31st Century Spirit of Vengeance Chronology

Cover Artist: Jim Valentino

At the request of reader Alex Maki, here's a chronology of Wileaydus Autolycus, the Spirit of Vengeance of the 31st century!  This character is an interesting side-note to the Ghost Rider legacy, and his creation and presence actually say a lot more in subtext than one would think.  Created by Jim Valentino in 1991 during the writer/artist's run on Guardians of the Galaxy, Wileaydus was an alien possessed by the Spirit of Vengeance, making him a future iteration of Ghost Rider.  He lived on the planet Sarka, which was ruled by an oppressive religion called the Universal Church of Truth.  The Church went about policing their world with practices straight out of the Spanish Inquisition, and was actually a priest in the Church in his human guise.  As the Spirit of Vengeance (never called "Ghost Rider", just "Spirit of Vengeance"), Wileaydus fought against the Church's regime but was often just as judgmental and murderous as his enemies.

Eventually, Wileaydus came into contact with the Guardians of the Galaxy.  This was the original incarnation of the team, the 31st century group with characters like Vance Astro and Starhawk, not the modern day movie star team.  After some expected misunderstandings and clashes, the Spirit of Vengeance became an ally to the Guardians and was drafted into a spin-off group called the Galactic Guardians (original, yes, I know).  This team included other future versions of Marvel heroes, such as Phoenix, Firelord, and Wonder Man.  Following the conclusion of the 90s' Guardians series Wileaydus fell into limbo and has yet to make any more appearances.  But who knows, maybe he'll pop up again in some time travel story down the line?

Most interestingly is what he means to the Spirit of Vengeance concept, that subtext I mentioned earlier.  He's not from Earth, he's an alien with no contact or knowledge of humanity, yet he's possessed by an entity seemingly created by the Christian deity of Earth.  Does this mean Yahweh is the "one true god" of every planet, race, and civilization in the universe and has created Spirits of Vengeance to police all of them?  Does this mean the Spirit of Vengeance somehow made its way across the stars to settle on another world after Earth's near-destruction in that future timeline?    A story that detailed just HOW Wileaydus Autolycus became a Ghost Rider is one I would be truly interested in reading, though the likelihood of ever seeing that is slim to none.

1991
Guardians of the Galaxy (1990) # 13
Guardians of the Galaxy (1990) # 14

1992
Guardians of the Galaxy (1990) Annual # 2

1993
Guardians of the Galaxy (1990) # 34 (cameo)
Guardians of the Galaxy (1990) # 35
Guardians of the Galaxy (1990) # 36
Guardians of the Galaxy (1990) # 37

1994
Guardians of the Galaxy (1990) # 47 (cameo)
Guardians of the Galaxy (1990) # 50 (cameo)
Galactic Guardians (1994) # 1
Galactic Guardians (1994) # 2
Galactic Guardians (1994) # 3
Galactic Guardians (1994) # 4