Friedrich had plenty of detractors during his career, but I've never had the heart to be one of them. Sure, he wrote the fascinatingly-misguided Gunhawks series for Marvel and he was never well-suited to super hero material, as his turns on Incredible Hulk, Captain America and X-Men proved. He also struggled as the follow-up to Jim Steranko's Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., telling stories which were visibly straining the efforts of artist Frank Springer to emulate innovative storytelling.
Yet Friedrich did have some talent when outside of the typical super hero format. He wrote all of Marvel's 70s-era war comics: Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, Captain Savage and His Leatherneck Raiders and Combat Kelly and the Deadly Dozen; sometimes he did very well in that genre with thoughtful parallels to the contemporary situation in Vietnam. Other times he missed the mark.
His western work - outside of the aforementioned Gunhawks - had a bit more pep than most Marvel westerns and he toiled for a time on all of Marvel's big names - most prominently the super hero-esque Ghost Rider but also Kid Colt, Outlaw, Rawhide Kid, Two-Gun Kid and the revival of Outlaw Kid. His Monster of Frankenstein was very good and he's definitely going to be remembered for his creation of the Johnny Blaze version of Ghost Rider, hands-down his most significant contribution to Marvel Comics.
Followers of this blog may recall I reviewed Friedrich & Ditko's Morlock 2001 and the Midnight Men #3 and rather enjoyed it; I also covered his Fright #1 and poked fun at some bad continuity in one of his Rawhide Kid stories.
Rest in peace, Mr. Friedrich.
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