The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1659 - 1664: Playing Catch-Up

I honestly don't know why I've been having such trouble keeping up with my blog over the last little while. Being unemployed (or rather, partially employed) is difficult. I find I have little energy for much these days.

So, here's what I've been reading over the last little while:

A pretty diverse week, all things considered. Some really cool comics, though that last Marvel one was so very, very early 90s.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 688: Ghost Rider #37, May 1993

My first thought on picking up this comic to read this morning was that this cover says everything you need to know about early 90s Marvel "We-wish-we-were-Image" Comics. The shoulder pads.

The. Shoulder. Pads.

Of course, two pages in we're treated to this:

Um.

I was surprised by this issue on a couple of fronts. First is the art by Bret Blevins. I'm usually a fan of his work. His run on The New Mutants late in that series is some stellar comics storytelling, and his designs are wonderful. But here it almost seems like he's either chosen, or been instructed, to do his best Rob Liefeld impression. I can't even begin to figure out the physics of the above panel. Is she sitting on a stool that we can't see? Is the gun made of foam? The other surprise was that the comic, later on, becomes quite philosophical on the subject of vengeance. Though, so was yesterday's comic, by the same writer, almost 3 years prior. Much as I appreciate this kind of thoughtfulness in a superhero comic, it speaks to one of the reasons that Ghost Rider remains a B-list character: he's got one motivation, one trick up his narrative sleeve. And it's hard to sustain something like that over the course of more than 40 years now. How does a character that's defined by being a fundamental force for one particular thing grow?

Onward.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 687: Ghost Rider #5, September 1990

When we next encounter the Rider, it's possessing a new host, the conveniently-named Danny Ketch. Over the course of this issue, some of the concerns I brought up about the previous issues are resolved. Ketch, musing upon the nature of the being that inhabits him, notes that it's basically a force for good, and that it never kills, only punishes, the guilty. This is a bit different from Johnny Blaze's understanding of the character, and of that iteration of the character, who purports not to care if it kills innocents or not.

Perhaps this is why we see such characters as Ghost Rider and the Hulk undergo such significant changes in this era of Marvel. Once Bruce Banner gains control over his monstrous alter-ego, or once the Rider becomes more like the Spectre and less a demon, the characters fit more comfortably into a superhero universe, and, indeed, a superhero comic book. The current television version of Ghost Rider, the Robbie Reyes iteration on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., shares some of Ketch's qualities, in that is pays little attention to the innocent. It does, however, kill the guilty, putting the character much more on a footing with the Punisher.

Speaking of whom - the Punisher guests in this issue, and it's an interesting juxtaposition to see two distinct spirits of vengeance, so to speak. One is fueled by his desire to keep anyone from undergoing the pain he endured, a more psychopathic version of Batman in some ways, and one acts as a fundamental law of the universe, punishing those who somehow are "deserving" of punishment. These two takes on the vengeance motif quite nicely sum up a spiritual versus rational take on the nature of reality. If you're a spiritual person, one who believes in purpose, destiny, providence, then there are immutable ethical laws of the universe. If you're a rationalist, then you believe that we make our own ethical strictures, our own best ideas of how to live in the world, and follow them.

I think there's probably something to be said about the three iterations of Ghost Rider, the varied mores by which it conducts itself, and the time periods in which each character comes into existence. But knowing as little about the character as I do, I don't feel quite qualified to comment. One more look at Ghost Rider tomorrow, and then Onward! to something else.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 686: The Original Ghost Rider Rides Again #3, September 1991

Today's comic reprints some of the final issues of the Ghost Rider series from which yesterday's comic was drawn (ha). For me, the main feature is some early 80s writing by Roger Stern, just before he took over writing The Avengers and produced some of the best stories that team has had. I think the thing that gets me about Ghost Rider is that, at least in this iteration, he's played much like the Hulk. We have a decent guy in Johnny Blaze who has an evil creature inside him, one that doesn't care about people or right. Which makes it difficult for me to think of him as a superhero, much as I have the same difficulty with Bruce Banner's alter ego. There is, of course, some nice metaphorical resonance to the idea of having an evil creature trapped inside one's body, one that has to be struggled against and repressed. We all have these things, though perhaps nothing quite so dire as a spirit of vengeance. But it's the same problem that one encounters with DC's Spectre: how guilty does one have to be to deserve the vengeance of the universe? Would Ghost Rider attack someone who felt bad for having an argument with their partner? Or who felt guilty over a stolen chocolate bar? There have to be limits, of course, but the creature that resides inside Johnny Blaze appears to not acknowledge any.

When Bruce Jones and John Romita Jr. took over on The Incredible Hulk in the early 2000s, they played the character as something to be repressed, much to the chagrin of many readers. They told, instead, a story about a man who knew what was inside him, knew how destructive and damaging it could be, and who worked hard to keep it chained within. I really enjoyed that take on the character, the idea that the Hulk is nothing to celebrate, not like our semi-gentle giant in the current film continuity, but instead like a force of nature that would indiscriminately kill and destroy. It seems to me that Ghost Rider could be played similarly, and Stern makes gestures toward this in today's comic. But the Ghost Rider has far more agency than the Hulk - it knows what it wants to do, and knows that it has the power to do it. It's more like a split personality, with one being a serial killer. So, again, I ask the question, how do we make a superhero comic out of such a character?

Tomorrow I'll have a look at some of the GR stuff from the later 90s, and we'll see if the introduction of a different version of the character helps. Onward.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 685: Ghost Rider #24, June 1977

I've yet to finish watching the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episodes from this season that feature Ghost Rider. He's never been one of my favourite characters, but the effects, and portrayal, of the character on the show are pretty great. I think what's always put me off of the character is that he's quite remarkably emblematic of the 70s-era Marvel, but not in a way that I feel is translatable to subsequent eras. Indeed, the cool biker motif was really something that was even beginning to feel played out by the late 70s, kind of like the grim 'n' gritty vigilante of the mid to late 90s. Some characters have their moment, and it's a pretty good moment, but are only of limited story potential. I'm sure there's people out there who would disagree, but the lack of an ongoing Ghost Rider series in the last 20 years (I think) says something.

Some lovely art in this issue by the immensely talented Don Heck - he's deceptive in some ways, as his art comes across initially as very much in the "Marvel" style (no surprise, given that he was one of the figures who defined that style), but then occasional flourishes, which I mostly noted in the characters' faces, distinguishes his style from the house style he influenced. Shooter's script is a bit clunky, making ample use of the very 70s thought bubble exposition, though in this case, when juxtaposed against Ghost Rider's speech bubbles, it offers us an interesting contrast between the words of the Hell-spawned Rider and the thoughts of the mortal man that houses it.

And, as often happens, as I write this, the character becomes more interesting to me. Perhaps I'll give some more Ghost Rider a go tomorrow. Onward!