Ghost Rider
- This article is about the Marvel Comics superhero. For the roller coaster at Knott's Berry Farm, see GhostRider. For the film, see Ghost Rider (film).
| Ghost Rider | |
|---|---|
| File:Ghostrider1.jpg Cover to Ghost Rider: Road to Damnation #1 (2005). Art by Clayton Crain. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Marvel Spotlight volume 1 #5 |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | John Blaze (alter ego) |
| Team affiliations | The Champions, Midnight Sons, Fantastic Four, The Defenders, Secret Defenders |
| Abilities | Possesses supernatural strength and durability, rides a mystical flame cycle that can travel across any surface and attain incredible speeds, can use his Penance Stare which forces those who meet his gaze to experience the pain they have caused others; can project both regular and ethereal flame offensively. He also wields a magical chain which offers many forms of attack. |
Ghost Rider is the name of several comic book series published by Marvel Comics, and of several fictional characters in the Marvel Universe.
Western Ghost Rider
The original Ghost Rider was a masked gunfighter in the American Old West who battled frontier injustice while dressed in a luminescent white costume. The original version was created by writer Ray Krank and artist Dick Ayers in Magazine Enterprises' Tim Holt #11 (1949). After the trademark to the character's name and motif had lapsed, Marvel Comics debuted its own near-identical, horror-free version of the character in Ghost Rider Vol. 1, #1-7 (Feb.-Nov. 1967), by writer Gary Friedrich and original Ghost Rider artist Ayers.
With the introduction of the first motorcycle-riding, supernatural Ghost Rider (see below), this Western character's name was changed — first to the unfortunate Night Rider (a name that also refers to members of the Ku Klux Klan), and then to Phantom Rider.
Johnny Blaze
The second Ghost Rider debuted in Marvel Spotlight Volume 1, #5 (Aug. 1972), co-created, like the Western Ghost Rider, by Roy Thomas and Gary Friedrich, plus artist Mike Ploog. Johnny Blaze, a motorcycle stunt performer in a traveling circus, sold his soul to what he believed was Satan but was actually the demon Mephisto, in order to save the life of his friend and mentor, Crash Simpson. Blaze was bound with the demon Zarathos and transformed into a leather-clothed skeleton, his head cloaked in a sheath of flame. The character received his own series with a Sept. 1973 debut issue (see at left), with penciler Jim Mooney handling most of the first nine issues. Several different creative teams mixed-and-matched until penciler Don Perlin began a long stint with #26, eventually joined by writer Michael Fleisher through #58. This Ghost Rider's career ended when Zarathos fled Blaze's body in issue #81 (June 1983), the finale.
Blaze would mistake Noble Kale (an earlier Ghost Rider, the first known to have utilized the name in links with the supernatural) for Zarathos during the subsequent Ghost Rider series (1990-1998), and after attempting to destroy him, eventually became an ally. Johnny, like his long-lost brother Danny Ketch (see below), are direct descendants of Kale. Johnny was supposed to have become Kale's next host, but due to the actions of their mother, the siblings Johnny, Barbara, and Daniel (apparently their true last name is either Kale or Blaze, though no information has confirmed which is correct) were supposed to have been passed over by the curse of being Noble's host. Johnny was "spared" having to be Noble's host, but became the host for another entity (Zarathos, who had been stripped of his memories and was originally under Johnny's control. As the series progressed, that control faded and Zarathos' true personality was evident whenever Ghost Rider was unleashed).
Thomas, Marvel's editor-in-chief at the time, described the character's genesis:
- "I had made up a character as a villain in Daredevil — a very lackluster character — called Stunt-Master... a motorcyclist. Anyway, when Gary Friedrich started writing Daredevil, he said, "Instead of Stunt-Master, I'd like to make the villain a really weird motorcycle-riding character called Ghost Rider." He didn't describe him. I said, "Yeah, Gary, there's only one thing wrong with it," and he kind of looked at me weird, because we were old friends from Missouri, and I said, "That's too good an idea to be just a villain in Daredevil. He should start out right away in his own book." When Gary wasn't there the day we were going to design it, Mike Ploog, who was going to be the artist, and I designed the character. I had this idea for the skull-head, something like Elvis' 1968 Special jumpsuit, and so forth, and Ploog put the fire on the head, just because he thought it looked nice. Gary liked it, so they went off and did it in back office for three hours." [1]
Friedrich on the above, in 2001:
- "Well, there's some disagreement between Roy, Mike and I over that. I threatened on more than one occasion that if Marvel gets in a position where they are gonna make a movie or make a lot of money off of it, I'm gonna sue them, and I probably will. ...It was my idea. It was always my idea from the first time we talked about it, it turned out to be a guy with a flaming skull and rode a motorcycle. Ploog seems to think the flaming skull was his idea. But, to tell you the truth, it was my idea."Template:Fn
Daniel Ketch
The third debuted in Ghost Rider (1990 series) #1 (May 1990). Daniel Ketch and his sister Barbara, attacked by ninja gangsters, fled and hid in a garbage dump where Daniel found a motorcycle bearing a mystical sigil. Upon touching the sigil, he was transformed into the Ghost Rider. This Ghost Rider was nearly identical to the previous, though his costume and bike had undergone a modernized tailoring. He thrashed the gangsters, but was unable to save Barbara, who died.
When Ghost Rider became a part of the Midnight Sons, he died twice in the process. The first person who killed Ghost Rider was the vampire hunter Blade, who was at the time posessed by the Darkhold. He was soon revived by the Darkhold Redeemers, along with everyone else who was killed by Blade. The second time he died was when he was fighting Zarathos, but like before, he was once again reborn.
It was later revealed that Daniel Ketch and John Blaze were long-lost brothers and that their family were the inheritors of a mystical curse related to the Spirits of Vengeance. Ketch eventually died, but the Spirit of Vengeance that had been bound to him through the bike's talisman lived on. Eventually, in a Spider-Man comic, it was revealed that Ketch was still alive, and he rebonded with the Noble Kale Ghost Rider.
Still later, Blaze became the Ghost Rider again through occult action, reappearing in the six-issue Marvel Knights miniseries Ghost Rider (Aug. 2001 - Jan. 2002; story arc titled "The Hammer Lane").
Continuity Conundrums
The Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider fusion has not clarified whether or not this version of the Spirit of Vengeance is Noble Kale. Several continuity problems point to this being an entirely new Ghost Rider.
Noble Kale, in the final issue of the 1990s Ghost Rider series, killed Blackheart and apparently claimed the throne of one of Marvel's many realms of Hell. However, with the return of Mephisto, who was responsible in part for Kale becoming the Ghost Rider, Kale may have been deposed from that realm. Since Kale and Danny Ketch merged again in a Spider-Man comic directly before the release of the 2001 miniseries, there is no clear answer as to where Kale actually is or to whom, if anyone, he is bonded. In that same Spider-Man comic, the Ghost Rider, before re-bonding with Ketch, dropped hints that the Noble Kale origin may be false or at least misunderstood. Additionally, in the 2001 miniseries, the Ghost Rider killed humans, an action Kale specifically refused to commit.
2005 series
A second six-issue miniseries featuring Johnny Blaze, this one by writer Garth Ennis and artist Clayton Crain, debuted November 2005. This new series seems to take up where the 2001-2002 Ghost Rider miniseries left off. However, it regards Blaze's pact with Satan (later retconned to Mephisto in the original series, and apparently retconned once again to Satan. However, since Mephisto sometimes goes by the name Satan, this may not be a true retcon), as having occurred 30 years previous — a rare act of time-alteration by Marvel, and one that appears to be in keeping with Blaze's looking notably older in Ghost Rider Vol. 2, featuring Ketch. Yet the 2005 miniseries makes no references to Zarathos, and Blaze, as in his earliest appearances, is in control of the Ghost Rider body. This means that this iteration either is not Zarathos or Kale, or that those entities are too weak to express their personalities. As well, since it also does not appear to be the version of Ghost Rider in "Hammer Lane", this miniseries may take place in an alternate Earth separate from the prime Marvel Universe.
At the New York Comic-Con in February 2006, Marvel revealed that there will be a new ongoing Ghost Rider series, written by Daniel Way with art by Mark Texeira, that takes place after the Garth Ennis miniseries and will involve Johnny Blaze being sent back to Earth "with a mission". The series will begin in July of 2006.[2]
Other Spirits of Vengeance
There have been three other notable Spirits of Vengeance in the Marvel unvierse:
Michael Badilino, a former member of the NYPD, is one third of an "Organic Medallion of Power". He possesses powers more in line with those of the Zarathos version of Ghost Rider, though he did possess the Penance Stare and his motorcyle also seemed to share characteristics with the version used by Noble Kale. He was characterised by his skull being deep purple, by fangs protruding from his upper jaw, and large spike protrusions with a backswept curve on the top of his skull.
In his superhuman form, Badilino was called Vengeance, and originally attempted to kill the Ghost Rider, believing him to be Zarathos. Vengeance later became the ally of Ghost Rider and Johnny Blaze. Vengeance would also take on the role of the Ghost Rider and even semi-seriously referred to himself by the name when confronted by Spider-Man shortly after the apparent death of Ghost Rider in battle with Zarathos and acolytes The Fallen. Vengeance killed himself, along with the villain Hellgate, by triggering a massive explosion through his Hellfire (the source of the mystical flames that encompass the bones of both Vengeance and Ghost Rider).
Vengeance would reappear in the last four issues of Ghost Rider Vol. 2, involved in Blackheart's plans to kill Noble Kale. Vengeance aided the Ghost Rider in the ensuing battle, and Blackheart was destroyed. Vengeance's current status is unknown.
Ghost Rider 2099
Zero Cochrane, who in the Marvel 2099 alternate timeline is a cybernetic take on the Spirit of Vengeance, was not a supernatural being, but a cybernetic being with a digitized copy of Cochrane's mind. He encountered a futuristic counterpoint to Michael Badilino's Vengeance. The Ghost Rider of 2099 appeared to drop out of existence during the consolidation of the 2099 books into a single title called 2099 World of Tomorrow. He subsequently appeared in the 2099 "epilogue" book Manifest Destiny, arguing with the AIs that empowered him.
The Spirit of Vengeance
This version debuted in Guardians of the Galaxy, set in an alternate future of the Marvel Universe. He joined a variant group calling themselves the Galactic Guardians. This Ghost Rider was a religious zealot, embittered toward a church proclaiming it would produce its god in the flesh for reasons never completely explained. That being, the Protege, was destroyed by the Celestial Scathan the Approver. Whether or not this Ghost Rider, who referred to himself simply as the Spirit of Vengeance, overcame his bitterness at the Protege after hearing of his destruction, is unknown. However, as the Galactic Guardians mini-series takes place after the apparent destruction of the Protege, and there is no knowledge of whether or not the Spirit knows of Protege's demise, we may never know, as even the Guardians of the Galaxy is now out of print, though some of the main characters of that series have appeared in Paradise X.
Bibliography
Comic book series
Western
- Ghost Rider #1-7 (Feb.-Nov. 1967)
- Night Rider #1-6 (Oct. 1974 - Aug. 1975) shortened reprints of Ghost Rider #1-6
- Western Gunfighters (as Phantom Rider in omnibus series) #1-7 (Aug. 1970 - Jan. 1972)
- The Original Ghost Rider (as Phantom Rider in backup feature) #3, 5-12, 15, 19 (Sept. 1992, Nov. 1992 - June 1993, Sept. 1993, Jan. 1994)
Supernatural
- Marvel Spotlight (1971 series) #5-11 (Aug. 1972 - Aug. 1973)
- Ghost Rider #1-81 (June 1973 - Oct. 1983)
- Ghost Rider #1-93 (May 1990 - Feb. 1998)
- Doctor Strange & Ghost Rider Special #1 (April 1991; same contents as that month's Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #28)
- The Original Ghost Rider Rides Again #1-7 (July 1991 - Jan. 1992; reprints Ghost Rider #68-81)
- The Original Ghost Rider #1-20 (July 1992 - Feb. 1994; reprints Marvel Spotlight #5-12, Ghost Rider [1973 series] #1-9, 11, 12; Marvel Two-In-One #8)
- Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #1-23 (Aug. 1992 - June 1994)
- Ghost Rider Annual #1-2 (1993-1994)
- Blaze: Legacy of Blood #1-4 (Dec. 1993 - March 1994)
- Blaze #1-12 (Aug. 1994 - July 1995)
- Ghost Rider 2099 #1-25 (May 1994 - May, 1996)
- Ghost Rider #1-6, subtitle: "The Hammer Lane" (Aug. 2001 - Jan. 2002)
- Ghost Rider #1-6, subtitle: "The Road to Damnation" (Nov. 2005 - scheduled to Feb. 2006)
One-shot titles
- Ghost Rider/Wolverine/Punisher: Hearts of Darkness (Dec. 1991)
- Ghost Rider / Captain America: Fear (Oct. 1992)
- Ghost Rider/Wolverine/Punisher: Dark Design (Dec. 1994; sequel to Hearts of Darkness)
- Ghost Rider: Crossroads (Nov. 1995)
Publisher crossovers
- Speed Demon with DC Comics (April, 1996; features a pair of composite DC characters involved in the merger. The combination is of Ghost Rider, The Demon and the Flash. A second character, looking identical to the Ketch version of Ghost Rider, with a few color changes to the characters costume also appeared.)
- Cyblade/Ghost Rider with Image Comics (January, 1997)
- Ghost Rider/Ballistic with Image Comics (February, 2002)
Reprints in Comic Book Form (not trade paperbacks)
- Ghost Rider/Cable: Servants of the Dead (1992; reprints Marvel Comics Presents #90-97)
- Ghost Rider: Highway to Hell (2001; reprints Marvel Spotlight (1971 series) # 5 and Ghost Rider (1973 series) # 35, 81
Trade paperbacks
- Ghost Rider: Resurrected (1991; Reprints Ghost Rider (1990 series) #1-7)
- The New Fantastic Four: Monsters Unleashed [Features a "new" Fantastic Four consisting of Ghost Rider, The Hulk, Wolverine and Spider-Man]. (1992; Reprints Fantastic Four (original series) #347-349)
- X-Men & Ghost Rider: Brood Trouble in the Big Easy (1993; Reprints Ghost Rider (1990 series) #26-27 and X-Men #8-9)
- Rise of the Midnight Sons (1992; Reprints Ghost Rider (1990 series) #28, 31; Ghost Rider/Blaze:Spirits of Vengeance #1, Morbius #1, Darkhold #1 and Nightstalkers #1)
- Spirits of Venom (1993; reprints Web of Spider-Man #95 - 96 and Ghost Rider/Blaze:Sprits of Vengeance #5 - 6)
- Ghost Rider: The Hammer Lane (2002; reprints Ghost Rider (2001 series) #1-6)
- Essential Ghost Rider vol. 1 (2005; reprints Marvel Spotlight (1971 series) # 5-12, Ghost Rider (1973 series) #1-20 and Daredevil #138.)
Other media
Posted at Comic-Con 2005.
Ghost Rider has appeared in the Incredible Hulk animated series on the UPN Network and the Fantastic Four episode called, "When Calls Galactus." Richard Grieco provided Ghost Rider's voice on both occasions. The Ghost Rider also appeared extremely briefly as a memory in Gambit's mind during the old X-Men cartoon which aired on Fox, though he did not speak on that occasion.
A Ghost Rider movie starring Nicolas Cage is slated for release in 2007 (originally it was said the film would be released in 2006, but apparently this has since changed.). The character will face Blackheart and his father, Mephisto.
There is also a song called "Ghost Rider" written by the New York punk/electronic band Suicide (made up of Alan Vega and Martin Rev) from their self-titled 1977 album. While it may or may not necessarily be directly inspired by the comic book character, many of the lyrics could easily be interpreted as such, including "Riding through your town with his head on fire" and repeated used of the words "motorcycle hero." The song has also been covered multiple times by bands such as the Rollins Band.
Method Man of the world-famous rap group Wu-Tang Clan often refers to his hip-hop alter-ego as Johnny Blaze, much like his fellow Clansman Ghostface Killah uses the name Tony Stark (Iron Man). In the music video "Triumph", Method Man is riding on a bike with flames as he raps.
Ghost Rider's flaming skull is said to have served as the inspiration for Mortal Kombat's Scorpion as Scorpion's alternative costume in both the games and various media is a flaming skull.
In 2005, the all-girl Filipino rock band Prettier Than Pink recorded the tribute ballad "Johnny Blaze" for their "Chop Suey" CD. It was released on Sutton Records.
Footnote
- Template:Fnb Comic Book Artist, p. 84, May 2001