At last, Peter Parker has a night free from web-slinging to enjoy himself. So he and Mary Jane Watson (who is wearing some groovy bell-bottoms and platform shoes - remember, this is the 1970s) head down to Madison Square Garden to catch Johnny Blaze's motorcycle stunt show.

"You're going to enjoy yourself tonight, if I have to force you!" Mary Jane says. Peter agrees that he needs a night off, thinking back to his battle with the Kangaroo in Amazing Spider-Man #126. They settle into their seats as Johnny Blaze, the Ghost Rider, revs his engines and rides into the spotlight. The Ghost Rider has the crowd going wild with his great motorcycle stunts, until the show takes an unexpected twist.

Johnny Blaze was a motorcycle daredevil who sold his soul to a demon. In exchange, he received the demon's powers, including control of the mystical hellfire he uses on his foes. At this point, Johnny Blaze was pretty much in control of the demon inside of him, although that was not always the case. Before the show comes to a conclusion, a gang of motorcyclists race into the arena, led by one of the strangest-looking villains in the Marvel universe. The Orb wears a round helmet covering his head that looks like a giant eye! This helmet allows him to mesmerize anyone he looks at. It also makes him a pretty darned creepy villain.

"The Orb and his men go anywhere they like -- and right now, they like it here!" he says. The Orb's hypnotic gaze entrances the audience, including Mary Jane. Peter has the foresight to turn away so that he won't be hypnotized and he ducks into the rafters to change into Spider-Man. Meanwhile, the Orb tries to kidnap Roxanne Simpson, Johnny Blaze's girlfriend and fellow stunt show motorcyclist. That sends the skull-headed Ghost Rider into action. "Out of my way, scum! Let me pass -- or know eternal agony!"

The Orb gets away from both Spider-Man and the Ghost Rider, but he leaves behind a message through the voices of the hypnotized crowd. He will return Roxanne safely if Johnny Blaze agrees to sign over ownership rights to the cycle show. The Ghost Rider doesn't see much of a choice -- he must sell the show to the Orb. It turns out the Orb is a man named Drake Shannon, who once was the business partner of Roxanne's father. The two of them owned a motorcycle show, but disagreed on how it should be run. So they held a cross-country race, winner take all, with the victor becoming sole owner of the show. Shannon tried to cheat to win, but instead crashed and badly scarring his face. He says he is "merely collecting on a twenty-year debt" by kidnapping Roxanne and trying to blackmail Johnny Blaze into selling him the show. "I'll have your cycle show or your life! Nothing less will satisfy me," he tells Roxanne.

The Ghost Rider walks in, ownership papers in hand. He turns over the papers to the Orb and tries to walk out. However, their way is blocked by a gang of gun-toting goons working for the Orb. He has no intention of letting them live to tell the police what happened. Thankfully, Spider-Man had planted a spider-tracer on the Orb and comes in just in time to make the save. The bad guys try to get away with Roxanne. Spider-Man grabs a motorcycle himself and he and the Ghost Rider are in hot pursuit. Peter Parker once owned a small motorbike himself, although Spidey admits he's not an expert rider. But he is able to snare Roxanne with some webbing and pull her to safety.

The Ghost Rider pursues the Orb into the New York City Subway. The villain's hypnotic powers don't work on the demonic Ghost Rider. In his panic, the Orb apparently rides in front of a speeding subway train to his death, although no body is found. The Ghost Rider finds Spider-Man and reveals that the papers he gave the Orb were fake. "I'm almost glad he didn't live long enough to find these papers were worthless," Ghost Rider says. "No man should have to know he died for a hollow dream."

Writer Len Wein also gives us a nice exchange between the two heroes: "Don't worry your Halloween mask, Ghosty - the girl's fine," Spider-Man tells the Ghost Rider, who responds, "I think you deserve to know...I'm not wearing a mask." Ghost Rider and Spider-Man meet again in Marvel Team-Up #58 and again in Marvel Team-Up #91.

This is a simple, but entertaining, story. However, I like the more demonic Ghost Rider whom is in a constant struggle with Johnny Blaze over his very identity, rather than the version we get here, which is simply Johnny Blaze with a fiery skull and super powers. The Orb is a pretty neat villain, though.

Next issue: Spider-Man and Captain Marvel battle the Basilisk!

Reviewed by Bruce Buchanan.

Reprinted In:
Marvel Tales #254
Marvel Treasury Edition #18