nerd out!

even though i was a marvel child, i never really got into ghost rider. i'm not really sure why; it's kind of right up my alley. i actually never got into spawn, either, at least not until i raided jake's comic collection, although it also rests on themes that are pretty appealing to me; vengeance, chains, a battle between the higher powers. anyway, i think that the new movie coming out is going to be pretty cool, so i decided to check out the backstory. as it turns out, both ghost rider and spawn are, like the green lantern, roles that are filled by various people through the years. unlike green lantern, however, both spawn and ghost rider end up in these predicaments (they are considered predicaments rather than an honor, like the ring) by promising their souls to the same demon, mephisto. mephisto is based on the demon mephistopheles (which comes from a latin phrase meaning "friend of faustus), a demon who has become part of christian mythology but who is not mentioned in the bible. the character of mephistopheles is believed to have evolved during the rennaissance, from the popularity of the story of doctor johann georg faust, the basis of goethe's "faust."

i love mythology. i'm going to spend my next three days off in front of the space heater reading a book on greek mythology i ordered from the library.