Marvel has just demonstrated that Ghost Rider is a superior hero to the Avengers.

By Kevin Kennedy

     MARVEL STUDIOS

Even though Ghost Rider is one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe, the Avengers have always had a greater following and a greater reputation for valor. However, Marvel has just demonstrated that Ghost Rider is not only more powerful than most of the Avengers but also a much better hero.

After selling his soul to Mephisto in an idiotic effort to save his adopted father, Johnny Blaze was irrevocably changed into the devilish Spirit of Vengeance and became the hellish antihero Ghost Rider. Johnny Blaze was a motorcycle stuntman and one of the greatest daredevils of all time before he carried this curse on his stained soul. However, playing Ghost Rider had a severe psychological and physical toll on Johnny, compelling him to give up his life as a stuntman and devote himself full-time to the character of the anguished hero who travels the nation putting an end to evil wherever he finds it.

After a night of fighting evil as Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze typically wakes up in a nauseated stupor and initially has no idea where he is in Benjamin Percy and Cory Smith's Ghost Rider #4. Blaze, however, quickly figures out where he is and why he's there after receiving a message from Ghost Rider telling him to go Exit 666, where he would find people in need of protection from yet another demonic menace. As they travel down the highway, Johnny observes how almost entirely empty this part of the country is and how small it seems in comparison to major cities like New York and Los Angeles in the Marvel Universe. He even questions whether anyone would care if a town in this area went extinct.