GHOST RIDER #56-61 (1994-1995): 1st Spook

For no good reason, Ghost Rider inserts himself into a battle between Next Wave (not the good Next Wave, the stupid one) and a group called only “The Posse” (and who are never seen again).

Nick Fury and Wolverine join in for issue #57, making this an even bigger orgy of confusion and pointlessness. Issue #57 ends with Fury promising to help hunt down and destroy Ghost Rider and says it is “to be continued,” but #58 on the cover says it is “part one” of a story arc. But since it all kinda runs together, I’m covering it in this one, big post.

The “Betrayals” story (#58-61) has Fury training a strike force to go after Ghost Rider. We’re told that they work 16-hour days.

They chase Danny Ketch around the city until he escapes into the sewers, where he meets Abomination.

Shriker helps Danny hide out, and reveals his true identity to him. They were childhood friends, so Ketch trusts him to help evade SHIELD’s troops.

Throughout, Danny keeps resisting transforming into Ghost Rider (and failing to stop it). So he’s really becoming similar to Hulk. I guess that’s why the Abomination cameo made sense? (No. It didn’t make sense.)

A new character, Spook, is also hunting Danny/Ghost Rider, only Spook wants to kill him whereas the other hunting group seeks to contain him.

It all ends when some servants of Anton Hellgate also get involved, attack a priest, and Daredevil and Punisher show up to stop them.

Ghost Rider finally gets sick of all these sloppy storytelling and stupid characters, and decides to give himself up.

But the task force shoots him anyway.

And no, that’s not the start of a death scene. It sure looks like it. It goes on for several pages of sad talking and lamenting. But then SHIELD literally swoops down in their helicarrier and snatches up the wounded Ghost Rider.

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