Marvel Masterworks: Ghost Rider 2

Marvel Masterworks: Ghost Rider #2

by Tony Isabella, Gary Friedrich, Bill Mantlo

Marvel's hell-bound super hero, Ghost Rider, hits the road for a second Marvel Masterworks! Johnny Blaze's adventures begin with the return of Zodiac, an organized crime gang powered by agents of hell, in a plot that can only be foiled with the help of the super-heroic Stunt-Master! Then, after fighting for his very soul against Satan himself, Ghost Rider fi nds himself teamed up with the Ever-Lovin' Thing, in mortal combat against the ever-angry Hulk and in league with the ever-courageous Champions! And if you thought the Orb was fi nis, think again as Marvel's deadliest eyeball returns to extract another pound of Ghost Rider fl esh! with Karen Page having joined Ghost Rider's cast, Daredevil makes the scene in a crossover classic drawn by John Byrne!
GHOST RIDER (1973) 6-20; MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE (1974) 8; DAREDEVIL (1964) 138

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels

304 pages, Hardcover

First published December 16, 2020

About the author

Tony Isabella is an American comic book writer, editor, artist and critic, known as the creator and writer of Marvel Comics' Black Goliath; DC Comics' first major African-American superhero, Black Lightning; and as a columnist and critic for the Comics Buyer's Guide.
Contents

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was another fair-to-middling volume of Ghost Rider. The book not only suffers from almost constant creative team changes but also its own sense of identity. They really couldn’t decide whether they wanted Ghost Rider to be part of their horror line or just another superhero book.

Overall, this isn’t bad but always fall short of greatness. Y’know, the more I read of the Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider the more I realise how most of the stuff I like about the character originated with his successor to the flaming bonce, Danny Ketch...

My next book: Snow Crash

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection is the original Ghost Rider run issues #6-#20, Marvel Two-in-One #8, and Daredevil #138. GR faces off against Aquarius, Inferno, The Hulk, The Orb, and others. By far, the best storyline was the crossover with Daredevil against the threat of Death’s-head closing out the volume featuring really good John Byrne artwork.
Otherwise, the stories were okay with Johnny Blaze and his guilt complex cycling from drama to drama.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was always a strange era in the original Ghost Rider series. Author Tony Isabella was pushing to make the character more of a traditional superhero and not only significantly weakened his powers, but leaned into Johnny Blaze escaping the grasp of Satan through a newfound faith in Christianity. It even goes so far as to have Jesus make a few appearances. If that wasn’t bad enough, the art from this era makes the skull have an oddly fleshly appearance complete with a solid white neck, rather than visible bone.

It’s not terrible stuff, but it’s obvious the Marvel bullpen at the time wasn’t too sure what they wanted the character to be and were throwing all sorts of ideas at the wall to see what stuck. The only thing from this run to survive was Isabella’s penchant for writing Johnny Blaze with a faux-southern accent, letting him come across as a modern day cowboy. The dialogue is corny (references to “polecats” and “owl-hoots”), but it set the stage for some of his later adventures where he really is like a wandering cowboy from hell. That said, the new motorcycle he gets during these stories, “the Skull Cycle”, is a wonderful comic vehicle.

[Jimbo · Rating 4 out of 5]

What can I saw about Ghost Rider? Again, his character changes within these pages and he is no longer the Ghost Rider only at night, he becomes the Ghost Rider when evil is nearby.

Here he spends time with The Thing in a Christmas story with Miracle Man as the villain. He Fights with Daredevil in a crossover event with Death's Head, Karen Page, and Death Stalker. Fun!

The stories are about Johnny Blaze's rise from a pawn of Satan into a hero.

Great book.

[John Peel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Johnny Blaze is still being stalked by Satan, but things change (a lot!) in this volume. He gets a new job, new powers and new freedom - but also new foes to fight. Some fun stories here to enjoy.

[Brent · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, it was better than volume one.

But not a whole lot better.