He began life in the late 1940s as The Calico Kid, a masked hero whose secret identity was a lawman who felt justice was constrained by legal limitations. (There were a lot of those heroes in comics and pulps of the 40s including our own DareDevil and Blue Beetle!)
But, with masked heroes in every genre doing a slow fade-out after World War II, and both the western and horror genres on the rise, the character was re-imagined in 1949 as comics' first horror / western character!
The Ghost Rider himself was not a supernatural being.
He wore a phosphorescent suit and cape, making him glow in the dark, appearing as a spectral presence to the (mostly) superstitious cowboys and Indians he faced.
Since the inside of the cape was black, he'd reverse it, and appear in the dark as just a floating head, usually scaring a confession or needed information out of owlhoots.
Note: some covers, like the one here, show the inside of the cape to be white! Chalk it up to artistic license (and face it, it looks damned cool).
BTW, the artistically-astute among you can tell that cover above was by the legendary Frank Frazetta!
He did several of them, three of which are included in our digitally-restored and remastered kool kollection!
In the series' early days the villains were standard owlhoots or, like the Rider, people pretending to be supernatural beings.
That changed around 1952, when he started facing occasional real mystic menaces including Indian spirits, vampires, and even the Frankenstein Monster (though not the long-running one from Prize Comics.)
Unfortunately, it was about this point in time that the less-than esteemed Dr. Wertham began his crusade against comics in general and horror comics in particular...
By 1954, The Ghost Rider had lost his series.
The next year he disappeared entirely.
The next year he disappeared entirely.
If you're a fan of horror, masked heroes, Westerns, or all three genres, take a long, lingering look at The Ghost Rider's previously re-presented adventures, on this blog.
And, beginning next Wednesday, and running through October, we'll run more tales, some never-reprinted since their first appearances in the 1950s!
And, beginning next Wednesday, and running through October, we'll run more tales, some never-reprinted since their first appearances in the 1950s!
Don't Miss Them!
You'll not see his like again!