Issue(s): Marvel Comics Presents #107, Marvel Comics Presents #108, Marvel Comics Presents #109, Marvel Comics Presents #110, Marvel Comics Presents #111, Marvel Comics Presents #112 (Ghost Rider/Werewolf By Night story only)
Cover Date: 1992
Title: Return of the Braineaters: "Bad moon rising" / "Claw and bone" / "Battle on the Brooklyn Bridge" / "Undercover at the Black Moon Bar and Grill" / "Roadkill!!" / "Showdown"
Credits:
Chris Cooper - Writer
John Stanisci - Penciler
Jimmy Palmiotti / Jimmy Palmiotti & Ken Branch - Inker
Mark Powers - Assistant Editor
Terry Kavanagh - Editor

Review/plot:
Ghost Rider is investigating someone that was brutally killed in a park in Brookyln.

The killings turn out to be the work of the Braineaters, the gang of werewolves that Werewolf By Night accidentally "sired" (is that the right word?).

Werewolf By Night is also investigating the murders, and he and Ghost Rider cross paths and have a Misunderstanding Fight.

But the fight is ended by a young boy, Billy, that witnessed the Braineaters committing the murders. Billy then runs away, since Ghost Rider and Werewolf By Night aren't exactly comforting figures themselves. He goes back to his apartment, where he learns that the Braineaters have tortured and killed his sister trying to find him.

Meanwhile, Ghost Rider involuntarily transforms back into Danny Ketch. The Werewolf sees this and transforms back into Jack Russell. He says that he's actually been tracking the Ghost Rider because he's looking for a partner to take on the Braineaters. Danny is able to change back into Ghost Rider thanks to the death of Billy's sister, and they team up and go to rescue Billy.

Werewolf By Night winds up on a motorcycle, which you'd think would be a cool pin-up moment, but it is barely shown before the Werewolf is knocked off a bridge.

The Braineaters take Billy hostage to make Ghost Rider surrender. They attempt to draw and quarter Ghost Rider, but i guess his body is too durable for that.

So they leave, keeping Billy as insurance. Werewolf By Night climbs back onto the bridge soon after that. I mentioned in the last Werewolf appearance in Marvel Comics Presents that in my view Werewolves are basically immortal except by the traditional means (silver, magic, or Doug Moench writing the series into the ground). But the Braineaters assumed that Werewolf By Night died when he fell off the bridge. Jack just says, "my wolf form's sturdier than they realized".

The Braineaters are able to make sure that Werewolf By Night can't track them. So Ghost Rider goes undercover as Danny Ketch, checking out the local dive bars in the area until he finds them.

We've been seeing in this story that the female Braineater, Lupe, may not be as a bad as the rest. She's been coming up with excuses for not killing Billy, for example. And Danny tells her that he senses that she's different than the others, because Bad Girls are always redeemable.

The others don't like Lupe getting friendly with Danny, so they beat him up and leave him to bleed to death in an alley. Danny is unconscious for an entire day, but at least Werewolf By Night finds him and watches over him while he recovers. In the sewer. What better place to heal?

Meanwhile, the Braineaters have decided that Ghost Rider isn't coming after them anymore, so they want to kill Billy. But Lupe, moved by Danny's words to her, decides to save Billy. Which she does by offering to have sex with one of the werewolves, which makes another one jealous, and while they are fighting, Lupe escapes with Billy. The Braineaters realize what's happening and catch up with them, so Lupe fights them while Billy runs. She's mortally wounded, holding off on dying just long enough for Danny to find her and tell her that she did good. Her death causes Danny to turn into Ghost Rider and seek vengeance.

Jack has fused silver bullets into Ghost Rider's chain, and Ghost Rider whips most of the remaining Braineaters while they are still in human form. At least i think that's what's happening; it's a little confusing from the art.

But the idea is that the Braineaters will die if they ever turn into werewolves again. The magic of Ghost Rider's chain prevents the bullets from being removed.

But the leader of the Braineaters, "Skuzz", didn't get the bullet treatment. Ghost Rider fights him and eventually defeats him. Since Ghost Rider wants "no more killing", the plan is to inject bullets into Skuzz, too, but Skuzz doesn't want to live a life as a human, so he falls on a (silver?) fence, impaling himself.

Ghost Rider had better keep an eye on the body or the Firm might come and snatch it up like they keep doing with Scarecrow.

When he departs, Werewolf By Night tells Ghost Rider that his quality of life improved when he stopped thinking of his Werewolf side as a curse, and embraced it. That almost seems like an important bit of advice, except Danny never really resists his transformations. In fact, in these issues, he's often frustrated that he can't turn into Ghost Rider soon enough.

Anyway, this was terrible.

Quality Rating: D

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Footnotes beginning in issue #110 confirms that this story takes place before Ghost Rider #25.

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