History ComicBook / GhostRider2022

** A grand-scale version of this serves as the main overarching conflict of the comic series. As Blackheart explains in Issue #10, his LegionsOfHell have begun a mass invasion in America through carefully selecting various leadership figures of different work forces to possess -- who, in turn, help spread their dark influence across the rest of society -- from the top down to the lowermost spectrums. It's basically the demon version of a ZombieApocalypse in the making.

* LightIsNotGood: Alabaster, leader of the Council of Night Magicians, dresses entirely in white and has powers over light-based magic. He's also a traitor and conspirator who actively aids Blackheart's LegionsOfHell in their attempt to spread darkness and corruption all over America.

The series ended in December 2023 and was followed by a SequelSeries, ''ComicBook/GhostRiderFinalVengeance'', launching in March 2024.

The series is scheduled to end in December 2023 and will be followed by a SequelSeries, ''ComicBook/GhostRiderFinalVengeance'', launching in March 2024.

The series is scheduled to end in December 2023 and will be followed by a SequelSeries, ''Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance'', launching in March 2024.

* BerserkButton: Johnny's Spirit of Vengeance does ''not'' take kindly to Talia meddling in the inner workings between it and its host. After being forcibly summoned through her magic in Issue #9, the Spirit's first act is to angrily ensnare Talia in chains and warn her that Johnny "belongs" to it and not her, as if to put the young woman in her place like a possessive lover.

** Johnny's mounting ordeals from the moment he steps out of Hayden's Falls is clearly taking a toll on not just his mental state but also his physical wellbeing, causing him to look more gaunt and haggard than he usually does. It's all but outright stated to be the fault of that strange wound he's been carrying since the first issue - a malevolent supernatural parasite that is slowly corrupting him and sapping his strength (as well as his Spirit of Vengeance's), with exorcism being the only hope of getting better. It's quite telling that the Johnny Blaze seen in the ''Vengeance Forever'' one-shot, implied to take place chronologically after the main comic's first arc due to his missing wound, looks much healthier and more physically imposing.

** Johnny's sheer display of valor and heroism throughout Issue #5 alone deserves mention. By his own admission, he and his Spirit of Vengeance are barely holding on by that point, having accumulated so much damage and fatigue from prior battles with so little time to rest, and with the demonic parasite lodged into his head having sapped them both of strength to the point where the Spirit's become too weakened to help Johnny anymore. This leaves the human half of Ghost Rider to fight his next battle all by himself: a death race known as Hell's Backbone Rally, where some of the most dangerous villains and anti-heroes of the Marvel Universe have gathered after being lured by the Devil's call, where there are no rules and participants are allowed to maim and kill each other as they see fit, where the roads are full of deathtraps and otherworldly nightmares, and where Blaze knows all too well that there's no reward awaiting the "winner" but eternal damnation. Johnny perseveres, not only dominating the race, but with the help of Wolverine also puts a stop to the whole madness even as his mind and body are literally being assaulted by the aforementioned demon parasite.

* EnemyWithin: While being held prisoner inside Hayden's Falls, Johnny was secretly implanted with a malevolent parasitic demon that's eventually revealed to be the cause behind his weakening connection to his Spirit of Vengeance and the gradual corruption of his own person. Thanks to Wolverine's help, Blaze is able to purge himself of this evil entity before it could seize permanent control over him. That is not the end of the creature, however...

* FireForgedFriends: Johnny's Spirit of Vengeance treats Talia Warroad very coldly at first, making things clear that it neither trusts her nor approves of its host associating with her. In time, however, the Spirit gradually comes around and learns to care for the young woman in its own way, enough to be willing to help Talia of its own accord.

** Wolverine guest stars in Issue #5 as one of the motorcyclists competing in the Hell's Backbone Rally, a perilous race full of ne'er-do-wells and anti-heroes looking out only for their own interests. Logan proves to be an exception when he comes to Johnny's aid in his hour of need. Taken even further in Issue #6 where Logan goes out of his way to help exorcise the demon parasite from Johnny's body, purifying both Blaze and the Spirit of Vengeance from their corruption.

The series is scheduled to end in early 2024 and will be followed by a SequelSeries, ''Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance'', launching in March 2024.

** As a teenager, Talia Warroad once wished her parents gone because she felt they never bothered to understand her as a person and only kept adding to her misery by treating her supernatural powers as something to erase and be ashamed of. In the end, she got her wish, thanks to her devil-worshipping boyfriend who cursed the parents to die on a fatal car accident.

** As a teenager, Talia Warroad once wished her parents gone because she felt they never bothered to understand her as a person and only kept adding to her misery by treating her supernatural powers as something to erase and be ashamed of. In the end, she got her wish, thanks to her devil-worshipping boyfriend who cursed Talia's parents to die on a fatal car accident.

* BroughtDownToBadass: The Blue-Eyed Man in the backup story in Issue #20 learned SoulPower in order to better fight Kushala, being able to bind her and Johnny's Spirits of Vengeance. Unfortunately for him, Kushala is also a Sorceror Supreme, and so had access to magic beyond the kind that was granted to her by her Spirit.

* TeenageWasteland: The Cult of Mephisto turned the town of Burrow, West Virginia into one by convincing all of the disaffected children to kill all of the adults and "feed" their bodies to a gateway to Mephisto in a manner evocative of ''Film/ChildrenOfTheCorn.''

** As a teenager, Talia Warroad once wished her parents gone because she felt they never bothered to understand her as a person and only kept adding to her misery by treating her supernatural powers as a curse. In the end, she got her wish, thanks to her devil-worshipping boyfriend who cursed Talia's parents to die on a fatal car accident.

** As a teenager, Talia Warroad once wished her parents gone because she felt they never bothered to understand her as a person and they only kept adding to her misery by treating her supernatural powers as a curse. In the end, she got her wish, thanks to her devil-worshipping boyfriend who cursed Talia's parents to die on a fatal car accident.

* ADayInTheLimelight: Issue #18 focuses on Talia Warroad and her DarkAndTroubledPast, detailing how she first became attuned to the supernatural as a child, and how she got mixed up with the Cult of Mephisto during her rebellious teenage years.

* EnfantTerrible: Johnny and Talia are met by a bunch of murderous children soon after arriving in a small mining town in West Virginia - troubled kids being recruited by the Cult of Mephisto and their leader, Stefan Skaar, who prey on the youngsters' psychological vulnerabilities and corrupting them into giving in to their worst impulses, just as they've done to Talia when she was at that age. Some are guilt-ridden by what they're doing and wish to atone for their mistakes, while others have long crossed the moral horizon and are BeyondRedemption.

* TheCorrupter: The Cult of Mephisto specifically targets troubled children and teenagers, knowing that it's easier to influence younger and more impressionable minds into joining their ranks, preying on their worst fears and need for guidance.

* WouldHurtAChild: Johnny Blaze has no problem with harshly incapacitating kids who try to pose a threat to him, as a youngster finds out the hard way in Issue #19 when he tries to attack Blaze and Talia with a pickaxe. Johhny gives him a broken nose for his trouble.

* PetTheDog: Ghost Rider may be a ruthless, merciless anti-hero but even he knows where to draw the line when it comes to monster extermination. Upon confronting the now demonic Circus of Crime in Issue #4, the Ringmaster summons a giant BodyOfBodies made up of hundreds of lumped together bodies of poor, innocent victims, still conscious and with their souls intact but kept under control by the Ringmaster's brainwashing magic. Instead of killing the poor creature, GR uses his hellfire to free all the souls trapped within from Ringmaster's influence, then tells them to run away which they do, sparing their lives even though they remain trapped in their collective, monstrous form.

* TheCorruption:

* WorstAid: Wolverine manages to exorcise the parasitic demon from Johnny Blaze by performing a makeshift operation on him in Issue #6, which basically consists of hacking and cutting through Blaze's body with his claws to draw out the demon and kill it. A terrible idea in any other circumstance, but works out in this case because Logan is able to plead with the Spirit of Vengeance to let him operate on Johnny while he's in GR mode, sparing Blaze's human form from the lethal strain and allowing Gies to attack him and Talia with a pick axe, and pinning him under his bootR's HealingFactor to kick in when he transforms back. By the time Logan's done, Johnny is still weakened and groggy, but otherwise good as new.

* EnfantTerrible: Johnny and Talia are met by a bunch of murderous children soon after arriving in a small mining town in West Virginia - troubled kids being recruited by the Cult of Mephisto and their leader, Stefan Skaar, who prey on the youngsters' psychological vulnerabilities and corrupting them into giving in to their worst impulses, just as they've done to Talia when she was at that age. Some are guilt-ridden by what they're getting into and wish to atone for their mistakes, while others have long crossed the moral horizon and are BeyondRedemption.

* WorstAid: Wolverine manages to exorcise the parasitic demon from Johnny Blaze by performing a makeshift operation on him in Issue #6, which basically consists of hacking and cutting through Blaze's body with his claws to draw out the demon and kill it. A terrible idea in any other circumstance, but works out in this case because Logan is able to plead with the Spirit of Vengeance to let him operate on Johnny while he's in GR mode, sparing Blaze's human form from the lethal strain and allowing GR's HealingFactor to kick in when he transforms back. By the time Logan's done, Johnny is still weakened and groggy, but otherwise good as new.

* FireForgedFriends: Johnny's Spirit of Vengeance treats Talia Warroad very coldly at first, making things clear that it neither trusts her nor approves of its host associating with her. In time, however, the Spirit gradually comes around and learns to care for the young woman in its own way, enough to be willing to help her of its own accord.