Full Q&A with “Ghost Rider’s” Gary Friedrich

Here’s the full content of the Q&A I did with Gary Friedrich, the creator of “Ghost Rider.”  Friedrich is appearing at this weekend’s SoonerCon at the Biltmore Hotel in Oklahoma City. For more information, visit www.soonercon.com.

Matt Price: You’re possibly best-known for creating “Ghost Rider.”  What were your influences in creating the character?   How did the character come about?  

Gary Friedrich: The first flash of an idea for Ghost Rider came when I was still a kid and saw Marlon Brando in “The Wild One.”  I loved the movie and began to think about a superhero on a motorcycle. 

     As time went by, I was also influenced by the cycle gang movies of the  fifties and  sixties with Fonda, Hopper, Nicholson, etc.  I could see America had a passion for guys on cycles and thought a superhero on a cycle would be popular.  Evel Knievel  and his exploits were also an inspiration.

     The ideas began to come together in the late sixties during a period when I was away from Marvel and worked for another company for a time.   But as I began to lean toward a supernatural connection,  I realized the Comics Code Authority probably wouldn’t accept anything like that.  So although I  had the concept pretty much together by 1970, I had to wait until the Code eased its standards for horror-type comics in 1971 to attempt to get the character published.

     In ’71 I took the completed idea (characters, origin story, costume design, etc.) to Stan Lee at Marvel Comics, and he agreed that Marvel would publish Ghost Rider.  The first appearance of the character came in Marvel Spotlight #5 in early 1972.

Matt Price:  Tell me about breaking into comics and about the early days at Marvel.

  Gary Friedrich: I could write a book.  In fact, maybe I will.

       Roy Thomas, who brought me to New York and got me my first job at Marvel, and  I grew up in Jackson, Mo., a small town about a hundred miles south of St. Louis.We worked together at the local movie theatre through high school where we continued our childhood interest in comics, especially after DC Comics began to revive their old superheroes of the forties like Hawkman, the Flash, Green Lantern, etc. in the late fifties.

     While in college, Roy began to edit and publish Alter Ego fanzine with another fan from Michigan, Jerry Bails.  It became a hit, and Roy’s interest in comics became much greater.  I helped out with odd jobs on the early issues of Alter Ego which is considered by many the best fanzine ever and which Roy continues to edit todayl

     All of this led to Roy being offered a job at DC in 1964 as an assistant editor on Superman Comics.  He took the job and moved to New York, but a short time later he moved over to the fledgling Marvel Comics operation as assistant editor to Stan Lee.

     In Nov. of 1965 Roy invited me to come to New York and take a shot at breaking into the comics field.  And since, at the time, I was working for a couple of bucks an hour making waffle irons in a factory, it didn’t take me long to accept his offer.,

     I should back up a second at this point and say that my interest in comics and I’m sure Roy’s as well really picked up with the appearance of Stan Lee’s first Marvel books in 1961 and 1962.  I’ll never forget the excitement I felt reading the first issue of Fantastic Four after Roy brought it by the theatre one afternoon.  We both recognized Stan’s writing and characters as something new and exciting in the world of comics and were big fans almost immediately.  We continued to follow the Marvel line as it slowly grew and expanded through the early sixties and the time when Roy finally went to work there.

     I arrived in New York in November of 1965 with about fifty bucks in my pocket and a roof over my head thanks to Roy and his friend Dave Kaler, a fan who played a large roll in the birth of comic book conventions in New York.  I got by for the first three months or so through a combination of Roy’s generosity, panhandling in Greenwich Village where we moved a short time after my arrive in New York, and working part-time at a record store in Queens.

      My first break came when a friend, Len Brown, offered me a part-time job at Topps Chewing Gum where I did my first professional work in the comics field, writing a series of Superman bubble gum cards.  And a short time later I learned a small company in Connecticutt, Charlton, was looking for writers. 

      After an interview with Charlton Editor and later comics legend-to-be Dick Giordano, I was assigned to write some romance scripts for Charlton on a freelance basis  at the princely rate of $4.00 per page.  And my comics-writing career was born.  I wrote lots of romance scripts as well as a couple of superhero stories for Dick over the next few months, including a few Blue Beetle  stories with Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko.

     In Sept. of ’66, there was an editorial opening at Marvel.  Roy got me an interview with Stan, and I was hired as an assistant editor.  I was actually hired  without taking Stan’s famous writer’s test, because the company was growing and they needed help.  But I did later have to take the test before I was allowed to start writing comics on a freelance basis.  The test consisted of writing captions and word balloons on four pages of Spider-Man artwork.  I guess I passed it, because Stan didn’t fire me.

      The Marvel Bullpen, as the staff was called in those days, consisted of a handful of the most talented artists and writers in the business, among them John Romita, Marie Severin, production manager Sol Brodsky, do-everything secretary Flo Steinberg and production assistant Morrie Kuramoto.  Believe it or not, that was the Marvel in-house staff in late 1966.

      In short order over the next year, seats around the bullpen would be filled by comics greats John Verpoorten, Bill Everett (creator of Sub-Mariner), Frank Giacoia, Herb Trimpe, Tony Mortellaro and many many more.  And what a crew they were to work with.

     The bullpen was a beehive of activity as a usually few people worked to make the publication deadlines from day to day and managed to have a wonderful time clowning around and having a ball in the process. 

      And of course there was the hall-of-fame parade of artists coming in and out every day to drop off work and pick up assignments, great talents like Jack Kirby, Gene Colan, Gil Kane, John Buscema, Dick Ayers, and many, many more.   At no time in my life have I ever been surrounded by a greater array of talent than I was in those sixties Bullpen days.  It was the time and job of a lifetime. which I foolishly left for a time in the late sixties to seek my fame and fortune in California.

  Matt Price:  You also had a long and successful run on Sgt. Fury. Tell me about your take on that character.

Gary Friedrich:  There was an order of titles through which new writers would progress at Marvel.  You’d start out with Millie the Model, then progress to western titles like Kid Colt and Two-Gun Kid, then came Sgt. Fury.  But after I’d gone through that progression and written a few issues of Fury and was deemed ready to move on to the superhero big time, I didn’t want to let go of Fury and his Howling Commandos.  I’d grown fond of the ol’ Sarge as well as of working with Dick Ayers and inker John Severin, so I talked Stan and Roy into letting me continue writing the title, which I did for several years and probably more than 50 issues.

      I was wrapped up in the anti-war movement at that time, and I’d use the Fury title to espouse my anti-war sentiments from time to time, which I enjoyed.  It made me feel like I was doing something to carry the message. 

       So I’d have to say Fury and the Howlers were simply characters I was able to mold and have a lot of fun with over the years.  I also got to write several issues of Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., a present-day telling of the continued episodes of Fury after the war in a James Bond-like setting.  Being a big Bond fan, I got a real kick out of that, too.

    Matt Price: What’s the most interesting about meeting fans at comic book conventions?

     Gary Friedrich:  I love meeting people, so the conventions give me the chance to hook up with new friends and fans.  And of course it’s gratifying to learn that work I did so long ago is still important to people. 

      I particularly enjoy talking to young fans who weren’t even born when I was writing comics and finding out how they discovered my work and what they like about it.

     Matt Price:  You’re from Missouri.  Have you ever been to Oklahoma before ?  Do you have any thoughts or stories relating to the state?

     Gary Friedrich: Not really.  I’ve been through a few times but haven’t ever really visited in your state save for an appearance a few weeks back at a comics convention, which I really enjoyed.  I found the fans and local professionals especially warm and friendly, and I learned a lot about the history of country and rockabilly music in Oklahoma from one of the guests at the con.  So, being a fan of both, I really enjoyed that.

     Matt Price:  What are your upcoming plans?

  Gary Friedrich:  I’d really like to get  back to writing comics, but it’s not easy breaking in after being away for more than thirty years.  The business has changed a lot, and most of the people I knew are retired.  So I’m dealing with convincing new editors that I still have what it takes.  Hopefully I’ll be successful soon.

       I’m also going to be doing a lot of comics conventions.  I’ll be in Tulsa for Defcon in August and hope to make a lot of friends from all over Oklahoma there.

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