won't believe in death 'til i die

Johnnie is a member of the World Enders, a gang that embraces nihilism in favor of living life in the present to its fullest. Johnnie is no exception, for he feels most alive when partaking in the gang's chaotic, violent rampages through 1960s Los Angeles. A night on the town involves racing in stolen cars, booze and hard drugs, and partying until dawn. Other times, he can be found playing guitar and singing with the Phantom Riders, a rockabilly/garage punk band made up of several of the members of the gang with his older brother Dale as the frontman.

While on the lookout for new cash-making opportunities, Johnnie came up with a plan to get the World Enders in on selling vide noir, the latest, wildest drug on the scene, said to bend the fabric of time and space itself. Distribution is tightly controlled by a man who calls himself Z'Oiseau, however, and when he got word of Johnnie's plans, he had him black-brained -- kidnapped and forcibly overdosed on vide noir itself until it killed him. He was thrown out onto a remote roadway and left to rot.

But death, it turns out, is not so simple a thing when vide noir is the murder weapon. That, and this kid is real damn persistent. Finding an endless drift into darkness to be a really boring option, Johnnie rejected death and came right on back as a ghost. He lingers on to this day, haunting the highways of southern California, playing with his bandmates whether they see him or not, and having a hell of a good time doing it.