Issue(s): Ghost Rider #56, Ghost Rider #57
Cover Date: Dec 94 - Jan 95
Title: "The next step" / "Where to life?"
Credits:
Howard Mackie - Writer
Salvador Larroca - Penciler
Sergio Melia-Borras - Inker
James Felder - Assistant Editor
Bobbie Chase - Editor

Review/plot:
The Next Wave characters - Agent-X, Snare, and Turk - first appeared in this book as overt parodies of Image creators, but they've subsequently been appearing in Silver Sable & the Wild Pack as somewhat more serious mercenaries. But now they're back here (for their final appearances).

This narration almost sounds like a comment on the speculator-driven comics market crash.

In-story, Next Wave are on the run from a mysterious "Posse". The Next Wave don't know who they are or why they're pursuing them.

Meanwhile, Danny Ketch and Stacy Dolan are making out, but the romance hits a bump when Stacy tells Danny that she's joining the police's anti-Ghost Rider task force. Stacy knows that Danny is Ghost Rider, but she says the task force is a good career opportunity, and in any event the task force is diversifying beyond Ghost Rider. Still, Danny is not appeased, and in fact whines, "You'll never be able to do as much good as Ghost Rider" before transforming into Ghost Rider and sullenly stalking off.

Shriker then approaches Ghost Rider and tells him about the trouble in Chinatown. Stacy goes to Jim "Ski" Sokolowski, who is running the task force and is also about to respond to the Chinatown disturbance. She doesn't commit to joining the team but rides along with them for the night.

The scene in Chinatown is a big mess between Next Wave, the task force, Shriker, and Ghost Rider, especially because Ghost Rider walks into the middle of the task force to try to protectively remove Stacy from the battle.

And also because it's still not clear who the Posse are except that they're generic Snake-Eyesish ninjas.

The Posse run away and Next Wave detonate a grenade so that they can escape too. Ghost Rider is seemingly killed in the explosion, but Stacy knows that he'll survive and she decides to join the task force. Nick Fury shows up and offers Ski special training to help the task force.

Ghost Rider is actually injured by the explosion (just like how we saw him get injured by Blackout recently). And his motorcycle has been destroyed - but the medallion has survived. Ghost Rider then transforms back into Danny, but it's a painful transformation that Ghost Rider resists. And then who should show up but the winner of the guest star section of the survey published in issue #53.

Bone? Adamantium? It all cuts through solid oak as easily as a hot knife through butter.

Wolverine helps Danny hide from the task force.

Meanwhile, Next Wave get a call from Frederick Penner (the Tom DeFalco lookalike from their first appearance). He says that the Posse are working for him.

The negotiations to get the Image guys to do Heroes Reborn were really intense!

Ski's task force is sent to respond to the Next Wave/Ninja fight. And Danny changes back into Ghost Rider and Wolverine helps him retrieve his damaged motorcycle. They then go after Next Wave and the ninjas equally.

Ghost Rider and Wolverine try to avoid a confrontation with the police by fleeing the scene. But Stacy is on Ghost Rider's escape path, and she shoots as him as he passes. Ghost Rider nonetheless gets away with some help from Wolverine. But there's clearly something wrong with him since his injuries haven't healed.

Nick Fury returns at the end to promise Ski the training his team will need to capture Ghost Rider.

Quality Rating: D

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Issue #57 begins "less than an hour" after the explosion in #56. Wolverine can appear here during the same gap in his series as Fantastic Four #395. He say he was on his way up to Westchester when he heard about the trouble in Chinatown and picked up Danny's scent.

References:

• Michael Badilino (Vengeance) quit the anti-Ghost Rider task force in Ghost Rider #49 and since then Jim "Ski" Sokolowski has been expanding its scope.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A