Marvel Legacy Math Quiz

So, going by all the information that's been made available so far, it looks like SPIRITS OF VENGEANCE will be the only Ghost Rider related series getting launched as part of Marvel Legacy.  What I think, though, is that another Ghost Rider series focused on Robbie Reyes has to be in the pipeline for a future launch.  Marvel has invested way too much in Robbie as an intellectual property to leave him out in the cold, so I'm predicting that the first quarter of 2018 is going to see a new GHOST RIDER series focused on Robbie.

Now, even though SPIRITS is launching with a new # 1 issue, Marvel's whole deal with this Legacy initiative is returning titles to their original pre-relaunch numbering.  For a lot of the titles getting pre-numbered that means Marvel is adding up all the issues of various volumes of comics.  A title like MOON KNIGHT, for example, gets launched with issue # 188 after you add up all of the relaunched Moon Knight comics from the past 30 years.  That got me thinking about Ghost Rider.

If the series does get relaunched as another Robbie Reyes series, which I predict is going to happen sooner rather than later, there are two ways Marvel can do the Legacy pre-numbering.  The series would start with either issue # 22 or issue # 248; follow along with me as I do the math.  If they decide to only count the comics which featured Robbie Reyes as Ghost Rider, here's what they'd be adding up:

ALL-NEW GHOST RIDER (2014) # 1-12
+ GHOST RACERS (2015) # 1-4
+ GHOST RIDER (2016) # 1-5

That equals 21 issues of Robbie Reyes Ghost Rider comics, all written by Felipe Smith (and who I assume would be the one writing a new Reyes series, despite the failure of the most recent series).  However, if they decide to add up EVERY issue of Ghost Rider, including all of the comics that featured Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch, they'd reach a much higher number, as shown here:

GHOST RIDER (1973) # 1-81
+ GHOST RIDER (1990) # 1-93
+ GHOST RIDER (2001) # 1-6
+ GHOST RIDER (2005) # 1-6
+ GHOST RIDER (2006) # 1-35
+ GHOST RIDER (2011) # 1-9
+ ALL-NEW GHOST RIDER (2014) # 1-12
+ GHOST RIDER (2016) # 1-5

That brings the tally up to 247 issues, which would naturally start a new Ghost Rider series right before the 250th issue (and we all know how much Marvel loves anniversary issues, almost as much as they love relaunching titles!).  You'll notice that I left GHOST RACERS off this count, since that would punt the pre-numbering past issue 250.  If they actually don't care about hitting issue 250 they could do some wacky stuff, like counting the 7 issue Carter Slade series from 1967 or the "Heaven's On Fire" mini-series that concluded the 2006 volume.  My money is on the list above, though, so they can hit that sweet, sweet anniversary number just three issues into the new series.

Which do you think would be more likely, that we'll see ROBBIE REYES: GHOST RIDER # 22 or straight-up GHOST RIDER # 248 in 2018?

Aw, one can hope, right?

3 comments:

  1. Since the newest Ghost Rider series started with issue #1 (Legacy #237) in 2019, here's what I suspect for the Legacy numbering for all Ghost Rider issues:

    + GHOST RIDER (1973) # 1-81
    + GHOST RIDER (1990) # 1-94 (LGY 82-175)
    + GHOST RIDER (2001) # 1-6 (LGY 176-181)
    + GHOST RIDER (2005) # 1-6 (LGY 182-187)
    + GHOST RIDER (2006) # 1-35 (LGY 188-222)
    + GHOST RIDER (2011) # 1-9 (LGY 223-231)
    + GHOST RIDER (2016) # 1-5 (LGY 232-236)
    + GHOST RIDER (2019) # 1-7 (LGY 237-243)

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    Replies
    1. Since the newest Ghost Rider series started with issue #1 (Legacy #237) in 2019, here's what I suspect for the Legacy numbering for all Ghost Rider issues:

      + GHOST RIDER (1973) # 1-81
      + GHOST RIDER (1990) # 1-94 (LGY 82-175)
      + GHOST RIDER (2001) # 1-6 (LGY 176-181)
      + GHOST RIDER (2005) # 1-6 (LGY 182-187)
      + GHOST RIDER (2006) # 1-35 (LGY 188-222)
      + GHOST RIDER (2011) # 1-9 (LGY 223-231)
      + GHOST RIDER (2016) # 1-5 (LGY 232-236)
      + GHOST RIDER (2019) # 1-7 (LGY 237-243)

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    2. That looks pretty likely to me, too. Strange that they didn't count All-New Ghost Rider, but your list definitely makes the most sense. Thanks for posting!

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