Venom (2011) # 13

"Circle of Four, Part 1"

Cover Date: April 2012; On Sale Date: February 2012

Writer: Rick Remender; Artist: Tony Moore; Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna; Colorist: Val Staples; Editor: Jeanine Schaeffer; Senior Editor: Stephen Wacker & Mark Paniccia; Editor In Chief: Axel Alonso; Cover Artist: Stefano Caselli

Flash Thompson is currently hiding in a Las Vegas motel after he went AWOL from the army with the Venom symbiote.  He is unaware that the army has sent General Thunderbolt Ross, the Red Hulk, to find and bring both him and the symbiote back.  Elsewhere, at the Devil's Den casino, the owner Mr. Degli is dealing with a gambler unable to pay back his debts.  Degli offers to eliminate the debt and all it will cost is the man's soul, which he eagerly agrees to.

Meanwhile in Vegas, Johnny Blaze attempts to give guidance to the current Ghost Rider, Alejandra, who claims that there's nothing the former host can teach her.  Red Hulk approaches the city, jumping through the desert while thinking about how much he hates deserters.  Finally, X-23 has gone undercover as a waitress at the Devil's Den to find Degli, who she claims stole a vial of her blood for experimentation.  At an empty construction site, Degli and his aide Ms. Oyle prepare to enact their master plan.  Having built a spinning pentagram machine, they introduce their ingredients: 100 human souls signed over willingly, the remains of the Toxin symbiote, and the blood of a mortal who's been to Hell and back.  Now they only have to wait for the final ingredient to come to them, which Degli says "the Devil couldn't keep her away".  At a diner, Blaze and Alejandra are having dinner when she suddenly transforms into the Ghost Rider and says that Zarathos hears the call of hundreds of crying souls.  Blaze tries to talk her into thinking before acting, but Alejandra ignores him and rides into Las Vegas.  Before leaving to follow her, Blaze places a phone call to Daimon Hellstrom for help.

A drunk Flash Thompson is attacked by the Red Hulk at the motel, and a brief fight begins when Venom attempts to run.  X-23, meanwhile, has broken into Degli's office, where she finds clones of herself created from her stolen blood.  Before she can destroy them, the clones break free and reveal that they have also been given alien symbiotes of their own.  Ghost Rider arrives at the construction site and sees the spinning pentagram, which she decides to stop by jumping into it and riding in the opposite direction.  Unfortunately, that was Degli's plan all along, and the Ghost Rider opens up a portal to Hell that spreads all across Las Vegas.  Before leaving, Degli tells the Rider that if she stops the centrifuge then all of Earth will be sucked into Hell.  Venom and Hulk are forced to stop fighting when they see the city overrun with demons, and reluctantly they team up to save the helpless citizens.  When Blaze arrives at the city limits, he places a mystical amulet that blocks magic on the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign.  The amulet halts the spread of Hell from going past the city's border, and Blaze enters the city to find Alejandra.

Degli and Oyle arrive back at the casino and reveal themselves as Blackheart and his gargoyle companion.  Blackheart contacts his father, Mephisto, and attempts to gloat that he has brought Hell to Earth and will soon depose Mephisto as Hell's ruler.  Mephisto mocks and disregards him, which angers Blackheart even more.  Blaze finds Ghost Rider at the centrifuge and rides his own motorcycle into the machine to power it, telling Alejandra to go stop the person causing this while he keeps the portal open.  The top of Blackheart's casino is where all of the heroes converge; X-23, Venom, Red Hulk, and finally Ghost Rider all confront Blackheart, but only the Hulk shows caution as he's read the Avengers file on the demon.   Using his black mirror cauldron, Blackheart calls forth the dark antitheses of each hero: X-666, Ichor, the Evangelist, and Encephalon.

Uncanny Avengers Annual # 1

"Avengers of the Supernatural!"

Cover Date: June 2014

On Sale Date: April 2014

Writer: Rick Remender

Artist: Paul Renaud
Letterer: VC's Clayton Cowles
Colorist: Paul Renaud
Editors: Tom Brevoort & Daniel Ketchum
Editor-In-Chief: Axel Alonso

Cover Artist: Arthur Adams
 

In the Mojoverse, a dimension controlled via television broadcasts and mind-control, a group of TV executives have brought former ruler Mojo in to pitch them ideas for a new show to broadcast throughout the multiverse. Mojo reveals to them his idea for the "Avengers of the Supernatural", consisting of the kidnapped and brainwashed Ghost Rider, Dr. Strange, Blade, Satana, Manphibian, and Man-Thing. The executives listen to the pitch, requesting that the real Avengers be featured as well.

At Avengers Mansion, the team of heroes (consisting of Captain America, Wasp, Havok, Rogue, Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man, Sunfire, and a very drunk Wolverine and Thor) are having a relaxing day inside their home and outside at the pool. Suddenly, Ghost Rider bursts through the wall on his hellcycle, grabbing both Thor and Wolverine as he crashes through the back of the house. He throws Wolverine into his poolside teammates and slaps a slaver strip to Thor's forehead, instantly transporting him to Mojoworld. Before the Avengers can gather their wits, they are attacked by the other brainwashed supernatural heroes. Each of the Avengers are defeated in turn and sent to Mojoworld, leaving only Captain America as the last hero to fall.

On Mojoworld, Mojo directs his newest hit show (titled "Martian Transylvania Super Hero Mutant Monster Hunter High School"), which has cast the enslaved Avengers as high school jocks, the mutants as punks, and the monsters as nerds. High school drama unfolds, what with the Scarlet Witch having broke off her relationship with Thor. The TV executives order Mojo to "turn Ghost Rider evil", which forces Mojo to introduce a plot twist to his show. Wanda goes to visit the monster nerds and asks about Johnny Blaze. Dr. Strange tells Wanda that Blaze is cursed by a demon and that she will become his victim. Wanda professes her love for Johnny and runs out of the library, where Blaze waits for her in the street on his motorcycle. When Wanda tells Johnny that she's pregnant, however, it breaks the enslavement on him and he loses control of the Ghost Rider. The Spirit of Vengeance breaks free of the set, setting the other heroes free from the slaver spell, and rides away demanding vengeance. The Scarlet Witch confronts Mojo, telling him that his tampering has shut down Blaze's control of the Ghost Rider, driven it mad, and sent it out into the Mojoverse. Without Blaze to temper it, the Rider will seek vengeance on all life, everything viewed as a sin through its eyes.

Recognizing that the citizens of Mojoverse are guilty of gluttony and greed through their addiction to television, Ghost Rider soars through the air to land atop the artificial moon hanging low in the sky. Using his vantage point, Ghost Rider unleashes his Penance Stare down upon the city, driving all of the inhabitants mad with reliving their sins and misdeeds. While Dr. Strange is able to protect most of the heroes from the Penance Stare, the Man-Thing bursts into flame in empathic agony. They devise a plan for Satana to rip the Ghost Rider free from Blaze and take it into herself, hopeful that once he's regained control Johnny will take the Spirit back. The Avengers attack, but not even Thor is able to stop the Ghost Rider, who grows to giant-size during the battle. Satana is unsuccessful in stopping the Spirit of Vengeance, but the Man-Thing envelops the Rider in an attempt to stop the anguish the creature is feeling. Scarlet Witch distracts the Ghost Rider long enough for Rogue to grab him, absorbing the Spirit of Vengeance into herself and freeing Blaze. She begs Johnny to take the Spirit back, and though he does hesitate, he finally admits that no one should bear the curse but him and becomes the Ghost Rider again.

Dr. Strange teleports the heroes back to Earth, and when Blaze starts to become morose about being the Ghost Rider once again, the Wasp pushes him into the pool. The other Avengers jump into the pool as well, while an unhappy Blaze floats in the water and broods.