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55-578: He first appears in Marvel Spotlight #5 (August 1972). He was created by writers Roy Thomas and Gary Friedrich and artist Mike Ploog . As explained in Ghost Rider (vol. 2) #77, the physical stone body of the demon Zarathos had lain inert and inanimate beneath the Earth for eons until his spirit was summoned by a Native American tribal sorcerer named K'Nutu to help his tribe. Zarathos

110-672: A chance to defeat Zarathos. It is Blade who takes Foundry's sword, killing her with it so he can use her blood-stained sword to defeat Zarathos. Blade defeats Zarathos by turning him into stone; he remained that way until the Ghost Rider: Hammerlane miniseries, where he began to reconstitute himself within Johnny Blaze, after which he and Johnny made peace with one another. After the Fear Itself story line, Blaze had Zarathos exorcised from him. The demon Zarathos

165-731: A counter spell from the Darkhold. The "Siege of Darkness" consisted of two subsequent stories in which the Midnight Sons fought groups connected with the two major villains, Lilith and Zarathos . In the first story arc, covers were black with vague outlines, and the Midnight Sons fought the Lilin who were invading the earth in a mysterious smoke emanating from Cypress Hills Cemetery. Lilin included in this arc include Bad Timing, Martine Bancroft, Blackout, Dark Legion, Meatmarket, Nakota, Outcast, Pilgrim, Sister Nil, Stonecold, and Bloodthirst, who

220-599: A good idea to have a book with an American Indian hero. ... Stan didn't want it as a modern-day character. I guess he was trying to see if he could find a way to get a Western to sell, because everybody in the field wanted to write or draw a Western". Following this successful try-out, Red Wolf was given his own series, as were Werewolf by Night , Ghost Rider , the Son of Satan , and Spider-Woman . In addition to launching new series, Marvel Spotlight hosted some significant stories with established characters. Issue #31 provided

275-465: A grandchild. He was later killed and Lilith gave birth to Blackout along with her other children, thus indeed making him one of her actual children). Though she would have a lot more of her children to help her, the rest had forsaken Lilith. After she was imprisoned, many of the Lilin were either scattered or killed. Those who were scattered forgot the ways of Lilith and moved on with their lives, except Lilith's most faithful servants. The team consisted of

330-515: A large scale vampire invasion during the Blood Hunt event with the vampire invasion being led by Blade. They end up figuring out that Blade is possessed by Varnae . The Midnight Sons, renamed Midnight Suns , appear in Marvel's Midnight Suns . This version of the team has existed since the 17th century, with Ghost Riders as prominent members throughout the various iterations of the team and

385-499: A mystical stasis. In his place appears Strange , a mystical construct Doctor Strange based loosely on himself. Strange joins the rest of the Midnight Sons in the fight against The Fallen. Ghost Rider confronts Zarathos one on one, and Ghost Rider is apparently destroyed and his power absorbed into Zarathos. The Midnight Sons then fight Patriarch, Metarchus, and Atrocity to a standstill, and the Fallen retreat. Caretaker reveals that there

440-740: A new limited series was released, entitled Midnight Suns . The 5-issue miniseries was written by Ethan Sacks with art by Luigi Zagaria. While not directly connected to the Midnight Suns video game of the same year, the two concurrent versions featured loose similarities in both name and roster. The comic team featured Blade , Kushala the Spirit Rider , Magik , Wolverine , and Nico Minoru . Shortly after, Marvel announced another miniseries in 2024. Coming from writer Bryan Hill and artist Germán Peralta, Midnight Sons: Blood Hunt will tie into Marvel's summer-long Blood Hunt event. Along with

495-468: A new version of the team was brought together when Strange Academy student Zoe Laveau projected a vision to supernatural characters across the Marvel Universe. Featuring Blade , Kushala , Magik , Wolverine , and Nico Minoru , the series also included prominent appearances by characters such as Agatha Harkness , Clea Strange , and Doctor Doom . The original Midnight Sons reunite to fight

550-500: A result, for the most part, the series seemed to exist just to burn off existing inventory". In December 2005, the Marvel Spotlight title was used for a series of comic book–sized magazines, usually featuring profiles of and interviews with Marvel creators (one writer and one artist each issue), or spotlighting special Marvel projects such as Stephen King's The Dark Tower . Midnight Sons The Midnight Sons are

605-465: A retroactive explanation for why Nick Fury (inextricably associated with World War II due to his starring role in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos ) remained so youthful, in the form of an experimental longevity serum. After a run of nearly six years, the series ended with Marvel Spotlight #33 (April 1977). The series was revived in 1979, initially as simply a place to publish inventory stories from

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660-457: A separate champion to represent Mephisto; if Mephisto wins, the universe will be given a 24-hour reprieve from destruction, but if the Beyonder wins, not only will he erase the universe from existence, he will give his champion ample time to exact revenge on Mephisto himself. The Beyonder chooses Spider-Man as Mephisto's champion and decides that Zarathos will be his own champion. Zarathos' goal

715-515: A team of supernatural superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Including Ghost Riders Danny Ketch and Johnny Blaze , Blade , and Morbius , the original team first formed as part of the Rise of the Midnight Sons story arc, culminating in the first full team appearance in Ghost Rider (vol. 3) #31 ( cover dated November 1992). Following the success of

770-559: A threat once again when the Midnight Sons are formed. He briefly joins forces with the demon mother Lilith (not to be confused with the daughter of Dracula , who has the same name), but soon leaves her after he realized she was just using him to bring her the Medallion of Power. Another reason he left her was because she duped him into joining her forces (his memory was so bad at the time that Lilith actually convinced him that he

825-469: A title that was newly included in the line. It was advertised with an eight-page insert in several comics in October, November, and December 1993. According to the text of the advertisement, written by Jeffrey Lee Simmons. For the first time in the history of Marvel, one of our family groups is getting its own distinct family imprint and cover treatment. On the outside of the books, this means all titles in

880-551: A traitor. The team following Morbius, which includes Louise Hastings, hide out in one of Morbius' old labs. Louise Hastings finds out Morbius has been infected by Lilin blood, and Morbius secretly kills her. Morbius has been taken over by the Lilin Bloodthirst. He then requests entry into Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum. Unaware that Morbius has been possessed, Doctor Strange allows him to enter which allows other Lilin to follow. Doctor Strange convinces Morbius to fight

935-529: Is a comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics as a try-out book. It stood out from Marvel's other try-out books in that most of the featured characters made their first appearance in the series. The series originally ran for 33 issues from November 1971 to April 1977. A second volume ran for 11 issues from July 1979 to March 1981. Marvel Spotlight was one of three tryout books proposed by Stan Lee after he transitioned from being Marvel Comics' writer and editor to its president and publisher,

990-570: Is bound to Johnny Blaze ; the combined Blaze/Zarathos entity manifests as a leather-clad flaming skeletal wraith known as the Ghost Rider , ultimately serving the side of "good" while still using hellish means, which earns the Ghost Rider a reputation of fear and Johnny Blaze a never-ending sense of guilt. As time progresses, Zarathos would occasionally from time to time reassert his control over Johnny Blaze's and his composite form. Zarathos

1045-480: Is killed by Modred, and James Raydar joins the Midnight Sons along with Embyrre, Raydar's daughter and one of The Fallen who turns against Zarathos when she sees Morbius' nobility. Meanwhile, Victoria Montesi finds out that she has been impregnated with Chthon. Doctor Strange helps her just as he is being attacked by Salomé, one of The Fallen, who claims she is the rightful Sorceress Supreme. Doctor Strange disappears into another dimension and places Victoria Montesi in

1100-618: Is not only to corrupt Spider-Man's spirit and morals, but to prevent Spider-Man from stopping an assassination attempt on the Kingpin . Spider-Man overcomes Zarathos' nightmarish attempts at corrupting him and saves the Kingpin's life; thus, the Beyonder (after re-imprisoning Zarathos inside the Soul Crystal) allows the universe one more day to exist (during that additional day came the Beyonder's defeat and seeming death). Zarathos becomes

1155-502: Is one more member of The Blood they have not contacted, Foundry. The Midnight Sons track down Foundry who gives them a sword called Justiciar. She claims it must be tempered in her own blood and sacrifices herself. Blade then uses Justiciar to kill Patriarch, Metarchus, and Atrocity with the help of the other Midnight Sons. They believe the destruction of The Fallen will weaken Zarathos. They attack Zarathos directly. Embyrre and James Raydar also attack and are killed. Ghost Rider, whose spirit

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1210-777: The Nightstalkers ( Eric Brooks / Blade , Frank Drake and Hannibal King ), Morbius, the Living Vampire , the Spirits of Vengeance ( Danny Ketch / Ghost Rider , Johnny Blaze / Ghost Rider , and later Michael Badilino / Vengeance ), and the guardians of the Darkhold , the Darkhold Redeemers (Sam Buchanan, Victoria Montesi , Louise Hastings, and later Modred the Mystic and Jinx). While secretly assembling

1265-586: The Sin-Eater use his Soul Crystal to suck Blaze's soul from his body. This greatly weakens Zarathos who, without Blaze's soul, finds himself dying, for as a demon, and thus truly not of the Earth as mortals are, Zarathos cannot maintain himself upon the Earthly plane unless he possesses the physical body of a mortal. Using the last of his strength, Zarathos splits the crystal in half, freeing not only Blaze's soul, but innumerable souls that had been consumed by it in

1320-506: The Book of Sins , and the Midnight Sons brand did not last much longer. Nightstalkers only lasted three more issues. A Blade and Blaze series failed to catch interest. The Midnight Sons logo was eventually dropped from the remaining titles, cover-dated September 1994, although Morbius , Blade , Blaze , Doctor Strange , Ghost Rider (vol. 3), Marvel Comics Presents and the final three issues of Midnight Sons Unlimited continued on under

1375-466: The Midnight Sons'. This brand is placed on the arms of all the members of the new team aside from Frank Drake , a member of the Nightstalkers and a human descendant of Dracula and the Ghost Rider who had apparently been destroyed. Drake was disallowed from taking the brand due to his relative normalcy compared to the other members who were supernaturally afflicted and destined to be outsiders. He

1430-521: The Midnight Sons, featuring a team composed of Moon Knight, Blade , Ghost Rider , Doctor Strange , Punisher , Daimon Hellstrom , Jennifer Kale and Hannibal King . Although this never came to pass, Smallwood did contribute variant covers for Doctor Strange: Damnation by Donny Cates , Nick Spencer , and Rod Reis, which featured another modern Midnight Sons team: Wong , Blade , Doctor Voodoo , Elsa Bloodstone , Johnny Blaze , Moon Knight , Iron Fist , Scarlet Spider , and Man-Thing . In 2022,

1485-481: The Midnight Sons," launched several books in the Midnight Sons line, including Morbius (September 1992), Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins (October 1992), and Nightstalkers (November 1992). The team consisted of "the Nine": Blade , Morbius , Danny Ketch (as a Ghost Rider), John Blaze (as a human), Frank Drake , Hannibal King , Vicki Montesi , Louise Hastings, and Sam Buchanan. The group appeared in

1540-462: The climax of the events of Secret Wars II , the Beyonder , angered at humanity and the entire plane of existence, travels to Hell and informs Mephisto of his plan to erase all existence contained in this universe. Mephisto pleads with the Beyonder not to commit such an act, going so far as to make a bet with him. The Beyonder agrees, under these terms: he chooses both a champion to represent him and

1595-608: The control of Bloodthirst. Doctor Strange then casts a spell that causes the Sanctum Sanctorum to explode. The Spirits of Vengeance then confront Lilith and Zarathos in Cypress Hills Cemetery and use the Medallion of Power to send Lilith and the Lilin back to Shadowside. The Medallion of Power disappears. After Lilith is exiled, it appears as if a group called The Fallen, loyal to Zarathos, has returned from exile. The Fallen are an offshoot of The Blood,

1650-460: The crossovers, Marvel branded all stories involving the group with a distinct family imprint and cover treatment, which lasted from December 1993 to August 1994. The team has been revived several times with different characters, but the most frequent members include Morbius , Blade , and at least one Spirit of Vengeance . The original Midnight Sons appeared in several 1990s multi-issue crossovers of Marvel's supernatural titles. The first, "Rise of

1705-493: The deceptive use of his soulless pawn, Centurious ). Zarathos is then forced to serve Mephisto for many centuries in the Netherworld , an extra-dimensional land of the dead sometimes called "Hell", though still powerful enough to avoid total confinement. Mephisto sends his unruly vassal back to Earth on occasion, binding him to human hosts and allowing him to ravage souls (albeit on a smaller scale). In modern times, Zarathos

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1760-716: The end of Marvel Zombies 3 and fully appears in Marvel Zombies 4 . Man-Thing and the Hood join the team later in the series. During the Damnation storyline, Wong and the ghost of Doctor Strange's dog Bats assembled Blade, Doctor Voodoo, Elsa Bloodstone, Ghost Rider, Moon Knight, Iron Fist , Scarlet Spider and Man-Thing to form the third incarnation of the Midnight Sons so that they could help Doctor Strange fight Mephisto's forces in Las Vegas. Some time later,

1815-416: The family will share a new cover symbol, the Midnight Sons dagger as well as similar cover treatments. Inside, the Midnight Sons titles will have stronger continuity, making for a more exciting, tightly knit sub-section of the Marvel Universe. The advertisement also claimed the Midnight Sons was the "first distinct family group." "Siege of Darkness," however, marked the cancellation of Darkhold: Pages from

1870-472: The featured character getting their own series. Jim Salicrup , who edited and/or did cover copy on most of the second volume, said that he was excited about reviving Marvel Spotlight , but that "it was probably a mistake to launch a new title with material from a recently canceled comic. I suspect that as an editor, I was hoping to give Captain Marvel another chance, but sometimes it's better to let things go. As

1925-465: The ground either to trap his victims in hard rock or to impale them with spiked stalagmites. He is able to shoot hellfire from his hands, and can transport both himself and others to different locations. Apparently, the more souls he consumes, the more powerful he becomes. Zarathos also has significant knowledge of magical lore and possesses the ability to manipulate magical energies for a variety of effects. Marvel Spotlight Marvel Spotlight

1980-449: The group to which Caretaker belongs. The Fallen left The Blood to follow the wizard Zarathos. The Fallen quickly beat the Midnight Sons and take Caretaker captive. The Midnight Sons regroup at The Nightclub, and Caretaker sends a message that The Fallen plan to recruit or kill surviving members of The Blood. The Midnight Sons then find James Raydar, Patriarch and Truthsayer with varying degrees of success; Patriarch joins Zarathos, Truthsayer

2035-563: The new King of Hell. Zarathos is continuously shown to be able to challenge Mephisto in both Earthly and magical combat. He possesses immeasurable levels of strength and stamina well beyond that of his hosts and is wholly immune to anything other than the powers of beings such as the One Above All . When at full strength, Zarathos has exhibited influence over certain Earthly elements; he is able to conjure thunderstorms to incinerate his opponents with bolts of lightning, as well as rupture

2090-424: The nine-issue anthology comic book Midnight Sons Unlimited , which ran from April 1993 to May 1995 and tied into the crossover events. Their final crossover was the seventeen-part "Siege of Darkness" which ran from December 1993 to January 1994. It was featured in two consecutive issues of each Midnight Sons title as well as four issues of Marvel Comics Presents (#143-146), and two issues of Doctor Strange ,

2145-603: The normal Marvel logo. The Marvel Edge imprint debuted in 1995, incorporating some of the same ongoing titles as Midnight Sons, including Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme and Ghost Rider . In 2009, a different incarnation of the team was featured in Marvel Zombies 4 after being teased in Marvel Zombies 3 . More like the Legion of Monsters than a traditional Midnight Sons line-up, this team included Morbius , Daimon Hellstrom , Jennifer Kale , Werewolf by Night , and Man-Thing . The Hood briefly assisted. The story

2200-544: The other Midnight Sons join the fight, they discover that, instead of killing Lilith and Zarathos, Ghost Rider and Blaze have opened a portal to Shadowside where the Lilin had been exiled. They split into two groups, one led by Ghost Rider and one led by Morbius. Caretaker , Doctor Strange and Vengeance also join the fight. Caretaker claims Zarathos is more powerful and they must protect the Medallion of Power. Doctor Strange teleports Ghost Rider's group to his Sanctum Sanctorum . They find out from some Lilin that Morbius' team has

2255-439: The others being Marvel Feature and Marvel Premiere . The advantage of such tryout books was that they allowed the publisher to assess a feature's popularity without the marketing investment required to launch a new series, and without the blow to the publisher's image with readers if the new series immediately failed. The series began with a Red Wolf story. Editor Roy Thomas explained: "Stan [Lee] and I decided it'd be

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2310-413: The past. Before the crystal merges back into one piece, it sucks Centurious inside as well. Zarathos feels cheated out of his revenge against Centurious, but with the help of the now-dying Sin-Eater, the demon manages to transfer his essence into the crystal. Johnny Blaze is now free from the curse that Mephisto placed on him many years before and the first existence of the Ghost Rider comes to an end. Near

2365-443: The recently cancelled Captain Marvel . However, once these leftover tales were exhausted, the series went on to feature other characters. Tako Shamara first appeared in Marvel Spotlight vol. 2 #5 (March 1980), in a story by Marv Wolfman and Steve Ditko . In his first appearance the character battled a huge dragon from the past called a Wani, a monster that destroyed his ancestors' villages in 1582. The creature that Tako battled

2420-465: The return of the classic name, the book is also expected to feature most of the original Midnight Sons together again for the first time since 1994. The cast so far is confirmed to include Blade, Johhny Blaze, Danny Ketch, and Victoria Montesi. The team was formed by Ghost Riders, Danny Ketch and Johnny Blaze after Ghost Rider received a vision in which he learned that Lilith, Mother of All Demons ( not Dracula's daughter, another Marvel character of

2475-399: The same name) was being resurrected and posed a great threat. She planned to use her demon children, the Lilin, to take over Earth. Though Lilith had many children, she had four children who were very loyal to her. Their names were Pilgrim, Nakota, Meatmarket, and the most powerful of the four, Blackout , Ghost Rider's old enemy (Blackout was not an actual child of Lilith originally, but rather

2530-484: The team and the sub-teams within, from behind the scenes, Doctor Strange didn't officially join the team until the Siege of Darkness storyline. The second major meeting between the Midnight Sons occurred when Blade, with a page from the Darkhold, became the demonic creature Switchblade. He killed most of the Midnight Sons, subsequently taking on the power and weapons of each. He was finally stopped when Louise Hastings used

2585-409: Was absorbed by Zarathos, now apparently attacks him from within and Blade stabs Zarathos with Justiciar. Zarathos, with the sword through his chest, turns to stone. Johnny Blaze, Vengeance, Morbius, Blade, Hannibal King, Strange, and Caretaker then go through a ceremony in which they are branded with the symbol of the flaming dagger. Caretaker says they have become the successors to the original 'Order of

2640-415: Was allowed, however, to be an associate member. A new Midnight Sons team is sanctioned by A.R.M.O.R. , a government agency that monitors and polices alternate realities from Earth-616 . The team is chosen by Morbius, who enlists Daimon Hellstrom , Jennifer Kale , and Werewolf by Night to contain the zombie virus outbreak from further spreading into the 616 universe. The team makes a brief appearance at

2695-427: Was eventually then bonded to a female host in the present series. Eventually, Zarathos was ultimately bound once again to Johnny Blaze. Before he was turned to stone, Zarathos had claimed that he had coupled with Lilith , impregnating her. Lilith plans to unleash her children, but this is yet to be seen. During the Damnation event Zarathos, along with Johnny Blaze, went to Hell and took Mephisto's throne, becoming

2750-412: Was her son). After he left, he went to become the leader of the Fallen, the evil Blood (his acolytes) once again. Having lost his memory, Zarathos has not quite reached his full power until he meets the Fallen. After that, he gains enough power to defeat the Ghost Rider and absorb his essence. However, he suffers horrible agony since the Ghost Rider was still residing within him. This gives the Midnight Sons

2805-424: Was intended to be Godzilla but since Marvel no longer had the rights to the character, which lapsed the previous year, the creature was modified to a dragon called The Wani. Issue #8 featured the final Captain Marvel solo story before the character's death. The second volume was cancelled after just 11 issues. In contrast to the original series, only one issue (#5) featured a new character, and none of them led to

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2860-483: Was loosely continued in Punisher: Frankencastle and Legion of Monsters . An unnamed team similar to the Midnight Sons appeared in the 5-issue Spirits of Vengeance series in 2017 by Victor Gischler and David Baldeón. This series featured Johnny Blaze , Daimon Hellstrom , Blade , and Satana . In February 2017, Moon Knight artist Greg Smallwood expressed interest in a revamped version of

2915-517: Was possessing Morbius. In the second story arc, covers featured a dripping blood design, and the Midnight Sons fought The Fallen, a group loyal to Zarathos. The Fallen include Atrocity, Embyrre, Metarchus, Patriarch, and Salomé. At the beginning of the story, Ghost Rider and Blaze tell The Nightstalkers, The Darkhold Redeemers, and Morbius that they have killed Lilith and Zarathos. The Nightstalkers, who are skeptical, investigate but find mist containing Lilin now emanating from Cypress Hills Cemetery. As

2970-565: Was temporarily separated from Johnny Blaze by the Crimson Mage. Zarathos gained additional control over the Ghost Rider, becoming more violent. As the Ghost Rider, he re-encountered Centurious. Johnny Blaze had grown stronger, causing an eventual clash over Blaze's physical body, as Mephisto temporarily frees Zarathos to compete with Johnny Blaze for his freedom. Before it can reach that point, Centurious (Mephisto's champion who defeated Zarathos thousands of years before) returns and has his pawn

3025-480: Was then offered a steady supply of souls to consume in exchange for his aid in vanquishing enemies of the sorcerer's tribe and for offering his might in their service. This alliance proves mutually beneficial and flourishes. A strong cult builds up around Zarathos, which gets the attention of Mephisto , who decides that Zarathos has too much of a following and is depriving him and the other Lords of Hell of souls. Mephisto eventually confronts Zarathos and defeats him (by

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