Daredevil (1964) # 295

"Through the Eyes of the Enemy"

Cover Date: July 1991

On Sale Date: May 1991

Writer: D. G. Chichester
Artist: Lee Weeks
Inker: Al Williamson
Letterer: Pat Moretti
Colorist: Christie Scheele
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-In-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Cover Artist: Lee Weeks

A nighttime fight in a playground between Daredevil and ninjas of the Hand is interrupted by Ghost Rider, who is seeking vengeance for deaths caused by the ninjas. The leader of the Hand and his chief enforcer, Izanami, escape and leave their men to face off against the two vigilantes. Daredevil and Ghost Rider easily defeat the ninjas, who disappear as clouds of mist when they die. Ghost Rider attempts to give the last ninja the Penance Stare, which Daredevil interrupts, causing all of them to witness a vision of the Hand coming under the control of Hydra's Baron Strucker. Ghost Rider, shaken by the vision, almost gives the Penance Stare to Daredevil before becoming too weak. He transforms back into Danny Ketch, who collapses in Daredevil's arms. 

Later, Matt Murdock takes Danny to the church where his mother is a nun, and leaves him in the care of the sisters. Danny, weakened by the feedback of the Ghost Rider's Penance Stare, tells Daredevil that the Rider knows that Daredevil will take care of things without him. Murdock whispers "Spirit of Vengeance for a day," before going off to confront the Hand.

Guardians of the Galaxy (1990) # 14

"Spirit of Vengeance Part 2: Hallowed Be Thy Name..."

Cover Date: July1991

On Sale Date: May 1991

Writer: Jim Valentino
Artist: Jim Valentino
Inker: Steve Montano
Letterer: Brad K. Joyce
Colorist: Evelyn Stein
Editor: Craig Anderson
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Cover Artist: Jim Valentino

Believing that they are warriors for the Universal Church of Truth, the 31st Century Spirit of Vengeance attacks the Guardians of the Galaxy in their ship. One of the Guardians, a young shapechanger named Replica who actually is a member of the Universal Church, demands that they kill the demon. The fight ends when the ship is surrounded by the Universal Church's fleet of starships and the Spirit of Vengeance escapes back to the planet Sarka, realizing he was wrong about the Guardians. 

The Guardians are taken to Sarka to be indoctrinated into the Church, prompting a fight between the Guardians and the soldiers. Yondu and Vance Astro manage to escape, but the other Guardians are captured and placed in torture devices. Only Replica is allowed to remain free due to her being a member of the Church who refuses to betray her beliefs to help her friends. Yondu and Vance locate the Spirit of Vengeance, who agrees to help them rescue the other Guardians. Replica, despite her crisis of faith, attempts to free the Guardians herself but is caught by the Grand Inquisitor. The Spirit of Vengeance arrives with Vance and Yondu, freeing the other Guardians in the process. While the Guardians teleport back to their ship, the Spirit of Vengeance remains behind and impales the Grand Inquisitor with his motorcycle. The Guardians are then able to escape the planet's orbit to head off on their next mission.

The Original Ghost Rider Rides Again (1991) # 1

"The Curse of Jonathan Blaze!" & "Personal Demons"

Cover Date: July 1991
On Sale Date: May 1991

Writer: Roger Stern
Artist: Bob Budiansky
Inker: Josef Rubinstein & Dave Simons
Letterer: Diana Albers
Colorist: George Roussos
Editor: Tom DeFalco
Editor In Chief: Jim Shooter

Cover Artist: Bob Budiansky

During a late night thunderstorm, a priest walks through his church with candle in hand. He hears the doors creak open, and when he turns he finds a lone man standing in the archway. The priest asks who is there, unable to see him with the power out due to the storm. Johnny Blaze walks in an apologizes for startling him, then says that he guesses he's looking for sanctuary. He was out on his bike when the storm took him by surprise. The priest, still shaken, invites Johnny inside and provides more light with some candles. Johnny notices that the ornaments in the church are all made from solid gold, but the priest dodges the statement by asking if Johnny needs any guidance. Johnny reluctantly acquiesces and says he'd like to make a confession. The priest agrees and leads Blaze into the confessional booth, the two men separated by a steel gate.

Johnny, unsure of how to begin, goes back to the beginning for his confession. He tells the priest about his father dying and him then being adopted by Crash and Mona Simpson. As he grew older, he began to practice for inclusion in his foster parents' cycle show...until one day, when a bike accident killed Mona. On her deathbed, Mona asks Johnny never to ride in the show, to which her agrees. Johnny then explains that after Mona's death he began to go in weird directions. Taking a heavy interest in the occult, he was disgusted by most of what he read and went back to simple mechanic work for the cycle show, keeping his promise. He told neither Crash nor Roxanne Simpson, their daughter and the woman that Blaze loved, making them think he was a coward. It hit Johnny that while he vowed never to ride in the show, that didn't mean he couldn't ride for the sheer thrill of it...so he began to practice at night until finally being discovered by Roxanne. While the cycle show grew in popularity, Crash was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Blaze tells the priest that there was nothing anyone could do...anyone except him.

Going back to the occult books, Blaze contacted Satan himself and offered the demon his soul in exchange for Crash's life being spared from the cancer. The next night, however, Crash died anyway - not from the disease but from a motorcycle accident. The next night, Satan came calling for Johnny's soul, but was interrupted by Roxanne, who chants a spell read from Blaze's books that drove Satan away. In the confessional, Johnny breaks down, saying that Roxanne saved his soul and he doesn't even know now if she's alive or dead.

The priest tries to calm Blaze by saying the devil was merely a delusion, to which Johnny snaps back that he wishes he was crazy. He tells the priest about the Ghost Rider, a demon taken from Hell and bonded to his soul, and about the hellfire at the demon's command. Johnny is locked in a constant struggle against the Ghost Rider, but he admits that there are times he wants to set the demon loose to give the guilty what they deserve. He then tells the priest that tonight he came across a man laying in a ditch. A man left for dead...a man that was a priest. Before the man died, he told Johnny that his murderer had stolen his clothing, which had puzzled him until he saw all of the gold in the church. As the "priest" removes a gun from his jacket, an intense light begins to glow through the grate separating the confessional booths...and suddenly a flaming skeletal hand comes ripping through the grate.

The murderer runs from the confessional, chased by the Ghost Rider. As he runs out the front door, the "priest" steals Blaze's motorcycle and rides off, only to see the Ghost Rider - on his hellfire cycle - right behind him. After a frantic chase across the countryside, the killer is eventually knocked off the road and falls onto train tracks, his arm painfully lodged between the steel rails. As a train bears down on him, the Ghost Rider appears and frees his arm. The demon says that "death is too good for you"...and then fries the man with hellfire.

The next morning, paramedics and police pull the man up to the road on a stretcher. He is paralyzed by fear, his mouth wide open but no sound coming out. Johnny Blaze talks with one of the police, who tells Johnny that while normally he'd hold him for questioning they just found out that the victim is wanted for a string of thefts and the murder of a priest. The cop asks what would possess a man to do such a thing, to which Johnny replies "a man can have a lot of demons locked up inside of him".

Ghost Rider (1990) # 15

"Last Hope"

Cover Date: July 1991

On Sale Date: May 1991

Writer: Howard Mackie
Artist: Mark Texeira
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Gregory Wright
Editor: Bobbie Chase
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

Cover Artist: Mark Texeira

Ghost Rider, having been severely injured by John Blaze, attempts to make his way to Central Park to stop Blackout but crashes his bike on the way there. Unable to take the pain, he transforms back into Danny Ketch, who is immediately attacked by a group of punks who cut him with a knife and steal his motorcycle. The punks are stopped by two agents of H.E.A.R.T., who are gathering up all of the bikes in the area to take to their employer, Deathwatch. Dan watches as the women take his bike, but since he can do nothing to stop them he continues on his way to Central Park. Meanwhile, John Blaze experiments with his shotgun, which is now shooting hellfire.

Later that night, the agents of H.E.A.R.T. have brought all the bikes they could find to Deathwatch. On the radio with the women's leader, Tyler Meagher, Deathwatch tells her not to attempt to apprehend the Ghost Rider or to interfere with the killings going on in Central Park. At the park, a woman and her daughter are attacked by Blackout, and the screams are heard by both a severely wounded Danny and the approaching Blaze. When Meagher learns that the serial killer is working for Deathwatch, she orders her two agents to leave immediately; but just then, the Ghost Rider's motorcycle breaks out of Deathwatch's penthouse and makes its way to the park as well.

Danny stumbles across Blackout, who has hidden the young daughter as insurance. Before Blackout can kill Danny, the motorcycle arrives, transforming him again into a still-injured Ghost Rider. Blaze arrives and blasts the Rider with the hellfire shotgun, allowing Blackout to get away. Ghost Rider grabs Blaze and tells him to stop interfering, again telling him that he is not Zarathos. Before he can catch Blackout, Ghost Rider is attacked from behind again, this time by Tyler Meagher. He destroys her weapon and continues his search. He finds Blackout holding the young woman he kidnapped hostage. Black and Meagher arrive, and Tyler shoots Blackout before he can escape with the woman. Ghost Rider grabs Blackout and tells Blaze to shoot them both before he can kill the girl. Blaze fires, blowing off Ghost Rider's hand and further disfiguring Blackout's face. The Rider beats Blackout into unconsciousness, but is stopped from killing the villain by Blaze, who tells him that Zarathos was a murderer. Ghost Rider thanks Blaze, telling him that is not a killer, and leaves just as the police arrive to arrest everyone.