Comic Info
Comic Name: Ghost Rider (Volume 2)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Howard Mackie
Artist: Javier Saltares/Mark Texeira/Jimmy Palmiotti
# of Issues: 10
Release Date: 2009
Ghost Rider (2) #7
Reprints Ghost Rider (2) #1-10 (May 1990-February 1991). When Danny Ketch and his sister Barbara go to a dangerous New York cemetery at night, they witness a murder. Barbara is injured as she and Danny try to escape and Danny wishes he could find a way to save her. What he finds is a motorcycle that gives him the power of Ghost Rider and the chance at vengeance for the innocents hurt. Now Ghost Rider has made a target of himself and enemies with characters like Blackout, Deathwatch, and the Kingpin. Ghost Rider’s actions are also attracting the attention of police and a certain man who hoped Ghost Rider would stay dead forever.
Written by Howard Mackie, Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch Classic—Volume 1 is a Marvel Comics superhero comic. The comic featured art by Javier Saltares, Mark Texeira, and Jimmy Palmiotti.
I didn’t know much about Ghost Rider when Ghost Rider came out. I knew (vaguely) the old character but as a reader of Avengers and Spider-Man, Ghost Rider did not interact much with them on a regular basis. The new Ghost Rider took an edgier 1990s approach to comic books and became a quick hit.
Time has not been kind to Danny Ketch or the 1990s Ghost Rider. The stories are ok, but typical of the time period. A great example are the villains who are dangerous, deadly, but also very generic in appearance and powers. The costume (leather and chains) also is very dated. Even the two issue guest star appearance by Punisher and an appearance by X-Factor show what the situation in the comic book work was at the time…Image was getting close to launched and Marvel and DC were both feeling a bit threatened.
Ghost Rider (2) #10
That doesn’t mean everything about Ghost Rider was bad. The story actually moves pretty decently, and Danny Ketch’s characterization was nice. The surprising Scarecrow issue and the death of Barbara Ketch at Blackout’s hands (and teeth) was rather unexpected since she had already “pulled through” once. Johnny Blaze’s return was inevitable but welcomed (though that did lead the path to Ghost Rider’s “destruction” when it got too bogged down with the Midnight Sons).
The art at the time was something to be impressed by…now it just looks inky and is sometimes hard to follow. A panel might look really good, but the next panel looks awful. There is very little consistency and everything just ends up in flames and bullets anyway.
Ghost Rider is a character whose time passed again by the late ’90s. The Ghost Rider movie (before all the superhero movies boomed) was a bit of a means to reawaken the character, but instead of Danny Ketch, the original Ghost Rider Johnny Blaze was the star. With so much nostalgia popping up in comic books right now in an attempt to recapture lost readers, I can see Danny Ketch becoming a thrust again…but with an even newer Ghost Rider appearing in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and comics, Danny might have a hard time finding traction. Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch Classic—Volume 1 was followed by Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch Classic—Volume 2.
Related Links:
Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch Classic—Volume 2
