SLEEPWALKER # 11
SYNOPSIS
In Prospect Park, New York, an hour before dawn, the alien Sleepwalker is held captive by Colonel Tolliver Smith, director of the Office of Insufficient Evidence, whose soldiers have successfully defeated the misunderstood hero. Sleepwalker finds that he is unable to project his "warp vision" due to a pair of goggled attached to his head. Smith tells him that their investigations revealed that the alien periodically disappears into the mind of an unknown person, and that the goggles attached to his face won't allow any energy out. But, Smith tells him as he fires a special energy canon at the alien, they will allow energy in...and that the canon is returning all of the energy residue collected from the places Sleepwalker had used his warp beam. When he returns to his human host's mind, the goggles will fall off and the resulting energy release will destroy the human's mind.
Outside the park, Dan Ketch is riding back home when he's stopped by the police barricade. Seeing all of the injured people in the area, Dan undergoes the transformation into the Ghost Rider, who easily rides over the barricade. With a crack of his chain, he frees Sleepwalker from the device holding him, then turns to take on the soldiers. Sleepwalker, still shaky from his defeat, approaches and stops the Ghost Rider from giving Tolliver the penance stare, not wanting anyone else to be harmed because of him. Ghost Rider then believes that Sleepwalker is a traitor for daring to betray the freedom he had given the alien and punches him across the park. Despite Sleepwalker's attempts to calm him, the Rider continues his attack, eventually wrapping his chain around the alien's neck and dragging him along the ground. Sleepwalker floats as high into the air as possible, pulling Ghost Rider - bike and all - with him, then falls and slams his opponent into the ground. The battle takes them through the ground into a subway line, where a train collides into them. They carry the battle into the grain, both heroes mad with anger. But, just as the Ghost Rider prepares to lay the final blow, Sleepwalker begins to fade away as his human host - Rick Sheridan - stirs in his sleep. Sleepwalker begs Ghost Rider to kill him, otherwise his human host will die if he awakens. He tells the Rider that he stopped him from punishing Smith because he is the only person who can remove the goggles from his face. Realizing his mistake, Ghost Rider agrees to help.
Back in the park, Tolliver is moving all of his troops and vehicles out of the area, but are blocked by a crowd of people who hold him responsible for all of the destruction to the neighborhood. Ghost Rider and Sleepwalker arrive back on the scene and immediately grab Smith. The Ghost Rider begrudgingly agrees to not to hurt him if he removes the goggles from Sleepwalker's face, and when the device falls off the energy contained bursts free, destroying most of Smith's vehicles and equipment. The Ghost Rider rides off, but Sleepwalker grabs Tolliver, telling him that he made NO promise not to harm him. But, at that moment, Rick's alarm goes off, waking him...and causing the Sleepwalker to fade away before he can do anything to Smith.
ANNOTATIONS
Ghost Rider and Sleepwalker will meet again in Spider-Man # 22.
This story takes place between Ghost Rider # 24 (vol. 2) and Ghost Rider # 25 (vol. 2).
REVIEW
Ah, Sleepwalker, one of the under-appreciated gems of early 90s Marvel. The series focused on the alien Sleepwalker, who was trapped in the mind of a college boy named Rick Sheridan. Only when Rick was asleep could the Sleepwalker come out into our world to fight injustice and protect a humanity that more often than not ran screaming from him. Along with Ghost Rider and Darkhawk, Sleepwalker helped to bring in some new blood to Marvel's roster of characters...and for slightly different reasons, the series is important to Ghost Rider fans. Created by Bob Budiansky, former artist on the original Ghost Rider series, and Bret Blevins, future artist on the second Ghost Rider series, Sleepwalker was a fun title that's usually forgotten by readers today.
This issue, actually, is a prime example of how good the series was in its first year, and it contains one of the best guest appearances of the Ghost Rider from this period of time. But that's not surprising, considering that Bob Budiansky was one of the people responsible for the greatness that was the last year of the first Ghost Rider series. While the Ghost Rider is perhaps presented as a tad more ruthless than in his own series, Budiansky definitely drives home the fact that the Rider is akin to a force of nature more than anything else. When not even Sleepwalker, the hero of the series, is able to stop him...well, that certainly means that Budiansky realizes what a bad-ass mo-fo the Ghost Rider really is.
And what a fight it is between the two vigilantes, illustrated drop-dead perfectly by Bret Blevins. When Blevins was later named the successor to Andy Kubert on the regular Ghost Rider series, I was elated based on the artist's work with the character in this issue. But while Blevins work on Ghost Rider was mediocre at best, his work on this issue - and the entire Sleepwalker run - was absolutely excellent.
So, while the story certainly isn't important in the larger scheme of the Ghost Rider series, I'd certainly recommend any fan of the character to pick this issue up. And while you're at it, track down the rest of the first 15 or so issues of Sleepwalker...I guarantee you won't be disappointed.
Grade: A+
Sleepwalker # 11
Published: April. 1992
Original Price: $1.25
Cover: Bret Blevins
Title: "Ghost of a Chance!"
Writer: Bob Budiansky
Artist: Bret Blevins
Inkers: Jimmy Palmiotti & Michael Bair
Letterer: Richard Starkings
Colorist: Marie Javins
Editor: Don Daley
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco