Ghosts Annual 1998: Shoe Shine.. Back from the Dead!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Eighteen different blogs have combined forces today to share some ghost stories in honor of All Hallows’ Eve! Our efforts today are loosely based upon the DC Comics crossover “Ghosts” that appeared in the 1998 JLA-related Annuals. During that crossover, the heroes fought against or were “haunted” by figures who had died throughout their careers. For example, remember The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Man Annual #6 (1998) featuring the ghostly return of “Shoe” Shine, the man responsible for the murder of Ronnie Raymond’s mother?

Just in case you’ve never read this Annual, here is a brief recap. The ghost of deceased mobster “Shoe” Shine invades the Firestorm matrix. His plan is to escape hell by trading Martin Stein’s soul for his own. “Shoe” Shine’s ghost wrestles control of Firestorm from Ronnie for a short period of time, but is eventually exorcised with the assistance of the Phantom Stranger.

Does that ring any bells? Still struggling to remember this Annual? Really? … ummm … well, okay … You got me. Dedicated Match-heads (and anyone else who can easily see through my terrible Photoshop above) know there was no Fury of Firestorm Annual in 1998. In fact, Firestorm wasn’t even being published at the time.

Sorry, I couldn’t help myself! There is this cool blog crossover going on today about the 1998 “Ghosts” Annuals. I’m a sucker for these crossovers and wanted to play along. Therefore I repurposed an image and the plot from The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Man #32 (Feb. 1985). That issue actually features the story of “Shoe” Shine’s ghost. For a full recap, click here to check out the amazing “I am the Phantom Stranger” blog. Then click here to return to Firestorm Fan and read my thoughts on the issue.

Halloween Heroes Crossover Links

As mentioned, 18 different blogs have teamed-up today to share some Halloween fun! My thanks to Chad Bokelman, the stellar Green Lantern-themed blogger over at Corps Conjecture and The LanternCast, who recruited all of us for today’s hijinks! While I’m featuring Firestorm here on my site, you should visit these other character-specific blogs to see how they spotlight their own favorite heroes today. Visit them now, visit them later, and visit them often!

• “Ghosts” @ The Aquaman Shrine
• “Bough Breaks” @ Batman: Gotham Knights Online
• “Swamp Thing’s Ghost Dance” @ The BLOG from the BOG – Swamp Thing
• “Seeing Ghosts” @ Boosterrific
• “Life Itself” @ Captain’s JLA Homepage
• “Ghosts’ – The Corpse Corps!” @ Corps Conjecture
• “What Creeps Out The Creeper?” @ DC Bloodlines
• “The Distance Gone” @ Diana Prince is the New Wonder Woman
• “Shoe Shine.. Back from the Dead” @ Firestorm Fan
• “The Death Sentence” @ Great Krypton!
• “Happy Halloween” @ I Am The Phantom Stranger
• Martian Manhunter in “Heart’s Afire” @ The Idol-Head of Diabolu
• “Legend of Driq” @ Indigo Tribe
• The Vixen in “Role Model” @ Justice League Detroit
• “Ghosts” @ Power of the Atom
• “Ragman – Ripped to Shreds!” @ Ragman – DC’s Tatterdemalion of Justice
• The Spectre in “Zor” @ Siegel & Shuster: Mythmakers
• “High-Speed Hauntings” @ Speed Force

If you’ve enjoyed this blog crossover, then you should check out some previous comic blog crossovers we’ve done. The first major blog crossover celebrated the gorgeous George Pérez/Alex Ross painting from the Crisis on Infinite Earths 1998 hardcover. The next major blog crossover was a celebration of the Super Powers Collection’s 25th Anniversary. Some subsequent major crossovers included: DC Challenge, Read This Too, Mayfairstivus, April Fool’s Day 2011, Blackest Night to Brightest Day, Green Lantern: Circle of Fire, Animated Anthem Day, Secret Files & Origins, and DragonCon 2012 Cosplay!

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