User blog:ARTaylor/RIP Gary Friedrich

Gary Friedrich passed away yesterday following complications from Parkinson's Disease at the age of seventy-five. His death was announced by childhood friend and Marvel Comics writer and editor Roy Thomas. Thomas said, "[O]ne of my oldest and dearest friends, Gary Friedrich, passed away last night, from the effects of Parkinson'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."



Friedrich was born in Jackson, Missouri on August 21, 1943. He began his career as a freelancer for Charlton Comics working on the company's romance comics. There, he got to work with Steve Ditko and wrote for the first appearances of Blue Beetle.

He eventually made his way over to Marvel Comics providing stories for their Western comics like Rawhide Kid and the original Ghost Rider, today known as Phantom Rider. He eventually worked on their war comics including a famous run on Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos. One of his most well-known contributions came when he adapted Mary Shelley's famous novel into The Monster of Frankenstein. His most famous work came when he and artist Mike Ploog created the second Ghost Rider, a demonic skeletal superhero on a flaming motorcycle, named Johnny Blaze. He would also create the character Son of Satan based on a suggestion by Stan Lee.

The creation of Ghost Rider would become a point of contention between Friedrich and Marvel. Friedrich eventually sued Marvel as well as Sony Pictures Entertainment, Columbia Pictures, and others alleging that the character was being used without his permission for the live-action film featuring Nicolas Cage. An initial court decision sided with Marvel but was overturned by the Second Court of Appeals. Eventually, the two came to an amicable agreement.