Ghost Rider - How would you write him?

[shades of eternity]

seeing as they green lighted the sequel, I think it would be a good time to bring this up.

how would you write ghost rider?

what do you like about the character?

Key themes you would use?

Villains you would use (either from his rogues gallery or marvel as a whole).

johnny blaze or ketch, or a different spin.

****************************

Personally I would treat him like an old school horror movie monster that even other heroes and villains fear.

He shows up, tanks insane amount of damage and is always in pursuit.

he is the spirit of vengeance and a primal force of nature, on par with man-thing in that regard.

and most of the time, it's from his target's perspective.

you don't emphasize with the rider, you fear him....even when he's the good guy.


*****************************

In contrast, when you use his human side, I would show it as a man possessed. I really liked the carne side of the character and it could be played up a contrast between the lovable carne and the unstoppable spirit of vengence.

I would keep him in the south west U.S. for the most part, cause it really helps flesh out the marvel universe as a whole.

And make it a dark western. I really liked that feel.

*****************************

As for other characters:

I really liked his roady from the movie and think having somebody similar as part of his supporting cast would help inject some humanity into the series as a whole.

There is this RPG, known as deadlands that could be an endless source of demonic monsters with a western theme. With some retooling, they could be considered part of his "rogues gallery".

after all, ghost rider verses the el diablos could be absolutely amazing if written right.

[bobellis75]

I wouldn't "do him." I prefer the ladies.

[Aelle3]

seeing as they green lighted the sequel, I think it would be a good time to bring this up.

how would you write ghost rider?

what do you like about the character?

Key themes you would use?

Villains you would use (either from his rogues gallery or marvel as a whole).

johnny blaze or ketch, or a different spin.

****************************

Personally I would treat him like an old school horror movie monster that even other heroes and villains fear.

He shows up, tanks insane amount of damage and is always in pursuit.

he is the spirit of vengeance and a primal force of nature, on par with man-thing in that regard.

and most of the time, it's from his target's perspective.

you don't emphasize with the rider, you fear him....even when he's the good guy.


*****************************

In contrast, when you use his human side, I would show it as a man possessed. I really liked the carne side of the character and it could be played up a contrast between the lovable carne and the unstoppable spirit of vengence.

I would keep him in the south west U.S. for the most part, cause it really helps flesh out the marvel universe as a whole.

And make it a dark western. I really liked that feel.

*****************************

As for other characters:

I really liked his roady from the movie and think having somebody similar as part of his supporting cast would help inject some humanity into the series as a whole.

There is this RPG, known as deadlands that could be an endless source of demonic monsters with a western theme. With some retooling, they could be considered part of his "rogues gallery".

after all, ghost rider verses the el diablos could be absolutely amazing if written right.


Loving your ideas, i agree in keeping him rooted in horror and horror characters. Id like to see all his old Midnight sons crew used as well as others in the magical and supernatural world.
Id also love it if they set it all in the wild west as the phantom rider (been playing way to much red dead).

[is it just me]

Are we talking film or comic ? I think aside from his own title ghost rider has been written terribly in his guest spots over the last couple of years. That said i'm looking forward to the dna take on the character in heroes for hire.

[goneandromeda]

In human form. On top of a bar. He can keep the jacket on but needs to lose the pants. The other Ghost Rider can join in.

[throwdini]

While my normal response would be with a bag on his head, I worry that it would catch fire.

[Sighphi]

Retcon the last volume.
Bring back the original ideas, maybe release Zarathos again to mess around.

[DrDoom616]

maybe Reed Richard's could invent a fire proof condom using unstable molecules? :biggrin:

[SJNeal]

and most of the time, it's from his target's perspective.


I agree with all of your ideas except this one. When readers can't relate to the titular protagonist, it's often only a matter of time before the title sinks. I could be wrong, of course. Given the right creative team, and plenty of patience on Marvel's part to let the book build an audience, it could work.

A Midnight Sons team book would also be awesome. Make it quarterly or bi-monthly is necessary, but find a place for all of the underused horror characters.

[Brother Justin Crowe]

I don't think much could be done with Ghost Rider at this point that isn't completely insane for a comic, and not in the good Hickman/Ellis way.

It'd be controversial, but I'd lose everything but the name and create a kind of hybrid character with roots in Easy Rider and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas with some kind of modern sociopolitical twist or another.

[maniacmatt]

maybe Reed Richard's could invent a fire proof condom using unstable molecules? :biggrin:

Damn it! I was going to say that!

[andybmcd]

I'd let Aaron continue his run with him. I just finished the GR omni this morning and even after all that goodness, I want more already.

That run was all kinds of bat#^&@ insane in all the right ways.

[CyberHubbs]

Ghost Rider...IN SPACE!

Edit: More to the point, I'd have him blazing his way across the cosmos, chasing angels and devils that have fled the Judeo-Christian Heaven to try and set up shop on other worlds. Maybe he's after a specific entity, maybe it's his new job in exchange for a cure. Ghost Rider...against several hundred alien worlds all preaching a new-found religion and the angels and devils looking to leave behind God and Lucifer's war for their own little slice of paradise.

[Monty_Cristo]

he's not very relatable. the best you could do is have him show up in one episode of some ongoing live-action superhero tv show. he'd work as a guest appearance.

[Gene M.]

In the butthole.

[SJNeal]

^ ^ ^ ^

And we have the correct answer. Close thread.

[CyberHubbs]

In the butthole.

I don't know, man. Not exactly a lot of cushion for the pushin'.

Kinda bony.

[StoneGold]

I wouldn't "do him." I prefer the ladies.

Are you saying then that you wouldn't jump his bones?


ZING!

[Brother Justin Crowe]

In the butthole.

You are such a flamer.

ZING.

[Ferago]

I think the less interaction he has with other marvel heroes the better.

[SJNeal]

Now that the title's been changed, this thread just isn't as much fun... :frown:

[Regino]

I would make Frank Castle the Ghost Rider.

[Jumpoff!]

well this is not the first time I've thought of this, hell I have a 12 issue outline and some redesigned sketches I did at work.

First thing is first
1.Clear up his back story, I would just build on whats there and tie Everything(from the Medallion of Power, Zarthoas,Mepthito,Satan,God,Zadkiel, the other Spirits of Vengeance ect) together.

2.Set the tone of the book, He would be a superhero(but not the type that you would want to run into) Villains don't like facing him and his name is whispered in the super villain community.
I would have him face someone like King Hyperion for the first arc.

3.Give Johnny Blaze a happy ending! One of the things that always bothered me was that john should have had his happy ending, Roxxie came back to him in ghost rider 94(or finale ) Really should have had him find emma and craig, and have him just take over the carnival.

4. Danny ketch would be Gr.
While he is Ghost rider he would keep his same speech pattern and personality. He wouldn't be the whinny kid he was from the 90's.

5. Make him important in the greater Marvel Universe
He would show up for events like Chaos War ect.

[Joe Acro]

"See those mountains? Legend has it, demons used to roam those hills. They'd climb down every night and raid the town. Some people would get horrifying nightmares. Others would vanish, only to be found weeks later in far worse condition.

And then one night, an angel of fire rode into town. He patrolled the streets, looking for evil--all the while looking evil himself. He forced those demons back into those hills and made it so that they never came back again.

Some say he guards the town still--that if you stay awake and stay focused, you'll see him driving the streets, keeping the demons at bay. You'll see his fiery skull and soul-piercing eye sockets. You'll see his clothes as black as death. You'll hear the roar of his motorcycle. Then you'll know... the Ghost Rider has passed your way."

[Doombot]

There's so many problems with this character I wouldnt even know where to begin. I really want to like Ghost Rider but Marvel makes it so damn hard. The visual of the Ghost Rider is one of the best in Marvel, but once you open the book it's so hard to figure out what the hell is going on and ultimately makes me not care.

Marvel needs to define this character, he could be great, but he's become so muddied and convoluted that it's just a huge headache.

They need to clear up and streamline his history, motivation and powers as much as possible. His human counterpart is the most important, without getting that fixed they may as well give up on this character. A compelling reason the guy has been cursed or bonded with the Ghost Rider, and a general but clear motivation for both.

I really liked a lot of the things the OP suggested. A lone monster hunter cursed to ride the highways and towns/cities of the southwest would be a great book.

I'd also like Marvel to define the really confusing version(s) of Hell they have going on. Is the devil in Ghost Rider stories thedevil? A version of the devil? An aspect? Where is Mephisto? Are there smaller or splinter versions of Hell within Mephisto's Hell? Mephisto seems to be the bigwig of Marvel demonic villains, but they never seem to define whether he's the lord of all Marvel devils and demons.

Just clearing up things would help tremendously with any new Ghost Rider book.

[HulkSmash666]

I'd like to see the following in the next Ghost Rider movie....


Mephisto wants the Spirit of Vengeance returned to Hell and back under his control, so he summons his most feared and dangerous demon, Zarathos, General of Hell's armies and most loyal servant to Mephisto.

Zarathos and his bride, Lilith, arrive on Earth and begin the first phase of their plan, which is to awaken Lilith's "children", demons trapped on Earth, spawned by Lilith years ago as sleeper agents for Mephisto.

The Lilin, as they are called, are;

Blackout: a demon/vampire hybrid who can absorb all the ambient light in his vacinity, creating total darkness for him to attack his prey. Superstrong, fast, nigh-unkillable, razor sharp fangs and claws and can see in total darkness with his supernatural senses. All the cool powers of a vampire, none of the weaknesses.

Mr Hyde: a demonic entity that possessed the former Dr Jeckyl, but now resides in the body of Dr Calvin Zabo, a biochemist with dark homicidal/psychopathic tendencies, and when possessed by Hyde becomes a sadistic, bloodthirsty behemoth with superhuman strength and durability.;

Strawman: a demon that has the body of a scarecrow, full of straw and ragged clothes. It is fully animated, and the demon possessing it is completely insane. Able to withstand any physical assault, even dismemberment/decapitation/torn to shreds, as his straw body is whirled back into shape and structure by demonic energies. He controls an army of flesh-eating crows that respond to every command, carries a supernaturally enhanced pitchfork to kill his victims, is extremelly fast and agile and feels no pain.



Basically, the Lilin begin a series of devastating attacks on the innocent in a remote town in the New Mexico desert, drawing the Spirit of Vengeance to the town. Ghost Rider matches them in a fierce battle, only to have the sun come up, returning GR back to Johnny Blaze's form. Unfortunately for the demons, they too can't operate in the day time, and are forced to withdraw.

Meanwhile Zarathos and Lilith has located Johnny Blaze's girlfriend, Roxy, who is Johnny's strongest connection to the Earth realm. Without that connection, the human host will lose it's will to fight and the Spirit of Vengeance will lose it's anchor to Earth and be much easier to break and return to Hell.

Zarathos feeds on her soul, killing her. Once Johnny finds out, he's a broken man. The Spirit of Vengeance gets weaker inside Johnny's soul every day, as he slips deeper and deeper into despair. The innocent cry out for justice, but their calls go unanswered as more and more blood is spilt on the streets. Zarathos and Lilith have used their power to incite riots and anarky on the streets of the town. and the Lilin commit attrocity after attoricity in the name of Mephisto.

Finally, the Ghost Rider has had enough. The Spirit of Vengeance takes over from Johnny Blaze. Johnny is now just a passenger as the force of nature that is the Ghost Rider unleashed tears out onto the streets like a bat out of hell.

Cue the awesome spectacle of a pissed off demon biker taking to the streets, kicking all kinds of demon ass, as Zarathos' army makes its way to town, giving GR all the cannon fodder he needs to show off his badassery.

Hellfire!! Chains!!! Blazing motorcycle tearing shit up!!!


So inevitably it ends up with Zarathos offering up Roxy's ressurected soul for the return of Ghost Rider to hell, or Blaze loses his girl forever to an eternity of endless pain and suffering.

Blaze takes back control, returning to human form to plead with Zarathos, and just as he's about to make the trade, the Spirit of Vengeance takes over again. Blaze and the Spirit wrestle for control, with the Spirit saying its a lie, she's already in Hell, and that he promises he will get her back for Johnny, but he must relinquish control and let the Spirit of Vengeance loose on Zarathos.

And with that, its on like Donkey Kong. GR vs Zarathos for all the marbles.

GR wins, then without hesitation, takes Zarathos and Lilith's bodies back to Hell, on a mission to free Roxy, and kick Mephisto's arse!!


Cue the 3rd movie........

[C. Earl]

I'd probably redefine Ghost Rider as a Spirit of Vengeance that would only possess someone for a limited period of time or until the host expires. It would always move on to another host after while. The length of time would be different for each host--some may last only a few issues, while others could go on long enough for multiple trade volumes. Some hosts may have happy endings, some may have tragic ones.

I'd probably have Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch appear in the first issue as they pass the torch to a new female Ghost Rider. They'd probably make guest returns now and then to mentor or assist her if she ever got into something that was too big for one Ghost Rider to handle. If she'd be lucky enough to survive her time as a Ghost Rider, she would do the same for her successor...

[shades of eternity]

Now that the title's been changed, this thread just isn't as much fun... :frown:

Don't blame me ....blame the mods :p.


seriously.

I like a ton of the ideas here and believe you hit the nail on the head when you guys said that ghost rider's visual is his strongest point.

So the best thing to do is play up the comic using that visual. Keep the stories simple to begin with until people have an attachment to the character.

I would crib some of the displays/scenes from such characters like the undertaker and make them ghost rider's own.

There was also this old series, dead man's gun which would also be good for potential storylines.

and I hate to say it, but make the series more of a episodal series in the following format.

1. big bad (whether villain or monster) terrorizes town and gains several victims.
2. a biker rolls into town, with a wicked sense of humor and his carneness befriends a couple of the locals.
3. the locals that he befriended get attacked, and the ghost rider appears and fends them off.
4. the locals are traumatized to some degree by both the appearance of the big bad and the rider.
5. the ghost rider methodically hunts down and stops/destroys the big bad.
6. there is a final scene where he says good bye to the local he has befriended and rolls out of town.

<queue littlest hobo sound track>.

while cliche, it would help breakdown the ghost rider mythos into digestible chunks to appeal to new readers. plus you can tie them together as time progresses.

kinda like how jlu did.

IMO - Ghost rider is a hulk/thor level character powerwise and should be used as such.

Even if you beat him, you should be spent and shaken to some degree

[Westgarth J]

You know how everyone in the Marvel universe thought ROM was a serial murderer because he sent alien doppelgangers back to their own dimension with his space-gun and it looked to normal people not in the know about what he was doing like he was just killing people at random? That's how I'd write Ghost Rider as he hunts demons across the world, except instead of a murderer everyone thinks he's an unstoppable serial rapist and everybody is scared shitless of him now because they think he's coming to rape them.







edit: Sorry - I thought this was the DC forum.