Howard Mackie Talks His Return to Danny Ketch in New Ghost Rider Series (Exclusive)

It’s an interesting time to be a fan of Marvel’s Ghost Rider. The Spirit of Vengeance has dished out his signature brand of vigilantism on the big and small screen, and several characters have taken on the Ghost Rider mantle to continue carrying the legacy of the flaming skull. While Johnny Blaze is the most recognizable Ghost Rider, Danny Ketch has his own loyal legion of fans as well. Created by Howard Mackie and Javier Saltares, the Danny Ketch version of Ghost Rider quickly became a fan-favorite, and has recently popped back up in Marvel’s current Ghost Rider series as the new Spirit of Corruption. Mackie is revisiting the character in a new Ghost Rider title debuting in May, and we got to talk to him all about it.

ComicBook.com spoke to Howard Mackie about the upcoming limited series Danny Ketch: Ghost Rider, and on returning to the character he helped co-create back in the early ’90s. The prolific writer dished on his plans for Danny Ketch and Ghost Rider, how the series set in the past introduces all-new villains like The Broker (as well as some returning favorites), and even his thoughts on current Ghost Riders like Robbie Reyes. ComicBook.com can also exclusively reveal the first look at pages from Danny Ketch: Ghost Rider #2 by artist Daniel Picciotto.

Danny Ketch: Ghost Rider #2 Cover By Ben Harvey

History With Danny Ketch

ComicBook.com: Marvel has had a lot of recent success exploring untold tales of the past. What’s it been like to return to a character like Danny Ketch that you have so much rich history with?

Howard Mackie: To say that it’s been surreal is a gross understatement– and I NEVER understate ANYTHING! Here’s the thing… I’ve had a long-standing policy of “Don’t Look Back”. When I’m done writing a character I am done. I try not to read stories involving the character after my run is done and I NEVER reread my old work. 

I don’t read the work of other writers handling a character after me because I do a ton of interviews, podcasts, etc… and I don’t ever want something I say to be misconstrued as criticism. I don’t want to be that guy who says, “Oh… I would have handled that differently.”  or something worse. I did bend that a few years back and read a bunch of the Robbie Reyes stories by Felipe Smith. I figured it was all SO different it could be fun… and it was! Then– a few years back– I ran into Ed Brisson and Aaron Kuder at NYCC and decided to read their run. I quite liked it as well. I thought their treatment of the characters was a natural progression of where I left them. 

I never reread my own work because I always expect to be disappointed– usually in my own writing. When I was fortunate enough to land this assignment I really HAD to reread my stuff to get back into the head of the characters I hadn’t explored in quite some time. It started out exactly as painfully as I expected. I cringe-read through the first few issues and was horrified that it was as successful as it was at the time. BUT… I started to see my development as a writer going side by side with the development of the characters in the book. In the end… I was quite pleased with what I was reading. Of course, I tried to convince myself that someone else had written the whole thing. 

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New Threats and Villains

Since this story is set in the past, where do we pick up Danny’s story when the series debuts? What threats/villains should fans keep an eye out for?

This story is set AFTER Johnny Blaze returns to confront the new Spirit of Vengeance and his host. Blaze is featured heavily in the story as are a few new villains– named the BROKER and THE MASTER– as well as the return of a couple of fan favorites(and my own favorites) BLACKOUT and SCARECROW. 

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Ghost Rider’s Status in Marvel Universe

What are your thoughts on Ghost Rider’s status in the Marvel Universe currently? We’ve seen new Ghost Riders introduced (Robbie Reyes), and Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch have both gone through some interesting character arcs, with Johnny formerly being the King of Hell and Danny recently as the new Spirit of Corruption.

As I said, I try not to read TOO many stories written after I left the book, but I did dig the Robbie Reyes stories, and what Ed and Aaron did, and I’ve read one or two of the most recent run and quite liked it– but I stopped because I didn’t want to unintentionally touch on current continuity. 

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Fan Anticipation

What are you most looking forward to fans seeing when Danny Ketch: Ghost Rider hits stores?

I am really not sure. I hope the fans get to see a glimpse of what I was writing in the past with some pointers toward the future. I’m looking forward to hearing from them this summer on the convention circuit. 

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