Issue(s): Ghost Rider #58
Cover Date: Jul 81
Title: "Evil is the Enforcer!"
Credits:
Mike Fleisher - Writer
Don Perlin - Penciler
Mike Esposito - Inker
David Anthony Kraft - Editor

Review/plot:
It's been two months (publication-wise, and, i guess, in-story) since Ghost Rider #56 when Flagg Fargo accepted Johnny Blazes' challenge for a rematch for the motorcycle championship title, so that's what this issue is about.

In their first competition, we were led to think that there was something crooked about Flagg, but it turned out to not be the case. This issue similarly begins with Flagg seemingly conspiring with the Enforcer.

But this will turn out to be a red herring once again.

Soon after this meeting, the Enforcer takes a shot at Fargo and hits his girlfriend.

Johnny gives chase (he's trying to avoid turning into the Ghost Rider) and gets plugged full of tranquilizer darts.

He winds up sleeping in an alley for the entire day, waking up with barely enough time to get to the competition. Luckily he's in "tip-top condition" after working with the auto circus he joined last issue.

Despite a scoreboard that seems to show otherwise, Johnny does much better in this competition than last time, and it's said that in order for Flagg to even tie, Johnny would have to lose every remaining event while Flagg would have to ace them.

But before that can happen, Flagg is shot by the Enforcer.

Johnny rescues Flagg...

...and then, as Ghost Rider, hunts down the Enforcer, who is said to have been hired by a group of gamblers that bet on Johnny. It turns out that the Enforcer was threatening Flagg to throw the race, but Flagg refused. The Enforcer also robs the ticket box as a bonus.

A guy with a dart gun is of course no match for a fiery demon, and Ghost Rider runs him off the road. Ghost Rider assumes that he's dead, but we see that he survives.

In the end, Flagg continues to be obnoxious, but they depart on good terms.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References:

• Johnny Blaze lost the championship title to Flagg Fargo in Ghost Rider #45-46.
  
• He challenged Fargo for a rematch in Ghost Rider #56.
  
• No footnote, but Johnny Blaze notes that the Ghost Rider has faced the Enforcer before, in Ghost Rider #21 through Ghost Rider #24.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: Essential Ghost Rider vol. 3

Fleisher seems to have really liked the Enforcer as a villain.

It's touching how, in spite of all the tough talk, Fargo and Blaze both showed good sportsmanship, especially at the end. *snf*

I like this issue, it shows Johnny has personal integrity, and here it is demonstrated well. His character is likeable in that he often chooses to take the mature or humble route in various situations.