So, last issue, I was convinced I had, but I didn’t. This issue, I remember reading. But also didn’t have a copy of (At least, not anymore). Man, what’s going on in my brain? This may the most pristine back issue I have ever seen. The cover doesn’t even want to open all the way. Wow. As we get underway, Spider-Man has caught up with GR and webs him off his bike. But GR is so heavy that it pulls Spider-Man off the wall he was clinging to. He tells Ghost Rider he’ll deal with Hobgoblin and to stay out of it. GR says he won’t kill Hobby, but he will save Mrs. Ketch. Then Blaze shoots them apart with a big explosion from his “hellfire shotgun.” Spidey swings off, saying he’s tired of “you vigilante types” getting in his way, like he’s not a vigilante. GR wants to continue, but Blaze talks him out of it. They ride off to have a chat, both doing wheelies at the same time, which is hilarious. They settle in the graveyard where Dan became Ghost Rider, where Blaze says he knows what GR is going through, because he fought with Zarathos, the demon that possessed him. Ghost Rider says he and Dan’s spirits are merging, and he can’t let that happen because he doesn’t even know who he is. Blaze suggests it would be good for both of them but Ghost Rider is not convinced. Then he turns back into Dan, who declares they have to find his mother and kill Hobgoblin.
Good times. Meanwhile, Dan has kicked in the door of a local bar to demand the bartender tell him where Hobgoblin has his mother, which is… hilarious to me. He tells Blaze the bartender is “the biggest information seller in Brooklyn!” but, like, why would he know where a deranged demon man is? And the barman makes clear he doesn’t even know who Dan is. Great detective work, Batman. But, of course, this inspires some tough guys to want to throw Dan & Blaze out, but we cut back to…
Hobby is once again furious to have met a nonbeliever. Back at the bar, Spider-Man breaks up the fight, but that lil incident made his tracer start working for some reason, so he’s off, telling the boys to keep Ghost Rider out of his way. Blaze tells Dan he’s got to be more reasonable. He was just telling Ghost Rider merging with Dan would give him more humanity, but Ketch seems like a real lunatic. Anyway, the two motorpsychos light off after Spider-Man, literally in Dan’s case, as he changes back to Ghost Rider just in time for all three of them to smash into the chapel Hobby’s been based out of the whole time.
Ghost Rider gives his word that he won’t kill Hobby and begs Spider-Man to get Mrs. Ketch out before the place collapses, and our man believes him. He gets her out just before the whole place comes crashing down. GR walks out of the flames, and Spider-Man says he misjudged him, and the he of all people should know what it’s like to be misjudged. GR is not upset about it, but, in true horror movie fashion, Hobgoblin is as he leaps out of the wreckage for a final attack.
Kinda feel like the webs didn’t do much there.
And there you have it. After McFarlane randomly chose to portray Ghost Rider as a deranged maniac more interested in beating up Hobgoblin than saving an innocent, Mackie takes the chance to put everyone back in the same situation and say, “Uh, actually…” This story wasn’t too terribly much more substantial than Todd’s, but with significantly less whining and both heroes more in character, so I’ll take it. Not long after this, GR would do a 4-part crossover with X-Men in Gambit’s native New Orleans, where he and Blaze could compare notes on wearing trenchcoats in environments far too hot for them. As for us, we’re off to see a different X-Team… unfortunately.