About Christopher Cummings
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Ghost Rider #93 ended with a cliffhanger--the apparent death of Dan Ketch, the human host of the Ghost Rider. The following issue, revealing the final fates of Dan Ketch and Ghost Rider, was written, pencilled, and inked, but never published because Marvel Comics was in Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection at the time and was forbidden from publishing any title that would likely fail to turn a profit. Management got cold feet over Ghost Rider #94 and chose to spike it rather than wrap up the series. Eight years later, Marvel is finally printing that final issue. Was it worth the wait?
For $3.99, readers get two comic books plus a handful of extras: a reprint of issue #93, the never-before-printed #94, a text piece by Marvel Comics executive editor Tom Brevoort explaining the real-life turmoil that prevented the original story from being printed, and a three-page biography of Dan Ketch / Ghost Rider. As a nice finishing touch, the comic’s cover features the same trade dress the publisher used back in the late 1990s, and the comic uses the same numbering scheme as well, so the issue physically matches with its brethren.
The new story reveals what truly happened to Dan Ketch, which is something that I--as a reader of the Ghost Rider series from the 1990s--always wondered, and the results are satisfying. Dan’s future, his relationship with his girlfriend Stacy, and the return of a character long thought dead all hit emotional high notes. Likewise, Ghost Rider’s ascension to the throne of hell proves life is a two-faced beast, especially when you’re down among the dead. The way Ghost Rider exercises his new power, and reaction from the the other Dark Lords, makes me pine for a continuation of this storyline. However, given that Marvel already has a new Ghost Rider series being published--an incarnation that apparently has nothing to do with Dan Ketch--that seems unlikely. Or does it?
Clearly, Marvel hopes to cash in on the Ghost Rider movie debuting in a few weeks and is putting out content to meet that need. But why print Ghost Rider #94 now? Is it just to capitalize on readers such as myself who have been waiting so many years for a resolution, or is this a portent of things to come? Either way, Ghost Rider #94 is a quality comic that stands on its own merits. My only complaint is that the biography does not reference comic issues or trade paperbacks for the various activities listed, missing an opportunity to help readers discover more about this version of Ghost Rider.
Ghost Rider #94
“Acabado”
Written by: Ivan Velez, Jr.
Pencilled by: Javier Saltares
Inked by: Mark Texeiora, Javier Saltares & Klaus Janson
Colors by: Tom Chu
Lettered by: VC’s Rus Wooton
