Issue(s): Spirits of Vengeance #7 Spirits of Vengeance #8
Cover Date: Feb-Mar 93
Title: "A day of vengeance a day of death!" / "Devil dance"
Credits:
Howard Mackie - Writer
Adam Kubert - Penciler
William Reinhold - Inker
Matthew Morra - Assistant Editor
Bobbie Chase - Editor

Review/plot:
Ghost Rider and Johnny Blaze were supposed to be bringing Hag, Troll, and Deathwatch to Dr. Strange, but they couldn't find him, so they're now dragging the villains back to Johnny Blaze's carnival, which is in New Jersey.

When they arrive, they find that Clara Menninger has been screaming about danger since Johnny left, and then the carnival is attacked by a horde of demons led by Steel Vengeance and her sister Steel Wind.

But before the fight even begins, Mephisto shows up.

The Steel sisters and their demons are not with Mephisto. Mephisto takes Blaze and Ghost Rider back to Hell, so the Steels collect Deathwatch, Troll, and Hag and bring them back to their "master".

Mephisto says he doesn't want to fight, just trade information. He says that the barriers between dimensions are weakening, and beings are coming into his dimension to challenge him. But he's brought Blaze and Ghost Rider to him because they "puzzle" him. And then he puts them through a nonsense fight after all, to test their powers.

When they win the challenge, Mephisto tells them to search for the "Soul Crystal", and then sends them back to Earth.

If it feels like nothing happened in these issues, that's partially because nothing ever happens in a 1990s Ghost Rider comic, just endless set-up and revealtions that never seem to go anywhere. But in this case it's also because the story here is shortened with a back-up covered in a separate entry.

Quality Rating: D+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: The main story here continues directly from last issue, with Hag, Troll, and Deathwatch still prisoners of Ghost Rider. A back-up story from these issues is covered in a separate entry. This story continues directly from the Spirits of Venom storyline, which begins at the end of Infinity War. Next issue will open with Steel Vengeance being tortured for trying to kill instead of capture Blaze and Ghost Rider, and Blaze and Ghost Rider are surveying the damage after the blizzard that Clara Menninger had been warning about. In that arc it's said that 24 hours have passed since Ghost Rider and Blaze went missing, so a little time can pass between this arc and next.

References:

• Johnny Blaze hasn't trusted Dr. Strange since he found out that he manipulated them during the Lilith saga that ended in Ghost Rider #31.
  
• Steel Vengeance previously appeared in Spirits of Vengeance #2.
  
• Steel Wind appeared in Ghost Rider #75.
  
• Johnny Blaze sold his soul to Mephisto in Marvel Spotlight #5.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A