Soon, the visibly shaken Avengers regroup and try to come up with a plan to capture the Ghost Rider. Tigra is terrified of meeting the Rider again, the hellfire having scared her - but Captain America, himself even saying that he's never experienced anything so horrifying, convinces her to put aside her fear to help them. Eventually, the Avengers again attack the Rider, but this time they are more prepared for his power. While the heroes attempt to contain the demon, the battle is brought to a halt by a newcomer: the Angel, awakened from his coma but still injured. He tells Blaze that he has a theory about him: the more bitter and unhappy he is as Blaze, the more ruthless and violent the Ghost Rider becomes. Face to face with his innocent victim, Blaze manages to wrest control of his body from the Ghost Rider and collapses on the ground, asking everyone to just leave him alone. Now that the Ghost Rider is gone, Johnny Blaze has committed no crime...and the heroes walk away from him, hoping that Blaze will eventually accept their help.

ANNOTATIONS
This story takes place between Ghost Rider # 62 (vol. 1) and Ghost Rider # 63 (vol. 1).

Johnny Blaze first met the Angel in The Champions # 1 and remained on the team with the high-flying mutant until the group disbanded. After winning his freedom from the Ghost Rider curse, Blaze approached the Angel for financial help in Defenders # 147. The money borrowed from Worthington allowed Johnny to purchase the Quentin Carnival, as revealed in Ghost Rider # 14 (vol. 2).

Part of Johnny Blaze's misery in this story comes from him having recently lost his title as World Stunt Cycle Champion to Flagg Fargo in Ghost Rider # 46 (vol. 2).

This issue came in at # 6 on the Top Ten Ghost Rider Comics of All-Time list!

REVIEW
I'll try and make this relatively brief, but I must warn you: I could ramble on for DAYS about this comic.

When I was a small child, my father would bring me stacks of comics - and it was through the worlds of the Marvel Heroes that I learned to read at such a young age. I was a frequent reader of Spider-Man and the Hulk, but my favorite book by far was the Avengers. There was something about the gathering of Marvel's A-list heroes that always - and still does! - thrill my sense of adventure. To this small boy there was no force on Earth that could stand against the mighty Avengers...so imagine my surprise when this issue hit my brain like a sledgehammer. Here were the Avengers, my heroes, being utterly defeated by a flaming skeletal motorcycle rider! My father had purposely stayed away from purchasing Ghost Rider, thinking it inappropriate for a boy my age, and after reading this issue I understood why. The Ghost Rider was essentially a villain in this appearance, and worse: one that laughed as he savagely handed my heroes their asses!

Suffice it to say, I was hooked on Ghost Rider. It was this issue that started me on my lifelong obsession with the Spirit of Vengeance, as it led me to beg my father to search out the regular Ghost Rider series (much to his disdain, I must admit). I was introduced to Johnny Blaze and, through the strength of this book's script and story, found myself empathizing with him on an almost base level.

The story for this monumental issue was written by Jim Shooter, then Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics and a writer enjoying his second run on Avengers. Shooter's recent issue of the series had been met with a lot of ridicule, mostly due to his treatment of founding Avenger Henry Pym, who had a mental breakdown and struck his wife. Likewise, Shooter had penned a brief run on Ghost Rider many years before that was less than stellar and better left forgotten.

But then Shooter comes and writes THIS, forcing me to take back every single nasty thing I ever said about the man. We're given shock after shock in the span of 21 pages, starting off with the brutal assault on the Angel. Here was a hero cut down not just by a fellow hero, but by a friend and former teammate! Shooter, more so than any other writer prior to Roger Stern and JM DeMatteis, nailed just how much the Ghost Rider/Blaze dynamic had changed since the character's inception nearly a decade before. Ghost Rider wasn't a hero anymore but a curse on Blaze, whose life had been ruined by his double life. And the power of the Ghost Rider (yet to be revealed as a separate entity, keep in mind) was so much that not even the Avengers - Earth's Mightiest Heroes! - were able to defeat him.

And it's in those defeats of the Avengers that both the script and artwork shine. From the vicious assault on the Angel to the image displayed on the cover of the Rider blasting hellfire into Iron Man's face, this book was just savage. Bob Hall was an artist that never really took off, playing second fiddle to more well-known Avengers artists like Byrne and Perez, but he rocked the readers' socks off with this issue.

If anything, it feels like Shooter created this issue of Avengers as a way of saying "everyone go read Ghost Rider and see all the badass shit you've been missing". It really does read like a pilot for the Ghost Rider book, because let's face it - it ain't everyday that the Avengers get owned in their book.

For more than just nostalgia's sake, I absolutely recommend this issue for any fan of the Spirit of Vengeance. It's just that damn good.

Grade: A+ and beyond!

VENGEANCE UNBOUND
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AVENGERS # 214 SYNOPSIS In the basement of Avengers Mansion, Captain America undergoes a rigorous training session as he attempts to process the recent court-martial of his fellow Avenger, Yellowjacket. While the Captain punishes his body, Tigra and Jarvis, the Avengers' butler, discuss the events that led to Hank Pym's dishonorable discharge from the team, with Jarvis sticking up for Pym despite the mistakes the man has made. Elsewhere in New York, Thor and Iron Man meet in their civilian guises to discuss the mental state of Pym, each of them wanting to help their former teammate as much as they can. At that moment, Pym's wife and fellow Avenger, the Wasp, sits at her home and works on fashion designs, sunglasses covering up the swollen eye given to her by the mentally unbalanced Yellowjacket. Janet goes to the front room of her house to meet with the downtrodden Henry, who attempts to apologize to her for what he did. Janet tells Pym that she's filing for divorce, and Pym can only apologize again as he takes his leave. Hours later in New Mexico, Johnny Blaze sits atop a rocky hillside overlooking a deserted stretch of road. The curse with which he lives has cost Blaze everything he's held dear, outcasting him from society - and when a fancy sportscar zooms past him, all of his anger and frustration at life bubbles to the surface. As he rages against the unfairness of his situation while some rich playboy gets to have fun, Blaze transforms into the Ghost Rider and demands vengeance, starting with the owner of the sports car. In the car, Warren Worthington III and Candy Southern are enjoying a late night cruise when they see the Ghost Rider approaching in the rearview mirror. Warren, who is also the winged mutant known as the Angel, tells Candy not to worry - he recognizes the Ghost Rider as a friend from their time together in the Champions a few years ago. But the Ghost Rider has changed since Worthington knew him, becoming more demonic and vengeful - as the couple discover when the Rider runs their car off the road and into a ditch. When the Ghost Rider returns to admire his handiwork, he challenges the Angel to a race across the desert, a challenge Worthington accepts to get Candy out of harms way. When they are far enough away, the Angel attacks the Ghost Rider, but this only causes the Rider to bathe Worthington in hellfire, causing him to fall screaming to the ground. Hours later, Southern sits in the hospital with the comatose Angel and speaks with Captain America on the phone. While she'd hoped to reach Worthington's old teammate, the Beast, Captain America tells her that while the Beast is no longer a member the Avengers will be there the next day to find the Ghost Rider. The next day, Johnny Blaze has taken a job as a gas station attendant in Alkalai Flats, his guilt over what he did to Worthington causing him to stay in the town until his former friend wakes up from his coma. He's working when he hears the news: the Avengers have arrived in town. At the small airfield, the Avengers - Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and Tigra - arrive and talk with the town's mayor. While Tigra goes shopping for more appropriate (re: western) attire, Captain America acquires a motorcycle from a local mechanic. Meanwhile, while Blaze prepares to leave town before he's discovered, the mother of a young boy comes to him yelling for help: her son, who idolizes the Avengers, has climbed a water tower while playing superhero and is now about to fall to his death. Johnny decides to change into the Ghost Rider to save the boy, but the demon instead decides not to - for there is nothing to avenge if the child dies by his own hand. As the boy falls, he's caught by Iron Man. A few miles away, the Ghost Rider is found by Captain America and Tigra, who chase after the demon on their own bike. After a harrowing chase into a canyon, Cap and Tigra turn a corner to find that it's a dead end - and while the Ghost Rider simply rides his flame cycle up the canyon wall, the Avengers collide hard with the rocks. As they try to recover their senses after the wreck, the Rider returns and fries both of them with hellfire. Following his teammates' screams, Iron Man encounters the Rider and tackles him off his bike, confident that his hellfire can't penetrate his armor. This is a mistake, he discovers, when the Rider blasts flame into the openings for his eyes and mouth, sending him crashing to the ground. Finally, Thor confronts the Ghost Rider and proves that the hellfire has no effect on the Asgardian. When Thor throws his hammer at the Rider, the demon jumps on his hellcycle and outraces Mjolnir, stopping only when the hammer's throw has spent and it moves to return to its owner's hand. Gripping the handle of the hammer, the Ghost Rider uses its momentum against Thor, knocking the Thunder God for a loop with his own weapon. Soon, the visibly shaken Avengers regroup and try to come up with a plan to capture the Ghost Rider. Tigra is terrified of meeting the Rider again, the hellfire having scared her - but Captain America, himself even saying that he's never experienced anything so horrifying, convinces her to put aside her fear to help them. Eventually, the Avengers again attack the Rider, but this time they are more prepared for his power. While the heroes attempt to contain the demon, the battle is brought to a halt by a newcomer: the Angel, awakened from his coma but still injured. He tells Blaze that he has a theory about him: the more bitter and unhappy he is as Blaze, the more ruthless and violent the Ghost Rider becomes. Face to face with his innocent victim, Blaze manages to wrest control of his body from the Ghost Rider and collapses on the ground, asking everyone to just leave him alone. Now that the Ghost Rider is gone, Johnny Blaze has committed no crime...and the heroes walk away from him, hoping that Blaze will eventually accept their help. ANNOTATIONS This story takes place between Ghost Rider # 62 (vol. 1) and Ghost Rider # 63 (vol. 1). Johnny Blaze first met the Angel in The Champions # 1 and remained on the team with the high-flying mutant until the group disbanded. After winning his freedom from the Ghost Rider curse, Blaze approached the Angel for financial help in Defenders # 147. The money borrowed from Worthington allowed Johnny to purchase the Quentin Carnival, as revealed in Ghost Rider # 14 (vol. 2). Part of Johnny Blaze's misery in this story comes from him having recently lost his title as World Stunt Cycle Champion to Flagg Fargo in Ghost Rider # 46 (vol. 2). This issue came in at # 6 on the Top Ten Ghost Rider Comics of All-Time list! REVIEW I'll try and make this relatively brief, but I must warn you: I could ramble on for DAYS about this comic. When I was a small child, my father would bring me stacks of comics - and it was through the worlds of the Marvel Heroes that I learned to read at such a young age. I was a frequent reader of Spider-Man and the Hulk, but my favorite book by far was the Avengers. There was something about the gathering of Marvel's A-list heroes that always - and still does! - thrill my sense of adventure. To this small boy there was no force on Earth that could stand against the mighty Avengers...so imagine my surprise when this issue hit my brain like a sledgehammer. Here were the Avengers, my heroes, being utterly defeated by a flaming skeletal motorcycle rider! My father had purposely stayed away from purchasing Ghost Rider, thinking it inappropriate for a boy my age, and after reading this issue I understood why. The Ghost Rider was essentially a villain in this appearance, and worse: one that laughed as he savagely handed my heroes their asses! Suffice it to say, I was hooked on Ghost Rider. It was this issue that started me on my lifelong obsession with the Spirit of Vengeance, as it led me to beg my father to search out the regular Ghost Rider series (much to his disdain, I must admit). I was introduced to Johnny Blaze and, through the strength of this book's script and story, found myself empathizing with him on an almost base level. The story for this monumental issue was written by Jim Shooter, then Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics and a writer enjoying his second run on Avengers. Shooter's recent issue of the series had been met with a lot of ridicule, mostly due to his treatment of founding Avenger Henry Pym, who had a mental breakdown and struck his wife. Likewise, Shooter had penned a brief run on Ghost Rider many years before that was less than stellar and better left forgotten. But then Shooter comes and writes THIS, forcing me to take back every single nasty thing I ever said about the man. We're given shock after shock in the span of 21 pages, starting off with the brutal assault on the Angel. Here was a hero cut down not just by a fellow hero, but by a friend and former teammate! Shooter, more so than any other writer prior to Roger Stern and JM DeMatteis, nailed just how much the Ghost Rider/Blaze dynamic had changed since the character's inception nearly a decade before. Ghost Rider wasn't a hero anymore but a curse on Blaze, whose life had been ruined by his double life. And the power of the Ghost Rider (yet to be revealed as a separate entity, keep in mind) was so much that not even the Avengers - Earth's Mightiest Heroes! - were able to defeat him. And it's in those defeats of the Avengers that both the script and artwork shine. From the vicious assault on the Angel to the image displayed on the cover of the Rider blasting hellfire into Iron Man's face, this book was just savage. Bob Hall was an artist that never really took off, playing second fiddle to more well-known Avengers artists like Byrne and Perez, but he rocked the readers' socks off with this issue. If anything, it feels like Shooter created this issue of Avengers as a way of saying "everyone go read Ghost Rider and see all the badass shit you've been missing". It really does read like a pilot for the Ghost Rider book, because let's face it - it ain't everyday that the Avengers get owned in their book. For more than just nostalgia's sake, I absolutely recommend this issue for any fan of the Spirit of Vengeance. It's just that damn good. Grade: A+ and beyond!	Avengers # 214 Published: Dec. 1981 Original Price: $.50 Cover: Bob Hall Title: "Three Angels Fallen!" Writer: Jim Shooter Artist: Bob Hall Inker: Dan Green Letterer: Janice Chiang Colorist: Bob Sharen Editor: Jim Salicrup Editor In Chief: Jim Shooter