Cover Date: December 1992; On Sale Date: October 1992
Writer: Howard Mackie; Artist: Alex Saviuk; Inker: Joe Rubinstein; Letterer: Dave Sharpe; Colorist: Bob Sharen; Editor: Danny Fingeroth; Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Alex Saviuk
Spider-Man swings through a stormy Manhattan with the captured Hobgoblin in tow. They are unaware that they’re being hunted by the Demogoblin, and an alien Spider-Man clone called Doppelganger. When they confront Spider-Man, Demogoblin states that he comes from a race of demons dedicated to killing all other demonic creatures and wants to kill Hobgoblin for once sharing a body with him. Spider-Man escapes with Hobgoblin into the city, fleeing into a large church for sanctuary.
Meanwhile, Ghost Rider and John Blaze are in the sewer system beneath the city, hunting for the Deathspawn and the innocent homeless people they have captive. They’re approached by Venom, who is hunting the same villains, Hag and Troll, for their murder of a Guardsman. Hag and Troll arrive with the Deathspawn, and a large battle commences.
At the church, Father Martin hides Spider-Man in the church’s basement, but is captured by Demogoblin, who offers Spider-Man the priest’s life in exchange for Hobgoblin. The battle in the sewer rages on and Blaze blasts a hole through the roof of the tunnel with his shotgun. Venom takes advantage of the situation and swings up through the hole with Hag and Troll, leaving Blaze and Ghost Rider behind to fight the Deathspawn. At that moment, Blaze’s hellfire blast creates a hole in the basement of the church, allowing Venom to climb directly into Spider-Man’s fight with Demogoblin.
Ghost Rider and Blaze follow, with most of the combatants being dragged back into the tunnels by the Deathspawn. Blaze jumps back into the tunnel willingly to rescue Ghost Rider, leaving Spider-Man to wonder if he should just go home to his wife. However, when the priest is dragged down by one of the Deathspawn, Spider-Man decides that he has to join the fight and jumps down into the tunnel.
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| Friendly neighborhood Spider-Monster |
THE ROADMAP
This issue is the first chapter of "Spirits of Venom" and continues from the events in Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 4. The crossover continues into Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 5 and Web of Spider-Man (1985) # 96.
Hag and Troll killed the Guardsmen in Web of Spider-Man (1985) # 94, which was witnessed by Venom.
Demogoblin was separated from the Hobgoblin in Web of Spider-Man (1985) # 86 and paired up with the Spider-Man Doppelganger in Spider-Man (1990) # 24.
CHAIN REACTION
“Spirits of Venom” kicks off yet another crossover, albeit one with a much stronger narrative than the ones before it. At this point, crossover burnout was starting to creep into the consciousness of Ghost Rider fans, with sales starting to dip after the 1-2 punch of the X-Men crossover and “Rise of the Midnight Sons”. This was still the height of the speculator boom for the market, so all of the Ghost Rider titles were still selling gangbusters, but there was a fatigue setting in that was going to hit full force in about a year’s time. So, another crossover just a month after the end of the previous crossover wasn’t exactly the best news.
Thankfully, “Spirits of Venom” benefits greatly by having one writer’s singular voice and two highly competent and consistent art teams. Howard Mackie had been writing Web of Spider-Man for a short time by this point, and there’s an interesting bit of synergy in the idea of crossing it over with Ghost Rider’s new sister title. The story also benefits from the coincidental collision of plots in this issue, with Spider-Man’s struggles smashing together with Ghost Rider’s completely by accident. It almost stretches the suspension of disbelief too far, what with Venom’s somewhat random involvement, but the chaos works to its favor. Spider-Man gets his own motivations and reasons for becoming involved in the crossover, with his own set of enemies literally engulfed and overwhelmed by the Deathspawn. Mackie juggles the two seemingly disparate elements of the plotlines very well, allowing all of the events to come through as natural extensions of what had been happening in the previous issues of each title.
Mackie also gives a more nuanced characterization to Spider-Man than when he’d previously appeared alongside Ghost Rider. Naturally, this is a Spider-Man comic so he’s due to the get the lion’s share of attention, but this is certainly a more sympathetic portrayal of the character than the last time Mackie used him over in Ghost Rider. There are some really fine questions about heroism at the issue’s end, with the priest telling Spider-Man that no one would think less of him if he didn’t go into the sewers after the Deathspawn and all his enemies. Spider-Man rightly says that he shouldn’t jump headfirst into certain death when he has a wife at home, but it wouldn’t be a Spider-Man story without the requisite reminder of “great responsibility”.
Alex Saviuk was a staple Spider-Man artist by this point, having illustrated Web of Spider-Man for 60 issues. He doesn’t have the flashiness of a Todd McFarlane or an Erik Larsen, but he certainly knows how to tell a story effectively. Demogoblin and Venom are darker villains that this series traditionally featured, so it’s nice to see Saviuk stretching his wings beyond the usual supervillain fare. He does a nice job on Ghost Rider and Blaze as well.
“Spirits of Venom” is already stronger than the two preceding crossovers with an opening chapter that delivers all the necessary set-up for Spider-Man’s inclusion.
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| "Demon" is literally part of your name, Demogoblin! |
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