Ghost Rider (1973) 33-A

"... Whom a Child Would Destroy!"

Stuck in a no-horse broken-down town after the unlamented departure of the Bounty Hunter, cycle hobo Johnny Blaze finds himself stranded. Mercurial fury flickers the Demon side of Blaze into being.

That misguided rage soon finds a target in the form of a little old man, who displays remarkable psionic abilities. Playful jousting from the senior citizen further ires the Ghost Rider, until he realizes the geriatric means no harm.

Later at the old timer's hut, Woody treats Johnny to a jar of something that once tasted like coffee before sharing astonishing revelations.

Sudden violent vibrations begin to shake the shack to smithereens. The cause of the subsidence is painfully patent, a silver leviathan filling the sky above. Alighting from an undercarriage are futuristic riders, heralds of ill will.

At last, something tangible to fight for the Spook Cyclist. Hellfire cast in a wide arc reveals the true nature of the riders. Even the self-avowed Spirit of Vengeance is momentarily taken aback. The riders are crude imitations of techno-organic life.

Ghost Rider's gnarly old ally is struck down and taken aboard by the riders. More thirst for vengeance, than concern for the old fellow, the Brimstone Biker accelerates onward into foreboding bowels of the craft. Hellspawn motors headlong into a trap laid by the architect of this metallic madhouse.