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The subsequentGhost Rider series (1990-98) featured Daniel Ketch as a new Ghost Rider. After his sister was injured by gangsters, Ketch came in contact with a motorcycle which had somehow been mystically enchanted to contain the essence of a "Spirit of Vengeance." This spirit had originally been a Puritan man named Noble Kale, an ancestor of both Blaze and Ketch. Johnny Blaze reappeared in this series as a supporting character and was revealed to be Ketch's brother.

Following the western comics character who originally used the name, this Ghost Rider first appeared in Marvel Spotlight vol. 1, #5 (Aug. 1972), created by writers Roy Thomas and Gary Friedrich and artist Mike Ploog.

Johnny Blaze, a motorcycle stunt performer in a traveling circus, sold his soul to what he believed was Satan but was actually the demon Mephisto (a retcon), in order to save the life of his stepfather, Crash Simpson. Blaze was bound with the demon Zarathos and transformed into a leather-clothed skeleton, his head cloaked in a sheath of flame. The character received his own series in 1973, with penciller Jim Mooney handling most of the first nine issues. Several different creative teams mixed-and-matched until penciller Don Perlin began a long stint with #26, eventually joined by writer Michael Fleisher through #58. This Ghost Rider's career ended when Zarathos fled Blaze's body in issue #81 (June 1983), the finale, in order to pursue Centurious, a villain introduced near the end of the series' run with whom Zarathos had a history.
 

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Blaze would mistake Noble Kale (an earlier Ghost Rider, the first known to have utilized the name in links with the supernatural) for Zarathos during the subsequent Ghost Rider series (1990-1998), and after attempting to destroy him, eventually became an ally. Johnny, like his long-lost brother Danny Ketch (see below), are direct descendants of Kale. (Johnny's true last name is Blaze inherited from his father Barton Blaze. Barbara and Daniel Ketch's true last names remain unknown as their father might or might not be Barton Blaze).

Johnny Blaze was supposed to have become Kale's next host, but because of a deal their mother made with Mephisto, Blaze was "spared" this fate. However, Blaze became the host for another entity, Zarathos, who had been stripped of his memories and was originally under Blaze's control. As the series progressed, that control faded and Zarathos' true personality was evident whenever Ghost Rider was unleashed.

Thomas, Marvel's editor-in-chief at the time, described the character's genesis:

“ I had made up a character as a villain in Daredevil — a very lackluster character — called Stunt-Master... a motorcyclist. Anyway, when Gary Friedrich started writing Daredevil, he said, "Instead of Stunt-Master, I'd like to make the villain a really weird motorcycle-riding character called Ghost Rider." He didn't describe him. I said, "Yeah, Gary, there's only one thing wrong with it," and he kind of looked at me weird, because we were old friends from Missouri, and I said, "That's too good an idea to be just a villain in Daredevil. He should start out right away in his own book." When Gary wasn't there the day we were going to design it, Mike Ploog, who was going to be the artist, and I designed the character. I had this idea for the skull-head, something like Elvis' 1968 Special jumpsuit, and so forth, and Ploog put the fire on the head, just because he thought it looked nice. Gary liked it, so they went off and did it.[1] ”

Friedrich on the above, in 2001:

“ Well, there's some disagreement between Roy, Mike and I over that. I threatened on more than one occasion that if Marvel gets in a position where they are gonna make a movie or make a lot of money off of it, I'm gonna sue them, and I probably will. ...It was my idea. It was always my idea from the first time we talked about it, it turned out to be a guy with a flaming skull and rode a motorcycle. Ploog seems to think the flaming skull was his idea. But, to tell you the truth, it was my idea.
The third Ghost Rider debuted in Ghost Rider vol. 2, #1 (May 1990). Daniel Ketch and his sister Barbara, attacked by ninja gangsters, fled and hid in a junkyard where Daniel found a motorcycle bearing a mystical sigil. Upon touching the sigil, he was transformed into the Ghost Rider. This Ghost Rider was nearly identical to the previous, though his costume and bike had undergone a modernized tailoring. He thrashed the gangsters, but was unable to save Barbara, who had been critically wounded and slipped into a coma. She was eventually killed by Blackout, a lieutenant of the very organization responsible for her state and whom Ketch had acquired as a mortal enemy when his face was scarred by the Ghost Rider's demonic fire.

When Ghost Rider became a part of the Midnight Sons, he died twice in the process. The first person who killed Ghost Rider was the vampire hunter Blade, who was at the time possessed by the Darkhold. He was soon revived by the Darkhold Redeemers, along with everyone else who was killed by Blade. The second time he died was when he was fighting Zarathos, but like before, he was once again reborn.

It was later revealed that Ketch and Blaze were long-lost brothers and that their family were the inheritors of a mystical curse related to the Spirits of Vengeance. Ketch eventually died, but the Spirit of Vengeance that had been bound to him through the bike's talisman lived on. Peter Parker: Spider-Man #93 (July 1997) Ketch was still alive, and he rebonded with the Noble Kale Ghost Rider.

Unlike Blaze, the Ketch Ghost Rider possessed a "Penance Stare" which made the target experience all the pain and suffering they had caused others — as the target discovered, this was a punishment far, far worse than death. (However, as of recent times, the Blaze Ghost Rider has also been able to use this ability.) He possessed Hellfire, as did the Zarathos/Blaze version, as well as the ability to destroy the undead. Issue #91 (Dec. 1997) revealed him as Marvel's incarnation of the Angel of Death/Judgment.

In addition, Ketch and Noble Kale actually worked together to an extent, unlike Blaze and Zarathos, who battled for dominance and control over their shared body. Kale had a compassionate side and while there were times that he seemed tempted to simply take over completely, he refused to do so, though he felt anger at condemning Daniel to only being able to live his life out half the time, while he dominated the other half. Kale and Ketch, like Blaze and Zarathos, could sometimes communicate through dreams, and in at least one issue communicated via messages written on a mirror in lipstick.

After the Ghost Rider/Ketch comic series Johnny Blaze has since regained his title as Ghost Rider and is the current modern day Ghost Rider.

A six-issue miniseries, again featured Blaze as the Ghost Rider, debuted in 2001 under the Marvel Knights imprint. Subtitled "The Hammer Lane", it was written by Devin Grayson and penciled by Trent Kaniuga. In this arc, Blaze finds himself once more able to become the Ghost Rider after spending some time free of the curse.

A second six-issue miniseries, by writer Garth Ennis and artist Clayton Crain, subtitled "Road to Damnation", debuted November 2005. This series also featured Blaze and focused on his futile attempts at escaping from Hell. His powers here include being able to breathe hellfire like a dragon, and launching chains from his throat.

In July 2006, a new ongoing monthly series, titled simply Ghost Rider, began. Written by Daniel Way with art by Mark Texeira, it takes place after the Ennis miniseries. It features Blaze still in Hell, desperately trying to escape. At the end of the first issue, he is manipulated into bringing Satan to Earth. This particular incarnation of Ghost Rider features Blaze as the human host. Blaze's Ghost Rider appearance is similar to Daniel Ketch's. A change that assistant editor Micahel O'Connor attributes to the manifestation of Ghost Rider's powers themselves.

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