Ghost Rider is the name of several fictional supernatural antiheroes appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Night Rider and subsequently to Phantom Rider .
The first supernatural Ghost Rider is stunt motorcyclist Johnny Blaze , who, in order to save the life of his mentor, agreed to give his soul to "Satan" (later revealed to be an arch-demon named Mephisto). Instead, his soul bonded with the entity called Zarathos. When utilizing Zarathos' powers Blaze's flesh is consumed by hellfire, causing his head to become a flaming skull. He rides a fiery motorcycle and wields trademark blasts of hellfire from his skeletal hands. He starred in the series from 1972-1983.
The subsequent Ghost Rider series (1990-98) featured Danny Ketch as a new Ghost Rider. After his sister was injured by ninja gangsters, Ketch came in contact with a motorcycle which had somehow been mystically enchanted to contain the essence of a "Spirit of Vengeance".
Johnny Blaze reappeared in this 1990s series as a supporting character. In mid-2000s comics, Blaze again became the Ghost Rider, succeeding Ketch.
Nicolas Cage and Matt Long played Johnny Blaze in the 2007 film Ghost Rider .
Johnny Blaze
Main article: Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze)After the western comics character who originally used the name, the most well-known Ghost Rider was created by writer-editor Roy Thomas, with writer Gary Friedrich, and artist Mike Ploog, in Marvel Spotlight #5 (Aug. 1972). Johnny Blaze, a motorcycle stunt performer in a traveling circus, sold his soul to who he believes was Satan but actually is the demon Mephisto (a retcon), in order to save his stepfather, "Crash" Simpson, from cancer. Crash later dies in a motorcycle accident and Mephisto attempts to take Blaze's soul, only to be thwarted by Crash's daughter Roxanne, who had learned of the deal and had prepared a counter-spell based on selfless love. Unable to take Blaze's soul, Mephisto has his revenge by binding Blaze with a demonic force.
Blaze then finds himself transforming into a demonic entity at nightfall, during which times he wields strange powers. He is called the Ghost Rider for his strange appearance. As time goes on, he is able to call on his demonic abilities whenever he wishes, not just at night. Eventually, he seems to have a different personality as Ghost Rider and it is finally revealed that Mephisto has forced Blaze to share his body with a demon rival named Zarathos.
Originally, Zarathos was stripped of his memories and so Blaze was in control whenever they transformed into Ghost Rider. But now, Zarathos' true personality has resurfaced and from then on it is a continuing battle for dominance between him and Blaze. Being a demon, Zarathos craves the punishment of sinners and so Blaze at times willingly releases him when criminals or other threats are nearby. However, it is always a struggle to force Zarathos back so that Blaze can resume his control and his human identity. At time, Zarathos tries to find ways to destroy Blaze's soul so that he may be free to enjoy complete physical existence.
The character received his own series in 1973, with penciller Jim Mooney handling most of the first nine issues. Several different creative teams mixed-and-matched until penciller Don Perlin began a long stint with #26, eventually joined by writer Michael Fleisher through #58. Tony Isabella wrote a Ghost Rider story arc where Johnny Blaze became a Christian and thereby freed himself of the curse. Isabella said that "Johnny Blaze accepts Jesus Christ into his life. This gives him the strength to overcome Satan, though with more pyrotechnics than most of us can muster. He retains the Ghost Rider powers he had been given by Satan, but they are his to use as his new faith directs him." However, the story was apparently rewritten at the last moment.
Towards the end of the run, a villain named Centurious was introduced. Centurious was a man without a soul, making him immune to Ghost Rider's hellfire, and he had a history with Zarathos. This Ghost Rider's career ended when Zarathos fled Blaze's body in issue #81 (June 1983), the finale, in order to pursue Centurious. Now free of his curse, Blaze went off to live with Roxanne.
In the next Ghost Rider series, it would be revealed that Roxanne and Johnny eventually got married and had two children.
Daniel Ketch
Main article: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)The next Ghost Rider debuted in Ghost Rider vol. 2, #1 (May 1990). Daniel Ketch and his sister Barbara are caught in a gang war involving ninja gangsters. They run and Barbara is hit. Daniel then notices a nearby motorcycle lying unattended, bearing a mystical sigil on its gas cap. Touching the symbol, he is transformed into the new Ghost Rider, who proclaims himself to be a "spirit of vengeance." Although this Ghost Rider defeats the gangsters, he is unable to save Barbara, who slips into a coma. She is eventually killed by the vampiric villain Blackout, a lieutenant of the very organization responsible for her state and whom Ketch acquires as a mortal enemy. Another major enemy was Blackout's boss Deathwatch.
This Ghost Rider was nearly identical to the previous, although his costume and bike underwent a modernized tailoring, consisting of a black leather biker jacket with spiked shoulder-pads, grey leather pants, and a mystic chain that he wore across his chest, which responded to his mental commands and served as his primary melee weapon. His new motorcycle resembled a futuristic, high tech machine and the front of it could lower to serve as a battering ram on occasions. Like the original Ghost Rider's bike, the wheels were composed of mystic hellfire. Johnny Blaze seeks out the new Ghost Rider, believing at first that it is the same demon who had possessed him years before. Realizing this isn't the case, he becomes an ally to the new Ghost Rider and a friend/mentor to Danny Ketch, even teaching him how to fight. It is later revealed that Ketch and Blaze are long-lost brothers and that their family are the inheritors of a mystical curse related to the Spirits of Vengeance. Later still, they discover that the Ghost Rider spirit is apparently their ancestor, a man named Noble Kale who was cursed to live on through his descendants. Several of these secrets are revealed to them by a man called the Caretaker, who seems to be nearly immortal and is tasked with making sure the Ghost Rider follows his true path.
Unlike the Blaze/Zarathos relationship, Danny and the second Ghost Rider are more cooperative towards each other. This Ghost Rider has a compassionate side and refuses to take over completely, as this would condemn Danny to a lifeless existence as a mere host body. Ketch and the Ghost Rider spirit, like Blaze and Zarathos, can sometimes communicate through dreams or will leave messages for each other (such as writing a note or using lipstick to scribble messages on a mirror).
When Ghost Rider becomes a part of the Midnight Sons, he dies twice in the process. The first person to kill Ghost Rider is the vampire hunter Blade, whose mind is possessed by the Darkhold at the time. Ghost Rider is soon revived by the Darkhold Redeemers, along with everyone else killed by Blade. The second time he dies is while fighting Zarathos, but as before, he is once again reborn.
At the close of the series, Blaze seemed to lose his children to mystical forces and Roxanne was killed, only to be transformed into the demon Black Rose. Ghost Rider Issue #91 (Dec. 1997) revealed the second Ghost Rider to actually be Marvel's incarnation of the Angel of Death/Judgment. Daniel Ketch then apparently dies and Noble Kale becomes a ruler in Hell. Years later, Peter Parker: Spider-Man #93 (July 1997) revealed that Ketch was still alive. The Ghost Rider spirit reappears and seems to bond with him again, telling him that it has learned that he is not, in fact, Noble Kale at all and that this was a lie meant to confuse them. When Danny Ketch shows up again in the new Ghost Rider series, he is completely human and not bonded to any spirit. What's more, he is told by the Caretaker that his transformation into the second Ghost Rider was a mistake. What happened to Danny over the past few years is to be explained in further issues of the new Ghost Rider series and in an upcoming mini-series starring him.
The series ended with a cliffhanger in vol. 2, #93 (Feb. 1998). Marvel finally published the long-completed final issue nine years later as Ghost Rider Finale (Jan. 2007), which reprints vol. 2, #93 and the previously unpublished #94. Note: While the cover reads Ghost Rider #94, the comic's postal indicia lists the official title as Ghost Rider Finale . The finale revealed that Roxanne's true spirit was restored and that she left her existence as Black Rose behind and returned to Johnny's side, though she suffered from heavy memory loss.
Johnny Blaze returns
A six-issue mini-series, again featuring Blaze as the Ghost Rider (though how this happened was not explained), debuted in 2001 under the Marvel Knights imprint. Subtitled "The Hammer Lane," it was written by Devin K. Grayson and penciled by Trent Kaniuga. The miniseries was ill-regarded by fans. Some elements of the series, such as Roxanne's death, have also been overturned by the later released final issue of the Dan Ketch series.
A second six-issue mini-series, by writer Garth Ennis and artist Clayton Crain, subtitled "Road to Damnation," debuted November 20
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