Ghost Rider

This article is about the Marvel Comics superhero. For the roller coaster at Knott's Berry Farm, see GhostRider.

Ghost Rider is the name of several comic book series published by Marvel Comics, and of several characters in the Marvel Universe.

The original Ghost Rider was a cowboy in the American Wild West who first appeared in Ghost Rider (1967 series) #1. He battled evil as a gunfighter, while dressed in a luminescent white costume, complete with a mask and the requisite white hat. After the appearance of subsequent Ghost Riders, this character's name was changed to the Phantom Rider. No fewer than five men have worn the Phantom Rider's mask, one of whom is active in the modern day.

The second Ghost Rider first appeared in Marvel Spotlight volume 1 #15. John Blaze, a motorcycle stunt performer in a traveling circus, sold his soul to the demon Mephisto to save his brother Barton's life. He was bound with the demon Zarathos, and transformed into a flaming, leather-clad skeleton, and his bike's wheels were cloaked in a sheath of flame. This Ghost Rider's career ended when Zarathos fled Blaze's body in Ghost Rider (1973 series) #81.

The third, and most prolific, Ghost Rider first appeared in Ghost Rider (1990 series) #1. Dan Ketch and his sister Barbara were attacked by ninja gangsters. They fled, but Barbara was wounded, so they hid in a garbage dump. Ketch found a motorcycle bearing a mystical sigil; upon touching the sigil he was transformed into the Ghost Rider. This Ghost Rider was nearly identical to the previous, though his costume and bike had undergone a more modernized tailoring. He defeated the gangsters and eventually killed their employer, Deathwatch, but was unable to save Barbara, who died.

It was later revealed that Dan Ketch and John Blaze were long-lost brothers, and that their family were the inheritors of a mystical curse related to the Spirits of Vengeance. Ketch eventually died, but the Spirit of Vengeance that had been bound to him through the bike's talisman lived on. Still later, Blaze became the Ghost Rider again through unrevealed circumstances, reappearing in Ghost Rider (2001 series) #1.

A Ghost Rider movie has been announced for 2006 starring Nicolas Cage as the fiery biker, John Blaze.

Other uses

The phrases "Negative Ghost Rider" or "Affirmative Ghost Rider" is an American colloquial way of saying "no" or "yes", from a quote from the film Top Gun.

Bibliography of Ghost Rider titles

Comic book series

• Ghost Rider #1–7 (February 1967 – October 1967; featuring Western hero)
• Marvel Spotlight (1971 series) #5–11 (August, 1972 – August, 1973)
• Ghost Rider #1–81 (June 1973 – October 1983)
• Ghost Rider #1–93 (May 1990 – February 1998)
• Original Ghost Rider Rides Again #1–7 (July, 1991 – January, 1992; reprints Ghost Rider (1973 series) #68–81)
• The Original Ghost Rider #1–20 (July 1992 – February 1994; reprints Marvel Spotlight (1971 series) #5–12, Ghost Rider (1973 series) #1–9, 11, 12; Marvel Two-In-One #8)
• Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance, #1–23 (August 1992 – June 1994)
• Ghost Rider Annual #1–2 (1993 – 1994)
• Blaze: Legacy of Blood #1–4 (December, 1993 – March, 1994; featuring Johnny Blaze)
• Blaze #1–12 (August, 1994 – July, 1995)
• Ghost Rider 2099 #1–25 (May, 1994 – May, 1996)
• Ghost Rider (2001 series) #1–6 (August 2001 – January 2002)

Oneshot titles

• Ghost Rider/Wolverine/Punisher: Hearts of Darkness (December, 1991)
• Ghost Rider/Captain America: Fear (October, 1992)
• Ghost Rider/Wolverine/Punisher: Dark Design (December 1994)
• Ghost Rider: Crossroads (November 1995)

Publisher crossovers

• Speed Demon with DC Comics (April, 1996; features a composite of Ghost Rider and the Flash)
• Cyblade/Ghost Rider with Image Comics (January, 2001)
• Ghost Rider/Ballistic with Image Comics (February, 2002)

Trade paperbacks

• Ghost Rider/Cable: Servants of the Dead (1992; reprints Marvel Comics Presents #90–97)
• Ghost Rider: The Hammer Lane (2002; reprints Ghost Rider (2001 series) #1–6)

External links

• Marvel Directory – Ghost Rider