Mike Ploog's Classic Ghost Rider

Surely the concept of making Ghost Rider a motorcycle bound hero came from the popularity of Evel Knievel, who set world records jumping over cars, buses, and had spectacular wipeouts that shattered almost every bone in his body. As Ploog recalled: "I think my first reference point was Evel Knievel, who was popular at that time. I went through some magazines and did a little bit of research, but not a whole lot. What I saw about Knievel wouldn't work for someone who just sold part of his soul to the devil."

In the debut issue, we first see Ghost Rider emerging from a street at night. After taking down some two-bit thugs, he turns back into his human alter ego-Johnny Blaze. We find out that Ghost Rider is a bit like the Werewolf-he becomes the Ghost Rider at night (every night) and returns to Johnny Blaze (who runs a Knievel-like motorcycle show) during the daytime. Unlike the Werewolf or the Hulk, he doesn't have a dual personality-Blaze is fully in control as the Ghost Rider, though later writers, most notably Roger Stern, would change this later on.

Besides an ability to cast hellfire and invulnerability to bullets, Ghost Rider didn't have many other powers. In the beginning, the sight of his flaming skull made almost any weak-willed thug pee in their pants. Johnny Blaze figured out that speaking in biblical terminology would throw the fear of God into anyone. Again, the writers who came on board later twisted this around, making it the speech of the demon (Zarathros) that possessed the Ghost Rider to speak in this manner.

What makes a Marvel character the most noble? A combination of tragedy plus the capacity for self-sacrifice. Ghost Rider had both qualities in his origin. When Johnny Blaze was a young boy, his father (Barton Blaze) died in a stunt motorcycle show. The show's owner, Crash Simpson, adopts Johnny as his own son. Johnny learns how to ride motorcycles and perform daredevil stunts along with Roxanne Simpson (Crash's daughter), who would become Johnny's girlfriend. One day while training, Johnny's bike surges out of control and kills his adopted mother. On her deathbed, she makes Johnny promise never to ride in the show again. Johnny makes good on his promise until discovers that Crash is dying of cancer-at the very moment their motorcycle show gets booked into Madison Square Garden. What's a boy to do? Johnny summons Satan and sells his soul in return for sparing Crash's life from cancer.

But here's what ya gotta appreciate about Satan: he knows the loopholes in any deal! Crash attempts a world record breaking jump in Madison Square Garden, misses the ramp, and dies in the end. Johnny, furious with rage and sorrow, jumps on his bike and successfully makes the jump on his own. Roxanne, pissed because Johnny could have done it earlier and spared Crash's life, walks out on him (the first of many times). Then Satan comes calling to claim Johnny's soul: "From this day forth…you will walk the earth as my emissary in the dark hours…and in the light, you will join me in Hades!" But before Johnny gets sucked into the netherworld, Roxanne appears and saves him with the purity of her love. Corny ain't it?

There's something of a goldmine here for future tales of Johnny Blaze. How did he summon Satan so easily in the first place? How did Roxanne manage to blunt the edge of Satan's curse and keep Johnny earthbound? She claims she read Johnny's Satanic verses behind his back and knew what to do at the right moment. Daniel Way has mentioned some of these elements in an interview regarding the current Ghost Rider series. If you read this Wikipedia article on Ghost Rider, you will see that various writers tried to explain away Satan (replaced with Mephisto) and concocted a link between Johnny Blaze and Daniel Ketch (the 80s Ghost Rider), making them brothers and ancestors of a long line of Ghost Riders. I put these retcons in the same bucket as the Son of Satan revisions. Sadly, the 2007 movie will go the Mephisto route-one can only assume this is to make the film palatable for evangelicals! Personally, I feel like they replaced Dr. Doom with Paste Pot Pete.

The film version will probably be a blend of the Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider along with the 80s Daniel Ketch (Spirit of Vengeance) version. I'll always prefer Ghost Rider Classic, which really only existed in Marvel Spotlight 5-8. The first appearance, which had Ploog doing both pencils and inks, stands right up there with Berni Wrightson's work on Swamp Thing #1. Who could resist Mike Ploog's rendition of this ghostly figure, especially in this panel where Johnny Blaze goes to sleep in a cemetery? Nuff said.

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