Marvel's Haunt of Horror: October 2006 Archives

We hope you've enjoyed our look back at Ghost Rider. Visually speaking, you just can't go wrong with a skull surrounded by flames. Whether Roy Thomas or Gary Friedrich or Mike Ploog came up with the idea, it's genius, and it's inspired many comic book covers, paintings, and tattoos. Our favorite Ghost Rider cover of all time was Ghost Rider V2 #15 by Texeira (scanned here from a beat-up copy). This cover was great because it actually glowed in the dark! It was so popular that Marvel actually did two printings with different backgrounds. Now if only they would make a glow in the dark t-shirt with that image. Nuff said.

Technorati : Ghost Rider

Marvel has tried several times to revive Ghost Rider during the past five years. There were two mini-series, one written by Devin Grayson (Hammer Lane) and the other by Garth Ennis (Road to Damnation). Both mini-series used Johnny Blaze as the Ghost Rider. Grayson tried to portray Johnny as a family man getting overtaken by the Ghost Rider curse once again, while Ennis simply put Blaze in Hell, with no explanation to past continuity. Ennis' mini-series had fantastic painted artwork by Clayton Crain, but the story was utterly incomprehensible to me.

In the new Ghost Rider series, written by Daniel Way, Johnny Blaze escapes from Hell and into a whole new series of adventures. Comic Book Resources just put out this nifty interview with Way which summarizes Ghost Rider #1-4 and gives you an idea of what will happen in Ghost Rider #5-8. How Johnny Blaze made it into Hell in the first place will be explained later, and Way will put his own spin on why Blaze is the Ghost Rider. Blaze's new raison d'etre is to capture the 666 pieces of Lucifer that have shattered over the Earth and destroy them. The problem is that everytime Blaze kills one of them (hosted in a human body), the other remaining pieces get stronger. Is it just me or does this sound a lot like Highlander? And like the 70s series, there will be a dual nature aspect to the Ghost Rider--Johnny Blaze will once again fight for control over the Spirit of Vengeance.

Way's dialogue is actually very funny in many scenes dealing with Satan. Dr. Strange makes an attempt to stop Ghost Rider, just like he did in the 80s comic, but this time he should be "cursed for a novice" because he acts like a buffoon. Having the 80s Ghost Rider art team (Javier Saltares and Mark Texeira) return to the character was a very good idea, as they are better than ever. While this series is about Johnny Blaze, Ghost Rider is visually styled after the Ketch version, with the spiked jacket and chain. Blaze can also utilize Ketch's powers, like the Penance Stare. There's a lot to quibble about, but it's still a fun book to read for mindless entertainment. I suspect I'll stay with it for a while. One of my favorite horror artists from Warren magazines, Richard Corben, is slated for a two-parter in issues 6-7. Nuff said.

Technorati : Ghost Rider

When Ghost Rider rode back into comic book stores in 1990, fans welcomed the character back as they never had before. Written by Howard Mackie and drawn the art team of Javier Saltares and Mark Texeira, this all-new Ghost Rider became one of Marvel's highest selling series. Whereas previous writers made an intricate story between the Ghost Rider and Satan, Mackie abandoned that approach to portray a character stripped down to his minimalist roots, encapsulated by the slogan: Spirit of Vengeance!

In the first few pages of Ghost Rider Volume 2 #1, we meet the host for the vengeful demon: Daniel Ketch. (Readers of the Busiek-Ross MARVELS book may remember that Ketch shows up on the last page of the story.) We know nothing of this fellow other than he's walking through a graveyard at night with sister, Barb. They run into a gang of criminals fighting each other (one group belongs to the Kingpin) and Barb gets critically wounded. Daniel backs into a junkyard, where he discovers a mysteriously abandoned motorcycle with a glowing gas cap. After touching the gas cap, Daniel gets imbued with a powerful energy.

The Ghost Rider emerges a few panels later, having possessed Daniel's body. It was clear from the start that Daniel and the Ghost Rider were separate entities, given that Daniel remembered little of Ghost Rider's nocturnal activities. All of these elements made Daniel Ketch less interesting as a person for me. I couldn't believe the way that he accidentally stumbled into these powers, which was so unlike a typical Marvel hero! Worse, I could never get a grip on Daniel Ketch's personality, his aspirations, fears, love interest, his family or friends. All the supporting characters belonging to the Daniel Ketch character all seemed too bland, too indistinct. I could never tell his girlfriend from his sister!

Marvel's horror-craze only lasted a few years, beginning in late 1970 (with Marvel Spotlight #2 featuring Werewolf by Night) and ending during the first half of 1975 (the last issue of the black and white monster magazines). The longest lasting characters to survive the horror boom were Werewolf by Night (43 issues), Tomb of Dracula (70 issues), but Ghost Rider beat them all with 81 issues and numerous comebacks. Part of his survival is due to writer Tony Isabella (taking over when Gary Friedrich left the series) deciding to usher Johnny Blaze into the superhero population. The dramatic event occurred in Ghost Rider #9. The cover proclaimed: This is it! The final fearful Showdown with Satan!

As Tony Isabella said in his interview with Alex Ness at Pop Thought: "When I was assigned to write GHOST RIDER, two things were obvious to me. Without artist Mike Ploog, the supernatural-based stories weren't working as well as they had during his stint on the book, leading me to consider whether or not that book might sell better if I emphasized the super-hero aspects of the title. The second thing was that there were plenty of Satan avatars active in the Marvel Universe, but precious little evidence of the loyal opposition. I hit a point in the extended storyline where it made wonderful sense to have Jesus Christ prevent Satan from claiming Johnny Blaze's soul."

In the beginning, Johnny Blaze rode an ordinary motorcycle on his nightly excursions. But when your skeletal body is shooting fire Every Which A Way But Loose*, how practical is that really? Your bike could explode at any given moment! Not to mention that Johnny Blaze was getting sucked into Hell regularly and when he came back to Earth, his bike couldn't be found! Well, after Johnny Blaze shook hands with Satan in issue #2, issue #3 had the answer.

In "Wheels of Fire", Gary Friedrich concluded his epic tale that introduced the Son of Satan to the Marvel Universe. Daimon Hellstrom had rescued both Johnny Blaze and Linda Littletree from Hell. Linda had been possessed by the Devil and had become "Witch Woman", givin' Johnny Blaze nothin' but red hot pants trouble for three issues. When the Son of Satan dumps Johnny miles away from the nearest city, he realizes he's in a mess of trouble.

1972 was a banner year for Marvel Comics horror characters. With Monster of Frankenstein and Werewolf by Night successfully launched in their own titles, editor Roy Thomas decided it was time to "horrify" an old western character called Ghost Rider. I had already fallen in love with Ploog's artwork, but his work on the first three Ghost Rider tales made me his eternal worshipper. I had anticipated the debut issue ever since I had seen that flaming skull in the Marvel Bullpen Bulletins.

Like the previous monster series, Marvel once again turned to writer Gary Friedrich and artist Mike Ploog, who said in this interview: "When I first heard of Ghost Rider, I thought it was a Western, going back to the Frazetta-drawn Ghost Rider riding around on the white horse."

Ghost Rider was different from most of the Marvel horror series. Whereas Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Werewolf were Marvel-ized version of popular horror characters, Ghost Rider was completely original. Not even Man-Thing could claim to be totally unique, having had a famous predecessor in the Heap.

Satana, the Devil's Daughter, was conceived by Marvel at the same time as the Son of Satan. In Marvel Spotlight #12 (Hellstrom's first solo story), Daimon says to Johnny Blaze: "…until I gain the final, ultimate revenge-for what he did to my mother and sister!*" Roy Thomas' editorial note follows the asterisk: "*More on the mother next ish! And as for his sultry sister Satana, you can get a fleeting glimpse of her in our current giant-size Vampire Tales #2, now on sale!"

The original model for Satana was developed by Roy Thomas and John Romita. Satana was a succubus, able to steal men's souls with a kiss. She was taught black magic as well, but unlike Daimon, in the beginning she was loyal to Satan. In Marvel Spotlight #13, Satana sacrifices a cat to her father's name, much to the horror of her (human) mother. While Satana never had a strong run of stories, in many ways her debut in Vampire Tales #2 was the most remarkable story of all. It left an impression on me that I'll never forget.

It was a four page story by Thomas and Romita. Romita's artwork was stunning in black and white. It starts off wordlessly, with a classic Romita girl-with his Romance background-walking through the deserted streets of New York City at night. She looks apprehensive, afraid-then looks back at the sound of footsteps following her.