Marvel Comics have announced a new, ongoing “Ghost Rider” series, written by current “X-Force” and “Wolverine” scribe Benjamin Percy, with art by Cory Smith (“Conan the Barbarian”). The book will pick up with Johnny Blaze now living a quiet, married life with two kids, working at an auto repair shop in a friendly small town. “But Johnny isn’t doing well. He has nightmares of monsters when he sleeps. And he sees bloody visions when he’s awake. This life is beginning to feel like a prison. And there’s a spirit in him that’s begging to break out!”
Percy said, “I’m a horror head. I grew up reading Stephen King, watching John Carpenter, and listening to Black Sabbath, and when it came to comics, I always reached first for the dark and weird which means I read a hell of a lot of Ghost Rider. That flaming skull. That spiked leather jacket. That monstrous bike coughing out clouds of sulfurous exhaust. To this day, the sight of the character blazing along a midnight highway makes my heart rev like a four-stroke engine. Ghost Rider is arguably the best designed, but inarguably, the most heavy metal character in all of comics.”
Smith added, “I’m incredibly excited to be riding shotgun with Ben Percy as we bring Ghost Rider screaming into his 50th anniversary. As a comic nerd and a horror nerd, Ghost Rider has always been a favorite of mine so this project is a dream come true. Johnny Blaze, the Spirit of Vengeance is BACK. We’re firing on all cylinders and I can’t wait for everyone to see the hellfire we’re bringing! It’s about to get crazy!”
The new “Ghost Rider” #1 will debut in February, as part of Marvel’s ‘Year of Vengeance,’ marking 50 years since Blaze’s first appearance in 1972’s “Marvel Spotlight” #5 (written by Gary Friedrich, with art by Mike Ploog.) Percy noted, “It would be badass to write this series at any point in my life, but launching on the 50th anniversary feels especially (un)holy. Cory Smith is killing it on art, and we’re going to honor the past while burning rubber into a terrifying future packed with mystery, action, and shadow-soaked emotion. Prepare yourself for the ultimate in road horror.”
