Ghost Rider

When Danny Ketch stumbled upon a mystical motorcycle in a Brooklyn cemetery one violent night, he was bonded to a Spirit of Vengeance and transformed into the blazing, skull-headed Ghost Rider — a new host for a power older than he could imagine.

Few characters have burned as brightly across Marvel's modern era as Ghost Rider, who roared onto the scene in 1990 courtesy of Howard Mackie and Javier Saltares in a debut issue that itself ranks among collector-coveted key issues. With 35 years of hellfire-lit adventures spanning Ghost Rider, Marvel Comics Presents, and Daredevil, this is a character with genuine staying power — 200 catalog appearances and eight recognized key issues speak to a legacy that goes well beyond a flash-in-the-pan phenomenon. Along the way, Ghost Rider has shared the page with some of Marvel's heaviest hitters — Logan, Spider-Man, and the mysterious Danny Ketch among them — making for a rogues' gallery of co-stars that signals just how central this character has become to the Marvel universe. If you're building a serious modern Marvel collection, Ghost Rider is absolutely essential reading.