Hellfire

 

When I was a kid, Ghost Rider was my favourite Marvel comic. I think there were several reasons for this - my first exposure to the character was definitely the Topps stickers of the mid-70s. There was a GR sticker, referring back to Easy Rider, where GR was saying something like "Peter Fonda, eat your heart out" - I had no idea what this was referring to, but even then, I knew it was cool. 

Years later, when I first discovered US comics, GR 56 was one of the first ones I bought. At this time, I didn't really appreciate that the UK comics were a repackaging of the US ones. I had found a GR comic and I loved it. Over the next few years, I was able to collect GR pretty consistently - partly cos it was regularly distributed in the UK, and partly cos he was a B-list character, and his title rarely sold out. I stopped buying comics around the time issues 73 came out, and kept that up for maybe 18 months. 

When I came back, GR had been cancelled. I kept looking for his title in the Mighty Marvel Checklists but there was no sign of it, and eventually, when I discovered comic shops, I started using back issues here and there - I'm pretty sure that on my first trip to London Comic shops, I somehow came away with back issues of X-Men 150 and Ghost Rider 16 - quite a combination. 

Eventually I made my way to UKCAC - and got hold of the last issue or two - so I was able to see how Blaze's story ended, and though I picked up the odd issue of follow on issues here and there, it's never been quite the same. 

As a fan of Marvel Masterworks, I was aware that there was increasing clamour for the adventures of Johnny Blaze - and the longer it went on without an appearance, the more the rumours built up. "Marvel won't publish it because of the film rights issues, Marvel won't publish it because of ownership lawsuits, etc etc." 

Eventually they started to publish it, and it's been on a more-or-less annual cycle ever since. This turned out well because towards the end of 2025, the rug got pulled out from underneath the whole Masterworks programme, leaving some titles only a book or two away from a natural conclusion. Luckily, the final Ghost Rider collection was one of the last ones scheduled, and I've just finished reading it. 

It's a great collection - along with the Stern / Budiansky stories in the previous volume, these stories by JM DeMatteis and Budiansky are probably the only time in the (to then) history of the character where thought was given to the development of the character and the supporting cast - in his introductory piece, the writer notes that he was given warning that the comic was being cancelled, giving him the time to round things off satisfactorily, which I think shows. All of the issues have been reprinted exceptionally well, and there's a nice selection of bonus material, including the JM DeMatteis editorial from the final issue which I hoped (but never expected) would be included. 

There's also a few other stories in there - a library story that doesn't really add much, and a couple of tales from What-If, including a barmy story where an old wizard separates Blaze from GR, and attempts to use his powers to sacrifice the Pope. This culminates in a scrap in Vatican City where the Pope is manacled to an altar, whilst GR and the wizard fight around him,. When it ends, our two protagonists lie prone on the ground whilst our Holiness stands above them, making the sign of the cross and muttering an inaudible Hail Mary. It's not the height of comic art - but it might be one of the maddest Marvel stories I've ever read and I highly recommend it.