Venom wants Spider-Man dead and he’ll kill anyone who gets in his path to the web-slinger. Even if it’s a flame-headed Spirit of Vengeance! Unfortunately for Venom, Ghost Rider comes with a reluctant buddy ever since Doctor Strange paired him up with the previous host of the Spirit of Vengeance, Johnny Blaze (during RISE OF THE MIDNIGHT SONS, 1992). As if that wasn’t enough, Ghost Rider and Blaze are already hunting the demons Hag and Troll who are looking to resurrect their master, Deathwatch.
Add the ongoing feud between Hobgoblin and the demon who once shared his body, Demogoblin, to the mix and it’s going to get messy. And hey, why not toss in Demogoblin’s pet Spider-Man Doppelganger and the brand new threat of the Deathspawn and you’ve got a recipe for a tale that’s almost impossible to follow!
This one doesn’t exactly come recommended, but at least there’s some sweet Adam Kubert art thrown into the mix to keep it interesting!
Crossover: Officially, this is a four-part crossover, though I’ve included three more issues that lead directly into the event.
Must-Reads: Issues in bold in the Core List or marked with a ✔ in the Full Reading Order are must-read stories from this event; in the Fallout section, issues marked with a ✔ are the stories that are most heavily impacted by this event.
Spoilers: The issue descriptions and fallout section contain spoilers, so be warned!
Previous events that directly impact this story:
- INFERNO (1988-1989) – Hobgoblin gains demonic powers
- THE FALL OF THE KINGPIN (1991-1992) – Demogoblin is split from the Hobgoblin
- RISE OF THE MIDNIGHT SONS (1992) – Ghost Rider & Johnny Blaze are intrinsically linked
Want to keep it simple? Here’s the chronological reading order without story descriptions, or spoilers:
- Web of Spider-Man #93-94 (tie-in)
- Ghost Rider & Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #4 (tie-in)
- Web of Spider-Man #95
- Ghost Rider & Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #5
- Web of Spider-Man #96
- Ghost Rider & Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #6
| Must Read | Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| Web of Spider-Man #93 (tie-in) Now free of the demon he’s been sharing his body with (since THE FALL OF THE KINGPIN, 1991-1992), Jason Macendale hones his skills as a killer to earn the right to wear the Hobgoblin costume once again. But he’s in debt with the Foreigner for having Ned Leeds killed and obtaining the identity years earlier (during THE HOBGOBLIN REVEALED, 1987). To pay it off, he has to kill Moon Knight and Daily Bugle photographer Nick Katzenberg. The Foreigner alerts Spider-Man to make things more interesting and the web-slinger quickly comes to Moon Knight’s aid. When Hobgoblin believes he’s successfully killed Moon Knight, he moves on to his next target. Meanwhile, the incarcerated Demogoblin mentally resurrects the Spider-Man Doppelganger and calls on him for help… Also see GOBLIN KNIGHT | |
| Web of Spider-Man #94 (tie-in) Moon Knight rejoins Spider-Man to find the Hobgoblin before he can kill Nick Katzenberg. The two heroes save Katzenberg, though he goes into cardiac arrest. Moon Knight leaves, prioritising finding the cure he needs to save his own life (see GOBLIN KNIGHT, 1992-1993). Spider-Man takes Hobgoblin into custody. Elsewhere, the vampiric Hag and Troll accidentally help Venom escape from his prison transport on the way to the Vault. And the Doppelganger breaks Demogoblin out of jail. Also see GOBLIN KNIGHT | |
| ✔ | Ghost Rider & Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #4 (pp.1-11) (tie-in) Hag and Troll find their master, Deathwatch, in a state of living death after his last encounter with the Ghost Rider. When they start kidnapping homeless people, they immediately earned Ghost Rider’ seeks out Hag and Troll when they start kidnapping homeless people’s direct attention. Johnny Blaze feels Danny ketch’s transformation into the Ghost Rider and rides off to find him, unaware he’s being followed by Venom… |
| ✔ | Web of Spider-Man #95 (pp.1-9) Spider-Man comes under attack from the Demogoblin and Doppelganger again on his way to the police station with the webbed-up Hobgoblin. Spidey escapes them and takes Hobgoblin to a church to hide out… |
| ✔ | Ghost Rider & Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #4 (pp.12-23) (tie-in) The reluctant Johnny Blaze allies with Ghost Rider against them, only for the teleporting Deathspawn to take the supernatural villains and their shared master, Deathwatch, out of the fray and into the sewers. Little do they realise, Venom is also coming to play hero in his own violent way! And they’re all being watched by a race of demonic creatures called the Deathspawn whose sole purpose is to serve Deathwatch. 1st appearance: Deathspawn |
| Must Read | Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| ✔ | Web of Spider-Man #95 (pp.10-23) Demogoblin heads into the church and takes a priest hostage. Ghost Rider and Blaze find themselves on the same side as Venom when they locate Hag and Troll in the sewers. Both battles soon collide as Venom emerges from beneath the church having captured Hag and Troll. The four-way clash ends up dragging everyone back down into the sewers, including the priest, Father Martin, who is grabbed by the Deathspawn with Spider-Man rushing to his aid… 1st appearance: Father Martin |
| ✔ | Ghost Rider & Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #5 Venom drops Hag and Troll in favour of pursuing the Deathspawn who are dragging Spider-Man away from the battle. Ghost Rider and Blaze lose Deathwatch to another batch of Deathspawn and pursue them deeper into the sewers. There, they discover homeless people who have been gathered for the Deathspawn’s consumption. The Spirits of Vengeance free Spider-Man who then takes the priest to relative safety, leaving Demogoblin and the Doppelganger strung up for the Deathspawn to consume! 1st appearance: Timothy Woods |
| ✔ | Web of Spider-Man #96 Spidey and the priest lose the Deathspawn and start searching for the missing homeless people. Demogoblin and Doppleganger have broken free and plan to kill the captive Hobgoblin for his sins, only for him to be rescued by Venom. Spider-Man arrives and sides with Venom until the two of them start fighting each other. Ghost Rider stops Venom from killing Spider-Man, angering him and gaining his full attention… |
| ✔ | Ghost Rider & Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #6 Venom and Ghost Rider battle it out until Ghost Rider’s Penance Stare has an explosive reaction to Venom’s alien Symbiote costume. Blaze stabs Venom before the three of them are dragged away by the Deathspawn again. The Deathspawn enter the body of their master, Deathwatch, and reanimate him to the point where he can feed off the Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze and Venom to fully return. Spider-Man hands an unconscious Hobgoblin over to a Guardsman from the Vault, then returns to the sewers to free his captured allies. Ghost Rider uses his hellfire to burn Deathwatch, while Blaze captures Hag and Troll. A team of Guardsmen arrive and subdue Venom. 1st appearance: Miranda Woods |
See how this story fits into the wider Marvel Universe with these reading orders:
- GHOST RIDER, 1990-1993 – Danny Ketch
- MIDNIGHT SONS, 1992-1993 – The Rise
- VENOM, 1988-2004 – Eddie Brock
| Must Reads | Issue & Fallout | Event / Crossover |
| Marc Spector: Moon Knight #44 (1992) Moon Knight visits Mister Fantastic between his team-ups with Spider-Man and learns he’s been infected by the Demogoblin. | GOBLIN KNIGHT THE INFINITY WAR | |
| Marc Spector: Moon Knight #45-46 (1992) Following his defeat at the hands of Spider-Man and the ‘Spirits of Vengeance’, Demogoblin is locked up in Brinkstone Prison where Moon Knight learns why he was infected by him; Demogoblin escapes prison again. | GOBLIN KNIGHT | |
| Ghost Rider & Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #7-8 (1993) Ghost Rider and Blaze fail to find Doctor Strange and don’t make it to the Quentin Carnival before the heavy snowfall; Clara Menninger‘s prophecy comes too late when Steel Wind, Steel Vengeance and the Reverend Styge‘s demons attack the Quentin Carnival. | ||
| ✔ | Ghost Rider & Blaze Spirits of Vengeance #9-10 (1993) A new ‘ghost rider’ called Vengeance joins the attack on the Quentin Carnival; Hag and Troll end up in the hands of Carver of the Lilin who plans to cut them up for spare parts. | VENGEANCE! |
| ✔ | Amazing Spider-Man #373-375 (1993) Venom is sent to a secret prison for super-humans in New York, rather than the Vault; Venom escapes the prison and clashes with Spider-Man again; Spider-Man and Venom part on oddly amicable terms, agreeing to stay out of each other’s way. | LETHAL PROTECTOR |
| ✔ | Web of Spider-Man #98 (1993) The Doppelganger is revealed to have escaped the Deathspawn, except for two who briefly lived inside him. | |
| ✔ | Spider-Man #35 (1993) Spider-Man and Venom join forces against Carnage again; Demogoblin is reunited with the Doppelganger. Spider-Man #37 (1993) Carnage kills the Doppelgänger by stabbing him and throwing him off a building. | MAXIMUM CARNAGE |
| Sleepwalker #20-22 (1993) Hobgoblin escapes incarceration and clashes with the Sleepwalker. | ||
| Amazing Spider-Man #385 (1994) When Peter Parker next catches up with Nick Katzenberg, he and Mary Jane Parker learn he has cancer; seeing the state Katzenburg is in convinces Mary Jane to stop smoking. | ||
| Ghost Rider #42-43 (1993) Deathwatch is reanimated; Ghost Rider learns he’s not Zarathos. | ROAD TO VENGEANCE: THE MISSING LINK | |
| Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #17 (1993) Lilith is defeated by the combined power of the ‘Midnight Sons’. | SIEGE OF DARKNESS | |
| ✔ | Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #23 (1994) Johnny Blaze locates the missing Timmy Woods. | |
| Spider-Man #48 (1994) Hobgoblin and Demogoblin’s feud ends with the death of Demogoblin. | THE ENEMY WITHIN | |
| Amazing Spider-Man #398 (1995) Nick Katzenberg is revealed to have died of cancer. | ||
| Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives #1-3 (1997) Roderick Kingsley is revealed to have been the real original Hobgoblin, having used the brain-washed Ned Leeds to cover his illegal activities; Kingsley kills Jason Macendale to fully reclaim the Hobgoblin name. | ||
| Ghost Rider #1 (2001) Johnny Blaze does end up becoming the Ghost Rider again. | ||
| New Avengers: Most Wanted Files #1 (2005) Deathwatch is revealed to have been fully resurrected and among the villains who escaped the Raft during Electro‘s efforts to free Sauron. | BREAKOUT | |
| Amazing Spider-Man #23 (2017) Nick Katzenberg is among those who are resurrected by New U Technologies. | DEAD NO MORE: THE CLONE CONSPIRACY |
| Collected Edition Title | Collects… |
| Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch Omnibus vol.2 | Darkhold #1, 11 Ghost Rider #25-40 Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #1-13 Ghost Rider: Captain America: Fear Marvel Comics Presents #119-130 [part] Marvel Holiday Special #3 [part] Midnight Sons Unlimited #1-2 [part], 3 Morbius: The Living Vampire #1, 12 Nightstalkers #1, 10 Web of Spider-Man #95-96 X-Men #9 |
| Spider-Man vs Venom Omnibus | Amazing Spider-Man #258, 300, 315-317, 332-333, 346-347, 361-363, 373-375, 378-380, 388 Amazing Spider-Man Annual #25-26 [part] Avengers: Deathtrap, the Vault Darkhawk #13-14 Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #5-6 Marvel Comics Presents #117-122 [part] Spectacular Spider-Man #201-203 Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #12 [part] Spider-Man #35-37 Spider-Man Unlimited #1-2 [part] Web of Spider-Man #1, 95-96, 101-103 Web of Spider-Man Annual #7 [part] |
| Spirits of Vengeance: Rise of the Midnight Sons | Darkhold #1 Ghost Rider #28, 31 Ghost Rider & Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #1-6 Midnight Sons Unlimited #1 Morbius: The Living Vampire #1 Nightstalkers #1 Web of Spider-Man #95-96 |
| Venom Epic Collection: Lethal Protector (vol.2) | Amazing Spider-Man #361-363, 374 Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #5-6 Spider-Man Special Edition #1 Venom: Lethal Protector #1-6 Web of Spider-Man #95-96 |
| Collected Edition Title | Includes… |
| Moon Knight Epic Collection: Death Watch (vol.7) Moon Knight: Marc Spector Omnibus vol.2 | Web of Spider-Man #93-94 |
Reading Order © Omniverse Comics Guide 2026
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