Vengeance Unbound: April 2016

Creator Interview: Javier Saltares

Javier Saltares

In 2008 I was lucky enough to get to speak with Javier Saltares, an artist whose work is synonymous with Ghost Rider, right before the launch of the "Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch" mini-series (reviews of which will begin posting this week).

Vengeance Unbound is honored to present an interview with Javier Saltares, who has had not one, not two, but THREE distinct runs as the definitive artist on Ghost Rider!

1) Let's start as close to the beginning as possible: how did you get involved with the Ghost Rider relaunch in 1990? How much of the book's concept and design were you responsible for?

I started with Marvel in 86' as a post production artist under the great John Romita Sr. It was a great time to be at Marvel. It was like being at the comic geeks frat house back then. As I did my post production work, editors began to take notice and offer me some small gigs. Marvel was just gearing up to put out their "Marvel Comics Presents" title and all of us wannabees started jockeying for position to get work in what really was their unofficial "new talents title". I did a dozen of those before I got what I consider my first serious break which was the first Spider-Man Annual "Atlantis Attacks".

After that I took a short break and went to Puerto Rico in 88'. When I got back I had a couple of phone calls waiting for me from Bobbie chase who said she wanted to speak with me. (No e-mails back then. Man I'm old.) I called back and all she wanted to say over the phone was "I want to speak with you about an ongoing and see if you're interested". After the cartwheels, I ran down to see what it was about.

They were starting their "heroes reborn" line and wanted to know if I would be interested in revamping Ghost Rider with Howard Mackie. DUH! They had me at hello. Then I saw the script. Ghost Rider takes Manhattan ! And as if that weren't enough, "we need the whole thing redesigned". Seriously, I don't even remember the ride home on the #4 train back to the Bronx . I just kept looking at the buildings and the streets whizzing below and imagined this badass from hell zooming down those same streets. It was a great time.

Then a bump in the road. I had never developed anything from scratch before. It was harder than I thought. First Ghostie himself. I wanted the "street biker" look as opposed to the "country tour biker". I was very intimidated by what kind of response I would get. The late Mark Gruenwald was in charge of the approval back then. He was not a very animated person emotionally, so when he saw it and said, "That's good, we'll go with that." in his always subdued manner, I was floored because I knew that was the best I would get out of him. No redo's, no tweaks, just "we'll go with that". Then I got cocky. Never get cocky. "The bike".

Truly believing I would get the same response for my bike design, I strolled into marvel feeling like I owned the place. "Pride goes before the fall!" Instead all I saw was a bunch of shaking heads. “Oh no! That's too tech!" or "Where's the chopper?!"

It felt like people were coming out of the wood work to express their bewilderment at this abomination I had brought before them. What to do? I held my head high, stuck out my chest preparing to defend my creation but thankfully a little voice screamed, “This is a dream job dummy! Don't blow it!" So I begged them to give me another chance and promised I'd do better next time. After some compromising with Howard, Mark and Bobbie we got the bike you see now.

2) After a successful first year on the title, you left to pursue other projects. What were your reasons for leaving such a popular book at what was arguably the height of its popularity?

Honestly? I got fired.

I was struggling to keep the book on line. I had never done a monthly before. It's a huge under taking for a pro, never mind a novice which I still was. It was a very painful and humiliating experience at the time. I was hurt. It took a while, but time really is the great healer. Comics are a business and you have to understand that if you want to get involved with it.

Also, the old saying is true. "Whatever doesn't kill you, will make you stronger." In this business you have to learn to be the best you can within a time frame. That's true of commercial art in general.

3) You returned to the book in 1998, shortly before its untimely cancellation. What were the circumstances behind the book being canceled just as you and writer Ivan Velez were gearing up for a new status quo? And how did you feel when Marvel finally published the book's final issue last year?

I did a one shot for Tom Breevort, "Naomi Kale" and then he asked me to come back to the series. The industry was still really shaky and I believe marvel was trying to save the title but I think it was a case of "too little, too late." That's why the book got cut the way it did.

As for asking us to finish it later, I felt that was great of course. Ghost Rider has some of the best and craziest fans I've ever seen in my experience. Marvel knows this as well.

4) Your work, especially when paired with finisher Mark Texeira, has long been held as the “definitive look” for the character. Why do you think your work on the book managed to strike such a chord with the fans?

I honestly don't know. There are some super creative guys and gals out there that I actually envy. I drool when I see their stuff and some have done their take on GR. I'd see it and think, "oh no, I'm out of a job!"

But the fans, god bless them, they like my stuff when it comes to Ghost Rider. (Told you they were crazy.) Seriously though, I'm grateful to them. Really.

5) Care to tell us a little about your involvement in the new Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch mini-series? Did you ever expect Marvel to resurrect the Ketch character?

I was fishing for more work when Aubrey Sitterson contacted me and basically hinted at me not to take on anything too big because he had something in the works and he really wanted my involvement. Axel and Aubrey helped me acquire some short gigs to fill my time until they were ready to tell me what was going on.

(Marvel loves those cliff hangers, don't they?)

As soon as he said "Danny Ketch", I thought, "Well it's about time!"

6) You're one of the very few artists to work on both the Dan Ketch and Johnny Blaze versions of the character. Which of the two do you think should hold the permanent mantle of Ghost Rider, Blaze or Ketch? Do you have a preference between the two?

I honestly don't think I can answer that without getting shot. The fans are crazy remember.

7) You've now had the opportunity to work with four different writers (Howard Mackie, Ivan Velez, Daniel Way , and Simon Spurrier) across nearly two decades. What is it about Ghost Rider that keeps you coming back to illustrate him?

Hands down the most fun character I've done in my professional career.

Wolverine second.

"X" for Dark Horse third.

And believe it or not G. I. Joe fourth.

8) What did you think of the Ghost Rider movie, which used your designs for the character?

Good or bad, it was just soo cool for me as an artist to see some thing I had a hand in creating brought to life on the big screen. Got some great ideas if they ever want to do another. Hint, hint.

9) What other projects do you have in the works right now? Any other new Ghost Rider material outside of the upcoming Danny Ketch mini-series?

I'm never that far ahead of myself. I'll start looking for the next thing when I'm almost done with this one.

Would love to do a Wolverine mini though. start your petitions guys!

10) Mr. Saltares, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to do this interview with me. Any last remarks for all the Ghost Rider fans out there?

All I would really like to express to the fans is "thank you!" really. You pay so I can play. That's the way I see it. Not many get that opportunity and I truly appreciate the privilege. Thank you again.

Ghost Rider Chronology: 1992-1993

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!

All-New Ghost Rider (2014) # 12

Cover Artist: Felipe Smith

Published: May 2015
Original Price: $3.99

Title: "Great Power", Part 2
Writer: Felipe Smith
Artist: Felipe Smith & Kris Anka
Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Val Staples
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Editor In Chief: Axel Alonso

SYNOPSIS
While working at the auto shop, Robbie Reyes is attacked by three thugs working for Yegor Ivanov. Robbie easily subdues his attackers with his Ghost Rider power, but the spirit of Eli Morrow informs him that unless he kills Ivanov he and his family will never be safe. However, if he kills Ivanov (the person responsible for killing Morrow), Robbie will forever be bonded with Eli and will eventually be consumed with the desire to murder. Robbie gets a call from his girlfriend Lisa, who tells him that his little brother Gabe has disappeared.

After searching all night, Robbie and Lisa return to the Reyes home, where they find Gabe waiting for them. Gabe is extremely rude to the shaken Lisa, and when asked to apologize he hits Robbie in the face with a video game controller. Robbie loses himself and chokes Gabe, but releases him when he realizes what he's doing. Gabe walks to his room, but when he turns around Robbie sees that his brother is now under Eli's control. Gabe escapes out his bedroom window and Robbie gives chase, realizing that he's going to murder Ivanov.

In West Hollywood, Ivanov is preparing to flee the city, but is attacked by Gabe and Eli, who have transformed into a giant, fiery, demonic "Ninja Wolf" form. Eli has convinced Gabe that he is the Spirit of Justice, and that he needs to kill Ivanov to be a hero. Robbie arrives in his Ghost Rider form, but after a brief fight realizes that he's not as powerful with Morrow's power. A defeated and de-powered Robbie appeals to his brother, who he has cared for all of their lives, and Gabe manages to regain control of his body, sending Eli's spirit back into Robbie. When Ivanov threatens Gabe at gunpoint, Robbie as the Ghost Rider sends flaming chains through the ground, burning the gangster alive as the chains drag him down to Hell. Morrow's spirit tells Robbie that Ivanov's death has bonded them together for all time, and eventually he will gain control and transform Robbie into a serial killer. Robbie offers a deal to Eli, saying that if Morrow directs him toward the worst criminal scum on the planet he will kill them to appease Eli's desire for murder. Eli laughs and accepts the deal, leaving Robbie to care for his unconscious brother.

ANNOTATIONS
This is the final issue of All-New Ghost Rider. An alternate reality version of Robbie Reyes (along with many other alternate versions of past Ghost Riders) appears next in Ghost Racers (2015) # 1 as part of the Secret Wars crossover event. This universe's Robbie Reyes makes his next appearance in Ghost Rider X-Mas Special # 1.

The history between Eli Morrow and Yegor Ivanov was revealed in All-New Ghost Rider (2014) # 8.

REVIEW
All-New Ghost Rider reaches the end of the road (though I think we all know it will be back eventually) with an establishment of a status quo and a resolution to one of the main emotional conflicts of the series.

As I said in the review for the last issue, centering this final 2-issue arc solely on the relationship between Robbie and his brother Gabe was absolutely the right decision, because it pulls the series back onto the road after the massive swerve it took in the "Legend" arc. Where that arc was so concerned with fitting as much information, twists, villains, and Johnny Blaze as it could sustain (and more so, in fact), this one narrows things down to what makes this series so potentially great. Part of what makes Robbie a really interesting character is his sense of guilt and responsibility when it comes to his brother (shades of Spider-Man Syndrome, yes, he's obviously created in that same mold), and contrasting him against a suddenly rebellious brother makes the conflict of the story hit much harder than it would otherwise.

There are some strange questions flagged up by this story, though, regarding Eli Morrow and the nature of his bond with/possession of Robbie and the way he so casually jumps to Gabe. I suppose that since both boys are Morrow's nephews it isn't a stretch to imagine that he could empower and influence Gabe in the same way as Robbie, but why then does Robbie retain his power as Ghost Rider without Morrow's presence? How is Gabe able to remove Eli's control over himself but Robbie is not, prior to this arc? These are questions that Felipe Smith will hopefully answer whenever Robbie makes his next appearances.

Smith continues as artist for this final issue, and he still remains my favorite artist that the character has seen so far. Smith seems to know Robbie and Gabe so intimately that they just glow under his linework, which is understandable give that he's their creator. I can see, however, that perhaps Smith isn't quite fast enough to draw the series on a regular basis, things look a bit more rushed and less polished than they did last issue. Kris Anka, an artist with a similar style to Smith, even has to help out with a few pages, though the transition is pretty seamless. I honestly didn't even realize Anka had drawn some of the pages until I went back and looked at the credits.

All-New Ghost Rider was one of Marvel's many experiments of late in regards to replacing long-standing heroes with new legacy incarnations (see Jane Foster as Thor, Sam Wilson as Captain America, and Amadeus Cho as the Hulk), but I think Smith held the series up to such a quality that Robbie came out of the series as a fully-fleshed character in his own right. Contrast Robbie with the last new Ghost Rider, Alejandra from 2011, and the difference is striking. I like Robbie and I definitely want to read more about him (though hopefully not at the expense of Johnny Blaze or even Danny Ketch), so here's hoping he gets another shot at a title sooner rather than later.

Grade: A+

Collected Editions, or Lack Thereof

Came across something interesting on Amazon last night: in October Marvel will be releasing a new Ghost Rider trade paperback collection called Spirits of Vengeance: Rise of the Midnight Sons that collects a host of issues from the 1990s. I'll post the information for the book and then some observations I have about it below.

Not the final cover art, I assume

Johnny Blaze and Dan Ketch race side-by-side as the Spirits of Vengeance, as Marvel's Midnight Sons rise to face a hellish threat like no other! Former Ghost Rider Blaze joins his successor Ketch and fellow Sons including Morbius, Blade, the Nightstalkers and the Darkhold Redeemers in the fight against Lilith, Mother of Demons, and her horrifying progeny!

COLLECTING: GHOST RIDER (1990) 28, 31; GHOST RIDER/BLAZE: SPIRITS OF VENGEANCE 1-6; MORBIUS: THE LIVING VAMPIRE (1992) 1; DARKHOLD: PAGES FROM THE BOOK OF SINS 1; NIGHTSTALKERS 1; WEB OF SPIDER-MAN (1985) 95-96; MATERIAL FROM MIDNIGHT SONS UNLIMITED 1

Okay, the first thing is that the existence of this book lends a LOT of credence toward my theory that a Spirits of Vengeance book will be launching in October as a spin-off from the recent Ghost Racers mini-series. Marvel is usually really good about timing odd-ball collections of past material with the release of new titles (like last year's trade for the 1970s Weirdworld series, which was timed with the Secret Wars mini of the same name), and the fact that this book is specifically labeled "Spirits of Vengeance" and not "Ghost Rider" is a big flashing neon clue that we're getting something new under the Spirits title very soon.

While I always applaud the release of collected Ghost Rider material, the contents of this book have me a bit confused. The original "Rise of the Midnight Sons" trade has been out of print for decades, so I really love that it's getting re-released in a new edition, but there's a curious assortment of issues gathered here. You have the main "Rise" tie-ins: Ghost Rider 28 and 31, Spirits of Vengeance 1, Morbius 1, Darkhold 1, and Nightstalkers 1, all of which make sense. Then you get the rest of the book padded out with the first six issues of Spirits of Vengeance and the tie-in issues of the Web of Spider-Man crossover, "Spirits of Venom" (another great story with a long out of print collection). They even include what I assume is the Spirits story from Midnight Sons Unlimited # 1 that had art by Klaus Janson. "Rise" had unlabeled tie-ins in Spirits 2 and 3, so including them is totally understandable, but why not include the just-as-significant Ghost Rider 29, 30, and 32? Because skipping those (especially 30 and 32) leave big narrative gaps for the Spirits issues, such as just how Dan Ketch comes back to life in GR 32. If they just wanted to collect Spirits of Vengeance, you could probably collect up through issue 3, throw in the three missing Ghost Rider issues, and label your next trade "Spirits of Venom" to collect up to, say, issue # 12 of Spirits. I dunno, it just strikes me as really, really odd.

But that brings me to a wider point about Marvel's collections department and Ghost Rider, because the character really gets ignored to the point that seeing this book was coming out genuinely shocked me. We live in an age where stuff like Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu and Werewolf by Night are getting huge hardcover Omnibus editions, with Marvel scrambling to get everything in their back catalogue onto our bookshelves. And that's awesome, don't get me wrong; the fact that I can get Steve Gerber's Howard the Duck and Man-Thing runs as massive hardcovers is wonderful.

But where the fuck is my Ghost Rider Omnibus?

The Jason Aaron run was collected as an Omnibus edition, but why not give the 1970s and 1990s series the same respect? New Warriors, one of the 90s Ghost Rider title's contemporaries, has received an Omnibus with promises of more on the way, and Howard Mackie had a MUCH more successful series with Ghost Rider. That run can't even get collected in its entirety in paperback form, with only two Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch Classic trades released, taking the book up through I believe issue # 20 (meaning there will be a gap between it and this Spirits trade, enough of one that third GR Classic volume could be released I suppose). Marvel's releasing recent titles like Ms. Marvel in Hardcover and Omnibus formats, why not a hardcover collection of All-New Ghost Rider?

Anyway, here's the link to the Spirits of Vengeance: Rise of the Midnight Sons collection on Amazon, if you'd like to pre-order it (and please do, or at least order at your local comic shop or elsewhere online, because if this book doesn't sell we likely won't see any more volumes!).