One of Ghost Rider’s toughest enemies was a cop that eventually turned into the fiery demon known as Vengeance.
Several men and women have held the power of the Spirit of Vengeance, and one of these was a former police detective assigned to bring down Ghost Rider. This was Michael Badilino, and he went by the name Vengeance.
Badilino was a former Marine who joined the police force. Some of his early days were shown in the 1997 series Code of Honor by Chuck Dixon, Tristan Shane, Brad Parker, Tristan Shane, Brad Parker, Brad Parker, Chris Eliopoulos and John Marasigan. In that first issue, Badilino made it clear what type of person he was, praising the Punisher for doing something to “reduce the scum population.”
In Ghost Rider Vol. 3 #21 by Howard Mackie, Ron Wagner, Michael Bair, Vince Evans, Ariane Lenshoek, Jimmy Palmiotti, Mark Texeira, Gregory Wright and Janice Chiang., Badilino made his Marvel Comics debut. He was now a detective assigned to a task force to bring in Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch). By this time, Badilino had become a corrupt cop who was as bad as the criminals he chased. That made him the perfect person for Ghost Rider to target. However, as bad as Balidino was, he became worse when Mephisto finished with him.
In Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #9 by Howard Mackie, Adam Kubert, Bill Reinhold, Gregory Wright, and Bill Oakley, Balidino took on the form of Vengeance. While this is kept a secret at first, the backstory revealed that Mephisto tricked Johnny Blaze into blasting Badilino’s dad with hellfire, which caused the man to go insane and kill his wife and daughters before taking his own life. Badilino wanted revenge and made a deal with Mephisto to take on the role of Vengeance.
He then took the fight to both Blaze and Ketch, but their battle did not last long. Eventually, when Blaze and Ketch prepared to vanquish him once and for all, Caretaker stopped them and informed everyone that the Badilino family was also connected to the Medallion of Power. He took on the role of an antihero, joining them as part of the Midnight Sons. However, he eventually lost control and felt he had gone too far, done too much evil. Vengeance took his own life to save the world and destroy the Hellgate in Ghost Rider Vol. 3 #76 by Ivan Velez Jr, Salvador Larroca, Sergio Melia, Brian Buccellato, Richard Starkings and Comicraft.