Taking Stock and Catching Up

So, I thought I'd take the opportunity to talk about the blog, the podcast, what's currently going on and what's coming in the future. 

Artwork by Bill Sienkiewicz

As you may have undoubtedly noticed, the SKULLS ON FIRE! podcast has yet to launch, something for which I am extremely disappointed and apologetic about.  Essentially, my co-host (and co-blogger) Jim Yost and I did some recording for what will eventually be the first episode, which will feature a VERY long discussion about the 2007 Ghost Rider movie, with plans for the second episode to be a similar discussion about 2011's Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance film.  We had an absolute blast during the recording session, but it needs to be remembered that neither Jim nor myself have ever attempted podcasting before, and it is very much a "learn as you go" endeavor for us.  Unfortunately, real life has intruded its ugly head; I myself have a nearly 1-year old son that takes up much of my time and Jim has had an increasingly hectic personal life as of late as well.  So, the podcast has had to be put on hold for the indefinite future, with hopes that we will get to jump back into it head-first this summer.  We will, of course, keep everyone abreast of any progress, because I know a lot of people are really looking forward to hearing us ramble about Ghost Rider for two hours.

As far as the blog, I'm proud that I've been able to keep up daily updates of reviews since the blog launched back in October of last year.  That has only happened because I've been reposting many of the reviews I did for the original Vengeance Unbound website, which had just over 300 reviews catalogued before I had to put it on hiatus.  Those reviews have nearly run their course due to my decision to post things in a semi-intelligible order instead of just doing reviews of whatever random comic I wanted to talk about at the time.  So while you're seeing a scattering of reviews that seem to hit without order between volumes, the entries for each volume will remain in chronological order to preserve some token of categorization for the blog.  So you won't see the reviews jump ahead 20 issues in the 1990 series, those will be posted in order.  They will, though, be interspersed with similarly chronological reviews of the other volumes, from the 1973 series up to the current volume.

Concerning what's being reviewed at the moment, I'm finally turning my attention back to the 1990 series to try and catch it up.  Jim had been reviewing the 1973 series, along with The Champions and other guest appearances from that era, but his aforementioned busy schedule in the real world has forced him to step away from reviewing for the time being.  So, I'll be going back to that series real soon as well to keep it moving forward as well (and we miss you, Jim!).  The most immediate reviews that you'll be seeing very soon are completions of the 2005 "Road to Damnation" series, the final issue of "Trail of Tears", the 2011 series (including "Circle of Four"), and a reposting of reviews for the 2008 Jason Aaron run.  I have in recent weeks finished reviews for a number of series, though, so if you want to read some completed volume reviews check out the following labels on the blog:

All-New Ghost Rider # 1-12 (all issues of this 2014 series have been reviewed)

The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 1-20 (a reprint series, which I've been posting just synopses and annotations for; one of these days I'll go back and review those Phantom Rider back-up stories that were in most of the issues)

Ghost Rider (2001) # 1-6, 1/2 (all issues of "The Hammer Lane")

Ultimate Avengers 2 (2010) # 1-6 (all issues of this mini-series, which featured Ghost Rider as the antagonist)

Marvel Spotlight on Ghost Rider (1972) # 5-11 (all issues of the original Spotlight run of Ghost Rider have been reviewed)

Thunderbolts (2013) # 20-29, 32 (all issues of the team series that featured Ghost Rider as a member)

Out of the remaining titles, Ghost Rider (2006) has about 12 issues remaining, all of which have reviews that will be posted in coming weeks; Ghost Rider (2011) has two issues and the 6 issue "Circle of Four" crossover remaining; Ghost Rider (2005) has three issues remaining; Ghost Rider (1990) has 78 issues remaining; and Ghost Rider (1973) has 63 issues remaining.  I'll also be finishing reviews for The Ghost Rider (1967), which has four to go, and eventually I'll be getting around to doing other appearances of the Phantom Rider.

That's what's coming in the future (along with miscellaneous guest appearances and mini-series, like "Danny Ketch" and "Heaven's On Fire"), and if you have any suggestions for OTHER material please feel free to drop me an e-mail or, even better, leave a comment at the bottom of this post.  Thanks to everyone who reads and comments on the blog and at the Facebook group, here's hoping things continue moving forward!