Fictional Smackdown #1: Ghost Rider vs. It (Part 1)

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and gigantic nerds of all descriptions... it is my pleasure and absolute privilege to welcome you to a brand-new series here on the MX3 content network that I like to call Fictional Smackdown! This new series will serve as one of the flagship columns for The Comics Corner wing of our network, which focuses on comics and comics-related content as well as other genres of sci-fi and fantasy that appear in all forms of pop culture.

Now at this point, you might be wondering: What's the deal with this "Fictional Smackdown?", and I am more than happy to lift the shroud of mystery surrounding the series. The concept is a simple and established one: What would happen if two characters from different fictional universes were to crossover and do battle? The added twist here is simple enough, though; with each match-up, one character will be selected from the realm of comics lore (Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, etc.) and the other will come from another medium such as mythology, literature, film, TV, or even video games. Each match-up will in turn be presented in two parts, with part 1 being an overview of the origins of each character as well as their powers and abilities and part 2 being a fully-fledged, short-story style fan fiction where I will take creative control and craft the tale of these colossal clashes of epic proportion!

Now that we've ironed out the details, let's get down to the nitty-gritty and dive into our fist ever Fictional Smackdown!

IN THIS CORNER, HAILING FROM EARTH-616 IN THE MARVEL COMICS MULTIVERSE, THE SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE, THE GHOST RIDER!

Riding into the Fictional Smackdown battle-bowl in a furious blaze of hellfire, it's the vessel of vengeance from Marvel's pantheon of the supernatural! Ghost Rider is a mantle that has been shared by many characters in the history of Marvel comics such as Danny Ketch and Robbie Reyes, but for our purposes we will be looking most closely at the Johnny Blaze version of the character as he is the most commonly known incarnation due to our good friend Nicolas Cage portraying him onscreen (this portrayal drew some influence from Danny Ketch as well but that is another story). Although all of these hosts have brought something unique to the Ghost Rider mythos, I will be treating the abilities they exhibit as shared abilities due to the fact that they are all different hosts of a similar entity, the Spirit of Vengeance most commonly portrayed as the demon Zarathos.

Johnny Blaze's story is a tragic tale centered around death-defying stunts and sideshow culture, with Johnny being the son of legendary stunt motorcyclist Barton Blaze. After Barton tragically dies in a stunt jump gone wrong, Johnny is taken in by Crash Simpson who is the proprietor of the show Barton Blaze died performing for as well as an accomplished rider in his own right. For a time, Johnny finds a sense of stability with his new family (despite some clashes with Crash over his own reluctance to perform stunts), but this proves to be under threat when Crash is diagnosed with terminal cancer and Johnny is faced with the prospect of losing yet another father figure. Devastated, Johnny attempts to make a deal with the Devil himself to save his mentor, Unfortunately for Blaze, he unknowingly summoned the Devil's demonic nemesis Mephisto instead who gives Johnny his wish, saying he must trade his own soul for Crash to be save from cancer; Johnny agrees and becomes the human host of Zarathos, the Spirit of Vengeance who punishes the souls of those who prey on the innocent. However, the choice of words in this deal would become very important as Mephisto would go on to betray Johnny when Crash is killed in the very same type of incident that killed Barton Blaze due to the pact only protecting Crash from dying of caner. For more info on the origins of the Ghost Rider, check out this video from watchmojo:

In terms of powers and abilities the Ghost Rider comes with a whole host of demonic and supernatural powers that also seem to have some of their roots in magic and mysticism. He has the ability to wield otherworldly Hellfire that not only causes normal burns but also burns and can disintegrate the very damned souls it comes into contact with. Much of Ghost Rider's arsenal seems to be derived from the supernatural properties of the Hellfire, and in various incarnations the Rider has been able to fire the demonic flames out of conventional weapons as a projectile as well as imbue things such as chain whips with it, turning them into an almost Gothic take on Wonder Woman's lasso of truth. The most interesting thing Ghost Rider can do with Hellfire, though, is imbuing his chosen mode of transportation with it and transforming it into an indestructible, demonic incarnation.

The most famous version of this is definitely the Hell Cycle sported by both Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch, but it has also taken the form of demonic-looking horses, Robbie-Reyes' Hell Charger, and perhaps most amazingly the demonic mammoth of the original Ghost Rider from 1,000 BC!

Ghost Rider can also be said to be immortal, although this only pertains to the spirit of Zarathos itself and not to the individual host who may be killed by being separated from the entity. In the event of this, the human host may be killed but the Spirit of Vengeance merely returns to Hell to await a new vessel for it's Vendetta.

Even given all of these impressive powers, a personal favorite of mine has got to be Ghost Rider's signature move: The Penance Stare! This occurs when Ghost Rider is able to make direct eye contact with one of his targets, forcing them to be faced with the weight of their own guilt and the pain that they have caused to the innocent during their lives. This move has been shown to be powerful enough to vaporize a person and send their soul straight to the depths of Hell; despite this, though, it has been occasionally shown to lose it's effectiveness if the target lacks remorse or guilt for their actions. For more info on Ghost Rider's powers and abilities, check out this video from Comics Explained (and peep the scene from the original Ghost Rider Nic Cage film for an example of the penance stare with some awful, early 2000s CGI!):

...AND HIS OPPONENT, HAILING FROM THE DARKEST REACHES OF STEPHEN KING'S MACROVERSE, AN ANCIENT SHAPE-SHIFTING ENTITY OF PURE EVIL THAT FEEDS ON INNOCENCE... THE CREATURE KNOWN AS IT!

Rising out of the darkness of the sewers of Derry, Maine is the ancient entity of pure evil itself, the creature known only as It! The creature is said to be a primordial entity of ancient evil hailing from a dimension outside of our perceived reality known as the Macroverse, a concept that pops up many time across King's literary universe.

The being originally crashed on Earth in an asteroid long ago and has been present in what would eventually become Derry ever since, feeding of of the inhabitants of the area in a vicious cycle taking place once every 27 years. Due to the otherworldly power held by the entity, it was able to shape Derry and the surrounding area in its own image as well as manipulate the minds and actions of most of the people living there to play into its own needs and to do its bidding. This is shown to be demonstrably more effective on adults in the story, who act in vert strange ways and are sometimes downright malevolent and aggressive due to the world around them being inherently tainted with the entity's evil. In terms of It's eating habits, It has been shown to feed on all types of humans but states that it prefers children due to their fear being so easily manipulated, fear being the emotion that is most akin to, as the creature puts it, "salting the meat". The feeding cycle is always marked by an act of heinous violence, such as the murders of Georgie and Adrian in the films and novel, feeding for a year after before another act of violence punctuates the killing spree.

While It's true form is the more Lovecraftian and ambiguous "deadlights", It exists within our realm as a shape-shifting entity with an ability to take on the form of its victim's greatest fears for reasons already established. It also appears to have the ability to warp reality itself on some level, creating elaborate illusions to fully encapsulate the characters in the story in vivid episodes of pure, unadulterated terror before consuming them as an afternoon snack. Here's a great example of the creature using it's reality warping abilities:

As previously stated, the creature also has the ability to corrupt and manipulate anyone who lives or even steps foot in Derry both while they are there and after they've left. This is exemplified in characters such as the bully-turned deranged killer Henry Bowers as well as the generally toxic adults of Derry at large, and also by the fact that the protagonists in The Losers Club seem to lose all recollection of what should be a traumatic flashbulb memory of their first encounter with It that only deteriorates further the more time they spend away from the small, rural Maine town. Given all of these factors, it also seems to be the case that It has the ability to telepathically discover what someone's deepest fears and innermost thoughts are in order to target them more directly. For an in depth look at all of the times It has been shown to utilize his power over reality, check out this breakdown of all the times the entity can be observed in the background manipulating events within the town, courtesy of Heavy Spoilers:

In It's purest form as the Deadlights, It's mere perception by a mortal seems to cause a temporary break with reality in a best case scenario and can result in sudden death and consumption in the worst case. This can be seen when Beverley stares into the Deadlights and is frozen in place and telepathically levitated while only being saved from her stupor by a kiss from Bill which we also see take control of Richie in part 2:

While all of these factors make It a formidable and particularly dangerous opponent on a multiversal level, it has also been shown to be incredibly vulnerable when it's target becomes aware that it can swing the balance of power by overcoming their own fears. In that way, It is only as powerful as it's target perceives it to be. For more info on the origins and abilities of It, check out this video by Film Comics Explained:

So, given all of this, who would you give the edge in this Fictional Smackdown? Can Marvel's Spirit of Vengeance even the score for all of the innocent souls consumed by the ancient evil that hails form the Macroverse? Or will the creature consume Johnny Blaze in his most satisfying meal yet? Check in next time to find out!