Marvel Spotlight #5-8

Marvel Spotlight #5-8

Originally released in 1972

Written by Gary Friedrich

Art by Mike Ploog

One section of Marvel that I haven't touched upon is Ghost Rider - there have been several of them (including one in the Wild West and one in the future of 2099), though I'm focusing on the origin of Johnny Blaze for today.  Johnny's first issue is filled to the brim with traumatic events: his father dies in a stunt performance gone wrong, the wife of his dad's boss (who takes him in) dies from burns after saving Johnny from a motorcycle crash (and makes him swear as she's dying that he won't ride a motorcycle in a stunt show again), and his dad's boss "Crash" Simpson finds out that he has a disease which isn't stated, but is heavily implied to be cancer.

Oddly enough, Johnny never tells anyone about his deathbed promise, even though it leads to him being branded as a coward and forces him to give up something that he enjoys.  However, Crash's diagnosis proves to be too much, and naturally, Johnny turns to the one place where he can get help:

The Devil keeps his word, curing Crash's cancer in exchange for Johnny's soul.  However, that doesn't buy Crash much time.  Still believing that his days are numbered, Crash refuses to go out in a hospital bed, instead trying to set a world record or die trying.  Unfortunately, "die trying" is exactly what he does - the Devil agreed that Crash wouldn't die from cancer, but that didn't mean he couldn't die some other way. (on a side note, Spider-Man really should have talked to Ghost Rider during the "One More Day" storyline, because it's clear that the Devil lies constantly and screws people over when they make deals with him)

The Devil comes to claim Johnny's soul, but the woman that he loves, Roxanne Simpson, comes to see Johnny and witnesses this.  Her love and devotion are so pure that it drives the Devil off, though he manages to partially claim Johnny's soul, causing him to turn into a flaming skeleton when the sun goes down.

The next three issues deal with a biker gang that has ties to the Devil (they're totally not Hell's Angels - they go by Satan's Servants).  However, there's a dark twist - the leader of the gang is possessed by Crash Simpson's spirit, which was sent to Hell as a result of Johnny's deal.  Mephisto offers a chance for Crash to return to life in exchange for Johnny's soul and, when Roxanne's protection proves to be too strong, Roxanne's life.

The story had several interesting twists and turns - while I knew the basics of Johnny's origin, the idea that Johnny's deal to save his mentor condemned that same mentor to the depths of Hell was a dark one.  The art is all right, with the action scenes having a good flow to them, and the depictions of Hell and the demons within during issue 8 are vivid for the brief time that they're shown.

Issue 8 ends the Crash Simpson storyline, though it seems like they didn't have enough material to fill a full issue (or they just wanted to lead into the next storyline), because the last few pages set up how Johnny is doing a stunt show on land that a Native American tribe is negotiating to get back from the government, and doing that would make it a tourist hot spot, which would make the government less likely to give it back.  Therefore, they have one of their members, Snake Dance, attack Johnny using either magic or hypnotism.

It's a strong start to one of Marvel's most enduring characters, and much like The Tomb of Dracula, it takes a much darker tone than the comics from a decade beforehand. (none of Marvel's sixties heroes would summon the Devil to help with their problems. Well, not back then, anyway; Doctor Strange basically did that in Hickman's New Avengers run, and the less said about the time that Spider-Man did that, the better) It's a Faustian bargain mixed with motorcycle stunts and flaming-headed skeletons, and I had a blast.