Ghost Rider: Vengeance Forever Celebrates the Spirit of Vengeance’s 50th Anniversary (Exclusive)

This year marks Ghost Rider‘s 50th anniversary, and Marvel is celebrating with a special one-shot that puts the spotlight on the Spirit of Vengeance’s past, present, and future. ComicBook.com can exclusively reveal Ghost Rider: Vengeance Forever #1, from writer Benjamin Percy and artist Juan José Ryp, and a cover by Björn Barends. The anniversary one-shot ties into Percy’s current run on Ghost Rider while also paying tribute to the creators who came before him. Readers will also be introduced to a new character named Necro the Tattooist who will give Johnny Blaze a warning about his future.

“For the 50th anniversary of Ghost Rider, I wanted to do something epic, so I dreamed up an issue that channeled and celebrated the wild legacy of all the creators and stories who came before me,” Ghost Rider writer Benjamin Percy told ComicBook.com via email. “I did so by interweaving a larger story — about Johnny Blaze in the present– with smaller stories that spotlight Danny, the Midnight Sons, Ghost Rider 2099, and more, so many and so much more, including never-before-seen iterations of the Spirit of Vengeance. We’ll travel to the far past and the near future, and the frame for all of this involves a new, haunting character known as Necro the Tattooist. He brings to the surface the secrets we carry beneath our skin. Juan Jose Ryp is the artist assigned to this special anniversary issue, and he is especially brilliant at conjuring beautiful nightmares. Brace yourself: this issue will leave its burnt-rubber mark on you.”

Percy and artist Cory Smith relaunched Ghost Rider in February. “This is a back-to-basics approach that focuses (for now) on Johnny Blaze,” Percy told SYFY Wire when the new Ghost Rider series was announced. “Where has he been the past few years? You’ll know soon. I can’t tell you too much, or I’ll undercut the suspense and horror. And rest assured: this is a horror comic. Some really unsettling things happen in this first (oversized) issue alone.”

You can find the cover and solicitation for August’s Ghost Rider: Vengeance Forever #1 below. 

GHOST RIDER: VENGEANCE FOREVER #1

BENJAMIN PERCY (W) • JUAN JOSÉ RYP (A) • Cover by BJÖRN BARENDS

CELEBRATING FIFTY YEARS OF VENGEANCE!

Johnny Blaze, still reeling from his time in Hayden’s Falls, seeks the counsel of a seer — named Necro the Tattooist — who uses his needle to bring dark truths to the surface. What follows is not only a wild tour through Ghost Rider’s lost history, but also a warning about the future and an examination of the troubling weight of legacy.