Cover: Mike Ploog

Marvel Spotlight #7

Dec 1972 · Marvel · 0.20 USD

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“Die, Die, My Daughter!”

★ 1st appearance — Bart Slade

About this Issue

Marvel Spotlight #7 (cover-dated December 1972) is the third chapter in Ghost Rider's foundational run, delivered by the same creative team — writer Gary Friedrich, penciler Mike Ploog, inker Frank Chiaramonte, and editor Roy Thomas — that launched Johnny Blaze two issues earlier. The issue marks the first appearance of Bart Slade, a road-manager figure whose ambitions around Roxanne Simpson would drive subsequent storylines, making this the earliest entry point for that supporting character. It also escalates the Crash Simpson/Curly Samuels arc to its most dramatic confrontation yet: Satan himself appearing to pit Blaze directly against the resurrected image of his foster father, crystallizing the series' central tension between filial loyalty and demonic obligation. As part of the Marvel Spotlight #5–12 stretch that proved Ghost Rider viable enough to earn his own title in 1973, every issue in that proving-ground run — including this one — carries weight in the character's publishing history.

writer Gary Friedrich · artist Mike Ploog · inker Frank Monte · letterer Herb Cooper · cover Mike Ploog

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (Fine) $33

CGC 9.8 · 7 in census $1,588

CGC 9.6 · 31 in census $357*

CGC 9.4 · 47 in census $264

CGC 9.2 · 47 in census $221

CGC 9.0 · 51 in census $221

CGC 8.5 · 56 in census $105

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CGC 8.0 · 86 in census $90

CGC 7.5 · 56 in census $90

CGC 7.0 · 50 in census $66

CGC 6.5 · 40 in census $49

CGC 6.0 · 29 in census $49

CGC 5.5 · 21 in census $48*

CGC 5.0 · 9 in census $48*

CGC 4.5 · 16 in census $48

CGC 4.0 · 6 in census $40*

CGC 3.5 · 6 in census $33*

CGC 3.0 · 1 in census $30*

CGC 2.5 · 2 in census $22*

CGC 2.0 none in existence

CGC 1.5 none in existence

CGC 1.0 none in existence

CGC 0.5 · 1 in census $20*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

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History

The issue arrived squarely within Roy Thomas's deliberate early-1970s push to exploit the Comics Code Authority's 1971 relaxation of restrictions on supernatural content — the same editorial environment that produced Tomb of Dracula, Werewolf by Night, and Man-Thing nearly simultaneously. Gary Friedrich scripted and Mike Ploog penciled, maintaining the unbroken creative continuity that ran from the debut in Marvel Spotlight #5; Ploog, who had honed his visual sensibility at Warren Publishing on titles like Creepy and Eerie, delivered what critics of the era and later historians regard as his last full-issue contribution to the Ghost Rider Spotlight run before departing after issue #8. The story's two-part title structure — a short Ploog/Costanza framing piece and the main Friedrich/Ploog/Chiaramonte lead — is confirmed in Grand Comics Database records, reflecting standard Marvel production practice of the period.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of Bart Slade, Johnny Blaze's road manager, who is established in this issue as harboring ulterior romantic designs on Roxanne Simpson.
Main story titled 'Die, Die, My Daughter!' — scripted by Gary Friedrich, penciled by Mike Ploog, inked by Frank Chiaramonte, lettered by Herb Cooper, and edited by Roy Thomas.
Cover and interior art by Mike Ploog; this is his final full-issue contribution as penciler on the Ghost Rider Spotlight run — he drew only the back half of the subsequent issue #8.
Satan appears as an active antagonist, commanding Curly Samuels (presented as the reincarnated Crash Simpson in a new body) to sacrifice Roxanne at a Satanic church; the character referred to as Satan here was later retconned into the arch-demon Mephisto in Ghost Rider (Vol. 2) #68.
The Crash Simpson/Curly Samuels identity question raised in this issue remained a genuine continuity dispute: Marvel Spotlight #6–8 treat them as the same character, while Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #4 later states Curly was a demon merely posing as Crash.
The issue is part of the Marvel Spotlight #5–12 run that collectively established Ghost Rider as a viable solo property, directly leading to Johnny Blaze's own ongoing series launched in 1973.
Reprinted in black-and-white in Essential Ghost Rider Vol. 1 (2005), which collects Marvel Spotlight #5–12, Ghost Rider #1–20, and Daredevil #138.
Also collected in Marvel Masterworks: Ghost Rider Vol. 1 (2019 hardcover), which reprints Marvel Spotlight #5–12, Ghost Rider #1–5, and Marvel Team-Up #15.