Issue(s): Ghost Rider #43, Ghost Rider #44
Cover Date: Apr-May 80
Title: "Night of the crimson mage!" / "Cloak of crimson - soul of dust!"
Credits:
Mike Fleisher - Writer
Carmine Infantino - Penciler
Ricardo Villamonte / Tom Sutton - Inker
Mark Gruenwald - Assistant Editor
Denny O'Neil - Editor

Review/plot:
I know i'm talking about a flaming-skull demon that rides a motorcycle, but the past year or so of Ghost Rider stories have seemed relatively grounded, with a focus on the human side of things (and of course plenty of criminals for the Ghost Rider demon to punish). I'd guess a lot of that has to do with Don Perlin, who co-plotted some of the issues and just generally had a style that was suited to showing off the motorcycle stuff as well as the human characters. His art can be a little stiff and probably felt a little retro even in the late 70s/early 80s, but with those caveats it had a "realistic" element to it. Things change dramatically for this two part story with guest artist Carmine Infantino, who has a much more free flowing style...

...and, perhaps not coincidentally, the plot deals with wizards.

That's not to say that these issues are completely divorced from what's been going on in the series. We've been seeing more and more of Johnny Blaze and the Ghost Rider as separate entities, and the purpose of the wizard in this issue is to literally separate them so we can see that they really are separate characters, albeit ones who can't survive without each other.

Our wizard, Azaziah the Crimson Mage, is approached by some common criminals on the run from Ghost Rider. He's got his own plans for Ghost Rider, so he he has them lead GR over a pentagram. Suddenly the scene switches over to somewhere else, with a random guy laying on the ground.

Oh, that's the same scene and that's supposed to be Johnny Blaze? Oh, ok.

Johnny finds that he's been separated from Ghost Rider. Notice Ghost Rider saying that he's been a true demon from the netherworld all along.

Ghost Rider leaves and goes on a mindless rampage. When Johnny Blaze hears about it, he goes to try to stop him, and sees that the demon is weaker than when they are joined.

Ghost Rider nonetheless doesn't want to become reunited with Johnny, so he burns him with hellfire. Johnny wakes up in a hospital, under suspicion for having been behind the fire that Ghost Rider caused.

Aaaand that same sequence basically happens two more times during this story. Can't these two see that they love each other?

Blaze also gets increasingly violent towards the police. Luckily his wallet was stolen by Laurel & Hardy in the previous arc, so the cops have no idea who he is.

Here's the origin of the wizard, not that he appears again.

Johnny eventually smashes his mystic whatever and lures Ghost Rider back to the pentagram, using a spell from the wizard's spellbook to re-merge them.

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 2 - Ghost Rider demon confirmed to be a separate entity from Johnny Blaze

Chronological Placement Considerations: Next issue will begin with Ghost Rider having tracked down the criminals that worked with Azaziah in this issue, but it doesn't necessarily take place directly afterwards.

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: Essential Ghost Rider vol. 2