All-New Ghost Rider #1

History

Editor Mark Paniccia initiated the project by approaching writer Felipe Smith — an Afro-Latino creator of Jamaican and Argentine descent who had previously broken ground by becoming the first Western creator to publish a manga series serialized in Japan — with two firm mandates: the new Ghost Rider had to be under thirty and had to drive a car instead of a motorcycle. Smith was granted full creative latitude over the character's personality, cultural background, and setting, and he also produced the preliminary visual designs before Tradd Moore — then best known for Image Comics' The Strange Talent of Luther Strode — was brought in to develop the final look and draw the series. Smith drew directly on his personal familiarity with Latin American culture to craft Reyes as a Mexican-American teenager in East Los Angeles, reasoning that the city's largest Latino demographic made that specific background 'more than perfect sense.' The issue shipped on March 19, 2014 under the All-New Marvel NOW! publishing initiative, with a May 2014 cover date, and was edited by Paniccia with Emily Shaw as assistant editor.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of Robbie Reyes (Ghost Rider), the fifth character in Marvel Comics history to use the Ghost Rider name, after Carter Slade, Johnny Blaze, Danny Ketch, and Alejandra Jones.
• First appearance of Gabe Reyes, Robbie's younger developmentally disabled brother, who serves as the emotional anchor of the entire series.
• First appearance of the Hell Charger — a supernaturally possessed 1969 Dodge Charger — replacing the motorcycle that had defined every previous Ghost Rider incarnation.
• Written by Felipe Smith (of Jamaican and Argentine descent) with art by Tradd Moore; Smith also produced the character's preliminary visual designs, with Moore developing the final look.
• The story's first chapter is titled 'Engines of Vengeance, Part 1'; the issue was colored by Val Staples and Nelson Daniel, lettered by VC's Joe Caramagna, and edited by Mark Paniccia.
• The issue shipped with five variant covers, including editions by Felipe Smith, Mike Del Mundo, Skottie Young, Tradd Moore, and a Frank Kozik Hastings exclusive.
• The issue's story was later collected in the trade paperback All-New Ghost Rider Vol. 1: Engines of Vengeance (collecting issues #1–5), and subsequently in the Ghost Rider: Robbie Reyes — The Complete Collection hardcover (2021), which compiles All-New Ghost Rider #1–12, Ghost Rider (2016) #1–5, and What If? Ghost Rider (2018) #1.
• Robbie Reyes was adapted for live-action within roughly two and a half years of this issue's publication, appearing in Season 4 of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2016), portrayed by Gabriel Luna.

Full credits

Variants (6)