Warning! This article contains spoilers for Ghost Rider: Vengeance Forever #1
It is no secret that Ghost Rider is easily one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe as he is invulnerable to most attacks and can deliver the most devastating blows his opponents have ever seen. Now, in an all-new special one-shot from Marvel Comics, Ghost Rider: Vengeance Forever, Ghost Rider’s power is being explored even further in a story that proves the demonic warrior is the deadliest hero in every time period.
The first Ghost Rider in Marvel Comics publication history is Carter Slade, though the original Ghost Rider fans are most familiar is Johnny Blaze as his look pioneered the standard aesthetic for every other Ghost Rider design for the rest of Marvel Comics’ history. While Slade and Blaze were the original, and perhaps the most iconic Ghost Riders to fans, they weren’t the first two people to be consumed by the power of the Spirit of Vengeance–and they certainly weren’t the last.
As announced in the Marvel Comics: Next Big Thing Panel during 2022 San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel is releasing a special Ghost Rider anniversary one-shot called Ghost Rider: Vengeance Forever that will be written by Benjamin Percy with art by Juan José Ryp. In the preview pages for the new book, it seems as though the comic will explore Ghost Rider through the ages, from caveman and pioneer times to the cyberpunk future established in Ghost Rider 2099. While the specifics of the upcoming storyline are unclear, the nature of the new book seems to be simple: Ghost Rider is eternal.
Ghost Rider’s mission on Earth is to punish those who commit atrocious wrongs as well as to capture rogue demons who have escaped Hell and are wreaking havoc on humanity. These problems have plagued humanity since human life first sprouted on Earth, meaning Ghost Rider’s objective truly begins at the dawn of man and won’t end until armageddon–and even then he may continue eliminating evil throughout space like Cosmic Ghost Rider.
This book will be especially interesting in that it will seemingly delve into Ghost Rider, not as a single hero, but as an eternal mantle that passes through a number of different hosts across time and space with the sole purpose of punishing the guilty. While Ghost Rider has proven to show some semblance of affection for its hosts, the demonic entity itself is very old and has had no shortage of human vehicles through which it carries out its righteous cause. Now, fans will seemingly get to see Ghost Rider in action through the eyes of the Spirit of Vengeance itself–not through one hero, but through them all in a blur of hellish action that transcends time itself.
Marvel Comics’ Ghost Rider: Vengeance Forever #1 goes on sale August 10, 2022.