WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Savage Avengers #21, by Gerry Duggan, Patch Zircher, Java Tartaglia and VC's Travis Lanham, on sale now.
Conan the Barbarian has had quite the eventful detour into the modern-day Marvel Universe, quickly becoming a member of the Savage Avengers and saving the world on more than one occasion as he acclimates to the brave, new world millennia after the Hyborian Age. After gaining a palatial home for himself during the events of King in Black, Conan finds himself going to head to head with Ghost Rider in a fiery misunderstanding in the streets of New York City. And even though the odds initially appear stacked in the Spirit of Vengeance's favor, Johnny Blaze is shocked to discover that he isn't the only Ghost Rider the Last Cimmerian has confronted before.
As a restless Conan spent a night out on the town looking for adventure in the aftermath of King in Black, inheriting the home of former Hellfire Club Black King Sebastian Shaw, the time-displaced barbarian investigated an apartment building filled with cursed individuals spilling out into the street. Before Conan can get the heart of the ominous curse, he is forcibly extracted from the building by Ghost Rider who can sense the lingering magical energy signature from Kulan Gath on the Cimmerian. Convinced Conan is working with the evil wizard, Ghost Rider prepares to lay his judgment upon the barbarian, only to quickly discover that his musclebound opponent is far more than he initially bargained for.
Conan reveals to Johnny that he has encountered a Spirit of Vengeance before in his own time during the Hyborian Age, with a fiery rider using a giant spider as a mount. As Conan observed the supernatural warrior from a relatively safe distance, the ancient Ghost Rider targeted a cruel king for his hellish judgment and easily blew through the despot's armies to get at his true target. This is at least the second prehistoric Ghost Rider revealed by Marvel, with the Avengers of 1,000,000 B.C. featuring a Spirit of Vengeance of their own. This particular superhero road a fiery wooly mammoth into battle to defend humanity's earliest days on the planet.
While the full extent of Conan's encounter with the Hyborian Ghost Rider is currently unknown, his past experiences have led him to have a surprising resistance to the Penance Stare, with Johnny receiving magical feedback when attempting to judge Conan for his perceived sins.
When Ghost Rider makes another attempt to target Conan with his Penance Stare, the Cimmerian responds by grabbing Johnny's flaming skull. This has the unintended side effect of transporting Conan back to the Hyborian Age and his previous encounter with the Ghost Rider of that era, giant fiery spider and all.
Conan has been lost in time for quite some time now, emerging from the Hyborian Age during the "Avengers: No Surrender" storyline. Quickly proving himself to be more than capable of facing the modern Marvel Universe's deadliest foes, Conan has made a home for himself and fought alongside (and against) several of the biggest heroes and villains in the world. Against Ghost Rider, Conan's past experiences have shown him to be more than a match for Johnny Blaze and his dreaded Penance Stare. And as this confrontation sends Conan hurtling back to his native timeline, the Cimmerian's adventures in the modern Marvel Universe may have just come to an abrupt end.