JOHNNY BLAZE:Johnny Blaze, a stunt motorcyclist/daredevil, was the son of Barton Blaze and Naomi Kale. He spent his early years in the Quentin Carnival where his parents starred in a stunt show with Craig "Crash" Simpson. Blaze's family had ended when his mother Naomi, scared that Johnny would suffer the same way she had, abandoned Barton and Johnny and took her other two children whom she placed in the care of a woman named Francis Ketch.Losing his mother caused Blaze to repress many of his memories of Naomi and his siblings. When Barton died in a stunt not long after, Blaze was adopted by Crash and Mona Simpson. The Simpsons helped Blaze by fabricating his past with the hope that it would be less painful than the truth. Now believing that his real mother was Clara Blaze, who had passed away, Blaze became an enthusiastic member of the Simpson clan, growing closer to their daughter, Roxanne. The two soon became inseparable and, as they grew older their fondness for one another moved beyond familial.As years passed, Naomi Kale returned to spy on Blaze. Naomi was glad to see him growing into a happy young man, but she still feared the curse he had in him. Naomi made a deal with Mephisto to spare him from becoming the Ghost Rider, Noble Kale. Unfortunately, Mephisto betrayed Naomi on her death bed: Blaze would indeed not become the next host for Noble Kale, "the" Ghost Rider, but instead become the host for "a" Ghost Rider.Unaware of what was happening behind his back, Blaze followed the Simpsons into their own traveling stunt show — the Crash Simpson Stunt Cycle Extravaganza. Crash had become a real father figure in Blaze's eyes, and on learning of Crash's life-threatening cancer, Blaze turned to the occult, in search of answers. His studies led him to a spell which supposedly could summon Satan himself. Johnny was unaware that he in fact had summoned Mephisto. Blaze sold his soul to Mephisto in return for Crash's cancer to be cured. Mephisto did cure Crash, though Crash died soon after in a stunt trying to jump over 22 cars. Blaze, still at the mercy of Mephisto, believed he would lose his soul to Mephisto until he was saved by Roxanne. Roxanne proclaimed her love for Blaze, and drove Mephisto away with the purity of her emotion.Blaze was unaware that Mephisto had bonded him with the demon Zarathos as an act of revenge (breaking the deal he made with Naomi Kale) for not being able to obtain Johnny's soul. Johnny, was transformed into a Ghost Rider, a leather-clothed skeleton, his head cloaked in a sheath of flame, the night after Crash's death.Blaze would mistake Noble Kale for Zarathos during the subsequent Ghost Rider series (1990-1998), and after attempting to destroy him, eventually became an ally. Blaze, like his long-lost brother Danny Ketch (see below), is a direct descendant of Kale. (Blaze's last name is inherited from his father, Barton Blaze. Barbara and Daniel Ketch's true last names remain unknown as their father might or might not be Barton Blaze). Blaze was supposed to have become Kale's next host, but was spared because of a deal their mother made with Mephisto. However, Blaze became the host for another entity (Zarathos), who had been stripped of his memories and was originally under Blaze's control. As the series progressed, that control faded and Zarathos' true personality was evident whenever Ghost Rider was unleashed.After Ketch's Ghost Rider series ended, Blaze returned as the Spirit of Vengeance.Starting over, Blaze eventually found a new job as an accountant and a new girlfriend, Chloe, but he was still linked to Zarathos, and the demon began to reconstitute within him. Regularly transforming into Ghost Rider again, Blaze quit his job and hit the road. However, the reborn Ghost Rider's personality was different than before, less talkative and more indifferent to the welfare of innocent bystanders. Desperate to escape this renewed curse, Blaze hired the mercenary Gunmetal Gray to kill Ghost Rider, whom Gray pursued with malicious glee. Finally cornered at the Sturgis, North Dakota biker convention, Blaze and Zarathos seemed to make peace with one another and merged in a new way, defeating Gray. Ghost Rider rode off into the sunset, seeking more innocents to avenge. (from official bio on Marvel.com)A second six-issue miniseries by writer Garth Ennis and artist Clayton Crain, entitled "Road to Damnation," debuted in November 2005. This new series also involves Johnny Blaze, and focuses on his (futile) attempts at escaping from Hell. This series presents Blaze as the human host, with a slightly new look. His new powers include being able to breathe hellfire like a dragon, and launching chains from his throat in the same manner.In July 2006, a new ongoing monthly series, titled Vicious Cycle began. Written by Daniel Way with art by Mark Texeira and Javier Saltares, the same artistic team from the 1990 series. The storyline takes place after the Ennis miniseries, and features Johnny Blaze finally escaping hell. The trouble is, in doing so he unwittingly brings the demon Lucifer to Earth, albeit through demonic trickery.So far Satan has tormented Johnny Blaze and slain many innocents along the way. In the 3rd issue Ghost Rider battles with Doctor Strange, believing the sorcerer to be Lucifer in disguise. Doctor Strange uses too much power in the battle and seemingly 'kills' Ghost Rider. However, as he, Ghost Rider, is the Spirit of Vengeance he rises to deliver the 'Penance Stare' (this is the first time the Blaze version of Ghost Rider has used this technique).It is subsequently revealed that Lucifer can only exist on Earth in spirit form, and that when he crossed into the mortal realm his essence shattered into 666 separate pieces, each inhabiting a recently deceased body. Lucifer's plan is for each of these bodies to goad people into killing them; as each one dies, the remaining grow stronger until one is left with Lucifer's full powers. However, the bodies cannot kill each other, since that constitutes suicide and would return Lucifer to Hell. Blaze's self-avowed task, then, is to capture each of the inhabited bodies and bring them back to Hell.This particular incarnation of Ghost Rider features Johnny Blaze as the human host, but has the physical appearance of the "Dan Ketch/Noble Kale" Ghost Rider, including the spiked leather jacket and the bike chain weapon/tool he also employs the 'Penace Stare' and seems to be able to control his hellfire (this surprises Johnny, despite the fact he posessed control over the hellfire during the period when Daniel Ketch was the Ghost Rider). After his battle with Doctor Strange, it would seem that this Ghost Rider is quite possibly more powerful, however this has yet to be fully tested. This would appear a more reflective version to match the Ghost Rider of the upcoming movie.DANIEL KETCH:Ketch and his sister Barbara, attacked by gangsters, fled and hid in a junkyard where Daniel found a motorcycle bearing a mystical sigil. Upon touching the sigil, he was transformed into the Ghost Rider. This Ghost Rider was nearly identical to the previous, though his costume and bike had undergone a modernized tailoring. He thrashed the gangsters, but was unable to save Barbara, who had been critically wounded and slipped into a coma. She was eventually killed by Blackout, a lieutenant of the very organization responsible for her state and whom Ketch had acquired as a mortal enemy when his face was scarred by the Ghost Rider's demonic fire.When Ghost Rider became a part of the Midnight Sons, he died twice in the process. The first person who killed Ghost Rider was the vampire hunter Blade, who was at the time possessed by the Darkhold. He was soon revived by the Darkhold Redeemers, along with everyone else who was killed by Blade. The second time he died was when he was fighting Zarathos, but like before, he was once again reborn.
It was later revealed that Daniel Ketch and John Blaze were long-lost brothers and that their family were the inheritors of a mystical curse related to the Spirits of Vengeance. Ketch eventually seemed to die, but the Spirit of Vengeance that had been bound to him through the bike's talisman lived on. Eventually, in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #93 (July 1997), it was revealed that Ketch was still alive, and he rebonded with the Noble Kale Ghost Rider.Unlike Blaze, the Ketch Ghost Rider possessed a Penance Stare which made the target experience all the pain and suffering they've caused others. He also possessed Hellfire as did the Zarathos/Blaze version, but he also possessed the ability to destroy the undead, and was supposedly Marvel's incarnation of the Angel of Death/Judgement, as revealed in issue 93, which detailed the supposed origins of the Noble Kale version of the Ghost Rider.In addition, Ketch and Noble Kale actually worked together to an extent, unlike Blaze and Zarathos, who battled for dominance and control over their shared body. Kale had a compassionate side and while there were times that he seemed tempted to simply take over completely, he refused to do so, though he felt anger at condemning Daniel to only being able to live his life out half the time, while he dominated the other half. Kale and Ketch, like Blaze and Zarathos, could sometimes communicate through dreams, and in at least one issue communicated via messages written on a mirror in lipstick.
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