Summary

• Johnny Blaze makes a deal with Mephisto once more, as Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance #6 reunites the Spirit of Vengeance with its first, greatest vessel in Marvel canon.
• Zarathos and Johnny are a perfect pair, needing each other to maintain their existence and to control the flames of vengeance.
• Despite returning to the beginning of his journey, Blaze gains control for the first time in his character history, becoming the Ghost Rider again in a massive moment for the Marvel Universe.

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance #6To save his adoptive father’s life, Johnny Blaze made a deal with the Devil who, in return, bound Blaze’s soul to a fallen angel, thus creating the Ghost Rider. Decades later, Johnny has been through hell and has watched almost everything he’s loved burn to ash. Now, after years of hoping to rid himself of his curse, Blaze has made a new contract that brings him back to the beginning.

Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance #6 – written by Benjamin Percy, with art by Danny Kim – features the epic conclusion of Johnny Blaze’s journey to reclaim his Spirit of Vengeance from the murderous hands of the Hood.

After Mephisto stripped Blaze of his hellish other half, Johnny was left with a Ghost Rider-sized hole in his soul that made him realize that he needs the Rider as much as the Rider needs a host. However, to set things right, Johnny Blaze has to do the one thing he swore he would never do again: make a deal with the Devil.

Zarathos Needs Johnny as Much as Johnny Needs Zarathos

Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance #6 – Written By Benjamin Percy; Art By Danny Kim, Bryan Valenza, & Travis Lanham

Johnny Blaze understands now more than ever that he is the one who tamed the Spirit and that he alone is the one mortal who can withstand the flames of vengeance without releasing an inferno.

Johnny Blaze isn’t the first Ghost Rider to feel the void after losing their Spirit of Vengeance. After enough time hunting down sinners’ souls and dealing out just-deserved penance, the soul of the Rider warps to need that divine fire to keep it going. Even in Blaze’s unique case, the wicked angel-turned-demon Zarathos is needed for both to remain whole. Johnny hates Zarathos, and he makes that well-known in this issue, but maintaining his relationship with the demon is more than just about restoring his own soul.

Throughout the Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance series, Zarathos has instead been wielded by the Hood, an ambitious magically-powered professional criminal with enough rage to feed the demon without end. In the hands of a man whose appetite for vengeance is stronger than the demon’s itself, the Spirit of Vengeance becomes an unchecked power of divine proportion. Johnny Blaze understands now more than ever that he is the one who tamed the Spirit and that he alone is the one mortal who can withstand the flames of vengeance without releasing an inferno.

After A Long Road, Marvel's First Ghost Rider Johnny Blaze Arrives Back At The Beginning

Johnny Blaze, Back At The Crossroads

Despite his journey with Mephisto seemingly being back at the beginning, Johnny has gained something that he’s never had in the last 52 years of comics: control.

At a crossroads with the Devil, like where it all began, Mephisto acknowledges that Zarathos and Johnny are the perfect pair. One is worthless without the other. Vengeance requires enough good intentions to guide the flames of punishment that follow. In an unexpected act from the Hell-Lord, Mephisto relinquishes control over Zarathos, for the first time in hundreds of years, to Blaze noting that “You belong to each other.” However, a contract requires payment and in return for the demon he thought he never wanted, Johnny Blaze is back to square one and in service to the Devil once again.

Despite his journey with Mephisto seemingly being back at the beginning, Johnny has gained something that he’s never had in the last 52 years of comics: control. Johnny’s made amends with Zarathos before, but words can fall flat and deals can be broken. This time, both souls know they need each other whether they like it or not. Blaze knows it will still be a fight, but this time they're on equal footing. Johnny Blaze has his fire. Zarathos has his host. Together, truly for the first time, they are both the Ghost Rider.

Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance #6 is now available from Marvel Comics.