Born: August 21, 1943

Died: August 30, 2018

By David Pollock

Gary Friedrich, who has died aged 75, was an American comic book writer who was active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. He was well-known among readers for his run on Marvel Comics’ Sgt Fury and His Howlin’ Commandos – which was set in World War II and starred the precursor to Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury character from the current Marvel movies - as well as brief runs on Captain America, the Incredible Hulk and the contemporary Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

His most enduring contribution to American comics’ rich history of distinctive characters, however, was the co-creation in 1972 with artist Mike Ploog of the supernatural avenger Ghost Rider. The story told of troubled motorcycle stunt rider Johnny Blaze, who sold his soul to a devil named Mephistopheles to save his adoptive father from cancer, and found his being fused with a vengeance-seeking demon as ‘payment’. The look and character of Ghost Rider has become one of the great design classics of the Marvel Universe, a biker in black leathers whose head is a flaming skull and whose blazing motorbike tyres burn scorches in the ground as he rides.

With superhero movies beginning to attain popularity in the early part of this century, Ghost Rider was given a big-budget incarnation in 2007 with celebrity fan of the character Nicolas Cage in the title role, and support parts for Eva Mendes and Peter Fonda. Although the reception from critics wasn’t overwhelming, the film was a financial hit, and the sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance appeared in 2011.

Friedrich began writing Ghost Rider in the series Marvel Spotlight, and the character later graduated to his own title; directly after his run in the former title had finished, Friedrich also co-created – this time with writer Roy Thomas, who had helped plot the first Ghost Rider story - another demonic and enduring Marvel character in Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan. Although Friedrich left the comics industry in the late 1970s, working instead in movie rental and as a driver and courier around St Louis, Missouri, he sued Marvel for ownership rights of Ghost Rider in 2007. An out-of-court settlement was reached following an appeal in 2013.

Born to Jerry and Elsie in 1943 in Jackson, Missouri and raised in the same city, Friedrich was the editor of his high school newspaper, where he was a classmate of Thomas, who went on to a senior writing and editorial role at Marvel. Friedrich worked as a record store clerk and a local newspaper writer and editor, before moving to New York’s East Village to live with Thomas, where he became “a real New York hippie”.

Recommended by Thomas, he wrote characters including Blue Beetle and Captain Atom for Charlton Comics, and later graduated to Marvel Westerns and eventually superhero titles. He began a recovery from alcoholism in 1979 and made one more guest appearance in comics in 1993, co-scripting Topps Comics’ Bombast with Thomas. Suffering from Parkinson’s Disease in his later years, he died in August 2018.