I first got into comics at the tail end of the 80s, when a work colleague of my Dad’s gifted me a big box of late 70s and early 80s titles, mostly Marvel (with one or two DC comics in the box too).

I was absolutely obsessed with them, and must have read each issue in that box countless times. By coincidence, a year or so after I was given that treasure trove of a box, a comic shop opened up in my town, and I must have spent every Saturday in there, poring over their new releases and back issues. I couldn’t afford to buy much, but I loved checking out what they had in there, and it was always exciting seeing the new titles arriving every week.

One comic I did manage to get my hands on was Ghost Rider #1, a reboot of the character who’d been made most famous by his run in the 70s, with stunt rider Johnny Blaze as the character’s alter ego (though his roots lie in much earlier Western comics, where he wasn’t actually a supernatural character at all).

Though I’d long since sold my copy of that issue, I picked it up again for a very reasonable price from Crusader Comics at Gosport Comic-Con.

In any case, the 1990 Ghost Rider rebooted the character to fit the times; that meant a modern redesign, including the character’s bike, a younger protagonist and an edgier, more violent tone.

In this first issue, teenager Danny Ketch and his sister Barb are trespassing in a notorious cemetery after dark, looking for a famous grave. They’re soon set upon by a teenage gang, but after chasing them off, there’s a much bigger problem to deal with. A mysterious suitcase is at the centre of a disagreement between gangsters working for Wilson Fisk (aka Kingpin) and Deathwatch, who has ninjas at his side.

When the confrontation turns violent, Barb is injured and Danny retreats to hide with her in a junkyard near the cemetery. While hidden, he happens upon a glowing motorcycle; touching the bike, he’s transformed into Ghost Rider, the Spirit of Vengeance, and his new powers allow him to take down the various bad guys and get his sister to safety. The briefcase remains at large, however, and its contents are still sought by both Fisk and Deathwatch, drawing Danny back into the fray over the following nights.

Just going through that synopsis makes it clear that this first issue feels pretty overstuffed, and even though it’s supposed to feel like a modern, mature comic, it’s pretty silly and relies on some well worn clichés. Deathwatch makes his debut here, but he’s pretty underdeveloped and seems relatively useless (aside from being able to repeatedly off his own men for disappointing him!). In fairness, he is jostling for space with a ton of other characters who need to be introduced, as well as the more familiar Kingpin.

Danny Ketch himself doesn’t get a lot of definition as a character either; Ghost Rider makes a couple of impactful appearances though, and there’s some fantastic, superbly drawn action scenes which do a great job of showcasing Ghost Rider’s new look.

Back in the day, I was obsessed with this comic, but it hasn’t aged particularly gracefully in my opinion. It still looks great, but it feels like it’s trying far too hard to be edgy and violent, and its weirdly messy plot is definitely not the best launching point for the new incarnation of Ghost Rider in hindsight. Still, that certainly didn’t matter back in the day; this comic was a huge deal, and the series ran for 93 issues!

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