GHOST RIDER # 76 (volume 1)
SYNOPSIS
In the nether-regions of Hell, the demon Asmodeus travels to the realm of Mephisto and offers the demon-lord a "suggestion" concerning Johnny Blaze and the Ghost Rider. Mephisto comments that the Ghost Rider's true name is Zarathos, but allows Asmodeus to continue. The lesser demon offers to lift the burden of Blaze from Mephisto, to which the Hell ruler replies that Zarathos would be crucial to Asmodeus' attempt to rule Earth. Mephisto decides to turn the "suggestion" into a contest, where Zarathos shall run a gauntlet in Hell, with his freedom as the goal. If he fails, he will belong to Asmodeus.
Meanwhile, on Earth, Johnny confronts Ralph Quentin about the incident with Steel Wind. During the argument, Blaze suddenly feels faint, so he excuses himself to go get some air. Riding on his motorcycle into a secluded area, Johnny is jumped by a pack of demons, who knock him unconscious and carry him through a shimmering gate. Blaze wakes up and is surprised to see both Mephisto and Asmodeus standing before him, as he is chained to an upright altar of sorts. Mephisto brings forth the Sword of Demonicus, which he uses to cleave the true form of Zarathos out of Blaze's body. Mephisto tells Zarathos that both he and Johnny must race through Hell to a mystic portal back to Earth. If both of them reach the portal together, they will forever be separated and free from one another.
Blaze and Zarathos begin their race through Hell, but Asmodeus immediately sends his minions out to stop them from reaching their destination. The two riders reach a bridge, where they encounter a giant named Saturnyne, a demon with an immense hatred toward the Ghost Rider. Blaze rescues Zarathos from the giant, and the two then trick Saturnyne into impaling himself on a piece of the broken bridge. The two continue down the Road of Lost Souls, where Johnny encounters what he believes to be the ghosts of his parents. Zarathos loses his temper and blasts the two shades with hellfire, forcing them to reveal their true demonic forms.
The two continue farther, but their path is soon blocked by a twisted mass of flesh called Mount Avarice. Zarathos explains that the Mount is made of the souls of men that were concerned only with themselves, and must spend eternity entwined with each other. If the souls sense a kinship with them, then they will drag them down among them. Blaze soon experiences a feeling of self-doubt, and begins to sink into the mass of limbs. Zarathos reluctantly turns back and saves Johnny from his fate, pulling him through the entwinement of souls. The two continue their journey on foot through a narrow tunnel, only to see two of Asmodeus' demons cut the rope tying down a large boulder that takes up the entire space of the corridor. Zarathos uses his hellfire to stop the boulder's descent toward them, but finds that their path is now blocked. Blaze turns, only to find that the souls of Mount Avarice are coming up the tunnel after them. Zarathos turns to the boulder and uses all the hellfire at his command to shatter the blockade, though it knocks him unconscious in the process. Blaze drags the Ghost Rider through the tunnel, but is unable to get away from Mount Avarice. Zarathos then awakens and blasts the souls with his hellfire, forcing them to retreat. The two run the rest of the way, finally coming to the portal that will take them back to Hell. Both of them then decide, however, that only one must step through the portal, in order to ensure that they will never be bonded together again. The two struggle, and during their fight they fall through the portal together.
Johnny awakens on Earth, at the place where he was attacked and taken. Realizing that Zarathos is inside him once again, Johnny pounds on the rock furiously, and in the process transforms into the Ghost Rider, who swears vengeance on Mephisto. Back in Hell, Mephisto explains to Asmodeus that had Blaze and Zarathos simply walked through the portal together, they truly would have been freed from each other and the curse of the Ghost Rider would have been lifted. Mephisto then decides to take his prize for besting Asmodeus, destroying the demon with a bolt of hellfire. As the netherruler watches the Ghost Rider through a scrying glass, he states that as long as he rules, the Ghost Rider will never be free.
ANNOTATIONS
Steel Wind attacked the carnival in Ghost Rider # 75 (vol. 1).
Asmodeus first appeared in Ghost Rider # 53 (vol. 1), and again in Ghost Rider # 64 (vol. 1).
Mephisto was revealed as the "Satan" responsible for Blaze's curse in Ghost Rider # 68 (vol. 1).
This is the first mention of the Ghost Rider's true name, Zarathos, and several hints are offered at his origins. Zarathos' origin will be revealed in Ghost Rider # 77 (vol. 1).
This issue was reprinted in The Original Ghost Rider Rides Again # 5.
REVIEW
Artist Don Perlin returns to the title he drew for so many years and joins J.M. DeMatteis for another memorable issue of Ghost Rider that gives us a huge moment in GR history. Unfortunately, the story itself is little more than a hodgepodge of issues that came before it.
The idea of Blaze and Zarathos racing through Hell isn't exactly a novel one. While the race aspect immediately brings to mind "The Salvation Run" from GR # 18, the separation of Johnny and the Rider had also been told a few years before during the Crimson Mage story. Translation? This issue is really nothing more than two previously-conceived ideas head butting together to form a "new" story. Luckily, this issue was fortunate to have the immensely talented DeMatteis and Perlin team as its creators.
Since the title's revamp under Roger Stern and Bob Budiansky, with DeMatteis following on Stern's foot heels, even the most seemingly mediocre story ideas have been shining examples of great comics. This one is no exception, because despite the retread of ideas previously shown in the series we're still given the little touches by DeMatteis and Perlin that shows why they (and Stern and Budiansky) were so perfect for this series. It's made abundantly obvious throughout this issue just how much Blaze and Zarathos hate one another, with 75 issues of struggle finally being brought to the surface in the most literal way possible: a race through Hell itself to determine their mutual survival.
This story is also responsible for two very important moments in Ghost Rider history. "Half a Demon...Half a Man!" is where we finally learn the name of the demon attached to Johnny Blaze. Zarathos was once a dweller of Mephisto's Hell, and it's made clear here that it's not just Blaze who's cursed. Zarathos is cursed as well, due to being held back by Blaze's moral conscience. Truly a nice touch that adds lots of depth to the two characters. This story also permanently solidifies Mephisto as the "Satan" originally responsible for Blaze's curse way back at the series' beginning. This was previously hinted at in Roger Stern's first issue, a retcon origin sequence, but here it's set in stone. It's unclear as to whether Mephisto had been masquerading as Satan all these years or if it's just a sort of "ignore the old stories" style of retroactive continuity patches due to Johnny actually recognizing and calling Mephisto by name when he wakes up in Hell. Regardless, Mephisto's place in the Ghost Rider origins was solid until the most recent series, now that Daniel Way has placed more emphasis on Lucifer/Satan instead of Mephisto. Retcons abound, even for stories originally retconned 20 years ago.
Don Perlin, probably the longest running artist in Ghost Rider history, returns for another fill-in issue after his previous collaborations with DeMatteis ("Holding Onto Sally" and "The Tears of Adam Henderson"). While the tail-end of his run as the regular artist was beginning to show Perlin losing steam, he's constantly seemed re-energized with these fill-in issues. Granted, I'm not too keen on Zarathos' bare-bone-chested loin-cloth look, Perlin still does a good job illustrating the journey through Hell...obviously not an easy thing for an artist to do.
So even though this issue is a stock-plot riffing off previous stories, it's still a stock-plot with a fantastic creative team.
Grade: B+
Ghost Rider # 76 (volume 1)
Published: Jan. 1983
Original Price: $0.60
Cover: Bob Budiansky
Title: "Half A Demon...Half A Man!"
Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Artist: Don Perlin
Inker: Dave Simons
Letterer: Diana Albers
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Editor: Tom DeFalco
Editor In Chief: Jim Shooter