Barbara Ketch

Barbara Ketch was a minor character featured in the early issues of Ghost Rider, Volume 3. She was introduced in issue #1 as the older sister of Dan Ketch - the young man destined to become the new Ghost Rider. Following issue #1, she made minor appearances in following issues until her death in ''Ghost Rider, Volume 3 #7.

Biography
Barbara Ketch was the older sister of Danny Ketch and the second child of Naomi Kale and Barton Blaze. Aware of the curse of the Blood that was fated to befall the Blaze children, Naomi Kale separated Barbara and Danny from Johnny and sent them to be raised by Francis Ketch in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn.

As a young woman, Barbara grew up ignorant of her family's ancient origins and ties to the supernatural. She considered herself a carefree spirit who enjoyed getting into mischief. One evening, Danny and she went out on Halloween-eve to Cypress Hills Cemetery in search of the grave of Harry Houdini. They soon found themselves embroiled in an underworld battle between two rival cartels; the ninja assassins of Deathwatch and the hired guns of Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime. While silently watching the tableau before them from nearby Gallagher's Junkyard, Barbara let out a cry of shock, alerting the criminals to their position. One of the ninjas fired a crossbow bolt that struck Barbara in the chest. Terrified, Danny pulled her away from the scene and went deeper into the junkyard. He propped her up against a motorcycle that had been sitting amongst the debris. As Barbara's life's blood spilled out of her, Danny touched the Medallion of Power, which had been affixed to the gas tank of the cycle. As was fated to happen, contact with the Medallion transformed Danny Ketch into the demonic Spirit of Vengeance known as the Ghost Rider. The Ghost Rider placed Barbara's bleeding body onto the cycle and rode off. He left her in the care of several police officers who then took her to St. John's Hospital in Queens.

The physicians were able to save Barbara's life, but her injuries were so severe that she lapsed into a coma. Her mother and brother came to visit her and Danny blamed himself for putting her life in danger. Barbara was then relocated to New York University Hospital where her condition remained unchanged.

A super-villain known as Blackout, learned about Danny Ketch and knew that he was now the new vessel for the Spirit of Vengeance. Wishing to avenge himself against the Ghost Rider for past defeats, Blackout went to the hospital and murdered Barbara.

Notes & Trivia

 * The character of was created by writer Howard Mackie and artists Javier Saltares and Mark Texeira.


 * An alternate version of Barbara Ketch was featured in issue 45 of the series What If...? in a story titled "What If Barbara Ketch Had Become Ghost Rider?". The story was patterned after the "Life's Blood" story from Ghost Rider, Volume 3 #1, except in this instance, it was Danny who had been shot by the criminal assassin, not Barbara. Events played out similarly from the original story, but for the fact that it was Barbara who now inherited the mantle of Spirit of Vengeance and became a female Ghost Rider.