version of the Spirit of Vengeance incorporates the biker motif, the Penance Stare, and chains of the more recent Danny Ketch version, while keeping the Johnny Blaze origin. Cage’s quirky performance didn’t win over critics, but it did warrant a sequel, GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE, to be released this Spring. The commonality of all versions of the
Ride with the devil: Nic Cage’s Johnny Blaze loses his cool, gets a bit hot-headed... has trouble controlling his inner demons. Ok, I’m done.
the future, Ghost Rider 2099, and the Spirit of Vengeance, which was a member of the futuristic team Guardians of the Galaxy. Ghost Riders of the past have been introduced by writer Garth Ennis in the form of Travis Parham; the Western hero Phantom Rider once was called Ghost Rider and often displayed some of the same characteristics as the chopper-riding
hero—minus the motorcycle, of course. A female has taken the role of the Spirit of Vengeance in one of the more recent GHOST RIDER series. Characteristics of both the Johnny Blaze
and Danny Ketch versions of the Ghost Rider found themselves in Nicholas Cage’s 2007 film GHOST RIDER. Directed by Mark Stephen Johnson, the cinematic
Ghost Rider character is the flaming skull. In many ways, Ghost Rider is most popular as an iconic image rather than a complex subject of story. Though many marvel at the “Aww cool!” factor of the grinning skull surrounded by a halo of fire, few have been successful in framing a deft tale around it. This might account for the number of comic book series introducing new versions of the character that are swiftly canceled before the making of a sequel, despite critical satisfaction. Nevertheless, the image of a fiery skulled biker with hollow eyes and a fistful of flames roaring down the highway on a machine crafted from Hellfire is a frightening one—an image that will most likely be tearing up the highways in the pages of comics and on the screens of movie theaters for some time to come.
42 FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND • MAR/APR 2012
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86