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."

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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.

Vengeance in Hell

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.

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Michael Badilino had one more appearance as Vengeance in Ghost Rider Vol. 3 #94 by Ivan Velez, Jr., Javier Saltares, Mark Texeira, Javier Saltares, Klaus Janson, Tom Chu and Rus Wooton, and it took place in Hell. Ghost Rider was also in Hell, and Blackheart was forcing him into a marriage with Spirit and Black Rose. However, Danny Ketch and his mother's spirit arrived, and with Vengeance's help, they defeated Blackheart once and for all.

Michael Badilino, the former Vengeance

The last time anyone saw or heard from Michael Badilino was in 2009 in the pages of Ghost Rider Vol. 6 #30 by Jason Aaron, Tan Eng Huat, Jose Villarrubia and Joe Caramagna. This was the "Last Stands of the Spirits of Vengeance" storyline where Danny Ketch had declared war on the Spirits of Vengeance in the name of Zadkiel, not knowing the demon was involved in a war on Heaven.

Badilino was alive again and back on Earth. He was also in possession of a shotgun that Johnny Blaze used in the past, one only a Spirit of Vengeance could shoot. He ended up giving the gun to Deputy Kowalski, a police officer who had sworn vengeance on Blaze, which eventually resulted in Kowalski becoming the new Vengeance, carrying on the demonic entity's persona. Badilino got one over on Blaze one last time.

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