GHOST RIDER # 53 (volume 1)
SYNOPSIS
In Hell, the demon lord Azmodeus shows one of his demons, a lovely female named Tabicantra, a flame-image of Johnny Blaze and the Ghost Rider. Azmodeus wants the Ghost Rider to be his emissary on Earth, but realizes that he must first sever the connection between him and Blaze. He sends Tabicantra to Earth so the link between man and demon can be destroyed, but it must be done within a certain frame of time, before the souls in his nether-hourglass run out.
Later, Blaze rides on a stretch of highway, and passes a beautiful woman in a sports car. Unknown to him, the woman is Tabicantra, who comments to herself that Johnny is an extremely handsome man. Using her demonic powers, Tabicantra collapses a bridge just as Johnny crosses over. The stuntrider transforms into his demonic persona, saving himself from the crash. In Hell, Azmodeus watches the Ghost Rider survive the fall. He tells his demon hordes that Tabicantra's power weakens Blaze's control over the Ghost Rider. The more he transforms, the weaker the human persona will become, until finally the Ghost Rider will belong to Azmodeus.
Back on Earth, Blaze collects his motorcycle from the construction site it landed in after the bridge collapse. He rides to a diner, where he runs into Tabicantra. Again, the she-demon thinks about how attractive Blaze is, but pushes those thoughts away as she gets back to her mission. Sometime later, Johnny has once again taken to the road, but is blocked by two semi trucks. Suddenly, the both trucks burst into flames, and Blaze doesn't have enough time to stop. He transforms into the Ghost Rider, who rides his mystical hell-cycle between the fiery trucks. On the other side, the Ghost Rider reluctantly gives control back to Blaze, who immediately sees Tabicantra trapped in a burning car. He manages to rescue her, but she faints during the ordeal. She awakens, and Johnny offers to give her a ride back to town on the back of his cycle. The two ride to the next town, stopping at a restaurant for dinner. He drops Tabicantra at the doors, leaving her to go park his bike. Though she hates to do it, the she-witch continues her mission, summoning a demonic creature to attack Blaze in the parking lot. The Ghost Rider quickly emerges and destroys the monster, but refuses to relinquish control back to Blaze. Only by force of will does Johnny regain control. He returns to the restaurant, where Tabicantra ponders the situation. She knows that if Blaze becomes the Ghost Rider one more time before the nether-glass runs out, he will be trapped as slave of Azmodeus forever. She decides to tell him everything, despite the fact that her master will be enraged beyond all imagining.
Azmodeus, furious that his slave would betray him, commands several demons to finish Tabicantra's job. The creatures attack Johnny, but before he can transform into the Ghost Rider, Tabicantra strikes him from behind and protects him in a force field. Realizing that only a few moments remain before the nether-glass runs out, Tabicantra uses her own life-force to destroy Azmodeus' demons, resulting in her own death. Johnny awakens seconds later, confused and unaware of what has transpired.
ANNOTATIONS
Azmodeus returns in Ghost Rider # 64 (vol. 1), and again in Ghost Rider # 76 (vol. 1).
REVIEW
While on the surface this issue appears to be yet another single-issue filler story by Michael Fleisher, it actually holds two important subplots and characters that will be revisited in the future of the series.
For the first time, due to the spells of Tabicantra and Azmodeus, Johnny struggles with the Ghost Rider to return to his own body. This is an obvious precursor to Blaze's eventual fight for dominance over Zarathos, and the seeds of it are planted here through Azmodeus' plan. Johnny has grown to view the Ghost Rider as a curse, but he has no inkling of the struggle for his soul that's coming down the road. I'm not sure if Fleisher meant for the fight for Blaze's body to start with this story, but it leads into it nicely, regardless of intent.
Azmodeus (his name changed to the similar Asmodeus in later appearances) is also set up as one of the few recurring villains in the Ghost Rider series with his first appearance here. The book had worked hard to not be involved with demons or Hell after the first year, and Azmodeus is introduced as an alternative to Satan (later retconned into Mephisto, a completely different entity altogether). Unfortunately, Azmodeus never really stands out as a credible threat for the Ghost Rider, as he's defeated easily in each of his appearances before being killed by Mephisto during J.M. DeMatteis' run on the book.
While this issue is a solid story in itself, there is one glaring problem that could have made it much weaker. More or less, the story focuses not on Johnny or the Ghost Rider, but on Tabicantra. The star of the book is relegated to a supporting character, who - at the story's end - has no idea of the behind-the-scenes plots going on around him. Tabicantra is a fairly interesting character, and her sacrifice to save Johnny at the end is an appropriate fate for her...but I still doubt the wisdom on having the title character unconscious for the entire climax of the story.
Overall, "The She-Witch of Doom!" is standard fare elevated just above mediocre by the introduction of the Ghost Rider and Blaze's upcoming struggle for dominance and another good art job by Don Perlin.
Grade: B
Ghost Rider # 53 (volume 1)
Published: Feb. 1981
Original Price: $0.50
Cover: Bob Budiansky
Title: "The She-Witch of Doom!"
Writer: Michael Fleisher
Artist: Don Perlin
Letterer: Diana Albers
Colorist: Rob Carosella
Editor: Denny O'Neil
Editor In Chief: Jim Shooter