Monday 12 October 2009

70 Years of Marvel - 1980


Ghost Rider, the flaming-skulled motorcycle stuntman-demon, had been around since 1972, when he met the original Ghost Rider, in a time travel crossover stunt. The other Ghost Rider, the one in the white cloak and hat, had only predated the modern one by about 5 years, and was one of the later additions to the Marvel Western genre. With the arrival of his modern-day replacement, the 19th century of version started calling himself the Night Rider. Then, later, after he died, his brother became the Phantom Rider, and subsequently drugged and raped Mockingbird, before she threw him off a cliff. Who said comics were more wholesome back in the day?

All this is a long way of saying I have nothing to say about the 70s incarnation of Ghost Rider. Not really into bikes. Or Satan. Instead, let's see what else 1980 brought the world of Marvel Comics, shall we? Well, for starters, there was the disco-roller-skating Dazzler, notable for being one of the first "created by committee" Marvel characters. Then there was the Savage She-Hulk, cousin to Bruce Banner, who was the first new Stan Lee creation in a good long time, and pretty much the last new Stan Lee creation to appear. We also saw the introduction of Emma Frost, then a member of the naughty Hellfire Club. Oh, and speaking of Mockingbird, after years hanging around on the periphery of comics, SHIELD agent Bobbi Morse got her own costumed identity. Finally, 1980 also saw the first appearance of future X-Man, Kitty Pryde, and of future New Mutant, Karma.

There may well have been some male heroes introduced in 1980, but darned if I could find any.

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