Ghost Rider Chronology: Part One

It should come as no surprise that Ghost Rider continuity, chronology, and reading orders can quickly deteriorate into a hot, flaming pile of mess. Multiple characters ranging from the dawn of time to the literal end of universal existence and some bafflingly confusing origin contradictions can make reading the Ghost Rider mythos into a daunting task. 

But don't worry, I'm here to help!

This is an unofficial (but, hey, it's as official as it's gonna get, folks) reading order for every single Ghost Rider. It's essentially a live document that's going to change as new comics are released, but for now here's a starting point and a possible end point with a rapidly expanding middle section for the present day.

Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 19

"Hell On Earth"

Cover Date: November 1995; On Sale Date: September 1995

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Ashley Wood; Inker: Jim Daly; Letterer: Richard Starkings and Comicraft; Colorist: Christie Scheele w/ Violent Hues; Editor: Joey Cavalieri; Editor in Chief: Bobbie Chase; Cover Artist: Ashley Wood

L-Cypher has taken control of Thrillsville, a holographic theme park, and has transformed into a literal representation of Hell. While SHIELD watches from a camera feed, Ghost Rider is confronted by the Arch-Fiends, humans corrupted by L-Cypher to be his followers. The five beings - named Reaper, Pyre, Serpentine, Shambler, and Misery - are absolutely devoted to their master and quickly attack the Ghost Rider. L-Cypher watches and muses about how he has used the park's solidigram programs to make himself a solid body, and how the Ghostworks created and then locked him away on the Internet.  While he was imprisoned he came up with the plan he is now implementing, and the transformation of the Arch-Fiends are but the first step.

Meanwhile, Kabal's group of mercenaries are engaged in a firefight at the Vault of Forbidden Sciences.  They grab what items they can and escape, prompting the guardian of the vault to contact Kellerman at D/Monix to report the break-in.  While Kellerman is pleased that his forced compliance to President Doom does not mandate him to relinquish control of the vault, he is unaware that the battle broke the seals on a chamber that houses a collection of severed heads in cryogenic storage that have come back to awareness.

Back in Thrillsville, the Ghost Rider continues his fight against the Arch-Fiends. Elsewhere in Transverse City, Dr. Neon is contacted by the mysterious hacker that is determined to destroy the Ghost Rider and a partnership is forged between the two. Kabal's mercenaries report back to him about the fiasco at the vault, and he assumes that they were betrayed by Anesthesia Jones. Finally, Synergy is visited in SHIELD custody by Heartbreaker, who kills him out of revenge.  Ghost Rider loses his battle against the Arch-Fiends, and his damaged body is brought to L-Cypher.

Ghost Rider: Robbie Reyes Special (2024) # 1

Cover Date: December 2024; Publication Date: October 2024

Letterer: VC's Ariana Maher; Editors: Lauren Amaro & Sarah Brunstad; Editor-in-Chief: C.B. Cebulski; Cover Artist: Humberto Ramos

"Ofrenda"
Writer: Carlos Hernandez; Artist: Moises Hidalgo; Colorist: Jorge Cortes

Captain America and Captain Marvel respond to a police call for help at the Reyes residence in Los Angeles, only to find that they've been tricked into coming by Gabe Reyes and his girlfriend Charlene.  Gabe has built an "ofrenda", a type of memorial shrine, for his brother Robbie, who disappeared on a mission with the Avengers and is believed to be dead.  Gabe refuses to give up hope that his brother is still alive and places some of his Ninja Wolf toys on the ofrenda.  Meanwhile, at the God Quarry where he is imprisoned, Robbie is about to give up hope on fixing the Hell Charger and escaping back to Earth.  Suddenly the car roars briefly to life and Robbie finds one of the Ninja Wolf figures sitting in the passenger side seat.  Robbie thanks his brother for once again giving him the hope and strength to keep going, and he resumes working on the car.  Back on Earth, Gabe asks Captain America and Captain Marvel if one of them stole his figure from the ofrenda. 

"Of Wolves and Sheep"
Writer: Felipe Smith; Artist: Daniel Bayliss; Colorist: Luis Wences

While chasing a demonic car through Los Angeles, Robbie thinks about how he has not been able to spend as much time with his brother since joining the Avengers and is determined to not be late for dinner.  The demonic car transforms into a being and transports them to another dimension and quickly gets the upper hand, sensing Robbie's fear but being confused by that fear stemming from his feelings for Gabe and not his own well-being. While thinking about his brother Robbie is able to destroy the demon and does indeed make it home in time for dinner, where Gabe tells him that he's the coolest hero. 

"A Fantasmic Roller Derby Adventure"
Writer: Melissa Flores; Artist: Jan Bazaldua; Colorist: Luis Zavala

While attending a roller derby match with Gabe and Charlene, Robbie transforms into Ghost Rider to fight a pack of hellhounds that have emerged from a portal above the event. Inside the derby rink, Gabe is rescued from a hellhound by Fantasma, a skeletal girl with blue-flamed roller skates. Ghost Rider and Fantasma work together to round up the hellhounds, and Fantasma follows them through the poral, closing it behind her.  Afterward, Robbie packs Gabe and Charlene into his car while they gush about the "new girl Ghost Rider". In the roller derby's locker room, Fantasma falls through a portal in her human form and realizes it was her own panic attack that opened the portal for the hellhounds.

Dragged Through Hell

 So, yeah, it's been a while, hasn't it? 

I tend to approach this blog like someone with an eating disorder: I binge and post a bunch for a period of time, then I purge and go silent for a while.  The last time I posted on here was in 2024 and there's been a few Ghost Rider comics released since then.  "Vengeance Forever" finished up, the Spirits of Vengeance mini was released, Ghost Rider fought Galactus for some reason, and Robbie Reyes got his own one-shot.  There were also two separate Hellverine titles, the existence of which baffles me.  Spirits of Violence is the most recent release and I realize now that I have quite a lot to catch up on. 

Does anyone even check this blog anymore?  Maybe it's dead and I'm fooling myself into thinking otherwise?  I've been doing the online Ghost Rider thing since the first Vengeance Unbound website went up in 2001, that's TWENTY FIVE YEARS people. There have been podcasts, published books, and lots and lots of words written by me about this character.

And you know what?  Maybe I've got more to say after all. 

While I might not post as prolifically as I have during various other binge periods of the past, I think I'd like to take an active hand with this blog once again.  Until I'm able to get some new thoughts typed down on all those new comics, though, I'm going to leave you with a nice image of Zarathos laughing manically.  

Oh, and if you ARE still reading this blog?  My gratitude is eternal!

Fantastic Four (2022) Annual # 1

"Contest of Chaos, Part 3"

Cover Date: October 2021; Publication Date: August 2021

Writer: Zac Gorman; Artist: Alan Robinson; Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna; Colorist: GURU-eFX; Executive Editor: Tom Brevoort; Editor-in-Chief: C.B. Cebulski; Cover Artist: Francesco Manna

In Arizona, Johnny Storm (the Human Torch) accompanies the Thing to a shoe store. When the Torch goes into the back room of the store he finds himself seemingly transported to Hell. There he finds Johnny Blaze, who explains that they're not actually in Hell but instead trapped in some kind of illusion. Blaze suddenly hits Storm in the face and the two begin fighting, until they are interrupted by a group of demons. While Storm realizes the demons are actually innocent humans, Blaze transforms into the Ghost Rider and attacks the Human Torch. Deciding not to fight, the Torch flies away, while Ghost Rider finds a van and transforms it into his hellish ride to give chase.

While flying through "Hell", the Torch finds a train seemingly full of demons, including a ferocious looking cat demon. Ghost Rider catches up and tackles the Torch, crashing both of them into the train. The Torch attempts to flee again but is attacked by the cat demon, which he uses as a distraction against Ghost Rider. The Torch then ties Ghost Rider's chain around a heavy food cat and tosses it off the train, dragging Ghost Rider along with it. Having won the fight, the train and the landscape change back to normal, revealing that they've been in Chicago the whole time. The Human Torch is then teleported and frozen in front of Agatha Harkness, who congratulates him on winning the battle. 

Shadowland (2010) # 5

Cover Date: January 2011; Publication Date: November 2010

Writer: Andy Diggle; Artist: Billy Tan' Inker: Victor Olazaba w/ Billy Tan; Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna; Colorist: Guru EFX; Assistant Editor: Tom Brennan; Editor: Stephen Wacker; Editor-In-Chief: Joe Quesada; Cover Artist: John Cassaday

Hell's Kitchen is consumed by a riot with the police unable to calm things down. Outside the Shadowland fortress, Matt Murdock's friend Foggy Nelson attempts to scale the castle's wall. He loses his grip and falls, but is caught by the Ghost Rider, who tells him next time take the stairs. Inside the fortress, the demonically possessed Daredevil stands victorious over the heroes he has defeated. He senses the Ghost Rider and leaps toward the wall, which the Rider breaks through on his motorcycle. Daredevil surprises him by kicking him off his bike and back out through the hole in the wall. The Beast, who has taken total control of Daredevil's body, explains that he has caused the people to riot in order to feed him with the destruction he craves. Ghost Rider replies with a blast of hellfire from his mouth, which the Beast easily absorbs. He grabs Blaze and absorbs all of the hellfire from his body, leaving the Ghost Rider an immobile skeleton.

Inside, White Tiger brings Foggy Nelson to Daredevil's throne, ready to kill the man. Daredevil stops her so he can do the kill himself, but Foggy is able to reach Murdock outside of the Beast's control. Using this opportunity, Iron Fist uses his chi to strike Daredevil - but it wasn't meant to harm him, it was meant to heal Matt's spirit. Daredevil begins an internal struggle with the Beast and is losing his fight until Elektra enters the dream world tells him that the only way to defeat the Beast is to kill himself. He takes a sword and stabs it through his chest, which frees him from the Beast's possession but nearly kills him as well. Foggy tries to save his friend, but Elektra tells him to let Murdock go. Meanwhile, outside, the rioters awaken, confused by what's been happening.

Back inside Shadowland, the heroes take stock of everything that's happened, feeling lucky that Bullseye wasn't resurrected. But Daredevil's body has mysteriously vanished, and Elektra finds his discarded mask at the end of a tunnel. Later, the Kingpin arrives at Shadowland and finds Typhoid Mary in charge of the Hand. Fisk reveals a trigger phrase that gives him control over Mary, and in turn control over the Hand as well. Elsewhere, a living Matt Murdock wanders into a church and asks the priest for forgiveness.

Shadowland (2010) # 3

Cover Date: November 2010; Publication Date: September 2010

Writer: Andy Diggle; Artist: Billy Tan; Inker: Victor Olazaba w/ Billy Tan; Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna; Colorist: Christina Strain & Guru EFX w/ Hannin & Dalhouse; Assistant Editor: Tom Brennan; Editor: Stephen WackerEditor-In-Chief: Joe Quesada; Cover Artist: John Cassaday

In the Shadowland dungeon, Jake Lockley - actually the vigilante hero Moon Knight - is fighting the Hand's ninjas. Fighting with him is the Spirit of Vengeance, Ghost Rider, who has been sent by the Kingpin to free Shadowland's prisoners. The ninjas are defeated and the prisoners freed, giving Moon Knight the opportunity to ask Ghost Rider what he's doing there. When Blaze replies that he's been played, Lockley asks the obvious question: "How the hell could someone else make the Spirit of Vengeance dance to his tune?" That's exactly what Blaze aims to find out for himself. Ghost Rider drives back into the underground tunnels, leaving Moon Knight to investigate the Shadowland operation.

Inside the Shadowland throne room, Daredevil, his ninja followers, and his lieutenants (White Tiger and Black Tarantula) are fighting a group of heroes that had come to talk sense into Murdock: Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Colleen Wing, Misty Knight, Shang Chi, and Spider-Man. Daredevil is confronted by both Iron Fist and Shang Chi, and with a surprising increase in strength and skill Daredevil is able to defeat them both. Spider-Man attempts to stop Daredevil, but is set on fire by another of Daredevil's aides, Typhoid Mary. The fight is stopped by the Punisher, who blows through a wall and gives the heroes the opportunity to escape. When they get outside, they see the citizens of Hell's Kitchen rioting in the streets.

Meanwhile, at Fisk Tower, Lady Bullseye tries to tell the Kingpin that he is playing with fire by summoning the Ghost Rider to do his bidding. There is a reason the Hand has not summoned the Zugaikotsu warrior for centuries and the Ghost Rider will be coming for Fisk. The Kingpin tells her that he's planned on Blaze returning; the scroll that summoned him also protects Fisk from the Ghost Rider. If he wants to be free of the spell, he will have to destroy the source of the Hand's magic. He will send the Ghost Rider to destroy the Hand, and when they are gone he will step in to pick up the pieces. At that moment, the Ghost Rider arrives at Fisk Tower and rides his bike up the side of the building.

Back at Shadowland, Daredevil is told that it was the Ghost Rider who freed their prisoners. Murdock knows that the heroes will return, and decides that the Hand needs better fighters. He then has an idea and tells Mary to bring a shovel to find their new champion - unaware that Moon Knight is watching from the rafters. In a nearby cemetery, Daredevil and Mary exhume the grave of Bullseye, who Daredevil killed days before. Using the magic of the Hand, he will resurrect Bullseye to be his greatest warrior. Their grave-robbing is interrupted by Elektra, who has come to join Daredevil's crusade.

The next day, in Harlem, the heroes are recuperating from their fight with the Hand. They now realize that Daredevil should never have been able to defeat either him or Shang Chi in combat. They are then joined by Master Izo, the monk who steered Daredevil toward taking over the Hand. Realizing his mistake, he tells the heroes that Daredevil has now become the vessel of an ancient demon, the Beast of the Hand, who hungers for the complete end of humanity.

Shadowland (2010) # 2

Cover Date: October 2010; Publication Date: August 2010

Writer: Andy Diggle; Artist: Billy Tan; Inker: Victor Olazaba; Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna; Colorist: Christina Strain; Assistant Editor: Tom Brennan; Editor: Stephen Wacker; Editor-In-Chief: Joe Quesada; Cover Artist: John Cassaday

 

Outside the temple in Hell's Kitchen, now renamed Shadowland, cabbie Jack Lockley is beginning his investigation into the disappearance of all criminals and cops now that the Hand has taken control. Lockley is secretly the vigilante Moon Knight, and his plan is to be taken captive by the ninjas.

Elsewhere, Iron Fist and Luke Cage are in Fist's soup kitchen discussing Daredevil's murder of Bullseye and whether they should step in and stop their friend from making any more mistakes. Surprisingly, the Kingpin and his bodyguard Lady Bullseye come through the door and suggests an alliance between them to drive the Hand out of Hell's Kitchen. The Kingpin tells them that eventually, they're going to have to take down Daredevil themselves. Meanwhile, inside his Hand temple, Daredevil tells his aide Black Tarantula that they need reinforcements - all costumed heroes are invited to join the Hand.

In the penthouse of Fisk Tower, the Kingpin prepares a magical ritual using an ancient scroll stolen from the Hand. He plans to summon the Zugaikotsu warrior, one of the Hand's most ancient of enemies, and use him as a weapon against Daredevil. Fisk completes the spell, and a moment later the windows of his office are blown out by the demon warrior, who wants to know why he has been summoned. The Kingpin answers "what else...vengeance."

Back in Shadowland, Daredevil gives an audience to his former friends: Cage, Iron Fist, Shang-Chi, Misty Knight, and Colleen Wing. The heroes attempt to talk Daredevil out of what he's doing in Hell's Kitchen, but he refuses to listen even when Spider-Man arrives to join the discussion. Down in the Shadowland dungeon, Moon Knight is in a cell next to several captive SWAT officers. Using a regurgitated lock pick, Lockley escapes his cell - but before he can free the others, he hears a motorcycle engine. The Zugaikotsu has arrived, and it is actually the Ghost Rider. Daredevil is informed that the dungeon is under attack, which causes him to believe that the heroes have plotted against them. He orders his ninjas to take them, dead or alive!

War of the Realms Strikeforce: The Dark Elf Realm # 1

Cover Date: July 2019; Publication Date: May 2019

Writer: Bryan Hill; Artist: Leinil Francis Yu; Inker: Gary Alanguilan; Letterer: VC's Joe Sabino; Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth; Editor: Will Moss; Associate Editor: Sarah Brunstad; Executive Editor: Tom Brevoort; Editor-in-Chief: C.B. Cebulski; Cover Artist: Leinil Francis Yu

At Avengers Mountain, Thor's mother Freya meets with the Punisher to discuss a mission and the agents needed to carry it through.  Castle handpicks She-Hulk, Ghost Rider, and Blade and assembles them in a meeting room to listen to Freya.  She tells them that Malekith has his own Black Bifrost Bridge in the Dark Elf realm of Svartalfheim that must be destroyed.  The heroes all agree to join her, but she tells them that first they must be tested.  Using Asgardian magic Freya forces each of them to confront their greatest fear: for She-Hulk it is her cousin the Hulk and for Blade it is himself as a future lord of the vampires.  Robbie Reyes faces Johnny Blaze, who calls him an imposter. The Avengers fight through the magic and attack Freya to prove their worth. She stops the magic challenge and cinsukts with Punisher to plan their attack on the Black Bifrost. Much later in Svartalfeim, Freya decides to make a last stand to defend the Black Bifrost, as it is now the only way to cross between the Nine Realms.

The 20 Greatest Ghost Rider Stories of All Time

HEY FLAMEHEADS!  NEWLY UPDATED FOR 2024!

One of the most requested features from the old Vengeance Unbound site was the "Top 10 Ghost Rider Comics of All Time" list that was put up way back in 2010.  You can still find it using the Wayback Machine, but it was something I've always meant to not just import from the old site but update to reflect changing opinions and comics that have been released in the decade since the list's initial publication. 

I also made two big decisions regarding the list: the first time I made this list, I incorporated a lot of fan opinions via a write-in e-mail campaign and social media through the Vengeance Unbound Facebook page.  This time, I decided to just put up my own list.  I've been reviewing these comics for nearly 25 years now, I figure if anyone's an authority on the best Ghost Rider stories, it's this humble asshole right here.  Also, just because I can, the list is now the Top TWENTY Greatest Ghost Rider stories instead of the Top Ten.  

# 20 
Ghost Rider (1973) # 69

Title: "Personal Demons"
Writer: Roger Stern
Artist: Bob Budiansky

Following their debut issue that retold the origin of Johnny Blaze, writer Roger Stern and artist Bob Budiansky (joined this issue by inker Dave Simons, who truly completed the team) produced this single-issue story that perfectly highlighted the struggle between Blaze and his demonic alter ego.  This was when the Ghost Rider of the early 1980s veered totally into the "monster" or even "villain" categories, showcasing just how wild and destructive a force the brimstone biker could be.

From the original review: "Up to this point, the Ghost Rider had already evolved away from being just Johnny with superpowers and had become its own entity, one that was violent and wrathful.  This version of the Ghost Rider, though, is the most outwardly malicious we had seen, and it is terrifying.  Usually, the demon would get his vengeance fix and then relinquish control back to Blaze, but now he's contemplating a visit to the Carnival and forcing Johnny to actually fight to regain his body.  The relationship between Blaze and Ghost Rider has now become openly antagonistic, and the demon has gone from teetering on the edge to hanging off the cliff of super-villainy." 

You can read this story in the Essential Ghost Rider vol. 4 trade paperback.

[Read the original review for Ghost Rider (1973) # 69]