Ghost Rider: Vengeance Forever Revisits Marvel’s Past Spirits of Vengeance (Exclusive)

August 4, 2022, 3:05pm

Marvel invites fans to take a trip down memory lane in a new one-shot celebrating Ghost Rider’s 50th anniversary. The Spirit of Vengeance is starring in a new volume of his solo series from writer Benjamin Percy, and before he advances Johnny Blaze’s story too far, Ghost Rider: Vengeance Forever #1 will put the spotlight on the character’s past, present, and future. An all-new character named Necro the Tattooist is also introduced to add to the Ghost Rider’s legacy of complex, supernatural figures. An interaction between Johnny Blaze and Nero the Tattooist will take fans back to different eras of Ghost Riders in the Marvel Universe.

ComicBook.com has an exclusive preview of Ghost Rider: Vengeance Forever #1 by Benjamin Percy, Juan José Ryp, and a cover by Björn Barends. The preview begins with Johnny Blaze tied to a chair while Necro the Tattooist begins working on his skin. The tattoo gun oozes hellfire as it begins to prick Johnny’s skin, as Necro the Tattooist takes us down the Ghost Rider memory lane. It should be noted Necro the Tattooist appears to have no eyeballs and pale skin, with black fingernails.

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Readers get a glimpse at the prehistoric age, where the Ghost Rider of the 1,000,000 BC Avengers rides a woolly mammoth. Next, is a scene of three witches tied to stakes where they are about to be burned alive. However, one of the women gets free and turns into a Spirit of Vengeance to dole out punishment to her accusers.

A Wild Wild West Ghost Rider takes on a gang of coach robbers under the moonlight, which so happens to have an image of Mephisto’s head on the moon looking down menacingly. Finally, the Ghost Rider supporting character Vengeance hops on a train to confront Dracula in what may be present-day.

“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.”

You can find the exclusive preview of Ghost Rider: Vengeance Forever #1 below. The issue goes on sale Wednesday, August 10th.

GHOST RIDER: VENGEANCE FOREVER #1

BENJAMIN PERCY (W) • JUAN JOSÉ RYP (A) • Cover by BJÖRN BARENDS
Variant cover by Pepe Larraz • VARIANT COVER BY ADAM KUBERT & JOE KUBERT
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.
40 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T+ …$4.99