Ghost Rider drama continues as second film nears

The second “Ghost Rider” film opens this weekend, and the character has been in the news, though probably not for the reasons that either Marvel or Columbia would have hoped.   Gary Friedrich’s legal battle against the publisher resulted in a stipulation that Friedrich owes $17,000 for selling non-licensed Ghost Rider material.   That stipulation is from a countersuit filed against Friedrich after Friedrich sued for the rights to the Ghost Rider character.  Friedrich’s lawyers will appeal.

Marvel’s Dan Buckley and Joe Quesada responded to the latest legal maneuvering at Comic Book Resources.  Meanwhile, creators including Steve Niles and Neal Adams have rallied financial support for Friedrich.

A weird bit of the ruling has Friedrich not being allowed to call himself the creator of Ghost Rider for financial gain.  I assume, however, he could be in the clear calling himself the “co-creator,” which seems closer to probably accurate, and would include the contributions of editor Roy Thomas and artist Mike

I talked to Gary Friedrich in 2008 about his version of the creation of the character and his involvement at Marvel in the 60s and 70s. Friedrich was in Oklahoma for Soonercon.