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02/16/2007: "Ghost Rider"

Wow, the Nicolas Cage "Ghost Rider" movie opens today. I've got a bit of a Ghost Rider collection -- certainly more than another other comics character. Of course, the movie is about the original Ghost Rider from the '70s, Johnny Blaze. Some of those issues are pretty rare and valuable. As you may guess, I was unaware of Ghost Rider then and have none of them. Hey, it's a pretty dark comic. How old do you think I am, anyway?

I discovered it in the 90s, when Marvel reintroduced the title, this time with Danny Ketch becoming Ghost Rider. I have every issue from that run (-1 and 1-93), plus a fair amount of other titles: I tried to pick up the complete story whenever any Ghost Rider tales were in multiple parts spread across different comics. I've also got some (most?) of the one-issue deals, such as #1 and #2 of the Ghost Rider Annual; also Crossroads, Fear (with Captain America), Hearts of Darkness (with Wolverine and Punisher), and The Dark Design. I don't have any t-shirts or posters (well, the "Ghost Rider Poster Magazine", but only a kid would rip out those pages and tape them to the wall, or even think of them as "posters"). I do have a Ghost Rider bandana. And a couple 5" action figures (Ghost Rider and one of his enemies). And a 12" vinyl model kit that I have never gotten around to assembling. I thought sometime I'd get me some model glue and paints and it would be a little project. It'll probably still be on my to-do list when I die.

So what I'm saying is that I really like this spirt of vengeance known as Ghost Rider. Giving bad guys his penance stare. (Technically, I don't know if he did that in the '70s.) Riding around on a motorcycle with wheels of fire. Which is a good match for his flaming head.

Remember "Nightly Vengeance" from Oh, Cursed Fate!?