Ghost Rider featured in Team America
by the late Dave Simons
(click to see more!)
Ghost Rider seemed, at the time of my interest as a young teenager, a forgotten commodity in the Marvel universe. The series had run its course, concluding with issue no. 81 in 1983, several years before I started amassing my collection. The more regular superhero-types were the hot items then and, never particularly drawn to the tough guys in tights, Ghost Rider appealed to me for its leather-clad protagonist, his cool flaming chopper, and his fiery death's head (I was really getting into heavy metal then). Johnny Blaze was my kind of hero: a mostly ordinary guy caught up in circumstances beyond his control, stupidly bumbling through his new-found powers and basically screwing up far more than doing good despite his best intentions. Who can't relate?
Likewise, I recognized quickly the awesome power of the Ghost Rider entity. The later-dubbed "Spirit of Vengeance" is arguably the most powerful character in the Marvel pantheon. He's indestructible and his weapons can just about subdue any foe. It's only Johnny's own weakness that hinders him, and there is something incredibly appealing about the juxtaposition of Ghost Rider's ever-increasing might and Johnny's emotional vulnerability.
That's about the best the series has to offer. It's not a terribly intellectual series and most of the plotlines are fairly facile (to be completely honest). But in the spirit of the times, it's wonderfully campy fun, doesn't take itself too seriously (as well it shouldn't), and offers an alternative perspective on the idea of heroism, the dual personalities of heroes incognito (which Johnny almost never is, interestingly), and the desire/need for friendship, community, and love that is pretty much endemic to all comic books of this class.
While this site is primarily dedicated to the original Ghost Rider series, I have much to share on the 1990 reprisal of the character (the Dan Ketch era), the 2005 total retcon (by Garth Ennis), as well as the 2007 film, but I will save those thoughts for another day.
So: if you're ready, I'm ready! Download the dolls, print them out in color on card stock, and we'll begin Halloween day with Marvel Spotlight no. 5, which was Ghost Rider's first appearance!