Nerdage NewsOK.com Blogging Community

The only “Ghost Rider” issues that I was ever into were the 1990s issues featuring Danny Ketch.  Since then, I’ve gone back and read some of the Johnny Blaze stuff, and it has its moments, but for me, the best Ghost Rider was reluctant hero Danny Ketch.

At first, his origin was simple - mystic motorcycle makes him the Ghost Rider.  Then, it got infinitely more complicated. Somewhere along the line I stopped reading.  The book got canceled.  Johnny Blaze came back.  Then, recently, in “Ghost Rider,” writer Jason Aaron brought back Danny Ketch.  He seemed to have become a bad guy in the time since we saw him last, which didn’t thrill me.

Now, writer Simon Spurrier and artists Javier Saltares and Tom Palmer explain what happened to Danny Ketch to get him to that point in “Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch.”  In the miniseries, Ketch is down on his luck. He finally managed to free himself of the Ghost Rider curse, but now finds himself empty.  He craves adventure, and maybe something else.  He calls the technomancer who freed him from the curse, and begs her to give it back. But it’s beyond her power.

As the issue concludes, Danny gets a taste of power from a mysterious benefactor, but not enough to quell his craving, or to keep him safe from harm.

It seems like Spurrier and crew will set up some reasonable motivation for Ketch in this series, and allow readers to empathize with him despite some of his questionable actions in the main “Ghost Rider” series.

The art by Saltares is reminiscent of his 1990s run on Ketch’s series, and is a welcome addition to the miniseries.  Saltares’ presence makes this feel like the official successor to the 1990s “Ghost Rider” run.  But you don’t have to have read that run to fit in here; Spurrier recaps what’s necessary, and moves into the modern-day story.

While it’s too early to decide whether I’ll be sold on the new Ketch status quo, it’s nice to see the character revived and not left on the dustbin of history.  As it is, it’s a promising start.  (On a selfish note, if the series does well, it’d be more likely to spur reprints of the Howard Mackie-Saltares-Mark Texiera issues, which I’d like to see.)

– Matt Price

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.

(more…)

From  Friday’s The Oklahoman: 

By Matthew Price
Assistant Features Editor

WORD BALLOONS

The creator of the motorcycle-bound supernatural hero “Ghost Rider” comes to Oklahoma City this weekend for SoonerCon. Gary Friedrich will visit with fans at the annual science fiction convention, held today through Sunday at the Biltmore Hotel, 401 S Meridian Ave.

Friedrich talked to The Oklahoman about his comic-book experiences with “Ghost Rider” and other comics in a recent interview.

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

As time went by, Friedrich said he was influenced by the cycle gang movies of the 1950s and 1960s, as well as daredevil Evel Knievel.

“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,” Friedrich said. “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.”

The Ghost Rider first appeared in “Marvel Spotlight” No. 5 in early 1972.

Friedrich worked on several titles for Marvel Comics in the 1960s, including “Captain America,” “The Incredible Hulk” and “The Amazing Spider-Man.” His longest run as a writer came on “Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos.”

“There was an order of titles through which new writers would progress at Marvel,” Friedrich said. “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.”

From Friday’s The Oklahoman:

By Matthew Price
Assistant Features Editor

WORD BALLOONS

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Three creators with close ties to Marvel Comics’ Ghost Rider talked about their experiences at Planet Comicon last week.

At a panel focusing on “Ghost Rider,” writers Gary Friedrich and Jason Aaron and artist Javier Saltares discussed the character with moderator Jai Nitz.

Friedrich created the motorcycle-riding Ghost Rider with Mike Ploog and Roy Thomas in “Marvel Spotlight” No. 5 in 1972.

In the comics, stunt rider Johnny Blaze made a deal with the devil to save his adoptive father. Blaze was cursed to become Ghost Rider, the spirit of vengeance.

Friedrich followed his childhood friend Thomas to Marvel Comics.

“Roy and I went to school together in Jackson, Missouri. We’d been comic fans as kids,” Friedrich said. “We discovered the ‘Fantastic Four’ when the first series came out and got really into Marvel Comics.”

Friedrich worked with Thomas on his “Alter Ego” fanzine, then, after Thomas went to work for Marvel, Friedrich joined him in New York in 1964 and began working for Marvel in 1965. Besides “Ghost Rider,” Friedrich is probably best-known for his run on “Sgt. Fury,” which won fan awards as “best war comic” during his run.

Friedrich has been working as a courier in St. Louis for about 14 years, having left comics about 30 years ago. He said he’s now kicking around some ideas for a return to comics.

The first “Ghost Rider” series, which spun out of “Marvel Spotlight,” lasted until 1983. The character would lie dormant for seven years.

In 1990, writer Howard Mackie revamped “Ghost Rider” with artists Saltares and Mark Texiera. This Ghost Rider was Danny Ketch, who became the Ghost Rider when he touched a medallion on a motorcycle he found.

Saltares, who got his start at Marvel as one of John Romita’s art correction assistants, said “Ghost Rider” changed his career.

“(Ghost Rider) was my first big gig,” Saltares said. “I loved that character when I was a kid in the 70s. I loved the whole idea, and I couldn’t believe they were bringing him back, and I really couldn’t believe they were asking me to do it, which was great. That really was a big break for me, made my career, actually.”

The 1990 series of “Ghost Rider” became a best-seller for Marvel. The series ran through 1998.

Johnny Blaze came back as Ghost Rider in 2001 in a series written by Devin Grayson. But it wasn’t until Garth Ennis repopularized the character with a miniseries in 2005, that another ongoing series was green-lit. Writer Daniel Way began Ghost Rider’s third ongoing series in 2006.

Jason Aaron started as the writer with issue No. 20 of the current arc of “Ghost Rider” in February.

“I was very excited, mainly for the chance to try to do something a little different with the book,” Aaron said. “I think it’s going to be a really exciting year to be a ‘Ghost Rider’ fan. There’s a lot of big things coming up in the next few months.”

Vaneta Rogers interviews newly Marvel-exclusive incoming “Ghost Rider” writer Jason Aaron at Newsarama.   Aaron  won a Marvel talent contest in 2002, and eventually went from a back-up tale in “Wolverine” to “Scalped” and “The Other Side” for Vertigo, now to “Ghost Rider” (and an arc of “Wolverine,” after writing a fill-in on issue #56.)

The Kansas City-based Aaron talks about his upcoming projects and his history, as well as this interesting bit about his influences:

 Yeah, I’ve been reading them for as long as I’ve been able to read (and no jokes about that, just because I’m from Alabama). Back when I was first getting into comics, buying them off the spinner rack at the local drugstore, my favorite books were New Teen Titans, Blue Devil, Atari Force, Swamp Thing and Fantastic Four. These days, my all-time favorites include Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol, From Hell, EC’s Frontline Combat, Lone Wolf And Cub, Stray Bullets, Kirby’s Fourth World titles and virtually everything that Steve Gerber did for Marvel in the ‘70s. I also love Michael Fleisher, Timothy Truman, Garth Ennis, Azzarello, Brubaker, Bendis, Adrian Tomine, Rick Veitch… I could go on and on. My biggest influences as a writer would be James Ellroy, Elmore Leonard, Cormac McCarthy, David Simon, Stanley Kubrick and my late cousin Gustav Hasford. These days, I’m also heavily influenced and inspired by the amazing group of comic creators we have here in Kansas City – guys like Matt Fraction, Ande Parks, Tony Moore and B. Clay Moore.

So - someone influenced by “Blue Devil,” James Ellroy and 1970s  Steve Gerber on “Wolverine”? Sounds worth a shot.

– Matt Price