HERO OF THE WEEK: GHOST RIDER (Marvel)Real Name: Johnny Blaze
First Appearance: Marvel Spotlight #5 (August, 1972)
Fight Club Ranking: #102
Featured Fights:
- vs TRAPSTER: Marvel Team-Up #58 (Jun 1977)
- vs AVENGERS: Avengers #214 (Dec 1981)
- vs GHOST RIDER: Ghost Rider #29 (Jan 2009)
Last week we talked about the return of Hawkman, so it's with extra gusto that today's Hero of the Week puts out a plea to modern comic book writers and editors: Please! Stop the killing!
The wheel of death falls on Ghost Rider this week, who admittedly always looks a little like death warmed over, but took a fresh plunge to his demise in Doctor Strange: Damnation #3. CBR featured the "shocking" moment, where Mephisto lifted the curse that grants Johnny Blaze his infernal durability, only to push his frail mortal body from the top of a high-rise.
Even though Marvel does presently have another Ghost Rider on the books -- I don't really believe this is the end for Johnny Blaze. Which is arguably a problem unto itself. Marvel (and DC) kill their characters so routinely: death has lost all meaning. These characters are becoming meat for the grinder, and the whole place is starting to stink of decay. These stories have lost their flavor. Even the short-term thinking that a major death can spike sales is losing its power. Time to stop!
I've ignored a couple of major deaths over the last year or so of Hero of the Week entries. I'll probably be ignoring a few more. HOTW is here to be a little topical, but there's no joy in talking about superhero deaths. It's gotten tired, and there are bound to be better things to talk about -- even if it means digging deeper into the past, and forsaking the meager mistakes of the present.
Doctor Strange: Damnation might be an interesting series, but at best it's a victim of the times - because I never want to read another book -- or solicitation -- about a superhero dying. Enough. Stop screwing around. Stop selling your own death. Just tell me a fun story with an iconic character. Yeesh!
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