Misplaced Pages

#227772

125-599: The Blazing Skull should not be confused with Marvel's unrelated supernatural motorcyclist the Ghost Rider , who is depicted with a flaming skull. Also, the unrelated Marvel character Skull the Slayer (James Scully) briefly used the alias "Blazing Skull". The Blazing Skull debuted in "The Story of Mark Todd", a nine-page tale in the 1941 comic that also introduced cover character the Black Marvel and fellow superhero

250-487: A naturalistic style of superheroes with human failings, fears, and inner demons - heroes who squabbled and worried about the likes of paying the rent. In contrast to the super-heroic do-gooder archetypes of established superheroes at the time, this ushered in a revolution. With dynamic artwork by Kirby, Steve Ditko , Don Heck , and others, complementing Lee's colorful, catchy prose, the new style became very popular among teenagers and college students who could identify with

375-498: A tabloid -sized, 10-by-15-inch (250 mm × 380 mm), 36-page magazine with a card-stock, non-glossy cover. An anthology , it mixed humor features such as the funny animal comic "Pelion and Ossa" and the college-set "Jigger and Ginger" with such dramatic fare as the Western strip "Jack Woods" and the " yellow-peril " adventure "Barry O'Neill", featuring a Fu Manchu -styled villain, Fang Gow. Issue #6 (Oct. 1935) brought

500-498: A Siegel/Shuster creation from the slush pile and used it as the cover feature (but only as a backup story) in Action Comics #1 (June 1938). The duo's alien hero, Superman , was dressed in a cape and colorful tights. The costume, influenced by Flash Gordon 's attire from 1934, evoked circus aerial performers and circus strongmen, and Superman became the archetype of the " superheroes " that would follow. In early 1939,

625-553: A battle with a show of power. When Blaze does the Penance Stare to his brother, he sees exactly what has transpired. Ketch has murdered the hosts of numerous Riders for their powers. During a show of pity for the fallen, Ketch is able to return the Stare on Blaze and sends Blaze into temporary insanity. Before Ketch is able to take the power of Zarathos, he is stopped by the new Caretaker Sister Sara. She rescues Blaze and they go to

750-591: A close, the Blazing Skull teams up with Union Jack and the Destroyer to break up an enemy spy-ring in England . In the early Golden Age stories, Mark Todd's given occupation is a District Attorney. He is also referred to in one story as an "amateur criminologist". It was not until the 1990s, starting with the retroactive Invaders series that he was established as a newspaper reporter, perhaps negating

875-735: A collection of English-language newspaper inserts originally published in Europe as the 1837 book Histoire de Mr. Vieux Bois by Rodolphe Töpffer . The G. W. Dillingham Company published the first known proto-comic-book magazine in the US, The Yellow Kid in McFadden's Flats , in 1897. A hardcover book, it reprinted material—primarily the October 18, 1896, to January 10, 1897, sequence titled "McFadden's Row of Flats"—from cartoonist Richard F. Outcault 's newspaper comic strip Hogan's Alley , starring

1000-712: A helmet on him, so it had to be a flaming skull. As far as his costume went, it was part of the old [Western] Ghost Rider 's costume, with the Western panel front. The stripes down the arms and the legs were there merely so I could make the character['s costume] as black as I possibly could and still keep track of his body. It was the easiest way to design him. Tony Isabella wrote a two-year story arc in which Blaze occasionally encountered an unnamed character referred to as "the Friend" who helped Blaze stay protected from Satan . Isabella said that with editorial approval he'd introduced

1125-603: A million copies a month each; comics provided very popular cheap entertainment during World War II especially among soldiers, but with erratic quality in stories, art, and printing. In the early 1940s, over 90 percent of girls and boys from seven to seventeen read comic books. In 1941, H. G. Peter and William Moulton Marston , created the female superhero character Wonder Woman , who debuted in All Star Comics #8 (December 1941) and Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman in 1942. MLJ 's Pep Comics debuted as

1250-459: A motorcycle. Ploog seems to think the flaming skull was his idea. But, to tell you the truth, it was my idea. Ploog recalled, in a 2008 interview: Now, there's been all kinds of dialog about who was the creator of Ghost Rider. Gary Friedrich was the writer on it. ... The flaming skull: That was the big area of dispute. Who thought of the flaming skull? To be honest with you I can't remember. What else were you going to do with him? You couldn't put

1375-510: A profound impact upon the American comic-book industry. Their popularity, along with mainstream media attention and critical acclaim, combined with changing social tastes, led to a considerably darker tone in comic books during the 1990s nicknamed by fans as the "grim-and-gritty" era. The growing popularity of antiheroes such as Wolverine and the Punisher exemplified this change, as did

SECTION 10

#1732798228228

1500-442: A promotional item to consumers who mailed in coupons clipped from Procter & Gamble soap and toiletries products. The company printed 10,000 copies. The promotion proved a success, and Eastern Color that year produced similar periodicals for Canada Dry soft drinks , Kinney Shoes , Wheatena cereal and others, with print runs of from 100,000 to 250,000. Also in 1933, Gaines and Wildenberg collaborated with Dell to publish

1625-667: A safehouse. At the safehouse, during Blaze's self-pity and Sara's trying to pick him back up, they are visited by two more Ghost Riders, the Arabic Molek and the Chinese Bai Gu Jing, whom they follow to Japan. When Blaze's team arrives in Japan, they learn Ketch has already taken the power of the Rider Yoshio Kannabe. After the conquest, Ketch has another talk with Zadkiel via communications link. During

1750-669: A second miniseries written by Garth Ennis in 2005; and an ongoing monthly series that began publication in July 2006. On April 4, 2007, Friedrich filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois against Marvel Enterprises , Sony Pictures , Columbia TriStar Motion Pictures , Relativity Media , Crystal Sky Pictures , Michael De Luca Productions, Hasbro and Take-Two Interactive , alleging his copyrights to

1875-410: A self-titled Ghost Rider series in 1973, with penciller Jim Mooney handling most of the first nine issues. Several different creative teams mixed-and-matched until penciller Don Perlin began a long stint with issue #26, eventually joined by writer Michael Fleisher through issue #58. Thomas, Marvel's editor-in-chief at the time, described the character's genesis: I had made up a character as

2000-639: A solo period adventure, set during World War II , in Midnight Sons Unlimited #9 (May 1995). Nearly 10 years later, he was reintroduced into modern-day continuity in the four-part story arc "Once an Invader" in The Avengers vol. 3 #82-84 (July-Sept. 2004) and in New Invaders #0 (Aug. 2004). The Blazing Skull appeared through the final issue, The New Invaders #9 (June 2005). A separate character, Jim Scully, also known as Skull

2125-582: A storm of fire to rain onto the village, incinerating the demons and restoring the villagers to their normal states. At the same time, Sara arrives in the village to reunite with Blaze to continue their quest against Zadkiel. She finds him in the process of grinding up the Skinbender, before tossing her into the sea. Sara then consoles Blaze, asking him to think of his family and asks where they are. He replies, saying that they are in Heaven. They then depart from

2250-530: A stunt, Johnny was adopted by Crash and Mona Simpson. The Simpsons helped Johnny by fabricating his past with the hope that it would be less painful than the truth. Now believing that his real mother was Clara Blaze, who had died, Johnny became an enthusiastic member of the Simpson clan, growing closer to their daughter, Roxanne . The two soon became inseparable and, as they grew older, their fondness for one another moved beyond familial. Blaze would eventually join

2375-520: A superhero, science-fiction and adventure anthology, but after the title introduced the teen-humor feature "Archie" in 1942, the feature's popularity would soon eclipse all other MLJ properties, leading the publisher to rename itself Archie Comics . Following the end of World War II, the popularity of superheroes greatly diminished, while the comic-book industry itself expanded. A few well-established characters such as Superman , Batman and Wonder Woman continued to sell, but DC canceled series starring

2500-494: A ten-cent pricetag [ sic ] on the comic books". When Delacorte declined to continue with Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics , Eastern Color on its own published Famous Funnies #1 (cover-dated July 1934), a 68-page giant selling for 10¢. Distributed to newsstands by the mammoth American News Company , it proved a hit with readers during the cash-strapped Great Depression , selling 90 percent of its 200,000 print, although putting Eastern Color more than $ 4,000 in

2625-402: A third of all North American sales in the early 1950s. Its 90 titles averaged a circulation of 800,000 copies per title for every issue, with Walt Disney's Comics and Stories peaking at a circulation of three million a month in 1953. Eleven of the top 25 bestselling comic books at the time were Dell titles. Out of 40 publishers active in 1954, Dell, Atlas (i.e. Marvel), DC, and Archie were

SECTION 20

#1732798228228

2750-508: A true comic book. But it did offer all original material and was sold on newsstands ". The Funnies ran for 36 issues, published Saturdays through October 16, 1930. In 1933, salesperson Maxwell Gaines , sales manager Harry I. Wildenberg , and owner George Janosik of the Waterbury, Connecticut , company Eastern Color Printing —which printed, among other things, Sunday-paper comic-strip sections – produced Funnies on Parade as

2875-552: A villain in Daredevil – a very lackluster character – called Stunt-Master ... a motorcyclist. Anyway, when Gary Friedrich started writing Daredevil , he said, "Instead of Stunt-Master, I'd like to make the villain a really weird motorcycle-riding character called Ghost Rider." He didn't describe him. I said, "Yeah, Gary, there's only one thing wrong with it," and he kind of looked at me weird, because we were old friends from Missouri , and I said, "That's too good an idea to be just

3000-497: A villain in Daredevil . He should start out right away in his own book." When Gary wasn't there the day we were going to design it, Mike Ploog, who was going to be the artist, and I designed the character. I had this idea for the skull-head, something like Elvis ' 1968 Special jumpsuit, and so forth, and Ploog put the fire on the head, just because he thought it looked nice. Gary liked it, so they went off and did it. Friedrich on

3125-777: A way to keep their presses running. Like The Funnies , but only eight pages, this appeared as a newsprint magazine. Rather than using original material, however, it reprinted in color several comic strips licensed from the McNaught Syndicate , the Ledger Syndicate , and the Bell-McClure Syndicate . These included such popular strips as cartoonist Al Smith 's Mutt and Jeff , Ham Fisher 's Joe Palooka , and Percy Crosby 's Skippy . Eastern Color neither sold this periodical nor made it available on newsstands , but rather sent it out free as

3250-461: A year. In 1929, Dell Publishing (founded by George T. Delacorte, Jr. ) published The Funnies , described by the Library of Congress as "a short-lived newspaper tabloid insert" and not to be confused with Dell's 1936 comic-book series of the same name. Historian Ron Goulart describes the 16-page, four-color periodical as "more a Sunday comic section without the rest of the newspaper than

3375-576: Is Johnny Blaze, not the fully powered demon Zarathos who is engaging the Hulk, the Hulk easily defeats Ghost Rider. After Johnny is knocked out, Zarathos himself emerges and rides off because, as Doctor Strange says in the end of the issue, Ghost Rider only protects the innocent, which none of the Illuminati are. Johnny eventually manages to defeat Lucifer by 'killing' one host by shoving a truck's gear-stick through its head and breaking its spine, leaving

3500-419: Is a plot engineered by Lucifer himself, as when Johnny escapes from Hell the devil comes with him. During a battle at a gas station, Blaze defeats the corpse of a recently deceased father that has been animated by the devil. Detecting the magical disturbance caused by Ghost Rider's escape, Doctor Strange investigates the situation, but believing Doctor Strange to be Lucifer in disguise, Blaze attacks him, and for

3625-411: Is able to convince Alejandra to abandon Adam's plan after she renders an entire town catatonic. However, although Johnny was initially willing to let her serve as the new Ghost Rider, when her attempt to regain the town's lost sin nearly sends the world to Hell – her efforts only being narrowly defeated by the new Venom , Red Hulk and X-23 – Blaze is finally convinced by Doctor Strange to take back

3750-635: Is free, but gets shot in the head by a dying priest (whom he had blasted with hellfire earlier) with a holy bullet and is sent back to Hell. He confronts Malachi, who reveals that he tricked Johnny. Johnny threatens to kill him, but is prevented from doing so by Ruth, who kills him herself. Hoss appears and reveals that Kazann and Malachi were actually brothers, who passed information to each other about Heaven and Hell. Once Kazann escaped from Hell, Malachi needed to find someone (the Ghost Rider) to get him back before Ruth, in order to prevent Kazann from spilling

3875-736: Is stated in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z vol. 4 (TPB). Johnny Blaze soon found himself constantly pursued by the demons of Hell, intent on forcing him to make good on the demonic pact that he had made to Mephisto. It was all that the Ghost Rider could do to outrun the evil, but it was not enough. Eventually, Johnny was captured and taken to Hell. The Ghost Rider: Road to Damnation series, by Garth Ennis and Clayton Crain , finds Johnny Blaze trapped in an endless cycle of torture and escape in

Blazing Skull - Misplaced Pages Continue

4000-464: Is taken symbolically as the beginning of a new era, although his success was not immediate. It took two years for the Flash to receive his own title, and Showcase itself was only a bimonthly book, though one which was to introduce a large number of enduring characters. By 1959, the slowly building superhero revival had become clear to DC's competitors. Archie jumped on board that year, and Charlton joined

4125-466: Is the son of Barton Blaze and Naomi Kale. He spent his early years in the Quentin Carnival where his parents starred in a stunt show with Craig "Crash" Simpson. Johnny's mother walked out on Barton and Johnny and took the family's remaining two children, Barbara and Danny, with her. Losing his mother caused Johnny to repress many of his memories of her and his siblings. When his father died in

4250-429: Is transformed into heinous forms by a creature called the Skinbender. Blaze's attempt to fight back result in her trying to morph his flesh, but finds his skin burns to the touch due to his power, prompting her to demand that he transform into the Ghost Rider. When he does, she breaks down crying, claiming that he is the most beautiful thing she had ever seen and begs for him to speak. He simply responds with "Burn", leading

4375-534: Is turned. When the General turns back he sees the Ghost Rider and gets a Penance Stare for his trouble. After the attack the Rider goes back to his sanctuary where he is visited by Danny Ketch. A short while later Sister Sara and Johnny Blaze arrive at the sanctuary to find out how to get back at Zadkiel. After entering, they find the peasant and donkey burnt to husks. That night, the two are visited by Ketch and begins

4500-667: The Flash and Green Lantern and converted All-American Comics and All Star Comics to Western titles, and Star Spangled Comics to a war title. The publisher also launched such science-fiction titles as Strange Adventures and Mystery in Space . Martin Goodman 's Timely Comics , also known as Atlas, canceled its three formerly high-selling superhero titles starring Captain America (created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby ),

4625-613: The Human Torch , and the Sub-Mariner , briefly reviving the characters in 1954 only to cancel them again shortly thereafter to focus on horror, science fiction, teen humor, romance and Western genres. Romance comics became strongly established, with Prize Comics ' Young Romance and with Young Love , the latter written and drawn by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby; those two titles' popularity led to an explosion of romance comics from many publishers. Dell 's comic books accounted for

4750-757: The Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency held hearings on comic book indecency from April to June 1954. In the wake of these troubles, a group of comics publishers, led by National and Archie, founded the Comics Code Authority in 1954 and drafted the Comics Code, intended as "the most stringent code in existence for any communications media". A Comic Code Seal of Approval soon appeared on virtually every comic book carried on newsstands. EC, after experimenting with less controversial comic books, dropped its comics line to focus on

4875-739: The Smoking Head during the 1960s. The Blazing Skull is recruited by the Fifty State Initiative to become a part of New Jersey 's superhero team the Defenders , alongside the She-Hulk , Nighthawk , and briefly, Colossus . Due to being trained by the Skull Men, the Blazing Skull is immune to fire. He also possesses superhuman strength, a regenerative healing factor, and the ability to turn his flesh invisible, giving him

5000-853: The Terror . He continued to appear in Mystic Comics through issue #9 (May 1941), with at least one story ("The Thing", in #8) confirmed to have been penciled by Golden Age great Syd Shores . A simulacrum of the Blazing Skull briefly appeared, along with simulacra of the Patriot , the Fin , and the Golden Age Angel and the Vision I, to aid the superhero team the Avengers in The Avengers #97 (March 1972). The actual Blazing Skull starred in

5125-552: The Werewolf by Night . He lost a motorcycle stunt riding championship to Flagg Fargo and later came to work as a stunt rider for the Quentin Carnival. Eventually, Zarathos would gain control of Johnny Blaze and the Ghost Rider would become the spirit of Zarathos unleashed. Johnny himself was becoming stronger as well, and the conflicting personalities led to a battle over Blaze's physical body. Centurious appeared, trapping Blaze's soul in his soul crystal. Zarathos, weakened from

Blazing Skull - Misplaced Pages Continue

5250-594: The X-Men battle the Brood Queen . He later teamed up with the new Ghost Rider to form the "Spirits of Vengeance". During this time Blaze would again ride a bike with wheels of fire and would sling a hellfire-spitting pump gun . Their mentor Caretaker would later reveal that they were, in fact, brothers. In the team's first appearance, they battled Lilith and her Lilin. Blaze went back to leading his carnival. Despite it being staffed with many powerful entities, it

5375-663: The Yellow Kid . The 196-page, square-bound, black-and-white publication, which also includes introductory text by E. W. Townsend , measured 5 by 7 inches (130 mm × 180 mm) and sold for 50 cents. The neologism "comic book" appears on the back cover. Despite the publication of a series of related Hearst comics soon afterward, the first monthly proto-comic book, Embee Distributing Company's Comic Monthly , did not appear until 1922. Produced in an 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 -by-9-inch (220 mm × 230 mm) format, it reprinted black-and-white newspaper comic strips and lasted

5500-530: The western comics character who originally used the name, the first superhero Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze , debuted in Marvel Spotlight #5 (August 1972), created by writer Gary Friedrich , Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Roy Thomas , and artist Mike Ploog , with the name Johnny Blaze coming from Stan Lee . After a seven-issue tryout run in Marvel Spotlight , the character starred in

5625-524: The " World War Hulk " storyline, Johnny Blaze angers the Ghost Rider when he tries to save several people and allows the Lucifer fragment they were currently fighting to escape. Later after watching a broadcast on TV, Blaze decides to go to New York and fight the Hulk , against the Ghost Rider's will. The issue ends with Ghost Rider coming to a halt on his motorcycle in front of the Hulk. After attempting to urge

5750-426: The 1938 publication of Action Comics , which included the debut of the superhero Superman . This was followed by a superhero boom that lasted until the end of World War II . After the war, while superheroes were marginalized, the comic book industry rapidly expanded and genres such as horror, crime, science fiction and romance became popular. The 1950s saw a gradual decline, due to a shift away from print media in

5875-535: The 1960s, DC, and then Marvel, began to include writer and artist credits on the comics that they published. Other notable companies publishing comics during the Silver Age included the American Comics Group (ACG), Charlton , Dell , Gold Key , Harvey Comics , and Tower . Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll were featured, as the anti-authoritarian underground comix made waves in 1968, following

6000-457: The 1970s coincided with the appearance of comic-book specialty stores across North America. These specialty stores were a haven for more distinct voices and stories, but they also marginalized comics in the public eye. Serialized comic stories became longer and more complex, requiring readers to buy more issues to finish a story. In the mid-to-late 1980s, two series published by DC Comics , Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen , had

6125-542: The 1990s changing the format and distribution of their comic books to more closely resemble non-comics publishing. The " minicomics " form, an extremely informal version of self-publishing , arose in the 1980s and became increasingly popular among artists in the 1990s, despite reaching an even more limited audience than the small presses. The development of the modern American comic book happened in stages. Publishers had collected comic strips in hardcover book form as early as 1842, with The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck ,

6250-520: The 36-page Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics , which historians consider the first true American comic book; Goulart, for example, calls it "the cornerstone for one of the most lucrative branches of magazine publishing". Distribution took place through the Woolworth's department-store chain, though it remains unclear whether it was sold or given away; the cover displays no price, but Goulart refers, either metaphorically or literally, to "sticking

6375-598: The American comic book has been adapted periodically outside the United States, especially in Canada and the United Kingdom . While comics can be the work of a single creator, the labor of creating them is frequently divided between a number of specialists. There may be a separate writer and artist , or there may be separate artists for the characters and backgrounds. Particularly in superhero comic books,

SECTION 50

#1732798228228

6500-678: The CCA) stopped publishing crime and horror titles, which was their entire business, and were forced out of the market altogether, turning to magazine publishing instead. By 1960, output had stabilized at about 1,500 releases per year (representing a greater than fifty percent decline since 1952). The dominant comic book genres of the post-CCA 1950s were funny animals, humor, romance , television properties, and Westerns . Detective, fantasy , teen, and war comics were also popular, but adventure, superheroes, and comic strip reprints were in decline, with Famous Funnies seeing its last issue in 1955. In

6625-851: The City of the Skulls in the Congo where the last stand would be made. There they meet the Lords of the Congo, the Ghost Riders Baron Skullfire and Marinette Bwachech, and their Phantom Riders. During the day Sara tells Molek about her new experience becoming a Caretaker, and her wonders about religion, with which she is given secret information that Molek knows about both. As the Ghost Riders and their forces ready for battle, Blaze has his eyes opened by two children who go to participate in

6750-472: The City of the Skulls, Ketch falls from the sky, revealing that the battle for Heaven has already been decided. As more energies fall from the heavens, one strikes Kowalski and changes him into a new Rider that looks a lot like Vengeance. After the battle with Zadkiel and his Black Host, Johnny Blaze parts ways with Ketch and Sara. He eventually wanders to a Japanese village, living in the nearby temple. The villagers are suddenly invaded by demons and their flesh

6875-505: The Ghost Rider character have been exploited and utilized in a "joint venture and conspiracy". The lawsuit states that the film rights and merchandising reverted from Marvel to him in 2001. He amended the complaint on March 25, 2011. The case was transferred to the federal New York State Southern District Court on February 14, 2008. The suit concluded on December 28, 2011, with Marvel prevailing on all but one count. U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest ruled that Marvel Entertainment owned

7000-405: The Ghost Rider mantle, following Alejandra into Hell as she attempts to kill Mephisto and regaining the full power of the Ghost Rider, although Alejandra retains a fragment of its power for herself. Much later, Ghost Rider joins Red Hulk's Thunderbolts to help take out Mercy , when she was unleashed. During a mission in which General Ross is searching for his missing men in an ancient temple in

7125-488: The Ghost Riders are for" , he is defeated and banished to Hell, with God, revealed to have never perished at all, reclaiming Heaven and thanking Blaze for all he did for Paradise and its billions of souls. During the " Shadowland " storyline, Kingpin and Lady Bullseye perform a ritual which brings back Ghost Rider in a plot to attack the Hand . After Ghost Rider returns to Kingpin, he is forced to travel to Japan to confront

7250-486: The Hand ninjas with ease. Freed from the curse, Blaze rides off into the distance on his motorcycle. During the " Fear Itself " storyline, Johnny Blaze becomes more agitated about his curse and is then approached by a mysterious figure known as Adam who claims he can help Blaze be rid of the Ghost Rider once and for all. Blaze was ambivalent to the man's gesture, thinking there was a catch to his offer, but Adam simply put that

7375-401: The Hulk to stop, Ghost Rider engages the Hulk. Their battle is monitored by Doctor Strange and Mister Fantastic . Doctor Strange believes that the entity that supplies Ghost Rider's mystic power is possibly capable of defeating the Hulk, stating that his powers are limitless, and only inhibited by the human side of the Ghost Rider, even going as far as to call his powers "godlike". However, as it

7500-541: The Marvel universe is a Christian universe" and could alienate some portion of the readership by suggesting "that all other religions are false." He said after consulting with editor Marv Wolfman , he made the changes. During his run on Ghost Rider , Isabella put Blaze in the lineup of his new superteam series, The Champions , in order to fulfill an editorial mandate that the team include at least one character with their own series. Bob Hall , who pencilled four issues of

7625-609: The Modern Horror age. But as of 2009 historians and fans use " Bronze Age " to describe the period of American mainstream comics history that began with the period of concentrated changes to comic books in 1970. Unlike the Golden/Silver Age transition, the Silver/Bronze transition involves many continuing books, making the transition less sharp. The development of the " direct market " distribution system in

SECTION 60

#1732798228228

7750-585: The Pit. It is here that the angel Malachi appears to the Ghost Rider, offering to free him from Hell with his soul intact, in exchange for hunting down the demon Kazann who has been unleashed upon the Earth. Malachi tells Blaze that the only way he will be freed from Hell permanently is to beat the Archangel Ruth to Kazann, in order to stave off the destruction that she will cause should she fight him. Along

7875-478: The Simpsons in their own traveling stunt show, the Crash Simpson Stunt Cycle Extravaganza. Crash had become a father figure for Blaze and, on learning of Crash's life-threatening cancer, Blaze turned to the occult. His studies led him to a spell which supposedly could summon Satan himself. Johnny was unaware that he had, in fact, summoned Mephisto . Desperate to save Crash, Blaze sold his soul to Mephisto in return for Crash's cancer to be cured. Crash Simpson's cancer

8000-449: The Slayer , was depicted as an unrelated and differently designed Blazing Skull in Quasar #46 (May 1993), as part of the group, the Shock Troop. Foreign correspondent Mark Todd, assigned by his newspaper to cover the Second Sino-Japanese War , is forced to take refuge in a cave during an artillery bombardment by the Japanese. There he meets the Skull Men, a strange race with burning skulls for heads. They inform him he has been chosen by

8125-478: The South American jungles, the Leader incites a spell that momentarily removes the flame from Johnny Blaze. In the brief moment where he has lost the Spirit of Vengeance, Blaze is brutally torn apart and killed by a swamp demon. American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States , on average 32 pages, containing comics . While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after

8250-448: The Spirit of Vengeance Zarathos after making a deal with Mephisto to spare his surrogate father. With his supernatural powers, Johnny seeks vengeance as the "Ghost Rider". The character has been featured in various media adaptations, such as television series , feature films , and video games . The character was portrayed by Nicolas Cage in the films Ghost Rider (2007) and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011). Following

8375-424: The ability to turn his flesh invisible, mimicking his teachers' appearance, and stops using the mask. Soon afterwards, Todd comes into contact with the WWII superhero team, the Invaders , and aids them against a team of Axis superhumans, saving the life of Namor the Sub-Mariner . He also fights alongside the team during a massed Allied superhuman airdrop into a Nazi stronghold. As the war in Europe comes to

8500-409: The above, in 2001: Well, there's some disagreement between Roy, Mike, and I over that. I threatened on more than one occasion that if Marvel gets in a position where they are gonna make a movie or make a lot of money off of it, I'm gonna sue them, and I probably will. ... It was my idea. It was always my idea from the first time we talked about it, it turned out to be a guy with a flaming skull and rode

8625-429: The ancient ninja clan the Hand, and unable to directly combat them due to the Hand magic binding him, he provokes them into killing him. Blaze's soul emerges in a white void, and God , after telling him he is needed still, sends him back to the mortal realm, and, in gratitude for his role in defeating Zadkiel, aiding him by reinforcing him with a battalion force of Black Host warrior angels who are able to quickly slaughter

8750-407: The angsty and irreverent nature of characters like Spider-Man , Hulk , X-Men and Fantastic Four . This was a time of social upheaval, giving birth to a new generation of hip and more counter-cultural youngsters, who found a voice in these books. Because Marvel's books were distributed by its rival, National, from 1957 until 1968 Marvel were restricted to publishing only eight titles a month. This

8875-563: The appearance of a walking skeleton. He later gains the ability to generate and project flames. Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze) Ghost Rider ( Johnny Blaze ) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . He is the second Marvel character to use the name Ghost Rider , following Carter Slade (the Western comics hero later known as the Phantom Rider) and preceding Daniel Ketch , Alejandra Jones , and Robbie Reyes . The character's story begins when motorcycle stuntman Johnny Blaze becomes bound to

9000-408: The art may be divided between: The process begins with the writer (often in collaboration with one or more others, who may include the editor and/or the penciller) coming up with a story idea or concept, then working it up into a plot and storyline , finalizing it with a script . After the art is prepared, the dialogue and captions are lettered onto the page from the script, and an editor may have

9125-478: The bandwagon in 1960. In 1961, at the demand of publisher Martin Goodman (who was reacting to a surge in sales of National's newest superhero title The Justice League of America ), writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby created the Fantastic Four for Atlas, which now re-named itself Marvel Comics . With an innovation that changed the comic-book industry, Fantastic Four #1 initiated

9250-497: The beans about Malachi exchanging secrets of Heaven with him while he was being tortured by angels. In July, 2006, a new ongoing monthly series began with a story titled "Vicious Cycle", which was written by Daniel Way , with art by Mark Texeira and Javier Saltares (the same artistic team from the 1990s series). The storyline takes place after the Ennis miniseries and features Johnny Blaze finally escaping from Hell. Blaze's escape

9375-511: The bodies at first, eventually the remaining hosts will become so powerful that no other being could kill them. Numecet attempts to dissuade Blaze but to no avail, Blaze vowing that he will force the devil into a single corporeal form and then drag him back to Hell once and for all. During the " Civil War " storyline, Johnny ends up in Sleepy Hollow, Illinois where a serial killer is decapitating local children and soon learns his identity:

9500-457: The character, saying Friedrich gave up any ownership claim when he signed checks containing language relinquishing all rights. She said Friedrich had also signed a 1978 agreement with Marvel relinquishing rights. Marvel countersued with the parties reaching a settlement in which Marvel dropped the suit in exchange for Friedrich paying $ 17,000 in damages, ceasing to sell Ghost Rider-related items of his own creation and ceasing to promote himself as

9625-562: The character, who "looked sort of like a hippie Jesus Christ and that's exactly who He was, though I never actually called Him that...." At the story arc's climax, Isabella had planned that Blaze "accepts Jesus Christ into his life. This gives him the strength to overcome Satan, though with more pyrotechnics than most of us can muster. He retains the Ghost Rider powers he had been given by Satan, but they are his to use as his new faith directs him." However, Isabella said, Jim Shooter , then an assistant editor, "took offense at my story. The issue

9750-501: The comic books. An American comic book is also known as a floppy comic . It is typically thin and stapled, unlike traditional books . American comic books are one of the three major comic book industries globally, along with Japanese manga and the Franco-Belgian comic books . The typical size and page count of comics have varied over the decades, generally tending toward smaller formats and fewer pages. Historically,

9875-534: The comic-book debut of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster , the future creators of Superman . The two began their careers with the musketeer swashbuckler "Henri Duval", doing the first two installments before turning it over to others and, under the pseudonyms "Leger and Reuths", they created the supernatural -crimefighter adventure Doctor Occult . In 1938, after Wheeler-Nicholson's partner Harry Donenfeld had ousted him, National Allied editor Vin Sullivan pulled

10000-552: The conversation, Zadkiel massacres the squad of the Asura who guard the gates of Heaven. Zadkiel tells Ketch to wait to attack the Riders until the last ones are together. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the world, former cop Kowalski follows a contact to get a hellfire shotgun for his revenge on Blaze. After acquiring the item he is then driven to the middle of a desert to sit and wait for his chance. After leaving Japan, Blaze's team journeys to

10125-432: The countercultural era. Legal issues and paper shortages led to a decline in underground comix output from its 1972 peak. In 1974 the passage of anti-paraphernalia laws in the US led to the closing of most head shops, which throttled underground comix distribution. Its readership also dried up as the hippie movement itself petered out in the mid-1970s. Wizard originally used the phrase "Bronze Age", in 1995, to denote

10250-464: The country. Some cities passed laws banning comic books entirely. In 1954, psychiatrist Fredric Wertham published his book Seduction of the Innocent , where he discussed what he perceived as sadistic and homosexual undertones in horror comics and superhero comics respectively, and singled out EC Comics due to its success as a publisher of these genres. In response to growing public anxiety,

10375-486: The creator of the character for financial gain. Friedrich was allowed to sell his autograph on officially licensed Ghost Rider merchandise. On June 11, 2013, Second Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Denny Chin overturned the original decision, calling the contract language "ambiguous" and sending the case back to trial. set for November. On September 6, Friedrich's attorney told the court both parties "have amicably agreed to resolve all claims." Stunt cyclist Johnny Blaze

10500-460: The curse will be passed to someone he never met. Blaze accepts the offer and was told to drive the Rider out of his soul. Blaze was finally rid of the Rider for good from then on while Adam went about his way to find a new host for the Ghost Rider. In Dayton, Ohio when Sin (in the form of Skadi) attacks the city, she fights a new female Ghost Rider. After the female Ghost Rider is defeated, Mephisto appears before Johnny Blaze stating that he has damned

10625-575: The darker tone of some independent publishers such as First Comics , Dark Horse Comics , and (founded in the 1990s) Image Comics . This tendency towards darkness and nihilism was manifested in DC's production of heavily promoted comic book stories such as " A Death in the Family " in the Batman series (in which The Joker brutally murdered Batman's sidekick Robin ), while at Marvel the continuing popularity of

10750-511: The descriptions of him as a D.A. and/or criminologist. The Blazing Skull later appears in modern times as a captive of Middle Eastern terrorists, having not aged in the decades since the war due to his healing factor. He is freed by the U.S. Agent , who recruits him into a new, present-day version of the Invaders. He has related that between the war and the present he has fought as a superhero in numerous places and under multiple aliases, such as

10875-448: The devil but is in no condition to use that power – and send him back to Hell. Seven Riders show their flaming heads for the first time in this story arc by writer Jason Aaron and artist Tan Eng Huat . Daniel Ketch returns with a new mission: to collect the powers of all the Ghost Riders for the angel Zadkiel to prevent the corruption of the powers with their human hosts. Zadkiel has other motives he keeps to himself, one of which he needs

11000-588: The devil's revenge, returning the evil to Hell. Blaze was not completely lost in the transformation however, and would also help the innocent when they were in danger. As the Ghost Rider, he encountered Daimon Hellstrom . Johnny later came to work as a movie stuntman for Delazny Studios. As the Ghost Rider, he became a member of the Champions and met Morbius the Living Vampire , the Man-Thing and

11125-471: The early days of comic books, this practice had all but vanished during the 1940s and 1950s. Comic books were produced by comic book companies rather than by individual creators (EC being a notable exception, a company that not only credited its creative teams but also featured creators' biographies). Even comic books by revered and collectible artists like Carl Barks were not known by their creator's name— Disney comics by Barks were signed " Walt Disney ". In

11250-464: The fight. He quickly snaps out of his depression and joins the others for the final battle. During the course of the battle, Baron Skullfire dies and the spirit is transferred to one of the Phantom Riders, after which Ketch creates hellfire duplicates of himself to take the on the warriors. A wager is then made by Blaze and Ketch on a race between the brothers around the world for the fates of

11375-444: The final say (but, once ready for printing, it is difficult and expensive to make any major changes), before the comic is sent to the printer. The creative team, the writer and artist(s), may work for a comic book publisher who handles the marketing, advertising, and other logistics. A wholesale distributor, such as Diamond Comic Distributors , the largest in the US, distributes the printed product to retailers. Another aspect of

11500-481: The finale, in order to pursue the villain named Centurious . Now free of his curse, Blaze goes off to live with Roxanne. Blaze occasionally appeared in the subsequent 1990–1998 series, Ghost Rider , which featured a related character, Daniel Ketch. This series revealed Blaze and Roxanne eventually got married and had two children. Blaze returned as Ghost Rider in a 2001 six-issue miniseries written by Devin Grayson ;

11625-439: The first time, he uses the Penance Stare, debilitating Doctor Strange. It is then that the celestial being Numecet appears and reveals the intent of Lucifer to Blaze. Having healed Doctor Strange, Numecet tells Johnny Blaze that he is stronger than he can comprehend and is a vital part of Lucifer's plans, as he intends for the Ghost Rider to kill each of the bodies that he has possessed. It is revealed that when Lucifer traveled to

11750-468: The forces of destiny to be the champion of freedom, and they begin his training, which grants him abilities such as invulnerability to fire. Once his training is completed, he returns home and, motivated by the horrors of Nazism , dons a uniform with a flaming mask (in honor of the Skull Men), taking the name "the Blazing Skull". As time passes and he continues to master the Skull Men's teachings, he gains

11875-410: The host biologically alive but incapacitated. While the host is kept alive by Dixie, a trucker Johnny had encountered, Blaze tracks down what Lucifer believes is his final host and defeats it, exploiting the fact that Lucifer is only at half-strength. As soon as Johnny kills this host, Dixie and a group of local police are able to kill the brain-damaged Lucifer fragment – who now possesses the full soul of

12000-462: The human race and will help Johnny out. Explaining that "Adam" was the original Adam, Mephisto reveals that the new Ghost Rider is a girl named Alejandra that Adam has raised in isolation for years, intending to use her to purge the world of sin, unconcerned about the fact that this will deprive humanity of free will. Despite his distaste at working with Mephisto for anything – the devil's motives clarified as being to preserve his own existence – Blaze

12125-483: The introduction of the Comics Code Authority in the wake of Senate hearings on juvenile delinquency , which, ignoring the social problems caused by the wars of 1939–45 and 1950–52, sought to blame those problems solely on comics. While there was only a 9% drop in the number of releases between 1952 and 1953, circulation plummeted by an estimated 30–40%. The cause of the decrease is not entirely clear. Television had begun to provide competition with comic books, but there

12250-628: The late 1940s and early 1950s horror and true-crime comics flourished, many containing graphic violence and gore. Due to such content, moral crusaders became concerned with the impact of comics on the youth, and were blaming comic books for everything from poor grades to juvenile delinquency to drug abuse. This perceived indecency resulted in the collection and public burning of comic books in Spencer, West Virginia and Binghamton, New York in 1948, which received national attention and triggered other public burnings by schools and parent groups across

12375-433: The major players in volume of sales. By this point, former big-time players Fawcett and Fiction House had ceased publishing. Circulation peaked in 1952 when 3,161 issues of various comics were published with a total circulation of about one billion copies. After 1952, the number of individual releases dropped every year for the rest of the decade, with the biggest falls occurring in 1955–56. The rapid decline followed

12500-494: The mortal realm his essence shattered and spread to 666 recently deceased people, each one of them resurrected and imbued with a portion of the devil's strength. In order to reform his body each one of the human hosts has to die, but they cannot die from suicide as that is a sin and would send the devil back to hell, requiring them to provoke others into killing them. As each one falls the remaining will become even stronger and Ghost Rider must kill them because, although others can kill

12625-423: The ordeal used the last of his strength to shatter the crystal, freeing Blaze's soul and many others contained inside of the crystal. Before the crystal was reformed, Centurious was absorbed into the crystal. Zarathos followed him into the crystal, freeing Blaze from the curse, restoring his soul and ending his time as the Ghost Rider. For a while, Johnny became a drifter and then an adventurer. He eventually became

12750-497: The owner of the carnival. In time, he learned of the existence of Daniel Ketch as the Ghost Rider. Believing the new Ghost Rider to be Zarathos, Johnny traveled to New York City to kill him. Johnny abducted Ketch and battled the Ghost Rider. Johnny became convinced that Ketch was not Zarathos and aided him against Blackout . Alongside the Ghost Rider and Spider-Man , Blaze then fought the Hobgoblin . He also helped Ghost Rider and

12875-474: The powers of the Riders for: to tear down the walls of New Jerusalem and wage war on Heaven. The story begins in Tibet with Chinese soldiers harassing a village, questioning them about weapons that killed two of his garrison patrols. During the harassment a peasant enters on a donkey. After a few exchange of words and an order to kill given by the General, the peasant changes and kills the General's men while his back

13000-544: The powers. During the race, Blaze is critically injured by Kowalski's shotgun and Ketch takes the Rider from him as his duplicates overpower the others. Moments later, Ketch relinquishes the power of the Spirits of Vengeance to Heaven, with Zadkiel now able to storm it. The sound of the gates falling is enough to be felt by Spider-Man's spider-sense and loud enough to be heard even in Hell and Asgard. When an injured Blaze returns to

13125-559: The process involved in successful comics is the interaction between the readers/fans and the creator(s). Fan art and letters to the editor were commonly printed in the back of the book, until, in the early 21st century, various Internet forums started to replace this tradition. The growth of comic specialty stores helped permit several waves of independently-produced comics, beginning in the mid-1970s. Some early examples of these – generally referred to as "independent" or "alternative" comics – such as Big Apple Comix , continued somewhat in

13250-505: The publication of Robert Crumb 's irregularly published Zap Comix . Frank Stack had published The Adventures of Jesus as far back as 1962, and there had been a trickle of such publications until Crumb's success. What had started as a self-publishing scene soon grew into a minor industry, with Print Mint , Kitchen Sink , Last Gasp and Apex Novelties among the more well-known publishers. These comix were often extremely graphic, and largely distributed in head shops that flourished in

13375-416: The purity of her emotion. Blaze was unaware that Mephisto had bonded him with the demon Zarathos as an act of revenge, and was transformed into a Ghost Rider, a leather-clad skeleton with a flaming head. While Johnny still had his soul, he was forced to punish the wicked and evil upon Mephisto's demands whenever needed. Whenever he was in the presence of evil he would transform into the Ghost Rider, to exact

13500-650: The red. That quickly changed, with the book turning a $ 30,000 profit each issue starting with #12. Famous Funnies would eventually run 218 issues, inspire imitators, and largely launch a new mass medium . When the supply of available existing comic strips began to dwindle, early comic books began to include a small amount of new, original material in comic-strip format. Inevitably, a comic book of all-original material, with no comic-strip reprints, debuted. Fledgling publisher Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson founded National Allied Publications, which would evolve into DC Comics , to release New Fun #1 (Feb. 1935). This came out as

13625-629: The satirical Mad —a former comic book which was now converted to a magazine format in order to circumvent the Code. DC started a revival in superhero comics in 1956 with the October 1956 revival of its former golden age top-seller The Flash in Showcase #4. Many comics historians peg this as the beginning of the Silver Age of American comic books, although Marvel (at this point still known variously as both Timely and Atlas ) had started reviving some of its old superheroes as early as 1954. The new Flash

13750-549: The series, later commented that "Ghost Rider never seemed to fit. Why on Earth would the ultimate loner be in a group? It must have been difficult to write and to me he always seemed like a different character than the Friedrich-and-Ploog guy." Ghost Rider remained with the series throughout its short run (October 1975 – January 1978). Blaze's Ghost Rider's career ends when the demon Zarathos , who inhabited Blaze's body as Ghost Rider, flees in issue #81 (June 1983),

13875-408: The size was derived from folding one sheet of Quarter Imperial paper (15 in × 11 in or 380 mm × 280 mm), to print 4 pages which were each 7 + 1 ⁄ 2 by 11 inches (190 mm × 280 mm). This also meant that the page count had to be some multiple of 4. In recent decades, standard comics have been trimmed at about 6.625 x 10.25 inches. The format of

14000-744: The spirits of Blaze's deceased wife and children encourage him to rise and continue to fight Zadkiel, rallying the combined forces of the Spirits of Vengeance (whom Ketch had been tricked into returning to Heaven by Zadkiel) against the renegade Archangel. After Zadkiel realizes that he was not, and never would be, the one true God , as Blaze tells him, "Only God can make a Ghost Rider, Zadkiel. You should know that. And only God can destroy one. You may have been able to shift that power around, to even leech it from its hosts. But you were never really able to control it. And you certainly couldn't kill it. You're not God, Zadkiel. You're just another power-mad wannabe who desperately needs his ass kicked. And that's exactly what

14125-701: The success of Superman in Action Comics prompted editors at National Comics Publications (the future DC Comics) to request more superheroes for its titles. In response, Bob Kane and Bill Finger created Batman , who debuted in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). The period from the late 1930s through roughly the end of the 1940s is referred to by comic book experts as the Golden Age of comic books . It featured extremely large print-runs, with Action Comics and Captain Marvel selling over half

14250-403: The supervillain known as Jack O'Lantern . Killed by the Punisher , Stevie Levins' body is occupied by one of the several aspects of Lucifer. The local sheriff thinks Blaze is to blame but soon realizes the truth. Ghost Rider and the sheriff confront Levins/Lucifer at the door of a preacher's house, and after a short fight Ghost Rider tears out Levins/Lucifer's heart and smashes his head. During

14375-417: The tradition of the earlier underground comics , while others, such as Star Reach , resembled the output of mainstream publishers in format and genre but were published by smaller artist-owned ventures or by a single artist. This so-called " small press " scene (a term derived from the limited quantity of comics printed in each press-run) continued to grow and diversify, with a number of small publishers in

14500-532: The village to continue their journey. The Antichrist, Kid Blackheart, after being hunted down by Zadkiel's agents on Earth, is saved by occult terrorist Jaine Cutter, despite Daimon Hellstorm's efforts to slay him. Eventually, the three encounter Johnny, Danny and Sara, and are forced to join forces in a desperate attempt to defeat Zadkiel in Paradise. Eventually, after reaching Heaven with Danny, he and Danny both attack Zadkiel, but are quickly overwhelmed; however,

14625-468: The wake of television and the impact of the Comics Code Authority . The late 1950s and the 1960s saw a superhero revival and superheroes remained the dominant character archetype throughout the late 20th century into the 21st century. Some fans collect comic books, helping drive up their value. Some have sold for more than US$ 1 million. Comic shops cater to fans, selling comic books, plastic sleeves ("bags") and cardboard backing ("boards") to protect

14750-666: The way, Blaze meets a demon, Hoss, who is also in pursuit of Kazann, and offers to help the Ghost Rider since they share the same goal. Hoss and Blaze fight with Ruth and she steals his bike; they pursue her in Hoss' Cadillac. When they arrive to where Ruth is Kazann is already free, thanks to the efforts of a corrupt paraplegic business owner named Earl Gustav. Hoss and Ruth fight while Blaze battles Kazann, who lets Johnny know that he has been duped by Malachi. As this happens Gustav's secretary, Jemima Catmint, makes her boss recite an incantation that sends Kazann back to Hell. Johnny thinks that he

14875-408: Was a cloud with a silver lining, and proved the making of Marvel, allowing the company to concentrate its brightest and best talent on a small number of titles, at a time when its rivals were spreading their creative talents very thin across a huge number of monthly titles. The quality of Marvel's product soared in consequence, and sales soared with it. While the creators of comics were given credit in

15000-464: Was also a rise in conservative values with the election in 1952 of Dwight Eisenhower . The Comics Code Authority, a self-censoring body founded to curb the juvenile delinquency alleged to be due to the crime and horror comics, has often been targeted as the culprit, but sales had begun to drop the year before it was founded. The major publishers were not seriously harmed by the drop in sales, but smaller publishers were killed off: EC (the prime target of

15125-403: Was cured, but he was subsequently killed in a stunt trying to jump over 22 cars. Mephisto, when confronted by Blaze over Crash's death, declared that he had kept his end of the bargain. Johnny's exact words in the bargain had been for Crash to be spared the cancer which was killing him, not for him to live. Blaze was saved by Roxanne when she proclaimed her love for Blaze, driving Mephisto away with

15250-570: Was free from the curse, Johnny would eventually transform back into Ghost Rider, since Zarathos had reconstituted himself in Johnny Blaze, despite being turned into a stone statue after his battle with the Midnight Sons. This Ghost Rider entity spoke only a singular line and was much more savage than Noble Kale. At first, there was no indication as to who or what this creature was. However, this entity would appear to be Zarathos, as it

15375-523: Was later discovered to have been resurrected as, or simply transformed into, the being named the Black Rose. She was later returned to Johnny, despite memory loss, in the final issue of the Dan Ketch series of Ghost Rider . Starting over, Blaze eventually found a new job as an accountant and a new girlfriend, Chloe, in the 2001 Marvel Knights series "The Hammer Lane". Though at first it seemed he

15500-455: Was nearly destroyed in a demonic attack led by the creature Vengeance . The dead, friend and foe alike, were taken by government forces to be dissected. Blaze, with the help of friends, living and dead, breaks into the facility and destroys all the bodies. A later confrontation with the forces of evil would lead to Roxanne's death. Blaze would later become a demon hunter, hunt down the demons responsible for her death and kill them all. Roxanne

15625-480: Was ready to go to the printer when he pulled it back and ripped it to pieces. He had some of the art redrawn and a lot of the copy rewritten to change the ending of a story two years in the making. 'The Friend' was revealed to be, not Jesus, but a demon in disguise. To this day, I consider what he did to my story one of the three most arrogant and wrongheaded actions I've ever seen from an editor." In 2020, Shooter said he had been concerned that this "basically established

#227772