Ghost Rider #51 (1980)

When I read this issue I immediately wondered what took so long to get here.  Ghost Rider was borne of the Evil Kinevil/motorcycle craze of the mid-1970s, which was followed by the late ‘70s/early ‘80s CB Truckdriver phase, so it was inevitable that GR would eventually fight a demon trucker.  In this case, it’s Clement–the ghost of a truck driver who was killed by a biker gang, and now he haunts a certain stretch of road looking for bikers to kill.  Ghost Rider helps put Clement’s spirit to rest by doing what he does best, and what he does best is vengeance.  He takes down the gang that killed old Clem, puts them inside the demon truck’s cargo bay, and Clement literally drives off into the sunset.

They should have brought Clem back in the U.S. 1 series.

There is also a back-up feature with art by Carmine Infantino which shows Johnny Blaze visiting a Native American museum where he learns about an old West tale of Night Rider.

Seems like this is just a way to keep the character going.

Both of these stories have heavy “morals” in the end.

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