Ghost Rider turns 2022 into 'A Year of Vengeance' to mark 50 years in the Marvel Universe

Ghost Rider Year of Vengeance (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

Ghost Rider ("motorcycle hero, sneakin' around in a blue jumpsuit!!") is riding his way into a special anniversary celebration in 2022 in what Marvel is calling 'A Year of Vengeance,' marking 50 years since his 1972 introduction in Marvel Spotlight #5, which will off with a new Ghost Rider ongoing comic that was announced later.

Created by Gary Friedrich and Mike Ploog, the original Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze, has since spun off into an entire mythos encompassing numerous incarnations of the so-called 'Spirit of Vengeance' from throughout the past and future of the Marvel Universe.

Marvel's simple teaser (seen above) doesn't reveal much of what the publisher has planned for the milestone, but the subsequent announcement has revealed that the title will launch in February, with a creative team of writer Ben Percy and artist Corey Smith.

The Ghost Riders included in the image are:

Johnny Blaze, the original and current Ghost Rider
his successor Danny Ketch in his own Ghost Rider form despite most recently appearing as the Death Rider
Kushala, the Spirit Rider, who is the star of her own recent title
the cowboy Ghost Rider known as the Phantom Rider
the Ghost Rider of the 30th Century
the Ghost Rider of the year 2099
Robbie Reyes, another current Ghost Rider and member of the Avengers
Alejandra Jones, a former Ghost Rider who seemingly died in the story King in Black
the first Ghost Rider, who rides a demonically empowered woolly mammoth as part of the 1,000,000 BC Avengers
Cosmic Ghost Rider, a future version of Frank Castle twisted into a bizarre Spirit of Vengeance
the 19th century US Civil War-era Ghost Rider known only as Caleb
Vengeance, a Ghost Rider-adjacent vigilante who got his powers by selling his soul to Mephisto

Stay tuned to Newsarama for more information on the new Ghost Rider title as the story develops.

Ghost Rider debuted in 1972, but at least according to Newsarama, he wasn't the best Marvel character to debut that year.

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I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)