TERRIFIC TEAM-UP IMAGE: GHOST RIDER & WEREWOLF (BY NIGHT) VS TATTERDEMALION

 

TERRIFIC TEAM-UP IMAGE: GHOST RIDER V MORBIUS

 

TERRIFIC TEAM-UP IMAGE: HULK V GHOSTRIDER W/INFERNO (DESOLATION RUN)

SO LONG, GARY FRIEDRICH...

You bestowed your supreme talent upon the biggest and the best, including Captain America; Captain Britain; Spider-man; the Incredible Hulk; Kid Colt; the Rawhide Kid; and Sgt Fury and the Howling Commandos, with whom you had a long and respected relationship.

However, your fiery style hit a innovative high when you teamed with childhood friend, Roy Thomas and Marvel legend, Mike Ploog to revamp an established hero, thus creating Johnny Blaze, aka the Ghost Rider. In the same vein, your radical Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan (with help from artist Herb Trimpe) also redefined the annals of right and wrong, depicting a young man you dared defy his father to pave the way for good. 

The '70s comic-book scene was never quite the same thereafter, exuding a hot, new, cool vibe that both superhero and supernatural connoisseurs savored. In fact, your work on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Monster still remains a huge fan favorite. 

Your legion of admirers will be forever grateful for your bold and insightful designs. May you roar through the mighty Gates of Heaven, skidding its illustrious streets with your righteous streams of glory. 

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: A Ghostly Season 4 Appears!!!

Well, folks, at this point, I really don't know what to make of an ongoing supernatural element in "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." (premiering 9/20 on ABC), but when it comes to comic-book adaptations these days, the formula for success seems to be a varied "more the merrier". 

Ghost Rider has now entered the Marvel super-spy scene. He's a cool, vengeance-driven character, who (with a different alter-ego) occupied two swell, theatrical films. His addition to the series, even if he's not Johnny Blaze, ought to make Season 4 one to remember, with a guaranteed new and refreshing direction. (I thought last season wavered between extremes and sometimes felt more like "Outer Limits", with its Inhumans approach, than what we normally find in derring-do Marvel.)

Incidentally, for the sake of the series, Gabriel Luna will play Robbie Reyes, the current comic-book Ghost Rider. (So, where does that put the potential Norman Reedus series, if it's even being seriously considered? Would a possible Netflix show be a prequel, or is even that just another hopeful extension of fanboy speculation?) 

Guess we'll just have to see how it plays out, but for the time being, the Ghost (as he'll be referenced on the show) must elbow his way among existing characters: Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg); Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen); Alphonso MacKenzie (Henry Simmons); Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge); Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker); Holden Radcliffe (John Hannah); and of course, Daisy Johnson/Skye/Quake (Chole Bennet). (Yeah, the whole Daisy deal is far from over and will occupy a portion of the new season, no doubt, but in what way will it link to the Ghost, if at all?)

Season 4 could be a defining moment for the series. It all depends on how elaborate and/or clear-cut the producers/writers are this time out. I'm confident they'll do well, but gosh, if only we could get a stronger link to the "Avengers" movies (or vice versa), that would be most beneficial. Got my fingers crossed, since there's speculation that the Ghost's mythology may connect somehow with the upcoming "Doctor Strange", but if Season 3 was any indication of the way things are played, I've a hunch we may also face more of the same ol' distanced-at-best approach.