Ghost Rider first appeared in Marvel Spotlight #5 in August of 1972.
He was created by Roy Thomas, Gary Friedrich and Mike Ploog.
I was never really that crazy about him for some reason.
I never could really put my finger on why. I mean it's a great character, awesome visuals, but I just couldn't get behind it.
Actually I liked the movie better than the comic.
I know, like everything else with Ghost Rider...weird.

Ghost Rider written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. This wasnt his first Marvel project as he wrote both Daredevil and Elektra (he only produced an earlier draft, not the finished film).
The movie starred Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze / Ghost Rider, Eva Mendes as Roxanne Simpson, Sam Elliott as Carter Slade / Phantom Rider and Peter Fonda as Mephistopheles.
With a cast like that, you wonder how anything could go wrong.
Well it did.
The film grossed a less than stellar $15 million it's opening day and made a little over $228 million world wide total.
Actually that doesn't sound very bad.
But when you compare it to Spider Man 3's $890 million total and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer's $288.3 million worldwide (both came out the same year), it's a little disappointing.
Critics seemed to have pretty much panned the movie as well.
Rotten Tomatoes has it at 27% currently.
Metacritic, Los Angeles Times, New York Times and the Chicago Tribune all blasted it.
Although the Chicago Tribune did like the special effects.
As I said, I like the movie better than the comics, but let me qualify that in saying I think the movie would have been a fantastic TV movie.
I regretted paying to see it in the theater.
About my only real stand out scene in the movie was the homage to the old Ghost Rider / Night Rider Carter Slade with Sam Elliot.
One, because I liked those old weird western books, and two because of the awesomeness that is Sam Elliot.
I also really liked the scene when Peter Fonda / Mephistopheles walks by Johnny Blaze's chopper and says "Nice Bike".
Of course Fonda had one similar to it in Easy Rider and oddly his character in the movie ,Wyatt, was nicknamed "Captain America".
And I did like the "Hellcycle".

Despite the lack luster box office performance, it looks like Ghost Rider 2 will be made.
Marvel producer Avi Arad announced in 2007 that a sequel was in the planning stages.
Both Nicolas Cage and Peter Fonda have expressed a desire to return.
In February of 2009, Colombia Pictures announced the sequel was a go, with Nicolas Cage returning.
What?
Not a total reboot?
(But wait, in July in an interview with MTV, Nicolas Cage said about the second film, "I would like to do a reconceive," . I guess Hollywood is getting tired of the word "reboot")
The new movie is rumored to be darker and possibly set in Europe.Probably so they can do at least one scene with Ghost Rider blasting down the autobahn.

Update..Dec 1st, 2009:
It looks like Ghost Rider 2 will be using a script written by David S. Goyer  (The Crow: City of Angels, Blade, The Dark Knight) over nine years ago!
The second movie will tentatively pick up eight years after Ghost Rider and be much darker.
So is Marvel going for a full fledged horror movie here?
Ghost Rider 2 is currently listed on IMDb as in development