Now here’s a circus that I’d actually like to see come to town – Ghost Rider #73

I’ve never really been able to “get” Ghost Rider.  I never know if he’s Johnny Blaze, Dan Ketch, the demon Zarathos on his own, the Spirit of Vengeance, or what.  I just can’t keep it all straight.  Also I’m not much of a motorcycle aficionado, so there’s another strike against me taking much of an interest in the guy.  I do remember that he was the toast of the town back in the early 90’s, back when “darker” characters like Wolverine and the Punisher were all the rage.  Apart from that, though, he’s always been on the fringes of the Marvel Universe and, consequently, of my tastes.

But I can always get reeled in by a nifty cover.  And this one reeled me in.

A Ringmaster-less Circus of Crime tangles with our titular anti-hero in this tale from Roger Stern and Bob Budiansky.  A lot of the story focuses on Zarathos being trapped in Blaze’s subconscious and just itching to get out and wreak some vengeance.  There’s also a good deal of hubbub about the evil clown named, you guessed it, Clown, who enlists his compatriots in the Circus of Crime to disrupt an ordinary circus that Blaze is associated with, but it turns out that Clown is really out to double-cross the baddies and is on the side of the good carnies.  Confused?  I was for a minute, too.

The thing I thought was neat about this story is that, when Blaze sees his friends fighting with the evil-doers, he reluctantly lets Zarathos out, but he doesn’t realize that Clown is really on the side of his buddies.  Not knowing that, Ghost Rider gives him the “cold fire” treatment and Clown is left trapped in a repeating psychic loop of his failures and his life of criminal dissipation.  When Zarathos is confronted with his mistake he can’t believe it, and is so taken aback he transforms back into Blaze.  Not a pioneering storyline, but I’ll take it.

On the whole there’s not much meat on the bones of this plot, but I did really dig that Ghost Rider “oops” when he punished the wrong guy.  Do superheroes have malpractice insurance?  And, while I’m at it, don’t you think that cover would make a cool poster?  I sure as “hell” do.  And yes, I realize that that’s an atrocious, cringe-inducing attempt at a witticism.  Hopefully Ghost Rider won’t penance stare the living daylights out of me for it.