[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”4464″ img_size=”800×800″ alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded”][vc_column_text]
One of the things that puts life in perspective as you grow older is that many of your heroes when you were young have reached the age where eventually their life’s journey reaches an end. Thus we at GVNation are saddened to report the passing of Gary Friedrich, who co-created Ghost Rider. This was announced by former Marvel writing great Roy Thomas:
I won’t go into details at this point, but I wanted to mention that one of my oldest and dearest friends, Gary Friedrich, passed away last night, from the effects of Parkison’s, which he had had for several years. That and his near-total hearing loss had left him feeling isolated in recent years, and his wife Jean seems content that he is finally at peace.”
I first became acquainted with the writing talent of Gary Friedrich as he worked with his long time partner in crime Dick Ayers on the Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos series. They told great stories and were able to get a teenage boy to see war as the terrible thing that it was. They were also one of the first writer/artist teams I saw that drew themselves into a piece where they talked to their creation. This was in the 1968 Sgt. Fury annual #4 Battle of the Bulge issue and was entitled “Gary and Dick up front” which was a satirical look at how they came up with all of their ideas for Sgt Fury and his Howling Commandos. To this day, even though the late great Jack Kirby created the Howling Commandos, I immediately thing of Friedrich and Ayers when I think back at the books.
Friedrich co- created Ghost Rider while working on the Silver Age Marvel books. The Ghost Rider character, who was created by Thomas, Friedrich and artist Mike Ploog became a matter of contention between Marvel and the writer and led to a number of lawsuits which were eventually settled. Friedrich is survived by his wife, Jean, daughter Leslie, and nephew Chris.
We at GVNation offer our deepest condolences to the Friedrich family all of his fans. He will be missed.
[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”4467″ img_size=”332×499″ alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 50 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove head first over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 18 year old boy with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
