Ghost Rider Vol 2 78

"Your whole life has been a tangled net of guilt, Blaze! Perhaps that is why you use my unholy power to punish the guilty! Perhaps, ultimately, you seek only to punish -- yourself!"

―Zarathos

"The Empire of Sleep!"

Ghost Rider
Title:	"The Empire of Sleep!"
Volume:	2
Number:	78
Cover price:	.60
Cover date:	March, 1983
Publisher:	Marvel Comics
Credits
Chief:	Jim Shooter
Writers:	J.M. DeMatteis; Bob Budiansky
Pencilers:	Bob Budiansky
Inkers:	Kevin Dzubin
Cover artists:	Bob Budiansky
Cover inker:	Dave Simons
Colorists:	Bob Sharen
Letterers:	Joe Rosen
Editors:	Tom DeFalco
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"The Empire of Sleep!" is the seventy-eighth issue of the second Ghost Rider ongoing comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The story was written by J.M. DeMatteis and co-plotted by Bob Budiansky. It was penciled by Budiansky and inked by Kevin Dzubin. It was colored by Bob Sharen and lettered by Joe Rosen. This issue shipped with a March, 1983 cover date and carries a cover price of .60 cents per copy.

Plot[]

Renaldo and his aides, flanked by a horde of freaks, begin to perform a scientific experiment on Johnny Blaze to make him subservient to Renaldo's whims. While unconscious, Blaze is trapped in Nightmare's realm. He is assailed by images of all of the loved ones he has lost over the years - each one taking a turn to twist the knife of guilt in his soul. Ultimately, Johnny must confront the ultimate expression of his guilt - the Ghost Rider.

In the waking world, the Freakmaster's surgeons prepare to carve into Johnny's skull, but the Ghost Rider awakens inside of him and he frees himself. While the Ghost Rider takes on Renaldo and his goons, Johnny Blaze's consciousness is still in the dream dimension to deal with Nightmare. Racing through Nightmare's pitfalls, he finally awakens fully. He forces the Ghost Rider to revert to human form before he has the chance to end Renaldo's life.

"The Empire of Sleep!"[]

Featured characters

Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze/Zarathos

Supporting characters

Doctor Druid, Anthony Druid (In a dream only)
Doctor Strange, Stephen Strange (In a dream only)
Son of Satan, Daimon Helstrom (In a dream only)

Villains

Mephisto (In a dream only)
Nightmare
Renaldo

Minor characters

Barton Blaze (In a dream only)
Craig Simpson (In a dream only)
Clara Blaze (In a dream only)
Eliot Franklin (In a dream only)
Freakmaster (Referenced only)
Mona Simpson (In a dream only)
Roxanne Simpson (In a dream only)

Organizations

Mindless Ones

Races & Animals

Locations

Items

Hell-Trident (In a dream only)

Vehicles

Hell Cycle (In a dream only)
Motorcycles (In a dream only)

Powers

Miscellaneous

Notes & Trivia[]

The character of Johnny Blaze was created by writers Gary Friedrich & Roy Thomas and artist Mike Ploog. He first appeared as the title story in Marvel Spotlight #5 in August, 1972.
This issue carries the approval stamp of the Comics Code Authority.
The tagline to this issue is "Nightmare!"
According to Amazing Heroes #17, this issue shipped to retailers on November 30th, 1982.
This issue is reprinted as the second story in The Original Ghost Rider Rides Again #6 in December, 1991. It is also reprinted in black and white in the Essential Ghost Rider, Volume 4 trade paperback collection, released in 2010. It has also been made available on the Ghost Rider: The Complete Collection digital media collection produced by Graphic Imaging Technology, Inc., released in 2007.
The motorcycle crash that resulted in the death of Mona Simpson was chronicled in Ghost Rider #68.
Eliot Franklin's mind and soul were fried back in Ghost Rider #73.
Eliot Franklin makes reference to Steel Wind in this issue whom he cites as having suffered at the Ghost Rider's hands.
This is the first appearance of Clara Blaze, who is Johnny Blaze's mother. She appears in a dream sequence only in this issue. Clara Blaze will later be revealed to be Naomi Kale - a one-time Ghost Rider herself.