Hellhunters #5

History

Ghost Rider '44 first appeared in Incredible Hulk #6 (2023), created by writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson and artist Nic Klein; the overwhelmingly positive fan response to the character prompted Johnson to pitch Hellhunters as a five-issue origin miniseries, his first Marvel project he has described as one that 'wouldn't exist without me.' Johnson partnered with artist Adam Gorham — known for Immortal Hulk and Star Wars: Darth Vader — with colors by Frank Martin Jr. and letters by VC's Travis Lanham, and the series was edited by Jordan D. White under editor-in-chief C.B. Cebulski. The series launched on December 25, 2024, with issue #5 shipping April 30, 2025, capping a rapid five-month publishing run rated Parental Advisory.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Hellhunters #5 (cover date June 2025, on sale April 30, 2025) is the five-issue finale of the Hellhunters limited series published by Marvel Comics.
• Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson with art by Adam Gorham, colors by Frank Martin Jr., and letters by VC's Travis Lanham; cover by Jonas Scharf.
• The issue concludes the origin of Ghost Rider '44 (Sergeant Sal Romero), a WWII-era Spirit of Vengeance who first appeared in Incredible Hulk #6, created by Johnson and artist Nic Klein.
• Featured team members in this final issue: Ghost Rider '44 (Sal Romero), Soldier Supreme (Sebastian Szardos), Sergeant Nick Fury, Bucky Barnes, Logan (pre-Wolverine), and Peggy Carter, all empowered by Zarathos for the climactic battle.
• The central conflict pits the Zarathos-gifted Hellhunters against the demonic Unhallowed and their leader Calaphel — revealed as a massive frozen winged demon — who has frozen the English Channel to destroy the Allied Forces.
• Johnson and Gorham use Dante's Inferno as a visual and thematic source, deliberately depicting the demonic Unhallowed as wielders of ice (referencing the frozen ninth circle of Hell) in contrast to the team's hellfire — rendered in opposing arctic blue and reddish-orange by Frank Martin's palette.
• Each hero's Zarathos-granted weapon foreshadows their canonical future: Logan receives flaming claws (anticipating his identity as Wolverine), Bucky's left arm is consumed in flame (foreshadowing the Winter Soldier's metal arm), and Fury's left eye is engulfed (prefiguring his signature eye patch).
• The issue ends with an open narrative hook referencing the Nightbringer and the surviving Unhallowed, establishing Ghost Rider '44 as a character with ongoing story potential beyond the miniseries.