Ghost Rider: Vengeance Unbound

SPIDER-MAN # 6

SYNOPSIS
In an abandoned warehouse in New York City, the Hobgoblin rages against the voices in his head. The villain has gone religiously insane since his transformation into a demon, and has kidnapped and imprisoned dozens of innocent people that he deems to be "sinners". He approaches a woman and her child and tells her that he is doing the work of God, eliminating the sinners from the world. He kills the woman by suffocating her, but takes a liking to her little boy when he doesn't shy away from his hideous face. He frees the boy and hugs him.

In Brooklyn, the Ghost Rider holds a priest off a building ledge, accusing the holy man of being a sexual predator of children. The priest denies that he's done anything wrong, and in response the Rider drops him a dozen stories to the alley below. Unbelievably, Ghost Rider catches the priest on the ground, saving his life only to give him the penance stare. At daybreak, Peter Parker sneaks out of his house, but is caught by his wife, Mary Jane. Peter kisses her goodbye and swings out into the city as Spider-Man.

Meanwhile, Hobgoblin and the boy leave the warehouse, which the villain destroys with a pumpkin bomb that kills all of his victims inside. The police investigate the scene afterward, learning that the Hobgoblin was responsible. From a nearby alleyway, Ghost Rider watches and listens. Spider-Man attempts to track his enemy down by questioning a drug user that he leaves webbed to a wall while his cocaine blows away in the wind. Ghost Rider gathers his own information by attacking a gun runner that knows the Hobgoblin's location.

At a new empty warehouse, Hobgoblin converses with the boy he kidnapped, complimenting him on converting to his beliefs. Spider-Man enters and attempts to talk to Hobgoblin while removing the boy to safety, but the Goblin believes Spider-Man to be a Devil come to challenge his faith. Hobgoblin and Spider-Man battle briefly before the boy asks Spider-Man to leave his new friend alone. Spider-Man finally sees the boy's face, which is now partly demonic like the Goblin's. While this is happening, the Ghost Rider nears the warehouse.

ANNOTATIONS
This story takes place between Ghost Rider # 7 (vol. 2) and Ghost Rider # 8 (vol. 2).

Hobgoblin was transformed into a true demon by N'astirh in Spectacular Spider-Man # 147, which was part of the "Inferno" crossover.

Spider-Man first encountered the original Ghost Rider in Marvel Team-Up # 15. He battled the demon Zarathos after his separation from Johnny Blaze in Amazing Spider-Man # 274.

REVIEW
Spider-Man was the last of the "Heroes for the 1990s" titles premiered by Marvel, of which the revamped Ghost Rider was also a part. Given to artist Todd McFarlane as a vehicle for him to both write and draw Spider-Man, this book dealt with much darker and disturbing subjects than the typical Spider-Man titles.

Let's face it, Todd McFarlane was absolutely on fire in the late 80s and early 90s, making his new Spider-Man series Marvel's # 1 seller (until Jim Lee's X-Men # 1 debuted a year or so later) despite the artist being every bit the amateur when it came to writing as well as illustrating. He was on a steep learning curve, as he was too big of a sales draw for Marvel to deny his request to write, while at the same time his first story-arc "Torment" drew critical fire for its frankly disturbing imagery with a character usually used for much lighter fare. This 2-part story-arc, "Masques", continued the trend of darker stories with another revamped villain, the Hobgoblin, in place of the Lizard from the first arc. I bought and read McFarlane's Spider-Man series when it was being released, and for the most part I enjoyed it. But to be fair, I tended to enjoy darker fare in the comics I read, so I was very much in the target demographic for the series.

The most important aspect of this issue, however, is that McFarlane deemed the new Ghost Rider – still in its first year of publication as well – enough of a sales draw to use in Marvel's highest selling title. If critics were still refusing to accept that Ghost Rider had arrived as the "next big thing", this was the point at which their denials completely lost the ability to hold water. McFarlane's choice to use the new Ghost Rider in his second story on Spider-Man speaks just as much to the talents of Howard Mackie and Javier Saltares for making the new character interesting enough to make an immediate impact on the wider Marvel line. Of course, this was the starting point for what would eventually become an over-saturating of the character, to the point where he was guest-appearing in nearly every title Marvel produced (the death knell being his appearance in several Marvel UK titles).

I distinctly remember that the decision to make Hobgoblin a religious nutcase was met with a bit of controversy, which is understandable given the nature of religion in this country. I felt it to be a fairly logical progression for the character, even though as critics of the story mentioned the character had no established religious background to speak of. But if you had been transformed into a hideously demonic form, would a leap into religion with its demons and angels and Heaven and Hell be so unlikely? I give McFarlane credit for not shying away from large, potentially controversial, themes in his first writing attempts – I remember the third arc with Wolverine being about animal abuse, right? And the fourth, with Morbius, being about the state of the homeless in New York?

Whatever you may think of McFarlane's writing, one can hardly deny the man's artistic gift. In particular, Todd draws one hell of a mean-looking Ghost Rider with flames that look like their going to leap off the page. I remember an interview with Mark Texeira during his stint on Ghost Rider where he admits that his approach to drawing the Rider's flames was completely reevaluated after he saw McFarlane's rendition.

The story gets credit for sheer moxie, even if the problems with having an untested writer are evident. Despite its problems, I've always liked this arc.

Grade: B+

VENGEANCE UNBOUND
HOME l MISCELLANEOUS APPEARANCES l PREVIOUS l NEXT
SPIDER-MAN # 6 SYNOPSIS In an abandoned warehouse in New York City, the Hobgoblin rages against the voices in his head. The villain has gone religiously insane since his transformation into a demon, and has kidnapped and imprisoned dozens of innocent people that he deems to be "sinners". He approaches a woman and her child and tells her that he is doing the work of God, eliminating the sinners from the world. He kills the woman by suffocating her, but takes a liking to her little boy when he doesn't shy away from his hideous face. He frees the boy and hugs him. In Brooklyn, the Ghost Rider holds a priest off a building ledge, accusing the holy man of being a sexual predator of children. The priest denies that he's done anything wrong, and in response the Rider drops him a dozen stories to the alley below. Unbelievably, Ghost Rider catches the priest on the ground, saving his life only to give him the penance stare. At daybreak, Peter Parker sneaks out of his house, but is caught by his wife, Mary Jane. Peter kisses her goodbye and swings out into the city as Spider-Man. Meanwhile, Hobgoblin and the boy leave the warehouse, which the villain destroys with a pumpkin bomb that kills all of his victims inside. The police investigate the scene afterward, learning that the Hobgoblin was responsible. From a nearby alleyway, Ghost Rider watches and listens. Spider-Man attempts to track his enemy down by questioning a drug user that he leaves webbed to a wall while his cocaine blows away in the wind. Ghost Rider gathers his own information by attacking a gun runner that knows the Hobgoblin's location. At a new empty warehouse, Hobgoblin converses with the boy he kidnapped, complimenting him on converting to his beliefs. Spider-Man enters and attempts to talk to Hobgoblin while removing the boy to safety, but the Goblin believes Spider-Man to be a Devil come to challenge his faith. Hobgoblin and Spider-Man battle briefly before the boy asks Spider-Man to leave his new friend alone. Spider-Man finally sees the boy's face, which is now partly demonic like the Goblin's. While this is happening, the Ghost Rider nears the warehouse. ANNOTATIONS This story takes place between Ghost Rider # 7 (vol. 2) and Ghost Rider # 8 (vol. 2). Hobgoblin was transformed into a true demon by N'astirh in Spectacular Spider-Man # 147, which was part of the "Inferno" crossover. Spider-Man first encountered the original Ghost Rider in Marvel Team-Up # 15. He battled the demon Zarathos after his separation from Johnny Blaze in Amazing Spider-Man # 274. REVIEW Spider-Man was the last of the "Heroes for the 1990s" titles premiered by Marvel, of which the revamped Ghost Rider was also a part. Given to artist Todd McFarlane as a vehicle for him to both write and draw Spider-Man, this book dealt with much darker and disturbing subjects than the typical Spider-Man titles. Let's face it, Todd McFarlane was absolutely on fire in the late 80s and early 90s, making his new Spider-Man series Marvel's # 1 seller (until Jim Lee's X-Men # 1 debuted a year or so later) despite the artist being every bit the amateur when it came to writing as well as illustrating. He was on a steep learning curve, as he was too big of a sales draw for Marvel to deny his request to write, while at the same time his first story-arc "Torment" drew critical fire for its frankly disturbing imagery with a character usually used for much lighter fare. This 2-part story-arc, "Masques", continued the trend of darker stories with another revamped villain, the Hobgoblin, in place of the Lizard from the first arc. I bought and read McFarlane's Spider-Man series when it was being released, and for the most part I enjoyed it. But to be fair, I tended to enjoy darker fare in the comics I read, so I was very much in the target demographic for the series. The most important aspect of this issue, however, is that McFarlane deemed the new Ghost Rider – still in its first year of publication as well – enough of a sales draw to use in Marvel's highest selling title. If critics were still refusing to accept that Ghost Rider had arrived as the "next big thing", this was the point at which their denials completely lost the ability to hold water. McFarlane's choice to use the new Ghost Rider in his second story on Spider-Man speaks just as much to the talents of Howard Mackie and Javier Saltares for making the new character interesting enough to make an immediate impact on the wider Marvel line. Of course, this was the starting point for what would eventually become an over-saturating of the character, to the point where he was guest-appearing in nearly every title Marvel produced (the death knell being his appearance in several Marvel UK titles). I distinctly remember that the decision to make Hobgoblin a religious nutcase was met with a bit of controversy, which is understandable given the nature of religion in this country. I felt it to be a fairly logical progression for the character, even though as critics of the story mentioned the character had no established religious background to speak of. But if you had been transformed into a hideously demonic form, would a leap into religion with its demons and angels and Heaven and Hell be so unlikely? I give McFarlane credit for not shying away from large, potentially controversial, themes in his first writing attempts – I remember the third arc with Wolverine being about animal abuse, right? And the fourth, with Morbius, being about the state of the homeless in New York? Whatever you may think of McFarlane's writing, one can hardly deny the man's artistic gift. In particular, Todd draws one hell of a mean-looking Ghost Rider with flames that look like their going to leap off the page. I remember an interview with Mark Texeira during his stint on Ghost Rider where he admits that his approach to drawing the Rider's flames was completely reevaluated after he saw McFarlane's rendition. The story gets credit for sheer moxie, even if the problems with having an untested writer are evident. Despite its problems, I've always liked this arc. Grade: B+	Spider-Man # 6 Published: Jan. 1991 Original Price: $1.75 Cover: Todd McFarlane Title: "Masques", Part 1 Writer: Todd McFarlane Artist: Todd McFarlane Letterer: Rick Parker Colorist: Gregory Wright Editor: Jim Salicrup Editor-In-Chief: Tom DeFalco