Daredevil and Black Widow are in an training session talking about their personal matters, and how as Matthew Murdock, he hasn't met Kerwin J. Broderick, the head of Broderick, Sloan, & Murdock, and how Matt has yet to meet him since being employed there.

After their session together, they meet with Ivan who brings them their mail. Inside they find an invitation to a cocktail party being held by Kerwin J. Broderick himself, who is anxious to meet Matt Murdock.

Meanwhile, the mastermind behind San Francisco's crime rackets has hired Kraven the Hunter in order to defeat or kill Daredevil. 

When the man offers Kraven the money, the hunter refuses telling him he only works for the thrill of the hunt.

Later that date, Matthew Murdock arrives on the job at Broderick, Sloan & Murdock to learn that his partner Jason Sloan has gotten him an postponement of trail on the Research Centre vandals that he is representing. 

Murdock is furious because he has no intention to change his plea because he has enough evidence to find them innocent. This causes turbulence between Jason and Matt, and makes him wonder about the ethics of his employer since the orders came from Broderick.

Returning home, Matt finds that the mansion has been attacked and Ivan bound up. Untying Natasha's bodyguard he learns that Natasha has been kidnapped by Kraven the Hunter who has demanded at Daredevil meet him at the San Francisco Zoo. 

Arriving there Daredevil is instantly attacked by Kraven. 

As the Man Without Fear manages to hold his own, he demands that Kraven show him where Natasha is. 

Continued to next issue...

Featured Characters:

• Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze) (First appearance, Origin revealed, Possessed by Zarathos)

Supporting Characters:

• Crash Simpson Daredevil's Show (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
  • Barton Blaze (First and only known appearance; dies) (Only in flashback)
  • Roxanne Simpson (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
  • Crash Simpson (First and only known appearance; dies) (Only in flashback)
  • Mona Simpson (First and only known appearance; dies) (Only in flashback)

Antagonists:

• Thugs
  • Clyde
  • Dingbat 
• Satan (First appearance) (Only in flashback)

Other Characters:

• Zarathos (Behind the scenes)
• Archangel Zadkiel (Behind the scenes in flashback)
• Sam 

Locations:

• Earth 
  • United States of America 
    • New York 
      • New York City 
        • Manhattan )
          • Midtown
            • Madison Square Garden
    • Nevada (Only in flashback)
      • Crash Simpson Daredevil's Show (First appearance) (Only in flashback)

Vehicles:

• Hell Cycle (First appearance)

Synopsis

Johnny Blaze, the Ghost Rider, rides through the streets of New York City and accidentally witnesses two men killing another. Wanting no part of what's happened, he rides on, but is then chased by the killers. 

Upon trapping him in an alley, the men are shocked to see Blaze's flaming skull. The Ghost Rider points his finger, causing flame to erupt on the ground. 

The men make a run for it, and Blaze rides back to Madison Square Garden, where he transforms back into his human form. 

He thinks back to try and remember what happened, hoping to find some answers in the past.

Johnny's father, Barton Blaze, died in a motorcycle accident when his son was very young. 

Johnny was then adopted by Crash Simpson, another stunt rider that ran his own cycle show with his wife Mona and daughter Roxanne. Johnny grew into adolescence, and had followed his step-father's footsteps by taking up cycle riding. When he was fifteen, his motorcycle caught fire during a practice session. 

Though he attempted to save his family, Mona Simpson is killed in the bike's explosion. Before she dies, she makes Johnny promise her that he'll never ride in the show due to the danger, which he agrees to. 

Five years later, Johnny is discovered riding in secret by Roxanne, who tells him that she is in love with him. 

Later on, Crash tells the two that he has cancer, and that the show's performance at Madison Square Garden will be his last, if he lives to even see that.

Determined to keep his step-father from dying, Johnny researches some occult books, finally using them to summon "Satan" (actually the demon lord Mephisto, in one of his many forms). 

In exchange for Johnny's soul, the devil will spare Crash Simpson from the cancer that's killing him. 

Three weeks later, Crash tells Johnny that he plans to try and break the world's cycle jump record at the Garden. 

Johnny knows he'll be fine, due to the deal he made with Satan. 

When Crash attempts to jump it, he doesn't make it, and dies in the resulting accident. 

Furious at what happened, Blaze suits up, mounts a bike, and does the same stunt... and makes it, breaking the world record. That night, Satan returns to claim Johnny's soul, claiming that he only said he'd spare Crash from the disease and nothing else. 

As Mephisto prepares to take Johnny to Hell, Roxanne enters and banishes the demon with the pure essence of her soul. 

She tells Johnny that she read his books behind his back, and learned how to send the devil away. The next night, however, Johnny begins to burn with fever, until his head suddenly transforms into a flaming skull. 

Every night since, he has undergone the transformation into... the Ghost Rider!

Notes

• In this issue's flashback, stuntman Johnny Blaze made a pact with Satan in order to save Crash Simpson's life. While the Devil who appeared in this story was intended to be Satan, father of Daimon and Satana Hellstrom, he was retconned into being Mephisto in Ghost Rider (Vol. 2) #68 (unpublished in Italy). The Devil was retconned again into being Satan, although a different one from the Hellstroms' father, in Ghost Rider (Vol. 6) #5 (in Italy in 100% MARV - GR CIRCOLO VIZIOSO 5). This Lord Satan, identified with the Judeo-Catholic devil figure of Lucifer, made his first appearance in Ghost Rider (Vol. 6) #1 (in Italy in 100% MARV - GR CIRCOLO VIZIOSO 1).
  • That was apparently retconned in Ghost Rider Vol 7, where Blaze indicated Mephisto as the one who bonded the Spirit of Vengeance to him, but this retcon and, in general, the whole series, does not acknowledges several main points from Daniel Way and Jason Aaron's previous runs on Ghost Rider Vol 6, so it's better to treat Blaze's statement as a small continuity error.
  • In Spirits of Vengeance #1's recap Primer Pages story (in Italy in SPIRITI DELLA VENDETTA #1), Mephisto is again identified as the devil who bonded Zarathos to Johnny Blaze. This is incorrect, since it was previously stated that the Spirit of Vengeance was bonded by the Archangel Zadkiel, and not by Mephisto nor Lucifer. Again, it's better to not acknowledge the Primer Pages as continuity, since they have been made to simplify the reading for the newest readers.