Sunday 25 September 2022

Marvel Spotlight #5. Ghost Rider: A legend is born!

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon
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Marvel Spotlight #5, Ghost Rider
The Ghost Rider. He was in two terrible movies that starred Nic Cage.

But, then again, he achieved the remarkable feat of single-handedly making TV's Agents of SHIELD actually watchable.

However, he didn't start out life on either the big screen or the small screen.

He started it on the small page.

The comic book page.

And here's where we take a look at that start, as we visit his first-ever adventure, thanks to the pages of Marvel Spotlight #5.

Marvel Spotlight was, of course, the book that first introduced the Son of Satan to the world, and all sane judges know the first Son of Satan tale's one of the comic book highlights of the 1970s. So, how will Gary Friedrich and Mike Ploog's offering compare to that one?

Ghost Rider, Marvel Spotlight #5, It Begins!
It's night time and a strange figure rides the streets of whatever town it is we're in.

It's the Ghost Rider, a motorcyclist with a flaming skull for a head.

Who is he?

Where's he from?

And doesn't he know it's illegal to ride without a helmet?

But he's not the only one crimeing on the streets tonight. So are two murderers who decide they should try to kill him because he's the only witness to their latest slaying.

Fools! As though the mighty Hell-spawned of Ghost Rider has anything to fear from the likes of them!

Well, it turns out he does because he's completely useless in a fight and has no choice but to flee them.

Marvel Spotlight #5, Ghost Rider, first appearance
Finally, trapped by a dead end, our hero must, at last, unleash his full power!

Of jumping off a plank, with his bike, allowing him to escape before they can hurt him.

But now it's dawn and, his pursuers left far behind, the terrifying figure transforms into a more conventional form. That of Johnny Blaze, motorbike stunt rider. And, here, we discover just how he got his amazing, "powers."

He's a man whose adoptive father - motorbike stunt rider Crash Simpson - had only a month to live, due to an unnamed disease. To prevent his death, Johnny struck a deal with the Devil who agreed that Simpson wouldn't die from the unnamed disease if Johnny agreed to become his servant in Hell.

Marvel Spotlight #5, Ghost Rider, Satan appears
For some reason, Johnny decided this was a great deal and eagerly said yes.

Happy as Larry with his pact with evil, Johnny was then shocked when Crash promptly lived up to his name and died in an attempt to jump over some cars. Thus, as promised, not dying from the disease.

And now that means Johnny must serve Satan!

Forever!

Except he mustn't. Just as Satan's about to take him to Hell, Johnny's girlfriend Roxanne shows up and drives the fiend away with the self-declared goodness of her soul. There's a woman with a high opinion of herself. One that's not necessarily justified by her behaviour at any other point in the book.

Thanks to that, whenever it's nighttime, Johnny Blaze turns into the Ghost Rider and zooms around the streets, on his bike, in order to avoid being seen by anyone. I'm not sure how riding around the streets, at night, with a flaming skull, making big motorbike noises, is a good way to avoid being noticed. Wouldn't it make more sense for him to just stay in his house?

Marvel Spotlight #5, Ghost Rider, Satan is back
I've already mentioned that the Nic Cage Ghost Rider movies are catastrophically bad but it's depressing to discover the original story's no better, stricken with clunky dialogue, unlikely behaviour and hateful characters.

Johnny's clearly a moron, having a level of trust in the Devil that makes you wonder if he knows who the Devil even is. At one point, he cheerfully reminds himself, "I have the Devil's word on it."

Not one of the characters is remotely likeable. His adoptive mother uses her deathbed as leverage to blackmail him into not riding a bike. His adoptive father keeps calling him a coward and trying to bully him into riding a bike. His girlfriend Roxanne makes it clear she's only willing to love him if he's willing to endanger his life every night.

And yet, somehow, he's willing to do anything for these people.

Marvel Spotlight #5, Ghost Rider, the death of Crash Simpson
Then again, he's not noticeably likeable himself. His reaction to the death of Simpson is to instantly climb aboard his bike and attempt to complete the stunt that just killed the man, leaving his body still warm on the floor and making no secret he's doing it purely for his own personal glory.

But perhaps the biggest letdown is just how pathetic the Ghost Rider himself is. There are clear parallels with the early Hulk, in him being a tortured soul who changes into his monstrous form at night but this is a very feeble Hulk who can't even fight off two perfectly normal criminals.

Granted, he does have the ability to fling a modest dollop of Hellfire from his index finger but, this being a 1970s comic, he's clearly not allowed to use it on people, just as the Valkyrie was never allowed to use her sword on them.

All in all, you don't really read this tale and think the character has any great potential. Nor do you feel any urge to read his future adventures.

With its clumsy dialogue, charmless characters and massive lapses in logic, it feels like something Atlas Comics would have produced. The difference being that, at least an Atlas take on the character would have seen him leaving a trail of corpses behind him. Admittedly, they'd be ones who'd been eaten by him.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great review, Steve!

Ghost Rider cashed in on both 1970s horror & the Evel Knievel boom!

True, he started out feeble, but by issue # 11, Ghost Rider defeated the Hulk (there's mud in your eye, Thor!), by making a circle of Hellfire round jade-jaws, and removing all his oxygen (despite Hellfire being a cold flame that doesn't burn!) I never understood why the Hulk didn't simply jump out of the Hellfire circle!

Nevertheless, Ghost Rider suddenly went from being unable to beat a couple of street toughs, to becoming the hardest superhero in the Marvel universe - almost overnight. That's progress for you!

Is this post the start of a Hallowe'en horror theme?

Phillip

Anonymous said...

King Charlie of Chicago proudly remembers buying this off the spinner in Gary, Indiana. Though King Charlie Would buy monster related comic books like where monsters dwell, he really was not into horror or Halloween type stories. But ghost rider sucked him in for at least a few issues. Excellent review Steve! King Charlie will have a proclamation read throughout the kingdom advising his loyal subjects to read this so forth and immediately!

Anonymous said...

Yeah, its hard to get more 70s than a motorbike stunt rider and Satan, Phillip. Although I suppose Marvel could have added martial arts to the mix, and given us Ghost Rider, Master of Kung Fu...

Steve, great review as ever, although I don't think you quite captured how terrible Marvel Spotlight #5 actually is. I mean, you didn't even mention that Johnny's girlfriend Roxanne is his sister!
Ok, she's his step-sister, but all the same it still gives the reader a better idea of just how unlikely and hateful the characters actually are.

Possibly it might have been worth giving Mike Ploog a bit of a shout? The artwork isn't great - its early on in his career - but I like the way the awkwardness of it gives off a vaguely underground vibe (recalling the work of Spain Rodriguez or some EC-influenced space cadet like that). Anyway, Ploog was still better than the comic deserved.

-sean

Anonymous said...

PS Perhaps someone could correct me if I'm wrong Steve, but I believe its legal to ride a motorbike without a helmet in most states of the land of the free.

-sean

Anonymous said...

Sean - Seemingly, the Simpson-Blaze family dynamic inspired equally distasteful copies!

In Doug Moench's Batman, Anton Knight is described, by Nocturna, as her "suitor" - despite she being his adopted sister!

Phillip

Steve W. said...

Sean, we definitely need our US friends to reveal the truth about US helmet laws.

You're right. I should have made more mention of Ploog.

Thanks, Phillip. It might be the start of such a themed run. I've not planned that far ahead yet.

Thanks, Charlie. :)

Anonymous said...

Interesting point on the Moench Batman there Phillip - maybe its just considered more acceptable in the US to cop off with step-siblings?
Perhaps I was insensitive to their cultural differences...

-sean

Anonymous said...

Sean - It's got nice Alfredo Alcala inks, too!

Phillip

Anonymous said...

Was it one of the ones pencilled by Gene Colan, Phillip? They made a really good team.

-sean

Anonymous said...

King Charlie of Chicago here. Helmet laws do vary by state. Many laws vary by state, hence one must be licensed by a given state to practice law, medicine, african hair braiding… hell i think in new jersey one is not allowed to turn right on a red light or pump their own gas. King Charlie thinks it’s stupid… very stupid to run the country like that. I mean shit.. this stupid doctor invented repressed memory syndrome at Rush Hospital in Chicago and when that was proven to be malarkey she fled to Washington State to start practicing IIRC.

Anonymous said...

Steve, I agree with every word of your critique — and yet I STILL have a soft spot in my heart for this comic. For sure, none of it makes a lick of sense, the characters are all ridiculously self-centered and inconsistent, and yes, our supposedly badass hero doesn’t actually do much of anything. And yet I’ve read this issue many times and think it’s just incredibly entertaining. Ploog’s funky art does much of the heavy lifting, but I have to admit to finding Friedrich’s bonkers ‘Making it up as I go’ storytelling strangely charming.

And your observation about it feeling almost like an Atlas comic is spot on — and you know I love the hell out of those things too!

I vote for more Halloween themed comics coverage in the coming weeks, as well….

b.t.

Anonymous said...

Sean - It's (# 363 ) Don Newton & Alfredo Alcala (issue with Anton Knight as "suitor"). I've also got # 530, however, which IS Gene Colan & Giordano. Both issues are good!

Phillip

Colin Jones said...

Nothing to do with the topic but I saw a rat in my back garden this morning. I've lived in my house since 2002 without ever seeing such a thing. This country is going rapidly downhill and now the rats are out in force so it'll be the zombies next...

Anonymous said...

Colin - Rats are a recurring problem where I live. Last year they were in the loft. I don't like to kill things, but the rats became very noisy at night. Eventually I got the council rat-man, who needed about 5 or 6 visits, to fettle the rats (turns out it was a very large family group). Anyway, now some more rats have returned - but they are not in the loft, yet (touch wood). I think rats either get driven ahead of the combine harvesters, into people's gardens, or fruit trees attract them. Also, about 6 months ago, my car's mileage was terrible (plus a couple of other problems), so I took it to the garage. They guy said a rubber fuel hose had been chewed through, and asked if I'd parked it anywhere where there were rats & mice!

Phillip

Anonymous said...

Colin - Forgot to mention bird-feeders - they attract rats, too, what with the bits that get dropped under the bird-feeder!

Phillip

Anonymous said...

Rats? Thats nothing Colin - in London, polio is making a comeback!

b.t. - I know what you mean about having a soft spot for terrible comics anyway.
The main characteristic of those short-lived second tier Marvels in the three or four years on from '72 is the slack editorial oversight, so you get all sorts of crazy stuff that could be really good - eg Gerber's Man-Thing, the Jungle Action-era Panther - or shockingly bad, but either way theres an energetic quality to them.

Finding Gary Friedrich's Ghost Rider charming might be going a bit far though.

-sean

Anonymous said...

Sean, I think Friedrich’s GHOST RIDER scripts get even weirder and more slapdash over the course of his run. And sleazier too — there’s a somewhat sketchy Trash Cinema vibe to the book, with outlaw Biker gangs on the loose, supposed Native American mysticism and Satanic / Occult shenanigans out in the desert. Once Tony Isabella takes over as writer, it becomes a much more run-of-the-mill Marvel Superhero book, and frankly a lot less interesting IMO.

b.t.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I remember those issues, b.t. - Snake Dance, and Linda Little Trees, the Witch Woman.
So yeah, I do have admit they stick in the mind. If you enjoy that kind of thing, try the last couple of issues of Red Wolf, the ones after the western stuff, set 'Now! In the holocaust of today!' They're about biker gangs and dubious Native American nonsense too - with a dash of added Lady Cop - and actually manage to be even worse.

Fair point on Tony Isabella.

On the subject of continuing the theme, I would be interested in Steve's take on the next Marvel Spotlight character, Son of Satan. Seeing as how he's a fan, and the first couple of issues were written by Friedrich...

-sean

Colin Jones said...

Phil, a large family of rats in the loft sounds horrific. On rare occasions I've heard noises from my loft but when I investigate I can't see anything. Although I've never seen a rat in my garden before I have seen rats in the local vicinity so I was probably just lucky up till now!

Anonymous said...

Ah, a quick click on the tag, and I see you've already done a few Son of Satan reviews, Steve, including the early Spotlights. I will check 'em out...

-sean

Anonymous said...

I don't think I've ever seen a live rat in my life.
I've seen a dead one or two, floating...I heard an interesting thing on NPR a while back. Or maybe I read it somewhere, I forget.
Anyway, this guy, who's a scientist, is saying if you see a rat out in the open, in broad daylight, that usually means that rat is a pariah. He's been cast out of his rat community for some reason or other. He's hungry and desperate and ready to take chances.
Or he could be rabid. I know seeing a skunk during daytime is a cause for extreme caution.
Or anytime, for that matter.
Anyway, this scientist said that while rats are extremely intelligent and highly social, the difference between a domesticated lab rat and a feral one is like the difference between a poodle and a coyote.

M.P.

Anonymous said...

Colin - For a long time, I investigated noises in the loft, and found nothing (I imagine the rats hid, hearing the loft hatch). Eventually, however, the rats couldn't care less, and, in the loft, I saw one running across the loft insulation.

Even after the council rat-man announced it was over, that still wasn't the end of it, as flies started appearing on inside windows, during the day. The rats' corpses must have been hog-heaven for maggots, etc, going through their life-cycle. After about 3 weeks, I thought to put tape round the loft hatch sides, and eventually the problem ceased.

M.P. - As regards feral rats, what surprised me is they're not scared of cats at all. One walked right past a dozing cat! Cats do catch smaller, young rats, though.

Phillip