Ghost Rider Reading Guide

 

This is a fun thing I wanted to do. After reading every single Ghost Rider Comics, I figured it would be fun to give my general thoughts and reviews on each of his runs throughout his comic history. I’m not going to break down EVERY appearance, as he has many inconsequential one offs in various series that can be read in any order, like most comic characters, but I am going to cover the most relevant things. I’ve decided the best way to do this is to go in chronological order in case anyone wants a list of all the things you have to read, and give my general thoughts recommendations on them for those who just want to find good Ghost Rider Material or get into his series.

Marvel Spotlight (1971-1977)

These are the comics that first introduced Ghost Rider and were a big success as they quickly gave him his own run of comics just a year after his debut, and had him appear in this run no less than 9 total times, so it was very important to his start. As far as quality goes these are basically on par with the average comic from the 70’s Ghost Rider run, though out of these I’d recommend:

• Issue 5: Ghost Rider’s first appearance

• Issue 12 and 22: Team ups with Damian Hellstorm

Ghost Rider 70’s Run (1973-1983)

This is the Run that Johnny got soon after the success of his Spotlight appearances, and easily is his longest run with the most appearances to date, having 81 issues which all heavily feature him. These comics do suffer from a lot of the flaws that older comics have such as being filled with extremely wordy narration and dialogue, and because of that it easily took me the longest to research of all the comics. But despite that, the comics have a very classic western feel that I appreciate, and it really connects you to Johnny’s character as you follow his career as he goes from a Motorcycle daredevil, to a television Stuntman, to the headliner of a traveling carnival. They also aren’t afraid to throw in some real occult mysticism and classic monster horror in there.

My recommendations

• Issue 9: for being epic beyond belief

• Issue 25: first appearance of Zarathos

• Issue 68: see Johnny’s backstory in the most complete and cool fashion

• Issue 77: Zarathos’ origin

• Issue 80-81: Emotionally satisfying conclusion

• Good Horror Plots can be found in Issues, 35, 53, 68 and 76

Marvel Two-In-One (1974-1981)

This is the only one off team up comics I’m gonna really focus on here, most of the time they aren’t that interesting with Ghost Rider. For some reason Spider-Man in particular seems really judgemental of Johnny whenever they team up, which seems a bit out of character. But by far the best team ups Johnny has are with Ben Grimm, the Thing, and that's what these two-in-one comics focus on. I love how these comics build up such a wholesome friendship between these two, and how they relate to each other as good guys that get seen as monsters. And they compare and contrast their differences in interesting ways, like Johnny’s advantage of being able to turn his monsterous form Off, and Ben’s advantage of being in full control of himself. Sweet stories!

The Champions (1975-1978)

This was Johnny’s first time being on a superhero team, that said it ended up being pretty short lived and I can’t say I don’t agree. The Champions have to be one of the least balanced superhero teams I am aware of, Johnny would stomp the entire team with ease, Hercules would stomp everyone below him, then Iceman would and so on, it’s basically impossible to make a credible threat you need everyone to stop. The team also has pretty bad chemistry with Black Widow being the leader for some reason and thinking she’s clearly just as capable as the rest of them because of this. This series also came out concurrently with the 70s Ghost Rider run, which hilariously led to Johnny being absent from a couple of the issues to deal with his own stuff. My only real recommendation from this group is Issue 16, where they have to team up to stop Doctor Doom and Magneto, who are already battling each other. That one was pretty cool.

Ghost Rider 90’s Run (1990-1998)

Technically the longest Ghost Rider run, this was meant to revive Ghost Rider for new readers after Johnny and Zarathos were separated in 83 and hadn’t been seen since. This follows a new Ghost Rider, Johnny’s younger brother Danny Ketch, riding through the mean streets of NYC rather than the desert. However, only a few issues in, they bring in Johnny to be a sort of mentor figure to Dan and due to popular demand, he ends up appearing in almost half this run's issues. The tone of this series is much more dark and hardcore than the earlier runs, containing more death and brooding and other typical 90s things. But it also has a lot of cool mystic stories and introduced a lot of Ghost Rider staples such as the Penance Stare, plus Johnny gets to look really badass at various points kicking all kinds of ass without Zarathos. 

If you want to see Johnny do cool stuff I’d recommend issues 14-15 where you see him fight and befriend Dan which is done really well. If you are interested in Dan, I’d recommend 

• Both of the Annuals: they are just really satisfying one offs with a fantastic villain that sticks with you

• Issues 30 and 32: Ghost Rider is unable to turn back because Dan is fatally injured and will die the moment he does, and has to find a solution.

• Issue 76-94: the Blackheart arc, really well written and reveals a lot about the origins of the character, you get a lot of great stuff from Blackheart as well. One disadvantage is Dan has a pretty awful redesign for much of it.

Nightstalkers (1992-1994)

This is basically the start of the brief clusterfuck period of the Early 90’s where Ghost Rider fit the tone of the time so well they were putting him in no less than 4 series running concurrently. Nightstalkers is about a bunch of gothic and mystical heroes and anti heroes banding together, the main plot is about Blade going mad with power and killing a bunch of characters, including Johnny Blaze, and absorbing their powers until the Dan Ketch Ghost Rider stops him. But honestly it's really hard to follow this plot because it features a Lot of characters, many of which are obscure, and the series diverges into a lot of Midnight Sons tie-ins after a while. I can’t really recommend this one, not because it’s bad, but it's both not great and not friendly to new readers at all.

Midnight Sons Unlimited (1993-1994)

Then we get into the epicenter of the clusterfuck, Midnight Sons. On paper this storyline sounds cool, and it actually IS quite good if you read it, it's about Zarathos finally getting loose from the Soul Crystal he was trapped in back in 83, and going on a confused rampage being separated from Blaze and manipulated by Lilith, so a whole band of magic heroes have to try and stop him. The main problem is this series is tie-in central, to the point you have to do tons of research just to find out how to read this. It’s got its own run, but key plot points and chapters are in the 90s Ghost Rider Run, Nightstalkers, Ghost Rider/Blaze Spirits of Vengeance, and at least 4 other heroes independent run who don’t have anything to do with Ghost Rider. It's to the point even I’m not sure I read all the relevant comics, and if you make one mistake reading the order, you will majorly spoil yourself. Can’t super recommend this unless you are a very experienced comic reader.

Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992-1994)

This is a smaller run of comics that ran concurrently with the 90s GR Run as a result of Blaze’s popularity. This detailed Johnny Blaze teaming up with Dan to defend his circus from an onslaught by Lilith the mother of Demons and her children. It starts off very strong, being more overarching and less episodic than the 90’s Ghost Rider run, and basically drops you into the middle of a warzone between freaks and monsters alike. But eventually it starts doing a lot of Midnight Sons tie in’s and the plot becomes hard to follow. They also make a very weird choice of about 15 issues in, having Johnny get injured and having to wear robot armor like he's Cable or something, despite him not getting any robot powers. It also ends kind of abruptly with Johnny’s family being taken and used as an excuse to split the two up into their own series.

If you are going to read an issue from this run I HIGHLY Recommend Issue 3 where Johnny has a face off with Skinner, one of the toughest Demons in Marvel, it's so damn cool.

Blaze: Legacy of Blood (1993-1994)

This was a first attempt at a Johnny spinoff series to separate him from Dan. Johnny tries to save his kids from a madman demon that his TERRIBLE Girlfriend promised him in exchange for helping her find Johnny back at the end of the 70s run. (F*CK You Roxanne Simpson) Johnny is very hardcore and determined to take these assholes down in this, and IS rightfully mad at Roxanne for her actions thank god, but theres a reason this run didn’t catch the attention of readers enough to fully spin him off. Johnny also successfully gets his kids back at the end of this story, which contradicts the ending of the 90’s Ghost Rider run and future GR Comics which establishes he never got them back, yet both are canon. Not the best story to start with, NGL.

Blaze (1994-1995)

This is the resulting solo run that Johnny was given to run alongside the 90’s Ghost Rider Run, a 12 issue miniseries about Johnny trying to reclaim his lost children from the forces of hell. In general this is probably the best Johnny Blaze material from the 90s as he assembles a ragtag team of carnie psychics, and takes on vampires, angels and powerful demons with nothing but his magic tricks and the iron will of a desperate parent. I believe the last 3 issues where Johnny goes up against a vampire cult are the best and has a very sweet ending. Although some flaws would be the artstyle portraying Johnny as looking much older than he actually is, and the ultimate ending of him ALSO Successfully saving his kids, but now we have an explanation to this, apparently Marvel decided to explain this, Johnny actually had his kids kidnapped 3 separate back to back times by 3 unconnected magical entities and the 3rd time was in the 90s run…….wow. Though sad as it is to say, his kids don’t have a lot of consequence, having barely any character to them, they are basically a plot device that is hardly ever brought up in the series overall.

Ghost Rider Special Edition (1995)

A short lived series of mini-comics that each contain part of a storyline. These comics have some rather subpar artwork and were not very organized in how they were released. The final 11th issue doesn’t properly conclude the storyline, and the 7th issue doesn’t even exist. That said, the storyline they are doing is pretty epic all things considered, with Zarathos being unleashed again and re-merging with Johnny so he can once again be Ghost Rider. All things considered I would say this is a pretty fun, light read.

Ghost Rider Crossroads (1998)

This is an extra long one off comic but it is also my personal favorite one of those, this picks up after a special arc with Dan Ketch and Blackheart that resulted in Blackheart becoming King of Hell. Blackheart is really bringing his A game in this comic, and features the official return of the Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider, the entire comic bleeds quality and I Highly recommend this if you want a quick but classic and satisfying Occult Superhero story with Johnny and Dan.

Ghost Rider (2001)

This was intended to be the start of a new Ghost Rider run for the 00s, but failed Miserably and ended after only 7 issues and honestly, yeah that's exactly what it deserved. This series portrays both Johnny and Zarathos HILARIOUSLY out of character in all the worst ways possible, features ridiculous plot points like Johnny Knowingly Hiring a psychopathic mass murder to Kill Ghost Rider and the series having them end on wholesome terms(...what?), and the art is just plain Hideous. The comics are FULL of unexplained plot holes and aggravinging character moments that alienate not only the Ghost Rider fanbase, but new readers who wanted a quality story. I can’t recommend anything from this, they’re the worst GR Comics by a Fair margin.

Universe X (2000-2001)

As far as Ghost Rider Content is concerned, Skip These, he's not even really in it, just has a few cameo background appearances.

Ghost Rider: The Road To Damnation (2005-2006)

This is their 2nd attempt to revive The Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider in the 2000s, and thankfully this one was significantly better! Road to Damnation is a 6 issue miniseries that establishes Johnny has been trapped in Hell since the 2001 series, but is freed to Earth by a pair of double dealing angels with the mission to destroy a dangerous entity before an Archdemon from Hell or an Archangel from Heaven can get their hands on him and prevent a war of angels and demons from breaking out. The plot and humor is somewhat similar to Good Omens, yet the tone is much darker, giving me a similar vibe to this animated DC movie called Constantine City of Demons. This series was successful as a new run of Ghost Rider comics picking up from this was started soon after, so I’d happily recommend this.

Ghost Rider 00’s Run (2006-2009)

This I believe is probably the quintessential Ghost Rider run, its long but not overly long, being 35 issues divided into 2 arcs, 1-19 being the Lucifer Arc where he has to track down all 666 of the Avatars of Lucifer he unleashed on Earth, and 20-35 being the Zadkiel Arc, where he has to stop the dark angel Zadkiel from taking over Heaven. I would highly recommended the entirety of both these arcs as they perfected the tone they wanted to go for, feature great art, reveal tons of fantastic lore about Ghost Rider and the Spirits of Vengeance, are extremely good at making callbacks to and paying respect to the Ghost Rider material from the 70s and 90s, and are so well written it was hard for me to put them down. I actually Own this as a trade and it sits promentially on my bookshelf. Some highlights include the Sleepy Hollow mini-arc, just because the Jack-o-Lantern was an incredibly entertaining villain, and the World War Hulk Tie-In where Johnny and Hulk duke it out. While the Zadkiel arc does end abruptly on a cliffhanger, which is probably the biggest flaw, but honestly even that’s not much of an issue.

Ghost Rider Trail of Tears (2007)

A miniseries that serves as a prequel to Road to Damnation, gives a history of The Spirits of Vengeance as a whole, though I wouldn’t recommend this until you are quite knowledgeable on Ghost Rider in general as it is very trippy and out there with its concepts, it also doesn't properly explain how Johnny got into hell.

Ghost Rider Danny Ketch (2008-2009)

This is a brief 2 comic run meant to catch you up on what Danny’s been up to before he shows up in the Zadkiel arc of the 00’s run. Honestly I wish it did Dan more justice as he ends up behaving kind of like a puppet, but I Do still recommend it as it helps one better understand the Zadkiel arc overall, which is a good thing!

Ghost Riders: Heaven’s On Fire (2009-2010)

Heaven’s on Fire is a 6 part miniseries picking up directly after the 00s run ends and concluding the Zadkiel arc. Johnny teams up with Dan and they fight their way into Heaven, which Zadkiel has taken over and began using to warp reality to his whim, to overthrow him and set everything right. This comic series is really epic and doesn’t lose any of the momentum that was built up in the 00’s run, and gives the story the satisfying conclusion it deserved with lots of reverence for past stories and Ghost Rider iterations. This is a pretty essential Ghost Rider series and I highly recommend it, especially if you enjoyed the Zadkiel arc in the 2000’s run.

Ghost Rider (2011-2012)

A Nine issue Miniseries, about Johnny Blaze being manipulated into separating from Zarathos, and then Zarathos being merged with Alejandra Jones to create a female Ghost Rider. As far as Ghost Rider Mini Arcs go this is one of the best actually, with a lot of great character stuff from both Johnny and Alejandra, Johnny trying to help her like the good soul he is, and Alejandra wanting to defend the world from evils like those she experienced. There’s some pretty epic showcases of Zarathos’s true power in these issues, plus the events of this arc are pretty self contained in a satisfying manor, with Johnny getting Zarathos back by the end so he can continue doing his schtick, but Alejandra maintaining some Ghost Rider powers so new fans of her can continue following her adventures. I’d recommend this whole arc, but I’d especially recommend Issue 9, where Alejandra uses Zarathos to finally go kick Mephisto’s ass head to head.

Venom (Circle of Four Arc) (2012)

The Circle of Four Arc is a 5 issue arc in the 2011 Venom run that takes place between the 8th and 9th issue of the GR Miniseries right above this. Alejandra still has Zarathos and Johnny is helping her as she teams up with Venom and the Thunderbolts to stop Blackheart and his scheme to bring Hell to Earth as a means of stealing it from his Father. Blackheart being the villain really elevates this arc as he always does, and Johnny himself does get to be both very kind and very badass in it. It's a pretty good storyline all things considered and I had fun with it at the time, though Red Hulk and his team can be a bit edgy for me, and obviously Alejandra is the star of the show more than Johnny is. I’d recommend it if you are a fan of Alejandra, but also would say to check it out anyway if you thought the description was cool.

Thunderbolts (2013-2014)

Ghost Rider tags along on Red Hulk’s Thunderbolt Teams adventure and guides the team through the ruins of hell. Honestly these comics are enjoyable enough as you read them but they aren’t very memorable long term compared to most of the other Ghost Rider entries. I think part of it is that Red Hulk is always such an asshole that most of his stories just leave me not caring about what happens too much. Even Ghost Rider deciding to join up with the group feels a little forced and doesn’t last very long. But like I said, if you are interested in seeing this group infiltrate Hell with Ghost Rider it's pretty serviceable.

Uncanny Avengers Annual (2014)

This is just a really cool one off comic that I wanted to mention, there isnt any super deep plot or character stuff with Johnny here but it IS good if you wanna see him just go Ham and fight a lot of other heroes, I had a good time with this one.

All-New Ghost Rider (2014-2015)

This is a brief run given to the newest Ghost Rider, Robbie Reyes. Johnny gets involved in about half the issues here to investigate this new Ghost Rider, as he’s not technically the spirit of vengeance, but a kid possessed by the spirit of the notorious criminal Eli Morrow. It's that typical story of the younger hero needs to prove himself to the classic one, and it's perfectly serviceable for that, however this is more something I would recommend if you wanted to get into Robbie than Johnny.

Spirits of Vengeance (2017-2018)

Essentially a Lead in to the newest Ghost Rider run, this 5 part mini series is about Johnny teaming up with Damien Hellstorm, Blade and Satana to prevent an all out war between Heaven and Hell. The story is pretty passable for the most part but it does have some pretty high highs, particularly in the 5th issue with Johnny, that's the one I would read if I was gonna pick just one to look into. One of the weirdest things about this though was the Artstyle, which would often shift from Photorealistic, to Anime Inspired, to Cartoony sometimes on the same page which can be a bit jarring and hyper stylized.

Damnation (2018)

Damnation I believe may be my favorite singular storyline for Ghost Rider as a character, this is the story where he and Zarathos work through their troubled relationship, Damn themselves to save Las Vegas and all The Avengers and overthrow Mephisto to become the King of Hell, it is amazing and features a great deal of awesome moments from every character involved, it may very well be my favorite Marvel comic. It does have some flaws I have complained about before, it involved many characters, and it's an Event comic divided between comics from 5 different runs. But thankfully there's a trade that collected them all. If there's one storyline to read here to get Johnny it's this, but if you Really want just one comic, Damnation: Ghost Rider - Johnny Blaze is the best one by far.

Avengers (2018-present)

Ghost Rider has an arc early into this Avengers run, where having been left in Hell for so long he tries to pull in Robbie Reyes as a means to help him get some relief after the Millions of years by Hell's perception he's been ruling, and The Avengers get involved. This Arc is really freaking cool, the Art looks amazing, and Johnny really gets to show off how dangerously OP he is, the comic features awesome moments like Ghost Rider summoning Dead Celestials, Cosmic Ghost Rider showing up, and Ghost Rider getting into a Metal as Hell Hammer Fight with Thor. If you are an Avengers fan and want to see how Ghost Rider interacts with them this is a pretty good place to look.

Absolute Carnage: Symbiote of Vengeance (2019)

This comic has really good artwork, and it was pretty cool seeing Dan Ketch meet Alejandra Jones for the first time, and it does do a lot for Alejandra’s character in particular, but it is kind of a downer. In this comic, Carnage is possessed by the Symbiote God and is powerful enough to overpower both Dan and Alejandra, and this is not at all explained in the comic itself. Its sad seeing Alejandra go down and Dan failing to stop Carnage, but at the very least Alejandra doesn’t even let DEATH stop her from defending people, and she’ll probably be back soon all things considered. I think its a middle ground OK Comic.

Ghost Rider 10’s Run (2019-2020)

This is the most recent run of Ghost Rider comics, which was very unfortunately canceled only 7 issues in as a result of the Covid-19 Virus. These comics were really good in terms of art, writing and action as we pick up with Johnny as his stress with trying to maintain the throne of Hell and the balance between our dimensions is affecting his judgement. He begins ruthlessly hunting the demons loose on Earth and using his New Damnation Stare to destroy them, but being unknowingly corrupted by it, it's a really action packed story, that sees the return of various villains, and Dan Ketch becoming a Spirit of Corruption known as Death Rider to help Johnny. This I think could have surpassed the 00’s run if it kept this up, but as it is now, I would still recommend the whole series to those who are interested in Ghost Rider. It is yet another run I own the physical trade of.

King In Black: Ghost Rider (2021)

This is the only Ghost Rider Comic that came out since my blog, a one off meant to conclude the things set up in the canceled 10’s run. Honestly I found it to be pretty disappointing. It Basically has Blackheart show up and convince Johnny to let Mephisto be the king of hell again to restore the status quo. Uggh, Dammit Marvel, it's one thing to pull something like this but to use one of my favorite villains to do it? That hurts man. But Meh, Johnnys been through a lot so He probably COULD use a vacation :P