Ghost Rider: Vengeance Unbound

GHOST RIDER # 78 (volume 1)

SYNOPSIS
From their position in Nightmare's dream dimension, the Lord of Dreams shows Zarathos, the Ghost Rider, an image from Earth. Johnny Blaze is strapped down and unconscious, ready to be operated on by Renaldo's surgeons. The Ghost Rider asks why Nightmare has agreed to help rid him of Blaze, to which the demon replies that he has come across several mortals that were driven to nightmare by Zarathos. If the Ghost Rider were to ride unfettered through Earth, then he would be able to cause enough terror to feed Nightmare for all time.

Meanwhile, though his body lay unconscious on the operating table, Johnny's mind is trapped in the dream dimension, riding a motorcycle across a winding road of unreality. He hears a voice calling his name and decides to seek it out, eventually finding his deceased step-mother, Mona Simpson. Mona rejects Johnny's attempt to hug her, saying that he has broken the promise he made to her on her deathbed, that he would never ride in a cycle show again. Before Johnny can reply, he is interrupted by Elliot, the criminal formerly known as the Clown, whose mind was destroyed by the Ghost Rider. In the dream realm, Elliot has returned to his rightful mental state, but says that in the real world, he may never recover from what the Rider did to him. Suddenly, the two are startled by Zarathos, who races by on his hellcycle and grabs Mona, riding away with her deeper into the Dream Dimension. Johnny and Elliot get on Blaze's cycle to follow, with the former Clown acting as a guide to the realm. He takes Johnny to a cemetery, where he encounters the ghost of his father, Barton Blaze. The two race off on their cycles, where Barton calls his son a whining wash-out. When Blaze lays the blame on the demon inside him, Barton simply laughs, his skin burning away to reveal the skeletal face of Zarathos, and zooms off on the hellcycle.

Elliot calms down the distraught Johnny, who is desperately trying to make himself wake up. He takes Blaze to the top of a large mountain, to three men that can possibly help him. Dr. Strange, Daimon Hellstrom, and Dr. Druid offer no help at all, going so far as to call Johnny a coward and a disappointment. Blaze then finds himself in the hospital room of Crash Simpson, who is dying from cancer. When Blaze protests that he saved Crash from the cancer, he is then forced to relive Simpson's fatal motorcycle crash. As Simpson dies in his arms, he tells Johnny that he would have preferred the cancer. Crash then transforms into the Ghost Rider, still holding the screaming Mona Simpson, and disappears in a flash of hellfire.

Johnny and Elliot once again chase after Zarathos, but are again stopped by a person from Blaze's past. Johnny finds Roxanne Simpson, who fails to recognize him as the man she fell in love with. Another Blaze then appears, one that's well-dressed and wealthy, to whom Roxanne runs. This second Blaze transforms into Mephisto, devours Roxanne, and fades away. Elliot then points out the Ghost Rider, who is frying Mona with his hellfire. Swirling around the two are the souls of every person that Zarathos has punished, which Elliot blames on Johnny, saying that the Ghost Rider is directed by his own guilt and failures. Johnny leaps at Zarathos, determined to save Mona, but is instead burned by the hellfire himself. Strangely, Blaze does not resist the hellfire, but instead embraces it as punishment for all the souls he's damned in his life. Elliot then transforms into Nightmare and tells Zarathos that the mental wall between he and Blaze is gone, broken down along with Johnny's own sense of self-worth. Zarathos races out of the Dream Dimension, leaving Johnny to fry in a never-ending cycle of hellfire.

On Earth, just as the surgeons prepare to cut into Blaze's body, the Ghost Rider emerges and breaks free. Zarathos, uninhibited by Johnny's will, quickly slaughters the medical crew and Renaldo's small band of freaks. The demon then finds Renaldo himself hiding in the corner, afraid that Zarathos will burn him with hellfire again. The demon approaches and says that tearing Renaldo limb from limb would be much more interesting. Back in the Dream Dimension, Johnny writhes in the hellfire, completely defeated. Suddenly, the true spirit of Mona Simpson rises from the flames and tells Johnny that his ability to keep the demon restrained all these years has saved countless numbers of people, and that if he gives up now then Zarathos will have a free reign on Earth. Unwilling to let that happen, Johnny regains his will and dives through the hellfire, making it back to his motorcycle. As he rides toward the exit of the Dream Dimension, Nightmare attempts to block his path, but is unsuccessful. Johnny escapes, determined to wrest back control over his body. At that moment, back on Earth, the Ghost Rider prepares to deal Renaldo the death blow. Before he can, however, Johnny manages to fight his way back into possession of their form, stopping Zarathos spree of terror. Renaldo cowers on the floor, saying that he knows the demon will come back. Johnny simply replies "Not if I can help it."

ANNOTATIONS
Zarathos was shown his true origin by Nightmare in Ghost Rider # 77 (vol. 1).

Mona and Crash Simpson both died in Marvel Spotlight # 5.

Eliot, the Clown, was fried by hellfire in Ghost Rider # 73 (vol. 1).

This issue was reprinted in The Original Ghost Rider Rides Again # 6.

REVIEW
Courtesy of J.M. DeMatteis and Bob Budiansky, we readers are given an incredibly introspective (and thoroughly depressing) look into the mind and nightmares of Johnny Blaze. Naturally, its a subject that interests DeMatteis greatly, as similar approaches are seen in his later work with characters like Spider-Man and the Green Goblin.

But that's beside the point, because we're here to talk about Johnny Blaze, who is trapped in Nightmare's Dream Dimension while Zarathos reigns amok in the waking world. Via Nightmare's realm we're treated to a "greatest hits" walk-through of Johnny's life, seeing such characters as Mona, Crash, and Roxanne Simpson for the first time in years (even though, yes, its not really them). That's actually one thing I've failed to mention about this book's relaunch under Stern and DeMatteis that I enjoyed so much, the book's earlier history coming back into play within the series. That was something that really fell to the wayside under Michael Fleisher's long tenure as writer, and the long absence of things like Roxanne (who comes back for real in a few issues time) makes me glad to see them. Absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder, it would seem.

More so than nearly any other writer at the time, save for Steve Gerber, DeMatteis really enjoyed diving into his characters' heads and seeing what made them tick on a psychological level. That approach led to some really deep storytelling and characterization, and this issue is a perfect example of the type of story gold he could mine from such an approach. DeMatteis gets Johnny Blaze as a character, and here he lays out exactly what Blaze's core motivational emotion is: guilt. Everything around him has been destroyed since he became the Ghost Rider, and while it would be easy to take the pity route (and not illogical, as its been established that the Ghost Rider is a separate being) the character instead blames himself for every single person that's been hurt by Zarathos over the years. Nightmare and Zarathos use that guilt that weighs Johnny, in fact they nearly destroy him with it; but its that same guilt and sense of responsibility that allows Johnny to rise back up and reclaim his body. Yes, he feels responsible for every person the Ghost Rider has fried with hellfire over the years, but he also knows its his responsibility alone to keep Zarathos under control. It would be easy to lie down and let his guilt overwhelm him, trapping him in a nightmare, but he just can't allow it to happen. Blaze may be dim at times, but he's a hero regardless.

Bob Budiansky continues as the series' artist, and his work hits all of the emotional beats set up by DeMatteis' script. It certainly can't be easy for an artist to draw something like Nightmare's realm, of which there's nothing in the real world to draw any kind of reference from, but Budiansky makes it look simple. He's just a great draftsman, that's all there is to it. One particularly nice touch is the sequence that shows Zarathos frying Mona with hellfire, and rising up are the faces of all the people whose souls were burned since the start of Budiansky's run.

Its this mature approach to the characters that really made Ghost Rider excel during its last year, and it really makes me wonder where these two creators would have taken the series had it not been cancelled.

Grade: A+

VENGEANCE UNBOUND
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GHOST RIDER # 78 (volume 1) SYNOPSIS From their position in Nightmare's dream dimension, the Lord of Dreams shows Zarathos, the Ghost Rider, an image from Earth. Johnny Blaze is strapped down and unconscious, ready to be operated on by Renaldo's surgeons. The Ghost Rider asks why Nightmare has agreed to help rid him of Blaze, to which the demon replies that he has come across several mortals that were driven to nightmare by Zarathos. If the Ghost Rider were to ride unfettered through Earth, then he would be able to cause enough terror to feed Nightmare for all time. Meanwhile, though his body lay unconscious on the operating table, Johnny's mind is trapped in the dream dimension, riding a motorcycle across a winding road of unreality. He hears a voice calling his name and decides to seek it out, eventually finding his deceased step-mother, Mona Simpson. Mona rejects Johnny's attempt to hug her, saying that he has broken the promise he made to her on her deathbed, that he would never ride in a cycle show again. Before Johnny can reply, he is interrupted by Elliot, the criminal formerly known as the Clown, whose mind was destroyed by the Ghost Rider. In the dream realm, Elliot has returned to his rightful mental state, but says that in the real world, he may never recover from what the Rider did to him. Suddenly, the two are startled by Zarathos, who races by on his hellcycle and grabs Mona, riding away with her deeper into the Dream Dimension. Johnny and Elliot get on Blaze's cycle to follow, with the former Clown acting as a guide to the realm. He takes Johnny to a cemetery, where he encounters the ghost of his father, Barton Blaze. The two race off on their cycles, where Barton calls his son a whining wash-out. When Blaze lays the blame on the demon inside him, Barton simply laughs, his skin burning away to reveal the skeletal face of Zarathos, and zooms off on the hellcycle. Elliot calms down the distraught Johnny, who is desperately trying to make himself wake up. He takes Blaze to the top of a large mountain, to three men that can possibly help him. Dr. Strange, Daimon Hellstrom, and Dr. Druid offer no help at all, going so far as to call Johnny a coward and a disappointment. Blaze then finds himself in the hospital room of Crash Simpson, who is dying from cancer. When Blaze protests that he saved Crash from the cancer, he is then forced to relive Simpson's fatal motorcycle crash. As Simpson dies in his arms, he tells Johnny that he would have preferred the cancer. Crash then transforms into the Ghost Rider, still holding the screaming Mona Simpson, and disappears in a flash of hellfire. Johnny and Elliot once again chase after Zarathos, but are again stopped by a person from Blaze's past. Johnny finds Roxanne Simpson, who fails to recognize him as the man she fell in love with. Another Blaze then appears, one that's well-dressed and wealthy, to whom Roxanne runs. This second Blaze transforms into Mephisto, devours Roxanne, and fades away. Elliot then points out the Ghost Rider, who is frying Mona with his hellfire. Swirling around the two are the souls of every person that Zarathos has punished, which Elliot blames on Johnny, saying that the Ghost Rider is directed by his own guilt and failures. Johnny leaps at Zarathos, determined to save Mona, but is instead burned by the hellfire himself. Strangely, Blaze does not resist the hellfire, but instead embraces it as punishment for all the souls he's damned in his life. Elliot then transforms into Nightmare and tells Zarathos that the mental wall between he and Blaze is gone, broken down along with Johnny's own sense of self-worth. Zarathos races out of the Dream Dimension, leaving Johnny to fry in a never-ending cycle of hellfire. On Earth, just as the surgeons prepare to cut into Blaze's body, the Ghost Rider emerges and breaks free. Zarathos, uninhibited by Johnny's will, quickly slaughters the medical crew and Renaldo's small band of freaks. The demon then finds Renaldo himself hiding in the corner, afraid that Zarathos will burn him with hellfire again. The demon approaches and says that tearing Renaldo limb from limb would be much more interesting. Back in the Dream Dimension, Johnny writhes in the hellfire, completely defeated. Suddenly, the true spirit of Mona Simpson rises from the flames and tells Johnny that his ability to keep the demon restrained all these years has saved countless numbers of people, and that if he gives up now then Zarathos will have a free reign on Earth. Unwilling to let that happen, Johnny regains his will and dives through the hellfire, making it back to his motorcycle. As he rides toward the exit of the Dream Dimension, Nightmare attempts to block his path, but is unsuccessful. Johnny escapes, determined to wrest back control over his body. At that moment, back on Earth, the Ghost Rider prepares to deal Renaldo the death blow. Before he can, however, Johnny manages to fight his way back into possession of their form, stopping Zarathos spree of terror. Renaldo cowers on the floor, saying that he knows the demon will come back. Johnny simply replies "Not if I can help it." ANNOTATIONS Zarathos was shown his true origin by Nightmare in Ghost Rider # 77 (vol. 1). Mona and Crash Simpson both died in Marvel Spotlight # 5. Eliot, the Clown, was fried by hellfire in Ghost Rider # 73 (vol. 1). This issue was reprinted in The Original Ghost Rider Rides Again # 6. REVIEW Courtesy of J.M. DeMatteis and Bob Budiansky, we readers are given an incredibly introspective (and thoroughly depressing) look into the mind and nightmares of Johnny Blaze. Naturally, its a subject that interests DeMatteis greatly, as similar approaches are seen in his later work with characters like Spider-Man and the Green Goblin. But that's beside the point, because we're here to talk about Johnny Blaze, who is trapped in Nightmare's Dream Dimension while Zarathos reigns amok in the waking world. Via Nightmare's realm we're treated to a "greatest hits" walk-through of Johnny's life, seeing such characters as Mona, Crash, and Roxanne Simpson for the first time in years (even though, yes, its not really them). That's actually one thing I've failed to mention about this book's relaunch under Stern and DeMatteis that I enjoyed so much, the book's earlier history coming back into play within the series. That was something that really fell to the wayside under Michael Fleisher's long tenure as writer, and the long absence of things like Roxanne (who comes back for real in a few issues time) makes me glad to see them. Absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder, it would seem. More so than nearly any other writer at the time, save for Steve Gerber, DeMatteis really enjoyed diving into his characters' heads and seeing what made them tick on a psychological level. That approach led to some really deep storytelling and characterization, and this issue is a perfect example of the type of story gold he could mine from such an approach. DeMatteis gets Johnny Blaze as a character, and here he lays out exactly what Blaze's core motivational emotion is: guilt. Everything around him has been destroyed since he became the Ghost Rider, and while it would be easy to take the pity route (and not illogical, as its been established that the Ghost Rider is a separate being) the character instead blames himself for every single person that's been hurt by Zarathos over the years. Nightmare and Zarathos use that guilt that weighs Johnny, in fact they nearly destroy him with it; but its that same guilt and sense of responsibility that allows Johnny to rise back up and reclaim his body. Yes, he feels responsible for every person the Ghost Rider has fried with hellfire over the years, but he also knows its his responsibility alone to keep Zarathos under control. It would be easy to lie down and let his guilt overwhelm him, trapping him in a nightmare, but he just can't allow it to happen. Blaze may be dim at times, but he's a hero regardless. Bob Budiansky continues as the series' artist, and his work hits all of the emotional beats set up by DeMatteis' script. It certainly can't be easy for an artist to draw something like Nightmare's realm, of which there's nothing in the real world to draw any kind of reference from, but Budiansky makes it look simple. He's just a great draftsman, that's all there is to it. One particularly nice touch is the sequence that shows Zarathos frying Mona with hellfire, and rising up are the faces of all the people whose souls were burned since the start of Budiansky's run. Its this mature approach to the characters that really made Ghost Rider excel during its last year, and it really makes me wonder where these two creators would have taken the series had it not been cancelled. Grade: A+	Ghost Rider # 78 (volume 1) Published: March 1983 Original Price: $0.60 Cover: Bob Budiansky Title: "The Empire of Sleep!" Writer: J.M. DeMatteis Artist: Bob Budiansky Inker: Kevin Dzubin Letterer: Joe Rosen Colorist: Bob Sharen Editor: Tom DeFalco Editor In Chief: Jim Shooter