Appearing in ""The Curse of Jonathan Blaze!""
Featured Characters:
- ⏴ Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze) ⏵ (Appears in flashback) (Possessed by Zarathos in main story and recap)
Supporting Characters:
- Quentin Carnival (Only in flashback)
- Roxanne Simpson (Only in flashback)
- Crash Simpson (Only in flashback)
- Mona Simpson (Death in recap)
- ⏴ Zarathos ⏵ (Possesses Ghost Rider in main story and recap)
Antagonists:
- Unnamed murderer (First appearance) (Impersonates a priest)
- Satan (Lucifer) (Only in recap)
Other Characters:
- Barton Blaze (Mentioned) (Deceased)
- Naomi Kale (Mentioned)
- Alfie (Simpson's booking agent) (Mentioned)
- Doc Warren (Crash's doctor) (Mentioned)
- Isht (Invoked)
- Hogo (Invoked)
- Agam (Invoked)
- A priest murdered (Mentioned)
- Lord (Yahweh) (Invoked)
- Unidentified Police Department (First appearance)
- Unnamed agents (First appearance)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earth (Main story and flashback)
- United States of America (Main story and flashback)
- A Church (First appearance)
- Nevada (Only in recap)
- Quentin Carnival (Only in recap)
- New York (Only in flashback)
- New York City (Only in flashback)
- Manhattan (Only in flashback)
- Madison Square Garden (Only in flashback)
- Manhattan (Only in flashback)
- New York City (Only in flashback)
- United States of America (Main story and flashback)
- Hell (Mentioned) (As Hades in recap)
Vehicles:
- Hell Cycle (Main story and recap)
Synopsis for ""The Curse of Jonathan Blaze!""
It is late at night and Johnny Blaze enters a church. The only man present is a priest. Johnny is feeling somber, and asks the priest to hear his confession. The priest sets him down inside the confessional and Johnny tells him the story of his life. He explains in detail how he sold his soul to the Devil to save the life of his adoptive father, Crash Simpson. As a result, Johnny was bonded to a demon and became the Spirit of Vengeance, the Ghost Rider.
As he concludes his confession, he reveals that he knows the man behind the screen is not a real priest. He is actually a thief who murdered a priest and took his clothes. He planned on stealing gold valuables from the church when Johnny interrupted him.
The false priest runs out of the confessional and steals Johnny's cycle. Johnny transforms into the Ghost Rider and crafts a new cycle made of Hellfire. He chases the priest across the countryside and finally forces him off the bike. The priest falls down onto the railroad tracks, and Ghost Rider sears his soul with Hellfire.
At dawn, the police arrive and finds the man in a state of petrified catatonia. Johnny Blaze answers a few questions from the police, then turns and walks away.
Notes
Continuity Notes[]
- This issue's flashbacks recap the events originally shown in Marvel Spotlight #5; in that issue, Johnny Blaze made a pact with Satan in order to save his adoptive father Crash Simpson from cancer. That Satan was originally intended to be the devil figure from the Catholic religion, and was considered to be the father of Daimon Hellstrom.[1] However, this issue retcons Satan into being the demon Mephisto posing as him. This retcon has been later confirmed in Ghost Rider (Vol. 2) #76, where Mephisto appeared as the Satan who bonded the demon Zarathos into Blaze. According to the more recent Ghost Rider (Vol. 6) #5, the demon with whom Blaze made the pact was in fact the real Satan, Lucifer. Since this is the most recent version, it can be presumed that the Satan from Marvel Spotlight #5 was in fact Lucifer, while later appearances would show Mephisto.
Chronology Notes[]
A flashback in this story affects the chronology of the following characters:
Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze)
- Pag. 4-6 recap the events of Marvel Spotlight #5.
- ⏴ Pag. 7, Panels 3-5 ⏵
- Pag. 8-10 recap the events of Marvel Spotlight #5.
- ⏴ Pag. 11, Panels 1-2 ⏵
- Pag. 11, Panels 3-7 recap the events of Marvel Spotlight #5.
- ⏴ Pag. 12, Panel 1 ⏵
- Pag. 12, Panels 2-6 recap the events of Marvel Spotlight #5.
- Pag. 13 recaps the events of Marvel Spotlight #5.
- Pag. 14-15 are a collage of pics from the first Ghost Rider adventures from Marvel Spotlight.
- Pag. 4-6 recap the events of Marvel Spotlight #5.
- Pag. 8-9 recap the events of Marvel Spotlight #5.
- ⏴ Pag. 11, Panels 1-2 ⏵
- Pag. 12 recaps the events of Marvel Spotlight #5.
- Pag. 4-6 recap the events of Marvel Spotlight #5.
- Pag. 8-9 recap the events of Marvel Spotlight #5.
- ⏴ Pag. 11, Panels 1-2 ⏵
- Pag. 11, Panels 3-7 recap the events of Marvel Spotlight #5.
- ⏴ Pag. 12, Panel 1 ⏵ (Behind the scenes)
Publication Notes[]
- Reprinted in Original Ghost Rider Rides Again #1.