Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 13

"Midnight Massacre, Part 5: Dead Man’s Tales" 

Cover Date: August 1993; On Sale Date: June 1993 

Writer: Howard Mackie; Artist: Adam Kubert; Inkers: Joe Kubert, Dan Green, Klaus Janson, & Frank Spinks; Letterer: Bill Oakley; Colorist: Gregory Wright; Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor-In-Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Adam Kubert 

At the Sanctum Sanctorum, home of Dr. Strange, the remaining members of the Midnight Sons arrive to find another of their number, Morbius, dead and the possessed Switchblade attempting to gain access to the building. Blade blasts his way inside and begins his search for the Darkhold, realizing that Strange is not home. Ghost Rider attempts to enter the Sanctum but is unable to get past the protective magical barrier. Blade finds the Darkhold but when he tries to grab it a spell is activated that drags him and the book outside amidst a teleportation vortex. Louise Hastings realizes that Strange’s spell is sending the Darkhold to another dimension and tells Ghost Rider to anchor the book so they can use it to stop Blade. Ghost Rider rushes forward to fight Blade, but is almost immediately overpowered and killed. Upon dying, Ghost Rider’s powers are absorbed by Blade, including the Penance Stare, which causes agony for Blade. Elsewhere, at a mysterious bar called the Nightclub, a member of the Blood named Seer who previously escaped Blade realizes that the Caretaker was right and the Blood need to gather once again. 

While he lay dying Ghost Rider experiences visions of the future that involve him, Blaze, and Vengeance working together against Centurious. Louise Hastings reaches the Darkhold and reads aloud the spell that reverses Blade’s transformation and resurrects all of his victims. Ghost Rider stops Modred from killing Blade and the Midnight Sons go their separate ways. They are unaware that the dimensional walls have started to fall, potentially unleashing terrible evil into the world. 

Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 12

"Obligations"

Cover Date: July 1993; On Sale Date: May 1993

Writer: Howard Mackie; Artist: Adam Kubert; Inker: Bill Reinhold; Letterer: Michael Heisler; Colorist: Gregory Wright; Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Adam Kubert

In Dover, New Jersey, a quartet of men sneak through the forest - John Blaze, Ghost Rider, Wolf, and Kody - outside the armed military camp established over the ruins of the Quentin Carnival. The men sneak onto the base and find the large tent that house the dead bodies of their friends. They start soaking the bodies with gasoline, not wanting scientists to start dissecting them like freaks. John recovers the body of his friend, Eli, and tells Wolf and Kody to escape while he and the Ghost Rider provide a distraction. After they leave the tent, John and the Rider are confronted by a battalion of soldiers, who state that they are being taken into custody. Their mystical motorcycles arrive, allowing them to escape as the soldiers open fire, one round clipping Blaze across the shoulder. The bullets then strike the gasoline soaked tent, causing it explode as the two men ride into the forest. Atop a hill overlooking the camp, John says goodbye to his deceased friends. He then says that he has to find out the answers to the questions in Eli's letter, and the meaning of a key inscribed with the same medallion emblem as the Ghost Rider's motorcycle. The two ride off again, planning on leading the army in the wrong direction from their rendezvous point with the others.

At the city limits of Dover, Vengeance enters the town on his own mystical motorcycle, determined to find Ghost Rider despite being slowed down by the Caretaker in New York. Two army helicopters fly over him, ordering him to surrender, but he simply blasts them out of the sky with hellfire. At the opposite border of the city, Wolf's truck is stopped by by a military blockade who have to take a look in the back of the vehicle. Kody rips through the truck door and nearly kills the soldiers until Wolf stops him. Miranda then uses her own mystical power to make the men forget about them.

While the army chase Ghost Rider and Blaze, John comments that his arm feels like its on fire and that they've led the soldiers far enough away. Opening the throttles on their bikes, the two heroes easily outdistance the army. Elsewhere Vengeance, on the other hand, removes the large spikes from his shoulders and tosses them backward, killing the soldiers that were pursuing him. Fifteen minutes later, John and the Ghost Rider arrive at Eli's cabin. Leaving the bike's behind to walk up to the cabin, Blaze says that the bullet that hit his arm must have been an incendiary load. He doesn't notice the bit of flame that is coming from the cut on his shoulder. After they leave, Vengeance finds the bikes and the medallion that Mephisto ordered him to retrieve. Vengeance decides to get it later, instead making his way to the cabin to kill the Ghost Rider. Vengeance attacks Blaze and Ghost Rider, initially overpowering both of them. Nothing the two heroes do seems able to stop Vengeance, who says that he'll keep coming and coming until one day when the Ghost Rider will die. Unexpectedly, Vengeance then disappears into a mystic portal that sends him to a destination unknown. The heroes are approached by Eli's son, Quinn, who teleported Vengeance far away.

Inside the cabin, as the rest of the Carnival arrive, Quinn tells Blaze that his father was a powerful mystic, and that his only desire was to help John before he died. Quinn takes Blaze into a room with a large box, which is opened with the key inscribed with the medallion. John sees a vision of Eli, who gives him a message that he's left him two gifts: the first is in the box and the second is his son, Quinn. "The time of the Blood and the Medallion is coming", Eli says, his final words to John. Later, outside in the forest, John and the rest of his companions bury Eli and mourn the loss of their friends and family.

Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 10

"Carnival of Death, Part 2: A Storm of Vengeance"

Cover Date: May 1993; On Sale Date: March 1993

Writer: Howard Mackie; Artist: Adam Kubert; Inker: Bill Reinhold; Letterer: Michael Heisler; Colorist: Gregory Wright; Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Adam Kubert

Steel Wind and her demon horde continue the assault on the Quentin Carnival, while Vengeance watches from a nearby hillside. Steel Wind attacks Ghost Rider directly, prompting Vengeance to finally enter the fray, riding through and killing human and demon alike. Just as Steel Wind is preparing to give the Rider the death blow with her sword, Vengeance grabs her arm and rips it from her cyborg body, claiming that no one is going to kill the Ghost Rider but him.

Meanwhile, Blaze attempts to pull the Carnival people together so they can have a chance of winning. Kody refuses to fight, until the demons invade the tent and grab Clara. Outside, Vengeance attacks the Ghost Rider, while Steel Wind slithers away. She spies Eli, the Carnival's crippled mechanic, a few feet away, whom she then stabs in the back with her blades. Blaze sees this and in a furious rage blows the woman away with hellfire. Eli dies, but not before handing John an envelope. John and Miranda then attempt to find her son, Timmy, but instead see Kody, who has transformed into a savage, bestial creature that is killing the surrounding demons with ease. Miranda finds Timmy's jacket on the ground, and as she cries a green mystical energy begins to pulse from her eyes.

On the other side of the battlefield, Vengeance continues to beat down on Ghost Rider, claiming that the Rider caused some sort of pain against his family. Before Vengeance can kill the Rider, however, a blast of mystical energy erupts from Miranda, obliterating the demon horde and blasting both Steel Wind and Vengeance away. Meanwhile, watching from his lair, Steel Wind's master observes the events at the Carnival. The master is then revealed to be Centurious - the Soulless Man.

Not long after, Blaze and the surviving Carnival members attempt to pull themselves back together. Miranda's son, Timmy, has disappeared and Eli - along with dozens of others - is dead. Wolf comments that they beat the demons, but John fights back tears as he asks what they actually won. All they can do now is bury their dead, their friends and family, and wait and see what tomorrow brings.

Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 9

"Carnival of Death, Part 1"

Cover Date: April 1993; On Sale Date: February 1993

Writer: Howard Mackie; Artist: Adam Kubert; Inker: Bill Reinhold & Klaus Janson; Letterer: Michael Heisler; Colorist: Gregory Wright; Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Adam Kubert

In an unknown location, Steel Vengeance is punished by her master while her sister watches patiently. The sisters' master blames the woman for the failure at the Quentin Carnival, despite Mephisto's interference, so as an example he kills Steel Vengeance. He then instructs Steel Wind to return to the Carnival, granting her an eyeball amulet that controls the demons of Styge. He also gives the captured Deathwatch, Hag, and Troll over to another of his minions, Carver, to make some use of.

Blaze and Ghost Rider make their way back to the Carnival ruins, only to find Wolf and the other survivors brandishing guns for protection against the demons that Steel Wind left behind. Clara tells John that Miranda's son, Timmy, is alone out in the woods, prompting Blaze and Ghost Rider to search for him. Before they leave, the cripple mechanic Eli tells John that he has something to give him when he gets back.

Meanwhile, two men have a mysterious meeting. The first man, brandishing a gun, asks about the other man's offer, saying he'd give anything for "him". The other man says that it sounds as if he'd sell his soul for a chance at Ghost Rider, to which the first man agrees. The second man then reveals himself to be Mephisto, who takes the first man's soul and transforms him into a horrific creature. Creating for him a mystical motorcycle infused with the blood of the innocent, Mephisto remarks "As Ghost Rider is so fond of saying 'Vengeance will be ours." and so you are named...VENGEANCE!" This new player will be Mephisto's right arm in the upcoming events, and that his desire for vengeance against Ghost Rider will be all-consuming.

Back in Dover, Timmy walks through the deserted snow-covered streets, unaware that he's being stalked by the cannibal demons of Styge. In the woods on the outskirts of town, Steel Wind implements the eyeball amulet on the Stygian demons, doubling their number. They are to slaughter everyone but Blaze and Ghost Rider, who are to be left for her. In the city, a few of the demons have surrounded Timmy, but the boy is rescued by Blaze and the Ghost Rider. After a brief fight, the demons run away, escaping to attack the Carnival. At the Carnival ruins, Clara begins to have another vision of death, prompting Wolf and the other remaining survivors to run out and meet the demons head-on. Blaze and Ghost Rider return to find the Carnival overrun by the demons and Steel Wind, the people being slaughtered. As the two heroes race down to join the battle, another watches them from a nearby hilltop. Vengeance has arrived, and he declares himself to be the Ghost Rider's death.

Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 8

"Devil Dance"

Cover Date: March 1993; On Sale Date: January 1993

Writer: Howard Mackie; Artist: Adam Kubert; Inker: Bill Reinhold; Letterer: Michael Heisler; Colorist: Gregory Wright; Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Adam Kubert

Ghost Rider and John Blaze are transported to a desert wasteland by Mephisto, who seeks to test them against his own agents.  He refers to an upcoming "war of souls" that is building, where forces will attempt to usurp his power, which he will have none of.  Mephisto disappears, and Blaze and Ghost Rider are left to wait for their motorcycles to come pick them up.  Before that can happen, they are attacked by two of Mephisto's demons, the Soulless Ones.  The two demons quickly get the upper hand against the Spirits of Vengeance, nearly killing Blaze in the process.  After a brief battle, the demons are destroyed, and Mephisto reappears.  He directs them to seek out the Soul Crystal, where they will find answers to their questions, and then he disappears.  Later, in Hell, Mephisto tells the Soulless Ones that while he cannot kill the Spirits of Vengeance he can only hope to steal their souls.  However, there is another mortal that will sell their soul to him willingly. 

"The Great Hunt, Part 2"

Writer: Howard Mackie; Artist: Joe Kubert; Letterer: Bill Oakley; Colorist: Gregory Wright; Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

Ghost Rider is dragged into the basement tunnels beneath the Natural History Museum by the Feeders, monsters who have emerged to hunt and eat humans.  Ghost Rider is taken before the oldest Feeder, who explains that they are a race that has lived hidden for centuries and adhere to their racial need to feast on human flesh.  Ghost Rider breaks free and imprisons the Feeders with his chain, all save the leader who he defeats in combat.  The eldest Feeder mocks the Ghost Rider's inability to kill, transforming into a human-like form and saying that his race are an offshoot of humanity.  Ghost Rider instead gives him the Penance Stare, then escorts the kidnapped people back to the surface.

Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 7

"A Day of Vengeance, a Day of Death!"

Cover Date: February 1993; On Sale Date: December 1992

Writer: Howard Mackie; Artist: Adam Kubert; Inker: Bill Reinhold; Letterer: Michael Heisler; Colorist: Gregory Wright; Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Adam Kubert

Outside Dover, New Jersey, Ghost Rider and John Blaze ride through a vicious snowstorm on their way to the Quentin Carnival.  Blaze thinks something is wrong at the Carnival and is upset that they wasted so much time looking for Dr. Strange while dragging Hag, Troll, and Deathwatch behind them.  When they arrive at the Carnival, Blaze finds his close friends in Clara the psychic's trailer, caring for her as she's overwhelmed by visions of death.  She tries to warn Blaze about the danger, but it's too late, "they" are here.  Outside, Ghost Rider stands in the blizzard and is taken out with an explosive.  Blaze and his friends head outside, where they find Steel Vengeance and her sister, Steel Wind, in command of an army of demons.  As an act of revenge, the sisters send their "Stygian Horde" to destroy the Carnival while the women attack Blaze.  Ghost Rider emerges from the snow to rejoin Blaze, but the battle is interrupted by Mephisto, who appears as a giant and sets the Carnival on fire.  He transports Blaze and Ghost Rider away to test them, while Steel Wind and Steel Vengeance gather up Deathwatch, Hag, and Troll to take back to their master.

"The Great Hunt, Part 1"

Writer: Howard Mackie; Artist: Joe Kubert; Letterer: Bill Oakley; Colorist: Gregory Wright; Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

During a snowstorm in Manhattan, a group of monsters emerge called the Feeders.  They are starting "the Great Hunt", which involves them kidnapping people off the street and dragging them away.  Dan Ketch and his friend Donna are attacked, and Dan transforms into Ghost Rider to fight the Feeder.  He learns that the Feeders are taking the people away to eat them, and when the monster escapes Ghost Rider follows him to the Natural History Museum.  There, he is confronted by four more Feeders, who welcome him to their great feast.

Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 6

"Spirits of Venom, Part 4: Last Rites" 

Cover Date: January 1993; On Sale Date: November 1992 

Writer: Howard Mackie; Artist: Adam Kubert; Inker: Bill Reinhold; Letterer: Michael Heisler; Colorist: Gregory Wright; Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Adam Kubert 

Venom, furious that Spider-Man was allowed to escape, attacks Ghost Rider in the sewer tunnels under Manhattan. Ghost Rider attempts to use the Penance Stare, but Venom’s alien symbiote causes a violent chain reaction that knocks Ghost Rider unconscious. John Blaze intervenes to save Ghost Rider but is quickly disarmed by Venom. All three are then dragged into the shadows by the Deathspawn. Meanwhile, at the Quentin Carnival, Clara Menninger is being looked after by other members of the carnival as she suffers from visions of death in the future. 

Back in Manhattan, Spider-Man emerges onto the surface with the rescued people and an unconscious Hobgoblin, who he hands off to the just-arriving Guardsmen of the Vault supervillain prison. Spider-Man then goes back down into the tunnels to find Ghost Rider and Blaze. The assembled Deathspawn, led by Hag and Troll, have imprisoned Ghost Rider, Blaze, and Venom in front of the comatose Deathwatch. They reveal that the Deathspawn are humans who gave part of their life force to allow Deathwatch to cross over from his home dimension. The Deathspawn enter Deathwatch’s body, animating it so he can feed on the heroes’ life forces, starting with Blaze. Spider-Man arrives and tries to use Blaze’s hellfire shotgun but discovers that it won’t fire. When he tosses it to Blaze, however, it works just fine as John uses it to free Ghost Rider. While Ghost Rider attempts to contain the Deathspawn within Deathwatch’s body, Blaze frees Venom to assist in helping Spider-Man, realizing that Venom would go through anyone to get his revenge on Spider-Man. Ghost Rider orders Blaze to fire his shotgun at his chain, which is wrapped around Deathwatch, creating a continuous circuit of hellfire to keep the Deathspawn trapped inside. Blaze incapacitates Hag and Troll before confronting Venom, telling him that they’re not going to let him kill Spider-Man. The Guardsmen arrive and use a sonic weapon on Venom, allowing him to be captured. Later, while Spider-Man helps the Guardsmen load up Venom and Demogoblin in their transport to the Vault, Ghost Rider and Blaze depart with Deathwatch, Hag, and Troll in search of Dr. Strange. Blaze, however, wants to get back to the carnival before the snowstorm gets worse.

Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 5

"Spirits of Venom, Part 2: Chasing Shadows"

Cover Date: December 1992; On Sale Date: October 1992

Writer: Howard Mackie; Artist: Adam Kubert; Inker: Bill Reinhold; Letterer: Michael Heisler; Colorist: Gregory Wright; Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Adam Kubert

John Blaze wakes up in the sewers surrounded by the Death Spawn, while around him rages a battle consisting of Ghost Rider, Venom, Spider-Man, Hobgoblin, Demogoblin, the Doppelganger, Hag, Troll, and the comatose Deathwatch.  Blaze also notices an innocent priest that has been pulled into the battle.  Wanting to force the Deathspawn to back off, Blaze shoots a gas main with his hellfire shotgun, causing an explosion that separates the combatants.  When Venom attempts to stop the Deathspawn from taking Spider-Man he gets in the way of Blaze's hellfire, causing the Venom symbiote pain.  A brief confrontation occurs between Venom, Blaze, and Ghost Rider that ends with Venom stalking away to find Spider-Man.  Ghost Rider then points out that Hag and Troll have left Deathwatch's body behind.  They follow the sounds of screams to a hole behind a wall, but lose Deathwatch to one of the Deathspawn that emerges from the hole.  Venom then reappears and shoves Ghost Rider and Blaze into the hole, following the Death Spawn.  Meanwhile, in New Jersey at the Quentin Carnival, blind psychic Clara Menninger has a vision of the carnival being destroyed.

Back in the sewers, Blaze, Ghost Rider, and Venom find a group of homeless people that the Deathspawn have brought to the caverns as food.  They also find Spider-Man, Father Martin, Demogoblin, Doppelganger, and Hobgoblin trapped against a nearby wall.  Hag and Troll appear with the rest of the Deathspawn and another battle ensues.  Once again, the Deathspawn separate, with the innocent people being taken one way and both Spider-Man and Deathwatch being taken another way.  Blaze argues to Ghost Rider and Venom that the people take priority over everything, forcing the three into an uneasy alliance.

Avengers (2018) # 8-10

"Inside Avengers Mountain" / "Defenders of the Deep" / "The Battle For the Right to Be Called...Earth's Mightiest"

Cover Date: October 2018, November 2018, & December 2018; On Sale Date: August 2018, September 2018, & October 2018

Writer: Jason Aaron; Artist: David Marquez, Ed McGuiness, Frazer Irving, Adam Kubert, & Andrea Sorrentino; Letterer: VC's Cory Petit; Colorist: Justin Ponsor; Editor: Tom Brevoort; Associate Editor: Alanna Smith; Editor-in-Chief: C.B. Cebulski; Cover Artist: Ed McGuiness

Robbie Reyes has a phone conversation with his little brother Gabe as he drives the Hell Charger across the Arctic Ocean. He arrives at Avengers Mountain, the hero team's new headquarters made out of the body of the dead Celestial Progenitor. Robbie is met inside by Captain America, who welcomes him to the team. Robbie is then forced to transform into the Ghost Rider to train with the Captain.

Days earlier, following the defeat of the Final Host, the Avengers face the captive Loki, who claims to have set everything in motion so the Avengers would reform. The Celestials depart with Loki, but Ghost Rider explains that they are leaving the body of the Progenitor for the heroes as a warning to the next threats that come to Earth. Back in the present, a whaling ship is attacked by Atlantean warriors, who are killed by the ship's guards. When Black Panther holds the first meeting of the new Avengers team it is interrupted by a crisis alert. The Roxxon whaling ship is now under attack by an enraged Manor the Sub-Mariner.

An underwater fight between Stingray and Tiger Shark is interrupted by Namor the Sub-Mariner, who tells them they can either join him or stay out of the ocean. He savagely beats Stingray nearly to death, causing Tiger Shark to agree to joining his war against the surface.

Days earlier, the Avengers are in the ruins of Atlantis fighting Namor's Atlantean army tobrwcuse a crew of Roxxon soldiers thst have been taken captive. The Atlanteans summon a massive sea beast that swallows Ghost Rider's He'll Charger, but Robbie is able to drive his way back out of its mouth. The Avengers confront Manor, who holds his own against all of them until Captain America attempts to talk him down. Namor accuses the Roxxon ship of poisoning his people and murdering his soldiers, and even Captain America's promise to have them face justice isn't enough to sway Namor's anger. He reluctantly lets the Avengers leave with the Roxxon soldiers.

Later, spurred on by the deaths Atlantean child refugees on the surface, Namor has declared war on all air breathers. He has had the Roxxon guards murdered in their prison cells amd has assembled his own team of superhuman Atlantean he has dubbed the Defenders of the Deep.

While Russia reforms its superpowered team the Winter Guard, Namor and his Defenders of the Deep attack the underwater facility Hydropolis. When the attack sets off the alarms at Avengers Mountain the heroes are all alerted. Ghost Rider is racing Tony Stark, Hell Charger against a repulsar powered car, with Robbie promising to help Tony contact his dead father even if he loses the race.  The call to assemble interrupts their race and both take off across the ocean to Avengers Mountain. The Avengers quickly confront Namor and engage his Defenders in battle, but the fight is interrupted by the Winter Guard, who have come to take Namor into custody for crimes against Russia. This turns into a fight between all three teams that only end a after Namor and the Defenders retreat. After a tense standoff the Winter Guard leave the Avengers to go about saving Hydropolis. Following this event, General Thunderbolt Ross meets with Agent Phil Coulson, who introduces the general to the. Squadron Supreme of America.

Later, in East Los Angeles, Robbie Reyes goes outside his home to check on his car. He's suddenly attacked by a very drunk and enraged Odin, who stabs Robbie through the chest as revenge for the death of Starbrand. Robbie turns into Ghost Rider and explains that Starbrand attacked him and was acting crazy, that his death was accidental. Odin realizes his mistake and apologizes, then proceeds to tell Robbie about the first Ghost Rider. The visit ends with Odin riding with Robbie in the Hell Charger across mountains.

Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 3

"Fathers"

Cover Date: October 1992
On Sale Date: August 1992

Writer: Howard Mackie
Artist: Adam Kubert
Inker: Chris Warner
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Gregory Wright
Editor: Bobbie Chase
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco
Cover Artist: Adam Kubert

Lilith and her two servants, Pilgrim and Blackout, arrive at a small farmhouse in New York that is owned by one of the Lilin named Skinner.  When Pilgrim and Blackout attempt to talk to Skinner, he chases them into the woods, saying that he has left the Lilin behind and now has a human wife and child.  When he sees Lilith he stops, and she tells him that it is his duty and obligation to help her; she is his mother and the humans inside the house are not his family.  Skinner reluctantly agrees and goes inside his house; minutes later he exits dressed for the hunt.  Lilith sends him after John Blaze, who had shot her in the arm during their last battle.  When asked about his human family, Skinner alludes to the fact that he has killed them.

Elsewhere, Ghost Rider and Blaze are on the trail of another Lilin, Nakota, who they think will lead them to Lilith.  While Ghost Rider continues tracking her, Blaze splits off to get some food.  Skinner is teleported to the area and he begins the hunt for Blaze, which ends at a small diner with Skinner crashing through the window and immediately taking a hostage.  He tells Blaze that he doesn't want to just kill him, he wants to hunt him, and gives him a head start to run without his mystical motorcycle.  Blaze finds a regular motorcycle and steals it from a biker, then rides to a nearby hilltop and sends the motorcycle crashing off the cliff as a signal fire.  Meanwhile, Ghost Rider has almost caught Nakota when Pilgrim appears to tell her that he is sending her to Boston, then teleports her away.  Ghost Rider overheard the obvious trap, and now knows that Lilith is in Boston. 

Skinner tracks down Blaze, who is waiting for him on the hill.  Skinner blames Blaze for being dragged back to his old life, though John says that he should be angry with Lilith and not him.  Blaze shoots Skinner with hellfire, catching him on fire, and as he burns he tells Blaze that his children were halfbreed Lilin, like Blackout, and to keep Lilith from using them he killed his entire family in their sleep.  Blaze turns to walk away, but Skinner attacks, now a skeleton completely stripped of flesh.  The skin on his body came from his victims, and he had been wearing the skin of his family as his only memento; now their flesh is gone, burned away by Blaze.  Ghost Rider arrives and saves Blaze, pinning Skinner against a tree while John blasts hellfire at the Lilin repeatedly, calling him a monster for murdering his own children and wearing their skin as a trophy.  Believing Skinner to be dead, Ghost Rider and Blaze leave for Boston to find Lilith.  After they leave, Skinner crawls from the ashes and vows vengeance on both Blaze and Lilith.

Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 4

"Choices"

Cover Date: November 1992
On Sale Date: September 1992

Writer: Howard Mackie
Artist: Adam Kubert
Inker: Arthur Adams, Joe Kubert, & Tom Mandrake
Letterer: Michael Heisler
Colorist: Gregory Wright
Editor: Bobbie Chase
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

Cover Artist: Adam Kubert

At the Quentin Carnival, John Blaze tests the ability of his new hellfire-powered motorcycle, which seems to defy the laws of physics.  Meanwhile, in New York City, Hag and Troll are hiding out with Deathwatch's lifeless husk inside his destroyed building, surviving by draining the life forces of homeless people.  They decide that they need to take Deathwatch "home" for the "others" to help him.  Back at the Carnival, John argues with Wolf about the direction of the carnival.  John then leaves to visit with Dan Ketch in New York, who he hasn't seen since Dan recovered from his injuries.

Later, in the city both Dan and John ride to meet one another, with John thinking to himself that tonight is when he ends his association with the Ghost Rider for good.  Hag and Troll kill a couple outside of Rockefeller Center and the screams are heard by Dan, who triggers his transformation that is surprisingly felt by Blaze.  Ghost Rider attacks Hag and Troll, and he's soon joined by Blaze, who reluctantly joins the fight.  Hag attempts to kill a nearby homeless man but is stopped by Ghost Rider.  The brief battle is interrupted by the arrival of the Deathspawn, shadow creatures that pull Hag, Troll, and Deathwatch's body beneath the ground.  Blaze is ready to quit and leave until he hears the rescued man say that there are more people underground, held captive by the Deathspawn.  John agrees to help Ghost Rider save them and the two make their way below, unaware that they're being watched from above by Venom.

Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 2

"Steel Vengeance"

Cover Date: September 1992
On Sale Date: July 1992

Title: "Steel Vengeance"
Writer: Howard Mackie
Artist: Adam Kubert
Inker: Chris Warner
Letterer: Michael Heisler
Colorist: Gregory Wright
Editor: Bobbie Chase
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

Cover Artist: Adam Kubert

One week ago, cowboy-wannabe Tim Andrews is hitchhiking through the desert of Montana when he's passed by a woman on a motorcycle. Soon, in a remote cabin, Andrews is tortured by the woman, who tells the cowboy that she is a painter who, like her sister, once knew beauty - now they know only pain, and her dry pallet must be moistened by blood. She reveals a blade from her robotic arm and then kills Andrew, painting the Ghost Rider's skull on canvas in his blood. She receives a phone call from Reverend Styge, who tells her that the Master has decided it's time for her to act against Ghost Rider and Blaze. In payment, their Master will talk about helping her sister. After hanging up, the woman stabs her blade through the painting, saying that John Blaze and Ghost Rider - the ones responsible for what happened to her and her sister - will feel the pain of Steel Vengeance.

 

In the present, Blaze and Ghost Rider finish their confrontation with an alcoholic wife-beater, allowing him to live after hearing the frantic pleas of his small child. Later, Blaze and Ghost Rider arrive back at the Quentin Carnival and tell Wolf and Clara about their meeting with Michael Morbius in New York City. While Blaze goes in his trailer to sleep, the Ghost Rider is silently attacked by an unknown force that extinguishes his hellfire and causes him to lapse into a comatose state. On a nearby hill overlooking the carnival grounds, Steel Vengeance observes her targets before striking in the name of her sister, Steel Wind. A series of explosions alerts Blaze to the danger, and he exits the trailer to find Steel Vengeance - who he mistakes for Steel Wind - wrecking havoc in the Carnival. He finds Ghost Rider unresponsive on the ground, and is caught by surprise by Steel Vengeance, who knocks him unconscious. She turns her attention to the comatose Ghost Rider, beating him savagely before becoming frustrated with his inability to fight back. Confused as to how Blaze and the Ghost Rider could now be two separate beings, she tosses the Rider aside to find the now-missing Blaze.

 

In another part of the Carnival, John awakens amidst his friends to find his gun missing. Wolf tells him to rest while they take care of the problem, and promptly meet Steel Vengeance outside. The Carnival troupe pose little threat to her, but she is caught unaware by Blaze, who knocks her to the ground and puts a knife to her throat. She tells him that her Master will make everyone John cares about suffer, and Blaze asks if her "master" is Mephisto. She answers that he is incorrect, but that he and the Ghost Rider will suffer for all that they did to him. Blaze realizes who the "Master" must be, commenting that "It's not possible. If he's free then so is...". Before he can finish, the woman knocks him aside and prepares to kill him. Blaze's gun is tossed into his hands by the awakened Ghost Rider, who states that he has seen the spirit of Dan Ketch and he now knows what is needed to return him to life. Steel Vengeance proves unaffected by the Rider's penance stare and races off on her bike, chased by Blaze and Ghost Rider. Vowing to return soon, the mad woman runs her motorcycle off of a cliff, exploding when she hits the ground hundreds of feet below. Blaze asks Ghost Rider what happened to him, but the Rider simply replies that they must ride to find the Darkhold Redeemers - the final battle is almost upon them. Meanwhile, Lilith and her child Nakota spy on the two Spirits of Vengeance, awaiting their arrival in New York. Lilith senses that another player has entered the fray, one that may prove to be an ally in the future.

Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 1

"Rise of the Midnight Sons, Part 2"

Cover Date: August 1992
On Sale Date: June 1992

Writer: Howard Mackie
Artist: Adam Kubert
Inker: Chris Warner
Letterer: Michael Heisler
Colorist: Gregory Wright
Editor: Bobbie Chase
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

Cover Artist: Adam Kubert

On the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, John Blaze and the Ghost Rider ride on their mystical motorcycles, fleeing pursuit by a fleet of New York Police cruisers. When a bullet nearly hits Blaze, he returns fire with his shotgun, momentarily forgetting that the gun shots pure hellfire. When the blast strikes the car, it nearly destroys it, and a shocked Blaze turns his bike around to go help the policemen still in the car. The Ghost Rider assists in dragging the men from the wreckage just as the car explodes. The two vigilantes ride off again while the police have their cars stopped. A few minutes later, atop the Brooklyn Bridge, the Ghost Rider attempts to tell his partner about the vision he and his human host, Dan Ketch, shared. John refuses to believe in the vision, thinking it an hallucination brought on by Dan's death, until the Rider grabs him and forces his Penance Stare upon him...sharing the vision of Lilith and her children. Convinced that the vision is real, Blaze agrees that Lilith must be stopped, but says that he needs to regroup at home before he decides to involve himself.

 

Meanwhile, in Northern Greenland, two explorers uncover an ancient leviathan from the ice. As they examine it, a hand bursts forth from the creature's flesh, killing one of the two men. Lilith is reborn from her prison, and immediately kills the second explorer as well. Using the gore and entrails of the leviathan, she creates a vision of the future, seeing her children slain by the Ghost Rider and Blaze. Realizing that the order of champions must be broken, she calls out to her children...and, immediately after, a portal is slashed in the air, signaling the coming of Pilgrim, who takes his mother to another place.

 

In Rhode Island, Blaze and the Rider approach the grounds of the Quentin Carnival. The carnies are waiting as if they expect to attack, but upon seeing John they let their guard down. Leaving the Rider with the carnival workers, Blaze rides to his trailer where his wife - Roxanne - and two children are waiting for him. She asks what's wrong, to which he replies "nothing I want you involved in."

 

In New York, Pilgrim tells Lilith that most of her children were either killed or went into hiding after her banishment, and that some even live among humans to breed with them. The two then teleport to a church, where another of the Lilin, Creed, sits and prays. Using his ability to separate his body parts into autonomous sections, Creed attacks Pilgrim...but stops when he sees his mother. Despite his protests, Creed has no choice but to obey Lilith, starting his service with an attack on a voyeur that's spying on them through the window. Lilith stays Creed's slaying hand, recognizing the man - Blackout - as one of her grandchildren.

 

Back at the Carnival, Blaze has nightmares of his family being murdered by demons while he is unable to save them. He wakes up and gets dressed, making his way over to the trailer of Clara Menninger, the Carnival's eyeless psychic. She sits John down and gives him a psychic reading, telling him that the walls between dimensions are crumbling. She tells him that he and the Ghost Rider will be responsible for hunting down the demons that have already crossed over into our world. Despite her warnings, John refuses to listen to her and angrily leaves her trailer. He makes his way over to a tent, where the rest of the carnies (and the Ghost Rider) are hanging out. John approaches his friend, the dwarfish acrobat named Wolf, and asks to talk with him.

 

On the Carnival grounds, Pilgrim, Creed, and Blackout arrive. Creed is obviously finds their actions distasteful, but tells the other two that he will succeed in his mission out of familial obligations. Back in the tent, John hears Roxanne scream. He runs out, but is picked up by the Ghost Rider who carries them both on his motorcycle to Blaze's trailer. After a short skirmish with Blackout, Creed takes John's son and has Pilgrim teleport them away. John runs into his trailer and grabs his shotgun, telling the other carnies to stay away from the fight. He straddles his cycle, and he and the Ghost Rider ride into the nearby hills where the Lilin await them.

 

They find the demons in a clearing, and the fight begins immediately. With John's son hostage, Creed tells the two heroes that one of them must die for his obligation to Lilith to end. Deciding that conversation is pointless, Creed blasts the Ghost Rider with mystical energy, thinking that Blaze will let him die. John surprises Creed by blasting him continuously with hellfire until he is broken into his different body parts. With his son in his arms, John tells him that he once made a similar deal with the devil a long time ago and lived to regret it. Deciding to run and fight another day, Pilgrim teleports himself, Blackout, and Creed's severed head back to Lilith.

 

Later, at the Carnival, John packs Roxanne and the children into a van with two of the fellow carnies - George and Mari - and tells them that they'll be safer if he can't find them. Clara then tells Blaze that she had a vision to guide him on his quest: New York, a woman named Martine Bancroft, at the Paramount Hotel. John comments that it's back to New York as he and the Ghost Rider ride away, not noticing the presence of Dr. Strange, who is watching them leave.