The motorcycle riding spirit of vengeance gained popularity but was plagued with declining sales compounded by weak story telling and inconsistent artwork. The last major thrust from the Ghost Rider franchise was during Ghost Rider (vol 3) in 2003, with Johnny Blaze returning as the Spirit of Vengeance in the "Hammer Lane" stories. Unfortunately, the fans didn't buy into it and may spell the end for this franchise, worn out by the constant overuse of Ghost Rider throughout the Marvel Universe. Instead of making a solid impact or contribution, he does nothing more than appear and leave.
Regardless, he's still one of my all-time fave Marvel characters (otherwise, why would I put all of this together? ^_^)
BTW, I'm only going to be talking about Ghost Rider from the 616 universe or the "in- continuity" Marvel Universe (so no Mangaverse, Ultimate or 2099). Maybe in the future, I'll talk about the other forms, but not right now... I also excluded Blazing Skull, cuz he wasn't a Ghost Rider but had the flaming skull (he was active in WW2).
Ghost Rider (Vol 2) =================== -1 13yrs before GR(v1) #1; Origin of Ghost Rider 1 1st app GR II; Deathwatch 2 Blackout 3 GR kills Deathwatch's man, later becomes Death Ninja 4 Mr. Hyde 5 Texeira art starts; Punisher 6 Punisher 7 Death of Barbara; Scarecrow 8 Texeira's last artwork 9 X-Factor, HEART 10 Zodiac, John Blaze 11 Nightmare 12 Dr. Strange 13 Snowblind 14 Vs. Johnny Blaze 15 end of HEART 16 Revern Styge 17 Demogoblin 18 Centurious 19 Suicide 20 death of Zodiac 21 Michael Badilino 22 Deathwatch ninjas 23 Hag and Troll 24 Death of Deathwatch and Snowblind 25 Stern and FIRM, death of Dan Ketch 26 X-Men, Brood 27 X-Men, Brood 28 Rise of the Midnight Sons pt1; Lilith; Andy Kubert artwork 29 Next Wave, Wolverine, Beast 30 Nightmare 31 Rise of the Midnight Sons pt6; death of Lilin; end Kubert artwork 32 return of Dan Ketch, Stern 33 death of HEART, Madcap, Dan learns he was adopted 34 Death Ninja, Caretaker 35 Tyler Meagher as Heart Attack 36 Succubus 37 death of FIRM and Stern 38 Scarecrow 39 Vengeance 40 Midnight Massacre Pt2; Seer, Switchblade 41 Missing Link Pt1; Outcast, return of Lilin 42 Missing Link Pt3; 43 Missing Link pt5; Zarathos 44 Siege of Darkness pt2; 45 Siege of Darkness pt10; Patriarch 46 Vengeance is new GR; Rak 47 Under Fire pt1; Dread, Ski 48 Under Fire pt2; Anton Hellgate, Spider-Man 49 Hulk 50 return of GR II, death of Roxanne, Craig and Emma gone 51 Slaughter Boy 52 Shriker, Inspector Uno 53 first Salvador Larroca artwork 54 death of Linda Wei 55 Werewolf by Night, Mr. Hyde 56 Next Wave 57 Next Wave, Nick Fury, Wolverine 58 Betrayals pt1; Paula, Spook, Stacy joins task force against GR 59 Betrayals pt2; Abomination 60 Betrayals pt3; death of Shaun Tully by GR; Jack D'Auria = Shriker 61 Betrayals pt4; Daredevil, Punisher 62 In Chains pt1; Scarecrow, Skinner, Nick Fury 63 In Chains pt2 64 In Chains pt3; Avengers 65 In Chains pt4 and Double Edge pt3; death of Spook; Black Widow; Punisher 66 Deepthroat 67 Gambit, Brood 68 Gambit, Wolverine, Brood, Stacy quits task force 69 Choam 70 Luz Santos 71 return of Snowblind 72 Stacey sides with Ghost Rider 73 Ripper, Deepthroat = Capt. Gerard Dolan 74 Vengeance goes bad 75 Vs. Vengeance 76 Death of Vengeance and Hellgate 77 Origin of Ghost Rider; Jennifer Kale; GR = Noble Kale; Black Rose 78 GR gets new costume; Noble Kale (artwork looks bad) 79 Dante Kale 80 Valkyrie 81 Howard the Duck, Moonboy, Devil Dinosaur; strange specter 82 strange specter = Barbara; Howard, Moonboy, Devil Dinosaur 83 Scarecrow, Lilith the Vampire, Blackheart 84 Origin of Dan Ketch 85 Scarecrow possesses Dan Ketch 86 87 Wallow 88 Pao Fu 89 Verminous Rex, Doghead 90 Last Temptations pt1; GR returns to original costume (artwork is better) 91 Last Temptations pt2; GR returns to Noble Kale; Pao Fu kills GR 92 Last Temptations pt3; Uriel; Noble Kale 93 Last Temptations pt4; death of Dan Ketch
MAJOR STORYLINES IN GHOST RIDER: ================================ Rise of the Midnight Sons pt1 - GRv2 28 Rise of the Midnight Sons pt2 - SoV 1 Rise of the Midnight Sons pt3 - Morbius 1 Rise of the Midnight Sons pt4 - Darkhold 1 Rise of the Midnight Sons pt5 - Nightstalkers 1 Rise of the Midnight Sons pt6 - GRv2 31 **formation of the Mystic Nine and battle against Lilith, Demon Queen**
Midnight Massacre pt1 - Nightstalkers 10 Midnight Massacre pt2 - GRv2 40 Midnight Massacre pt3 - Darkhold 11 Midnight Massacre pt4 - Morbius 12 Midnight Massacre pt5 - SoV 13 **Blade goes crazy and kills everyone**
Missing Link pt1 - GRv2 41 Missing Link pt2 - SoV 14 Missing Link pt3 - GRv2 42 Missing Link pt4 - SoV 15 Missing Link pt5 - GRv2 43 Missing Link pt6 - SoV 16 **The Blood and Medallion of Power; return of Centurious and Zarathos**
Siege of Darkness pt1 - Nightstalkers 14 Siege of Darkness pt2 - GRv2 44 Siege of Darkness pt3 - Marvel Comics Present (MCP) 143 Siege of Darkness pt4 - Darkhold 15 Siege of Darkness pt5 - Morbius 16 Siege of Darkness pt6 - MCP 144 Siege of Darkness pt7 - Dr. Strange 60 Siege of Darkness pt8 - SoV 17 Siege of Darkness pt9 - Nightstalkers 15 Siege of Darkness pt10 - GRv2 45 Siege of Darkness pt11 - MCP 145 Siege of Darkness pt12 - Darkhold 16 Siege of Darkness pt13 - Morbius 17 Siege of Darkness pt14 - MCP 146 Siege of Darkness pt15 - Dr. Strange 61 Siege of Darkness pt16 - SoV 18 Siege of Darkness pt17 - Midnight Sons Unlimited 4 **return of Lilith; death of Ghost Rider, Zarathos**
Last Temptations pt1 - GRv2 90 Last Temptations pt2 - GRv2 91 Last Temptations pt3 - GRv2 92 Last Temptations pt4 - GRv2 93 **Origins; Ghost Rider fights Blackheart; Dan Ketch dies**
SERIES: [#'s of issues] ============================ Ghost Rider (Western Hero) (1967) [7] Marvel Spotlight vol.1 (1971-1977) [7] Ghost Rider vol.1 (Johnny Blaze) (1973-1983) [81] Night Rider (1974-1975) [6] Ghost Rider vol.2 (Dan Ketch) (1990-1998) [93] Original Ghost Rider rides again (1991-1993) [7] The Original Ghost Rider (1992-1994) [20] Ghost Rider/Blaze Spirits of Vengeance (1992-1994) [23] Ghost Rider/Cable: Servants of the Dead (1992) [8] Ghost Rider Annual (1993-1994) [2] Ghost Rider 2099 (1994-1996) [25] Ghost Rider vol.3 (Johnny Blaze) (2001-2002) [6]
TPBs: ===== GHOST RIDER & SPIDER-MAN: SPIRITS OF VENOM TPB (WoSM 95,96; SoV 5,6) GHOST RIDER: MIDNIGHT SONS TPB (GRv2 28,31; NST 1, Mor 1, DHR 1, SoV 1) GHOST RIDER: RESURRECTED TPB (GRv2 #1-7) WOLVERINE & GHOST RIDER: ACTS OF VENGEANCE TPB (1997) X-MEN/GHOST RIDER TPB (XM 8,9, GRv2 26,27) GHOST RIDER: THE HAMMER LANE TPB (2002) (GRv3 1-6)
ONE-SHOTS: ============================ Dr. Strange/Ghost Rider (1991) Ghost Rider/Captain America: Fear (1992) Ghost Rider/Wolverine/Punisher Dark Design (1994) Ghost Rider/Wolverine/Punisher Hearts of Darkness (1991) Ghost Rider Crossroads (1995) Speed Demon (Amalgam) (1996) Ghost Rider/Ballistic (1997) Ghost Rider/Cyblade (1997) Marvel Mangaverse: Ghost Riders (2002)
TURNING POINTS IN GHOST RIDER'S LIFE: ====================================== Early 1900s: Magdalena, a black woman from the Quentin Carnival gets into a relationship with Noble Kale. However, his father Pastor Kale did not approve of the relationship but he remained silent when Magdalena gave birth to a son and the two married. When Magdalena learned that Pastor Kale worshipped Mephisto, he had her burned at the stake for witchcraft. Before she died, she summoned the Furies to avenge her death. Pastor Kale had Noble beaten and imprisoned in the church cellar. During the attack from the Furies, Pastor summoned Mephisto and asked for help. They struck a deal: Mephisto would turn Noble into a demon and he would claim his soul. Pastor agreed and Noble became a spirit of vengeance. After he defeated the Furies, the Pastor offered him some human flesh - his own son. Noble killed himself, rather than eat his own child. Mephisto appeared to claim the soul, but Uriel demanded the soul be spared. They finally agreed that neither side would claim it but instead would reside in the void and be called upon by his descendants. A spell of protection was cast, so neither side could directly harm Noble or his descendants.mid/late 1980s: When Crash Simpson (owner of the Quentin Carnival) was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Johnny Blaze struck a deal with Mephisto - his soul for Crash's life. Mephisto agreed but would later kill him in a stunt days later. When Mephisto appeared to claim his soul, Roxanne Simpson (Crash's daughter) used a spell and turned Mephisto aside. However, he cursed Johnny by binding to him the demon Zarathos. Now when the sun set, the demon would take over. Eventually, the demon's influence became stronger over Johnny and he tried to not use it. One day, he came into contact with the Sin-Eater (Ethan Domblue), a priest who sucked souls into a Soul Crystal and make them mindless slaves of his congregation. Actually, its Centurious who is behind this, as he wants to fight Zarathos. When Johnny's soul is sucked into the Soul Crystal, Centurious appears and battles Zarathos. Realizing his mistake, Sin-Eater frees the trapped souls and sucks Centurious into the Soul Crystal. Not satisfied, Zarathos jumps into the Soul Crystal to continue their long battle. Johnny returns to normal and Sin-Eater dies from his wounds by Centurious. ~~Zarathos and Centurious - Why they are enemies:~~ ---------------------------------------------------- A long time ago, Zarathos was a demon who thrived on the souls of his victims, and soon had developed a large cult following. However, he took an African princess and wanted to sacrifice her. Unfortunately she was Centurious' lover and he asked for the power to stop Zarathos. Mephisto heard and since he was also threatened by Zarathos' growing popularity, decided to help and removed Centurious' soul. When Centurious challenged Zarathos, he couldn't drain his soul and then his power started to wane (popularity). Mephisto then appeared and defeated Zarathos and took him back to Hell for his amusement. Centurious was reunited with his love, but without a soul he couldn't return that love and began to wander the earth (cursed with immortality), but his hatred of Mephisto, Zarathos, Ghost Rider, and eventually John Blaze drove him on.
1990: Years later, Barbara and Dan Ketch are cutting through Cypress Hills Cemetery when they come across a meeting between the Kingpin's men and a terrorist known as Death Watch. When DW learns someone has seen him, he orders them killed and hits Barbara with an arrow. Dan pulls her to safety, but is drawn to a mysterious medallion in a motorcycle. Touching it and covered with the blood of the innocent, Dan transforms into a new Ghost Rider (possessed by the spirit of Noble Kale). He kills one of DW's ninja cronies and pulls Barbara out of there. She would later die at the hands of Blackout, a minion of DW. Dan Ketch himself would fall victim to Blackout but transforms into GR and defeats them.
(Dan found Naomi Kale's [his and John's mother] bike in the junkyard. Naomi had made some kind of deal to spare Johnny from being the Ghost Rider, but it didn't matter as he made a deal with Mephisto. She died when she resisted the transformation into the Ghost Rider from the spirit of Noble Kale - 13yrs before Dan would become the Spirit of Vengeance)
John Blaze learns about the return of Ghost Rider, and believes it to be Zarathos and goes off to destroy him. They run into each other, and using a mystical trap, Johnny is about to kill GR when he touches his shotgun. The hellfire from GR bonds with Johnny and now his shotgun fires hellfire. Johnny realizes that this is not Zarathos, and depart to find a way to save the dying Dan Ketch.
Leads into the "Rise of the Midnight Sons", where Dr. Strange unites various supernatural characters to stop Lilith, demon queen and her children, the Lilin from taking over this world. They succeed in stopping her and Strange rebonds Dan with GR (Dan's disembodied spirit had been pulled through Lilith and become reborn as one of her Lilin).
During "Midnight Massacre", Blade from the Nightstalkers reads a page from the Darkhold with the Demogorge spell that transforms him into Switchblade, a being that could sense Occult and actively sought it out and destroyed it. Many of them fell victim to Switchblade but were all resurrected and Blade restored by Louise Hastings using the Darkhold.
"Road to Vengance: The Missing link": Lt. Michael Badilino is a cop whose father was attacked by Zarathos and now sees the new GR as the same threat and makes a deal with Mephisto for the power to destroy him. He grants it, transforming him into Vengeance - a spirit of vengeance. Vengeance takes on both GR and Johnny but realizes that he is not Zarathos and eventually work together. They also learn more about Caretaker, and his role on Ghost Rider. Apparently, he is a member of the Blood, a group of beings who seem to age very well, and allies of the first Spirits of Vengeance, who agreed to keep the Medallion of Power from the hands of Zarathos and his ilk. Zarathos and the Spiritis of Vengeance merged within the medallion. Since they couldn't destroy the medallion, they separated it and Caretaker would watch over the families. It was through Caretaker that GR and Vengeance stopped fighting each other and worked together.
"Siege of Darkness" comes on quickly with the return of Lilith and her kin, but this time they have a new ally - Centurious! The battle hits close to home and Morbius is possessed by Bloodthirst (one of the Lilin) who betrays them and kills Louise Hastings. Things get hairy but Centurious is defeated, but Lilith finds a newer, stronger ally within an amnesiac Zarathos! The chase is on, as the "Mystic Nine" are hounded by Lilith's forces and Strange gets directly involved (he won't directly fight her as it would weaken the dimensional walls and more Lilin would enter the world). Lilith and Zarathos mate. Zarathos was then defeated by the Midnight Sons aka Mystic Nine (he and the rest of the Fallen, were turned to stone by Blade using Justicar, the Sword of Foundry). However, before Zarathos was stoned, he killed Ghost Rider (they were lured into a trap set up by Zarathos, using Caretaker as bait).
Vengeance decides to take over as the new Ghost Rider. The Ketch GR is brought back to life by Anton Hellgate (a villain), but refuses to work with him. Vengeance goes crazy and starts killing and Blaze and GR go and stop him. In the end, Vengeance realizes he's no better than the scum he's killing and blows himself up with Hellgate and his minions. Hellgate was responsible for killing Roxanne, Blaze's wife.
GR gets a new costume and begins to learn about his origin. Blackheart shows up and plays his hand to obtain Ghost Rider and make him join his side. Lots of wackiness ensues including Jennifer Kale summoning Howard the Duck. Eventually this phase of stupidity ends and Ghost Rider returns back to normal. (--I don't particularly care much for the issues from GRv2 #78-90, artwork and story seem too silly)
"Last Temptation": GR II meets Blackheart's own Spirits of Vengeance (Verminous Rex, Doghead, Wallow, and Pao Fu). Pao Fu kills him outright, only to have Blackheart resurrect him in Hell if he marries Pao Fu and Black Rose. Dan Ketch risks his own life to restore Ghost Rider/Noble Kale's memories and does so and with the help of Naomi Kale and Michael Badilino, defeat Blackheart. Dan Ketch dies.
~~Blackheart's Spirits of Vengeance:~~ --------------------------------------
NOTES: ======= When "Siege of Darkness" was being written, Marvel was cutting most of its "Midnight Sons" titles and hence why a lot of them ended up dead or disappearing:
GHOST RIDERS COSTUMES: ====================== 1.) Ghost Rider and the Night Rider (Ghost Rider Vol 1 #50) 2.) Ghost Rider of the 1990s (Ghost Rider Vol 2 #1) 3.) Vengeance... friend or foe? (Ghost Rider Vol 2 #46) 4.) Ghost Rider gets a new look (Ghost Rider Vol 2 #90) 2.) Ghost Rider returns to his old look, and gets... married? (Ghost Rider Vol 2 #93) 5.) Ghost Rider with a slightly different look (Ghost Rider Vol 3 #6) FRIENDS OF GHOST RIDER: ======================= Cyblade (Marvel/Top Cow crossover) Ballistic (Marvel/Top Cow crossover) Vengeance... are they still friends? Johnny Blaze Punisher Spidey Hulk The New Fantastic Four (Hulk, Spidey, Wolverine) Captain America Cable Dr. Strange Nightstalkers (Frank Drake, Hannibal King, Blade) Morbius, the Living Vampire Darkhold Redeemers (Victoria, Sam, Louise, Jinx, Mordred) The Champions (Angel, Hercules, Black Widow, Iceman) The X-Men Daredevil Stacey Dolan Shriker Moon Boy, Devil Dinosaur, and Howard the Duck Caretaker Naomi Kale - mother of Johnny Blaze, Barbara and Dan Ketch Jennifer Kale Barbara Ketch Roxanne Simpson Blaze Deepthroat ENEMIES OF GHOST RIDER: ======================== Anton Hellgate (thanatology (death) expert; killed by Vengeance) Blackheart (son of Mephisto; defeated by Ghost Rider and Dan Ketch) Blackout (Lilin; killed Barbara and Dan Ketch) Black Rose (reanimated Roxanne Blaze; wife of Ghost Rider) Brood (parasitic aliens who use other lifeforms as hosts for their young) Centurious (enemy of Zarathos and GR; abandoned by Lilith) Choam Death Ninja (killed by GR, Deathwatch minion) Deathwatch (psionic assassin/businessman; killed by Ghost Rider) Demogoblin (demon splintered from Hobgoblin) Dog Head (Blackheart minion) Dread (Hellgate minion; killed by Vengeace) The Fallen (Lilin who vowed allegiance to Zarathos when Lilith was beaten) The F.I.R.M. Gunmetal Gray (mercenary hired by John Blaze to kill Ghost Rider aka himself) Hag (Deathwatch minion; can reach in and rip out the heart) H.E.A.R.T. (Special police task force against Ghost Rider; destroyed by the F.I.R.M.) Heart Attack (Tyler Meagher, former HEART member) The Lilin (Lilith's demon offspring) Lilith, Demon Queen Mother (mother of Lilin; carries the child of Zarathos) Madcap (maddening stare) Mephisto (ruler of Hell; killed by Blackheart but he came back) Mr. Hyde Next Wave Nightmare (illusory predator) Night Terror (former CIA agent, now a vampire with taste for superhumans) Outcast (Lilin that helped Lilith return from her first defeat by Ghost Rider) Pao Fu (wife of Ghost Rider; Blackheart's Spirit of Vengeance) Rak (Hellgate minion; killed by Vengeace) Revern Styge Ripper (Hellgate minion; killed by Vengeance) Scarecrow (killed by Ghost Rider multiple times) Silver Dagger (former cardinal who now seeks to learn magic to destroy it) Sin Eater (Ethan Domblue - instrumental in freeing Johnny from Zarathos) Snowblind (killed by Deathwatch but Hellgate brought him back) Steel Vengeance (destroyed Quentin Carnival) Steel Wind (destroyed Quentin Carnival) Stern Succubus Suicide (guy who wants to die, but Mephisto cursed him with immortality) Troll (life draining coils) Verminous Rex (one of Blackheart's Spirit of Vengeance) Wallow (one of Blackheart's Spirit of Vengeance) Witch Woman (former enemy of John Blaze; supposed to be a bride to Mephisto) Zarathos (GR bonded with John Blaze; killed by Blade) Zodiac (killer bonded with Zodiac demons; killed by GR and Suicide)
Ghost Rider Info
URL: http://www.angelfire.com/comics/azraelswrd/gr_files/ghostrider.html
