Ghost Rider: Vengeance Unbound

GHOST RIDER # 36 (volume 1)

SYNOPSIS
On the outskirts of the Colorado Rockies, the Ghost Rider tears down the highway, terrorizing truckers and other motorists. Several hours later, the demon arrives in Denver, where he causes more chaos before finally relinquishing control over to Johnny Blaze. Finding himself exhausted and incredibly hungry, Johnny walks to the nearby Dickie's Restaurant, where he orders some food. Finding he doesn't have enough money, a kind woman Debbie offers to pay. The woman is an exotic dancer who works the diner for money, and her normal customers don't appreciate her befriending Blaze. The leader of the gang, a construction worker named Barney, picks a fight with Johnny, only to get his ass thoroughly kicked. Blaze and Debbie leave together, ending up at the woman's apartment. There, Blaze meets her little sister, Beth, who is due for a hospital visit for her weekly kidney treatment. Debbie invites Johnny to go along, which he accepts.

While on the way to the hospital, Debbie's car is run off the road by an unknown assailant. After their car crashes, Johnny is hauled out by Barney and his gang of buddies, who want payback for being shown up in the restaurant. The gang proceeds to beat Blaze to a pulp, so to save his own life, he transforms into the Ghost Rider. While the demon makes short work of the men, Debbie tries to start the damaged car and escape, afraid for her and her sister's lives. Realizing the car won't start, they beg Barney to give them a ride as he tries to escape the Ghost Rider. The girls get in the man's car, but quickly find that he's been hoisted into the air by the demonic biker. Debbie attempts to plead with the monster, telling him that if she doesn't get to a hospital, her sister will die. Reluctantly, the Rider tosses Barney to the ground and relinquishes control back over to Blaze. Johnny drives the fearful women to the hospital, not a word spoken amongst them.

ANNOTATIONS
Johnny Blaze takes a moment to mention how much he misses Roxanne Simpson, who last appeared in Ghost Rider # 28 (vol. 1) and won't show up again until many years later in Ghost Rider # 80 (vol. 1).

This issue came in at # 3 on the Top Ten Ghost Rider Comics of All-Time list!

REVIEW
This issue marks the beginning of writer Michael Fleisher's long run on Ghost Rider, presenting a story that's much more important than it seems.

I love "A Demon In Denver", but I'll also be the first to admit that for someone reading this comic for the first time today it would most likely appear to be nothing more than a stereotypical 1970s Ghost Rider story. All of the familiar, if not cliched, elements are present: the Ghost Rider leads the police on a harrowing chase for several pages, reverts to a Johnny Blaze who is broke and depressed, Johnny meets a local and immediately falls in with her, they're jumped by a gang of bikers or criminals, the Ghost Rider emerges to punish the attackers, and it ends with everyone thoroughly shocked and Johnny left alone yet again. This was a story used by numerous writers, from Roger Stern to JM DeMatteis, and most especially Fleisher himself who went back to this well several times. Honestly, this was the Ghost Rider formula for many years until the book's cancellation. "A Demon In Denver" follows that formula to the letter, so what makes it so special amongst all the other similar stories? Easy answer: it was the first Ghost Rider comic to utilize said formula, and at the time it was revolutionary.

Ghost Rider was always a book with an identity crisis in its early years, with the writers (and there were a lot of them) unable to decide on what the book should be. Was it a horror book or a superhero book, that was the question, and the resulting answer was a waffling back and forth between the two concepts. Roger McKenzie had just finished a run that emphasized more on the horror aspects, but still retained a lot of the superhero and sci-fi tropes. When Michael Fleisher came on board with this issue, all of that changed. Suddenly, we had a Ghost Rider story that had no fantastic elements other than the Ghost Rider himself, and the antagonists were "real people". Fleisher jettisoned the stuff that hadn't worked and turned the book into a psychological horror series, with the focus not on fight scenes or demons but on the life of Johnny Blaze and his attempts to control the monster inside of him. It truly was revolutionary stuff for the character and it immediately boosted the book's sales, turning it from a bi-monthly series to a monthly one in the span of just four issues.

Now, all that's not to say that this story didn't have its problems, because it certainly did. There's a huge suspension of disbelief needed for this story to work, most notably in the idea that a woman with a sick kid sister would take a complete stranger like Blaze into her home (especially with him appearing to be a completely downtrodden, homeless, drifter); or, for that matter, that they would be taking said sick sister to get her kidney treatments in the middle of the night. Even in 1979, when this issue was published, I think stuff like that was pushing the limits a bit.

At this point, artist Don Perlin had been on the series for around a year, and had only recently started doing the full art chores (inking his own pencil work). His art in this issue immediately took an upswing from his previous work on the series (which was still quite good), perhaps energizing him in a sense. Perlin was not a flashy artist, but his style perfectly fit the tone of Fleisher's stories. His Ghost Rider was still evolving at the time, and his work would only get better as the series progressed.

So don't be so quick to dismiss this issue, never mind the numerous formula clone stories that came afterward. This one is a classic, and if you haven't read it you absolutely should.

Grade: A+

VENGEANCE UNBOUND
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GHOST RIDER # 36 (volume 1) SYNOPSIS On the outskirts of the Colorado Rockies, the Ghost Rider tears down the highway, terrorizing truckers and other motorists. Several hours later, the demon arrives in Denver, where he causes more chaos before finally relinquishing control over to Johnny Blaze. Finding himself exhausted and incredibly hungry, Johnny walks to the nearby Dickie's Restaurant, where he orders some food. Finding he doesn't have enough money, a kind woman Debbie offers to pay. The woman is an exotic dancer who works the diner for money, and her normal customers don't appreciate her befriending Blaze. The leader of the gang, a construction worker named Barney, picks a fight with Johnny, only to get his ass thoroughly kicked. Blaze and Debbie leave together, ending up at the woman's apartment. There, Blaze meets her little sister, Beth, who is due for a hospital visit for her weekly kidney treatment. Debbie invites Johnny to go along, which he accepts. While on the way to the hospital, Debbie's car is run off the road by an unknown assailant. After their car crashes, Johnny is hauled out by Barney and his gang of buddies, who want payback for being shown up in the restaurant. The gang proceeds to beat Blaze to a pulp, so to save his own life, he transforms into the Ghost Rider. While the demon makes short work of the men, Debbie tries to start the damaged car and escape, afraid for her and her sister's lives. Realizing the car won't start, they beg Barney to give them a ride as he tries to escape the Ghost Rider. The girls get in the man's car, but quickly find that he's been hoisted into the air by the demonic biker. Debbie attempts to plead with the monster, telling him that if she doesn't get to a hospital, her sister will die. Reluctantly, the Rider tosses Barney to the ground and relinquishes control back over to Blaze. Johnny drives the fearful women to the hospital, not a word spoken amongst them. ANNOTATIONS Johnny Blaze takes a moment to mention how much he misses Roxanne Simpson, who last appeared in Ghost Rider # 28 (vol. 1) and won't show up again until many years later in Ghost Rider # 80 (vol. 1). This issue came in at # 3 on the Top Ten Ghost Rider Comics of All-Time list! REVIEW This issue marks the beginning of writer Michael Fleisher's long run on Ghost Rider, presenting a story that's much more important than it seems. I love "A Demon In Denver", but I'll also be the first to admit that for someone reading this comic for the first time today it would most likely appear to be nothing more than a stereotypical 1970s Ghost Rider story. All of the familiar, if not cliched, elements are present: the Ghost Rider leads the police on a harrowing chase for several pages, reverts to a Johnny Blaze who is broke and depressed, Johnny meets a local and immediately falls in with her, they're jumped by a gang of bikers or criminals, the Ghost Rider emerges to punish the attackers, and it ends with everyone thoroughly shocked and Johnny left alone yet again. This was a story used by numerous writers, from Roger Stern to JM DeMatteis, and most especially Fleisher himself who went back to this well several times. Honestly, this was the Ghost Rider formula for many years until the book's cancellation. "A Demon In Denver" follows that formula to the letter, so what makes it so special amongst all the other similar stories? Easy answer: it was the first Ghost Rider comic to utilize said formula, and at the time it was revolutionary. Ghost Rider was always a book with an identity crisis in its early years, with the writers (and there were a lot of them) unable to decide on what the book should be. Was it a horror book or a superhero book, that was the question, and the resulting answer was a waffling back and forth between the two concepts. Roger McKenzie had just finished a run that emphasized more on the horror aspects, but still retained a lot of the superhero and sci-fi tropes. When Michael Fleisher came on board with this issue, all of that changed. Suddenly, we had a Ghost Rider story that had no fantastic elements other than the Ghost Rider himself, and the antagonists were "real people". Fleisher jettisoned the stuff that hadn't worked and turned the book into a psychological horror series, with the focus not on fight scenes or demons but on the life of Johnny Blaze and his attempts to control the monster inside of him. It truly was revolutionary stuff for the character and it immediately boosted the book's sales, turning it from a bi-monthly series to a monthly one in the span of just four issues. Now, all that's not to say that this story didn't have its problems, because it certainly did. There's a huge suspension of disbelief needed for this story to work, most notably in the idea that a woman with a sick kid sister would take a complete stranger like Blaze into her home (especially with him appearing to be a completely downtrodden, homeless, drifter); or, for that matter, that they would be taking said sick sister to get her kidney treatments in the middle of the night. Even in 1979, when this issue was published, I think stuff like that was pushing the limits a bit. At this point, artist Don Perlin had been on the series for around a year, and had only recently started doing the full art chores (inking his own pencil work). His art in this issue immediately took an upswing from his previous work on the series (which was still quite good), perhaps energizing him in a sense. Perlin was not a flashy artist, but his style perfectly fit the tone of Fleisher's stories. His Ghost Rider was still evolving at the time, and his work would only get better as the series progressed. So don't be so quick to dismiss this issue, never mind the numerous formula clone stories that came afterward. This one is a classic, and if you haven't read it you absolutely should. Grade: A+	Ghost Rider # 36 (volume 1) Published: June 1979 Original Price: $0.40 Cover: Bob Budiansky Title: "A Demon In Denver!" Writer: Michael Fleisher Artist: Don Perlin Letterer: Irv Watanabe Colorist: Ben Sean Editor: Roger Stern Editor In Chief: Jim Shooter