The series is a Western starring the titular Ghost Rider, a masked and caped vigilante who's secretly schoolteacher Carter Slade. The Ghost Rider was an unambiguous Expy for a 1940s character with the same name, a Weird West hero published by Magazine Enterprises - and The Ghost Rider's creator Dick Ayers was also the artist on that 1940s series.
The Ghost Rider was also an Anthology Comic for most of its run, with the main Ghost Rider story supported by an unrelated Western tale as a back-up, typically reprinted from Marvel's Kid Colt: Outlaw or Two-Gun Kid series.
Left for dead by raiders, Slade is healed by Native American medicine man Flaming Star, who tells him that he is The Chosen One, destined to become 'He Who Rides the Night Winds'. At least initially, Slade is not a great gunfighter - but when he's presented with mysterious glowing dust from a falling star, he crafts an elaborate white costume and becomes the Ghost Rider, a Terror Hero and Master of Illusion who appears and disappears in darkness, convincing his foes that he has supernatural powers.
Slade also adopts Jamie Jacobs, a boy orphaned by the same killers who left Slade himself for dead - and Jacobs is the only person who knows his true identity.
The series and its star aren't to be confused with Marvel's other Ghost Rider (the one with the flaming skull, the motorbike and the genuine occult powers), who didn't debut until the 1970s. After the modern Ghost Rider launched, Slade's Western hero was retrospectively renamed for his subsequent appearances, firstly to the 'Night Rider'. then later to the 'Phantom Rider'.
The Ghost Rider (1967) includes examples of the following tropes:
- Alliterative Name: The orphan Carter Slade adopts is named Jamie Jacobs.
- Anthology Comic: Most issues include an unrelated Western story as well as the Ghost Rider's own adventure. These back-ups were largely reprinted from Kid Colt: Outlaw, although a couple came from other sources.
- The Chosen One: In the first story, as Slade recovers from his wounds after being left for dead, Flaming Star tells him that he is chosen by the Great Spirit and will become 'He Who Rides the Night Winds'. Slade is presented with strange glowing dust - and the pure white horse Banshee - to aid him on his mission.
- Expy: The Ghost Rider is a very clear copy of the 1940s Weird West hero of the same name, whose adventures were published by Magazine Enterprises. Creator Dick Ayers had been the artist on that earlier series, and as Magazine Enterprises no longer existed and trademarks had lapsed, Ayers simply recreated the character for Marvel. However, the Marvel series avoids overtly supernatural elements, and Carter Slade himself is a new character, rather than a copy of the original Ghost Rider's alter ego.
- False Flag Operation: In the very first issue, the 'Indians' who kill Jamie's parents and leave Carter Slade for dead are actually thugs working for crooked rancher Jason Bartholomew. However, they're not very good at misdirecting the blame. On their first outing, Slade knocks an attacker's hat off, revealing that his skin is darkened with makeup and his hair's light brown. On their next mission, they talk too much and their words and accents make it clear they're not Native Americans.
- Magical Native American: Flaming Star is a Native American medicine man and claims that the Great Spirit predicted Carter Slade's arrival as the Chosen One. Although Slade refuses to believe in magic and the series keeps a little bit of Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane, it's written in a way that implies Slade's probably wrong and Flaming Star's visions and healing powers are real.
- Master of Illusion: The Ghost Rider's reputation as a Terror Hero is built around the belief that he's some sort of supernatural being. His foes might be confronted by the Rider's headless body, may see disembodied heads and hands floating in the dark, or might find that they're fighting an intangible foe. None of this is real - but Slade's very good at using trickery (and the strange glowing dust that Flaming Star gave him) to conjure up apparitions in the dark.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: In Slade's origin story, he's left for dead by Bartholomew's raiders and spends eight days in Flaming Star's care, unconscious and lingering 'between life and death'. When he wakes, he's fully healed within a day. Slade believes this is because his wounds were minor and he was just struck down by fever; Flaming Star and his tribe believe it was healing magic. The comic doesn't provide a definitive answer.Carter Slade: [internal monologue] I was unconscious for days! If my wounds weren't deep - I could have had only a fever - which was broken by time! That must be the answer!
- Only Mostly Dead: In the first issue, as part of his origin story, Slade is left for dead by Bartholomew's goons. He's unconscious and said to be hovering 'between life and death' for eight days before Flaming Star's care revives him.
- Terror Hero: The Ghost Rider prefers to act in darkness, where he's a glowing, spectral figure who appears to be intangible... until he strikes. Sometimes he appears as a headless body or a disembodied head. It's all done with trickery, and partly to compensate for Slade's lack of skills as a gunfighter. He scares foes into surrendering to justice (with a bit of brawling where necessary) rather that relying on guns.
- Tonto Talk: Some of Flaming Star's tribe lapse into pidgin English, even when speaking to each other. For his part, Flaming Star speaks in clear, correct English - but still uses words like 'paleface' at times.Tribesman: Boy not hurt - but have fever! We take him back to camp - let him sleep! Him be better when sun rises!
- The Western: The Ghost Rider is a 19th century Western hero, and his antagonists are mostly outlaws, crooked ranchers, gunfighters and other familiar Western characters. Some fantastic elements creep in, but the Rider's own tricks are stagecraft, not supernatural powers, and his adversaries aren't occult menaces either - the series generally stays clear of the Weird West.
