Ghost/Night/Phantom Rider Chronology

The chronology for the original Western Ghost Rider is not an easy task to work through, considering that it involves multiple characters using the identity, possessions by ghosts of previous users of the names, and a span of time ranging from 1967 to the present.  Oh, and the character changed names THREE TIMES, being called at various points the Ghost Rider, the Night Rider, and the Phantom Rider.

The first Ghost Rider was Carter Slade, a frontier teacher who was left for dead during a robbery and healed by a Native American shaman named Flaming Star.  The shaman believed Slade to be the fulfillment of a vision prophecy he'd received from his gods, and assisted Carter in becoming the white-garbed Ghost Rider.

The Ghost Rider (1967) # 1
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 3
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 4
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 5
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 7
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 8
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 9
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 10
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 11
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 12
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 13
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 15
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 16
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 17
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 18
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 19
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 20
The Ghost Rider (1967) # 2
The Ghost Rider (1967) # 3
Ghost Rider (1973) # 50
Ghost Rider (1973) # 51
The Ghost Rider (1967) # 4
The Ghost Rider (1967) # 5
The Ghost Rider (1967) # 6
The Ghost Rider (1967) # 7
Western Gunfighters (1970) # 3
Western Gunfighters (1970) # 1
Western Gunfighters (1970) # 2
Giant-Size Kid Colt, Outlaw # 3
Avengers Forever (1999) # 6
Avengers (1963) # 141
Avengers (1963) # 142
Avengers (1963) # 143
Western Gunfighters (1970) # 4
Western Gunfighters (1970) # 5
Western Gunfighters (1970) # 6

Carter Slade died at the end of Western Gunfighters (1970) # 6, and the next issue of that series saw his brother, lawman Lincoln Slade, take up the Ghost Rider mantle.  Lincoln died in 1987's West Coast Avengers # 23, which took place in the late 1800s via time travel, after he brainwashed and raped the Avenger Mockingbird, who let him fall to his death.  Another Western gunslinger, Reno Jones, briefly took over the Ghost Rider identity in the Blaze of Glory limited series.

Western Gunfighters (1970) # 7
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 18
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 19
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 20
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 21
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 22
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 23
Blaze of Glory (2000) # 3
Blaze of Glory (2000) # 4

That marked the end of the Ghost Rider legacy until the modern day, when archaeologist Hamilton Slade (grandson of Lincoln and great-nephew of Carter) found a mystic urn that held the Ghost Rider costume and the spirits of his two ancestors.  Hamilton was possessed by both spirits, who took over his body without his knowledge to ride as first the Night Rider and later the Phantom Rider (which is the name the character is most associated with now).  At first the spirit of Carter had dominance, even joining the team of western superheroes called the Rangers.  When he encountered the Avenger Mockingbird, who was responsible for the death of Lincoln Slade, the evil Slade brother took control.  So all appearances in this time are for Hamilton, Carter, and Lincoln.

Ghost Rider (1973) # 56
Incredible Hulk (1968) # 265
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 8
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 29 (cameo appearance only)
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 31
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 32
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 34
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 39
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 41

At the end of his West Coast Avengers appearances, the spirit of Lincoln Slade was exorcised by Daimon Hellstrom, leaving Hamilton sharing his body with the spirit of the heroic Carter Slade.  There were very few appearances of the character in the following years, but during that time Carter's ghost was removed from Hamilton's body.  Hamilton retained the abilities and persona of the Phantom Rider while Carter's ghost appeared in the afterlife.  In one of those instances, during Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire (2009) # 6, Carter Slade appeared as one of Heaven's Spirits of Vengeance, finally connecting him to the modern day Ghost Rider legacy.  Finally, a new Phantom Rider was created when Lincoln Slade's spirit possessed the body of his great-granddaughter, Jamie Slade.  During the attempt to free her from her possession, her father Hamilton Slade was shot and killed.

Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 102
X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl (2006) # 2
X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl (2006) # 3
X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl (2006) # 4
X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl (2006) # 5
Avengers: The Initiative (2007) # 2 (cameo appearance only)
Avengers: The Initiative (2007) # 19
Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire (2009) # 6 (cameo appearance only)
Hawkeye and Mockingbird (2010) # 1
Hawkeye and Mockingbird (2010) # 2
Hawkeye and Mockingbird (2010) # 3
Hawkeye and Mockingbird (2010) # 4
Hawkeye and Mockingbird (2010) # 5
Mockingbird (2016) # 6
Mockingbird (2016) # 7
Mockingbird (2016) # 8
War of the Realms: Journey Into Mystery # 3
War of the Realms: Journey Into Mystery # 4 (cameo appearance only)
War of the Realms: Journey Into Mystery # 5 (cameo appearance only)