Bringing back my Blog, with a Vengeance!
Okay I’m exaggerating I read every main universe-616-something-whatever ect book about Ghost Rider just so YOU don’t have too. there’s some alternate universe stuff I haven’t read because I’m saving those for other planned reads like 2099 or simply because I don’t find Cosmic Ghost Rider all that interesting.
Why did I do this? I’m into the supernatural and I really thought it was badass as a kid, so I’d latch on to stories about magick and the Paranormal. I was also into Comic Book Super-Heroes so when you mix the two I’m prone to investigate. Plus Ghost Rider’s design is so metal, he should be a tattoo caricature not an established character with 50+ years of lore.
Old Comics especially MARVEL have that neat kind of impact, genius lightning in the bottle ideas that seemed a little ahead of the curve sometimes even to today’s standards. The character was originally created as a villain for Daredevil before they thought his design was too good to stay for a villain. It was pretty genius, a flaming skeleton boogeyman on a motorbike! and he fights Satan! Now that’s cool and totally pro christian.
As a kid Ghost Rider ended up basically being my favorite MARVEL Hero thanks to the few comics I read and his movie (I never really read like crazy till High School) but as an adult I realized I hardly read his many books. He was one of MARVEL’s most prolific Supernatural heroes maybe only second to Doctor Strange and even Thor if you saw him as such. So I spent a good chunk of the year reading and researching the chronological order of Ghost Rider’s appearances and did the same for my favorite DC hero Captain Atom (Who was a bit more complicated) then made EASIER plans to do this with other books, like 2099 and Doctor Fate. (I had already done Blade and Prez Teen President by this point!)
So what did I think of the whole history of Ghost Rider? He’s certainly really “cool”. I learned an intrestig listen in being a big fan if a certain super-heto. When you read a characters history you are observing this character sort of figuring out what it want’s to be. Different writers do different things some good and some horrible but it’s good to trek on, eventually as you get to modern times you see how the character turned into what we all know him to be. I think it’s important for most writers to know their characters well when they are given a chance to write them. I’m not saying I’ll write Ghost Rider but you never know. And I’ll be ready If do!
What better way to start then with the original, Carter Slade was created in 1966 by Dick Ayers, Gary Freidrich, and Roy Thomas. This Cowboy vigilante took on the original name of Ghost Rider and much like Ghost Rider his design was a little ahead of it’s time. He had a bunch of interesting horror western stories, and when Johnny Blaze took his place his name changed to Night Rider and eventually The Phantom Rider, He becomes as integral to Ghost Rider’s history as the themes of the Old West. Carter Slade is sometimes being shown as a Rider himself, and in the first film starring Nick Cage Sam Elliot plays him as the immortal Caretaker, the Ghost Rider of the old west.
Now we get to the Ghost Rider everyone knows, the original stunt daredevil Johnny Blaze. One of the coolest ideas the 70’s ever gave us. Another weird blip in the up and coming goth/rock/punk culture that was creeping into the collected conscious of America’s youth. So what can I say about one of the most famous creation of late writer Gary Friedrich, Artist Mike Ploog, and again Roy Thomas who pretty much wrote every MARVEL character at the time.
Johnny Blaze sold his soul to SATAN in an attempt to save his adopted daredevil Father Crash Simpson and also father of his love interest Roxxane from Cancer, and it worked (It was a different time). However because the devils such a funny guy his father still died in a freak stunt accident. Payment had to be made regardless and much like the early grey Hulk- Ghost Rider transformed into the Spirit of Vengeance. Fused with the demon Zarathos he hunts down evil Nazi Bikers, Burglars, and Demons of Hell as a righteous fist of God and Vengeance!
Every issue followed a formula unless plot picked up, Johnny faces off against some villain or demon sent by Satan, sometimes usually on a bike too. They fight and they race sometimes one after the other. Roxxane is kidnapped or threatened, Johnny wins and then angst about his life then runs off. Satan plays the role of Johnny’s Arch-Nemesis, coming in and out with nefarious schemes, failing then trying again, like a supernatural Joker. I’m assuming the writers had difficulties trying to make Satan work in these stories while also trying to keep this tied to the established Marvel Universe, much like the characters things are being built by shared writers. The big conclusion to the original arc was that the now dad Crash the very man Johnny sold his soul for was now a soldier to Satan so he could torture Johnny more!
On a added side note, early Ghost Rider art is pretty basic MARVEL flair. Ghost Rider isn’t drawn as a full body flaming skeleton for awhile, you see hints of skin around his neck so he’s more like a human with a flaming skull for a head. He also has pupils that stay around for a long time, it looks a little awkward when you are used too the badass biker with pitch black charring eyes.
Fun story about the original Ghost Rider comics, Tony Isabella wanted to have literal Jesus Christ as a major character, here he is in his first appearance. Tony Isabella wanted Jesus Christ refereed to simply as “The Friend” to save Johnny from Satan and have him submit to Christ to eventually defeat Satan. According to Tony, ” (Jim Shooter) took offense at my story. The issue was ready to go to the printer when he pulled it back and ripped it to pieces. He had some of the art redrawn and a lot of the copy rewritten to change the ending of a story two years in the making. ‘The Friend’ was revealed to be, not Jesus, but a demon in disguise”
I would have loved this story to be honest, it’s so weird? I’m actually surprised it got as far as it did, It’s classic Shooter though. I would have loved this explored more and I’m surprised no modern writer digs back to the original run. I wish some writer did to Ghost Rider what was done with Hulk by Ewing and incorporated a lot of these Religious Ideas into his stories.
My favorite of Original Johnny’s story wasn’t even part of his original run, it was an issue of Marvel Two-In-One. Issue 8 where he teamed up with the Thing. Just a good example of what I think Comics do best, make really fun and weird stories! In this fun romp Ghost Rider and the Thing are supposedly sent back in time to Israel from California and take the place of the three Wise Men. It all sounds fun until it turns out the villain Miracle Man has brainwashed a village into believing they lived in biblical times. He was recreating the entire Nativity Scene and only our Judaeo Christian Hellspawn and his Jewish compadre could stop him. Other stories I liked included facing an alien child with godlike powers, teaming up with Doctor Strange (Whose very present in his history) and facing Dormmamu. To going on adventures with the original Ghost Rider Carter Slade. The one stories he always seems to do is the one thing that makes sense… Racing!
Like I said, the bulk of these stories consisted of Johnny racing a villain/demon then fighting. However only two of these races had any important impact to the character, Issue #35 written by Jim Starlin has Ghost Rider racing with Death “herself”. It’s funny how little presence Death has on Ghost Rider’s history, and it’s interesting that her one and only presence in all of Ghost Rider is this single issue by Starlin who would go on to eventually make Death a central character in the Infinity Saga. As of this comic she isn’t even a she yet, and it’s interesting to see Starlin use Death way before she’d became the Cosmic Deity Thanos pines after. This had the best art of the original run, I wish it stuck around. His second big story race was in Issue #76 when his Arch nemesis Satan turns into Mephisto.
At some point maybe around Issue #76 Satan is changed into Mephisto who is Marvel’s Satan analog- err kind of. Marvel made a bunch of Magick guys and all have faced Satan once or twice, and they’re all very different. The eventual explanation is that there are different realms of hell and they’re all ruled by different demonic beings. Sometimes they meet and fight over who gets to be THE one Satan, It’s just a neat little piece of Lore I found interesting, (we did eventually get to figure out who MARVEL’s Anti-Creator is). It’s fun trying to make sense and learn fictional worlds isn’t it?
In Issue #76 Mephisto grants Johnny’s wish and splits him away from Zarathos. There is very little stories where we get to meet the actual demon spirit of the Rider. Ghost Rider being two dueling identities is not as explored as much as I think it should with this being one of the few instances Johnny looks at this Demon with his own eyes. There are other instanced my favorite being the end of the 90’s run which we will get to soon! But It’s cool how kind hearted the Demonic Spirit of Vengeance can be so I hope he’s explored more down the line.
My favorite line from the first Ghost Rider movie was Caretaker praising Johnny. “Any man that’s got the guts to sell his soul for love has got the power to change the world. You didn’t do it for greed, you did it for the right reason. And that puts God on your side“. It’s a great quote that really defines the character. Johnny went through some fun mystic adventures, some fun villains, hilarious cameos We had some team ups, like The ill fated Champions. In the final Issue the villain Centurious has taken Johnny’s soul, this villain first appeared in Issue #77 as a man who sold his soul to save his loved one from Zarathos only for it to be a ploy so Mephisto can capture Zarathos, it didn’t work out for anyone in the end. At the very end of this original Ghost Rider run, Centurious splits Johnny and Zarathos and steals Johnny’s soul inside his crystal ball. Zarathos manages to save him but is trapped in the ball alongside a now defeated Centurios who we don’t see for some time.
Ghost Rider in the 70’s was figuring out what it wanted to be, and we didn’t have much of the intense Occult, and Metal scene to help set the aesthetics in for what he would become stylistically. There were interesting stories, and fun villains I wish would stay around in future adventures.
And so we come at a decent close for a MARVEL Classic but this is not the end of their tale. Johnny will go on to play a role in a variety of MARVEL’s Supernatural tales. Budding ways with Blade, Morbius, Daredevil, Punisher and even other innocent citizens who would take on the mantle themselves turning Ghost Rider to a long lineage of Demonic Angels of justice.
So long! I will see you when we talk 90’s! as we meet face to face Danny Ketch, the SECOND Ghost Rider!
And Remember to, Prepare to know the true meaning of hell!
Cartoonist's Man-Cave 