By Marc Strom
For Ghost Rider, the bad have never looked so good.
Since coming onboard the book in February, new GHOST RIDER scribe Jason Aaron has been treating fans to a range of new villains for ol' flame head. And with the Machine Gun Nurses and Ghost Cannibals standing in the way of Johnny Blaze's quest to confront Zadkiel, the rogue angel responsible for him becoming Ghost Rider, the end result doesn't look to be pretty.
For Aaron, the creation of the Machine Gun Nurses and Ghost Cannibals mostly came from his "love of B-movies and my desire to bring elements of 1970's exploitation cinema to the pages of GHOST RIDER."
With the Ghost Cannibals, a group of dead pioneers who kill and eat unsuspecting travelers, Aaron notes that "there's no particular inspiration that I can think of, though maybe there's a nod to some of the great redneck horror films in there somewhere. 'The Legend of Boggy Creek,' anyone? 'Near Dark'?"
Creating new villains for a character like Ghost Rider can prove difficult, but Aaron has it down pat.
"I want enemies who can put Blaze through the wringer and actually threaten him," the writer explains. "Ghost Rider is pretty insanely powerful when you get right down to it, but he still needs to be put in situations where he can actually be hurt, maybe even killed. And the villains will just be getting bigger and crazier from here on out."
You won't have to wait long for the next new villain, as he debuts in June's issue #24.
"In the second arc, beginning with issue #24, we meet an all-new villain called the Deacon," says Aaron. "A mountain of a man who's convinced he's doing the work of heaven by slaughtering sinners. He has a big throwdown with Blaze behind the bars of a federal prison."
While Blaze already has a fairly established rogues gallery, don't expect too many old familiar faces popping out of the woodwork. With the change in Ghost Rider's status quo and the revelation of his angelic nature, Aaron wants to open up a new chapter in Blaze's life.
"Well, we're done with the story of the Ghost Rider vs. hell, at least for now," he remarks. "That story had already been told many times before, and then [previous writer] Daniel Way took it to the next level and put the nail in the coffin. But once you take all the demons and devils out of Ghost Rider's rogue gallery, you're not left with a whole lot."
"But that said," the author continues, "We will see some familiar faces returning, from both the original 70's series and the 90's version, though I don't want to ruin the surprise."
As well as Aaron's new villains, he's also introduced the character of Deputy Kowalski, though you may remember him as "the-guy-who-got-his-hand-chopped-off-by-the-cannibal" in GHOST RIDER #21. Though whether or not he could one day turn into a villain remains another matter entirely…
"Yes, he will survive the loss of his hand and he'll even survive what happens to him after that," Aaron vows. "But he'll definitely be the worse for wear. Look for Kowalski to pop up in future issues, determined to get some payback."
Be sure to check out GHOST RIDER #22 when it hits shelves on April 16, and learn what to do when being chased by Machine Gun Nurses on motorcycles through a pack of Ghost Cannibals… or, in other words, everything in life your mother never prepared you for!
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 "GHOST RIDER #22 cover art by Marko Djurdjevic")
 "GHOST RIDER #22 preview art by Roland Boschi")
 "GHOST RIDER #22 preview art by Roland Boschi")
