Cosmic Ghost Rider

“Frank Castle was a decorated Marine and an upstanding citizen when his family was killed in a mob hit. From that day, he was a force of retribution… until he died.”

These are the first words written in one of my favorite comic book series of all time. I believe this is the perfect way to start the comics segment, by introducing an oddball character who most of you have never heard of. This is about Punisher (or Frank Castle), on a whole new level. The next few lines sum it up, slightly:

“and then returned as the Ghost Rider, Spirit of Vengeance. And then became Galactus’ Herald. And then came to be the black right hand of Thanos. And then he died for real.

It’s important to know your past, and as in Cosmic Ghost Rider (2018), the issues we will be using, the facts are not as revealed as others. However, a glimpse in the past is given at the beginning of issue 1, which I will summarize so you may read on with as little confusion as possible. The following words are presented in order: Soldier (Castle was a US Marine), Dead Family (Castle’s whole family was murdered in a mob hit intended for him), War on Terror (Castle fights crime as the Punisher), Death (whilst fighting Thanos, Hulk is slammed into a building and Castle dies under the debris), Hell (He goes to hell. Not much more here), Spirit of Vengeance (Castle makes a deal with the Devil to become Ghost Rider, a mythical being sent to punish criminals and evil people on Earth), Madness (Castle is resurrected on a barren Earth following Thano’s desolation. Castle has no one to love or even talk to), Devourer (Castle meets Galactus, and offers him the Earth’s energy for a price…), Cosmic Power (That’s the price, along with partnership looking to defeat Thanos), Thanos (After Galactus is beaded, Castle becomes Thano’s right hand man and servant), Death (Castle helps Thanos appease the character Death, who Thanos is madly in love with), Death (Castle is killed by The Fallen One, a corrupted Silver Surfer and former partner of Galactus, with Mjolnir). Following these events, our story begins.

Issue One begins with Frank Castle in Valhalla, brawling with a minor Norse god who is boasting about his war victories, which most were over children and orphans. Castle is distasteful at the puny god, as well as the fact that he is brought back to Valhalla. Castle has an altercation with Odin, the god of the gods, explaining how Castle had been waiting for punishment and penance, but he yet again is given another chance at a good life, something his family was never given. Odin unveils a secret to Frank, showing him a plethora of weapons, and the Ghost Rider’s motorcycle, as well as the ability to travel to any time and planet in the known universe. Castle decides to go to Titan so that he may kill the youth Thanos before he evolves into a monster. He then is attacked by the young Thanos, who is counter-attacked by the Rider’s penance stare, where the victim sees all the pain and hurt he or she has inflicted amongst the world. As Thanos was only a child, he had committed no evil acts and was spared death for a moment. The Rider weighed his options between killing the child or leaving him be but then decided on an alternative. He steals Baby Thanos and escapes into the cosmos, leading into the second issue.

Issue Two introduces the plot, as the Rider takes Baby Thanos to a bar in a distant and doomed planet, where Galactus arrives about to do what he does best. Devour the planet. Galactus tries to kill Rider, as he does not recognize his future ally (time travel does things to people, even world-sized devourers of planets), but after Galactus witnessed Castle survive cosmic power, he dug into Castle’s mind and read him every memory. Galactus and Rider discuss their alliance while flying sharks appear to form the planet, trying to stop Galactus. The sharks are, obviously, disintegrated, which follows a heated discussion between the two allies about killing or rehabilitating Thanos. The Watcher, a primordial being that sees all of everything, comes down to witness what he calls “one of the greatest mistakes in history”, in which Frank Castle raises Thanos, the Mad Titan. Castle uses a variety of expletives as he walks away from the two cosmic entities, and is blasted out of the sky by a group hunting down Thanos, led by the time-traveler Cable, and who call themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy.

 

Rider and Thanos running from the Guardians of the Galaxy, consisting of some oddball characters (we will talk about that later), while the Watcher of everything watches this all unfold as the hellfire and cosmic infused time jumper steals a baby mass murderer and plans to raise it. This is why I, and why you should love comic books. These Guardians consist of JuggerDuck, which is Howard the Duck and Juggernaut mixed, which quite frankly, is the crossover I never wanted, but never knew how bad I needed, Kamala Khan, but instead of Miss Marvel, she is Captain America with Steve Roger’s former shield, Jubilee (a well-known X-Man with pyrotechnic abilities) and (my personal favorite) Iron Rocket, a suit built and worn by Rocket Raccoon, based off of Iron Man, but the suit is made from Groot. These guardians are from the future that Castle creates when he raises baby Thanos. Galactus comes raining down on the Guardians and disintegrates them all. Goodbye Juggerduck and Iron Rocket. Galactus prevents harm from Rider while still intending to kill Thanos. Cable is somehow alive, time travels, and works with Hank Pym (Ant-Man) for twenty years, where he then shrinks down Galactus, uses him as ammunition, and fires his gun at the cosmos. Again, I say. You should all read comic books. Cable time travels AGAIN with a whole new group of Guardians, such as Gambit, The Thing, and numerous others, and they continue to chase the Rider. Castle tosses Thanos to the Watcher as a temporary “sitter”. curses a few times, and kills all of the Guardians of the Galaxy. In case this was unclear, Cable time travels multiple times, getting new members every time, making the Guardians ranks over hundreds in total, and Castle fends off each one single-handedly. Some of the most prevalent and powerful heroes in Marvel history are destroyed by a newly-adoptive father, as baby Thanos watches the carnage. She-Hulk stands as one of three Guardians left, along with Cable, and knocks out the Rider. Castle wakes up to baby Thanos finishing the job, beating a dead Cable with his own cybernetic arm. Rider, being the good father he is, chastises his new son for murdering, and then listens to Cable’s warning of the next Thanos being much worse. A time-traveling fully-grown Thanos in a Punisher outfit then appears, blasting the head off of cable, referring to the Rider as a dad. I know this issue was longer than the others, but it was so much worth the read and enjoyment, and to believe we’re only halfway there!

Older Thanos, known in this series now as The Punisher, brings his younger self and the Rider back to the timeline where The Punisher and Ghost Rider reigned. They created a happy life, at first, for those in their realm, by keeping everyone safe and deterred from crime. However the Rider sees smoke billowing over a cliff, and seeing past the utopia, he sees the crippled city, full of blimps watching with the Punisher logo equipped, watching for survivors of the destruction. Rider screams at The Punisher, chastising him for dishonoring his memory. In this timeline, Castle had perished after finally ridding his body of cosmic power and the Ghost Rider, and lived out a happy life with his family, who Thanos saved when the mob hit arrived. Castle refuses to believe this, and upsets his adopted son, and starts screaming that he is trapped in a loop of servitude to his son. He picks up Baby Thanos and attempts to kill him, but The Punisher shoots him with eye laser beams (no I do not know how they got their either) and beats his father over the grave of his father. The Punisher offers a deal, instead of killing Castle for not wanting to rule the world together, then Thanos will be king and Castle will be his herald. Now I am interested as baby Thanos is seeing how screwed up his future self is, and it has me wondering if maybe the child will change his own fate to prevent being a homicidal maniac.

Looking at his past and all the terrible (and few good things that Frank gives himself credit for) things he has done, Castle begins to examine his conscience. Even stating he has sold every bit of his soul and committed every sin, Castle looks around seeing the destruction and pain he has caused, mostly to himself. He tells himself it’s ok to make mistakes, as long as you make them once. BOOM! Sorry. Anyways, Castle uses his cosmic powers, and instead of taking The Punisher’s hand, blasts him into the destroyed city below them, as baby Thanos falls laughing next to Frank. Thinking it is a ride and enjoying himself, baby Thanos wants to be blasted by cosmic energy yet again, and honestly, I can understand the excitement. Rider asks his newly adopted son (Baby Thanos in this case), to not watch as Rider finishes off Thanos. The Punisher lands in front of his sentries (guards roaming the city looking for criminals) while he faces off the Rider. Thanos remembers the last time his father and him fought, and it was about the city being built and Thanos enslaving Castle. In that fight, Rider loses and dies. Rider emits a huge blast of cosmic energy, which destroys the city, but instead of killing Thanos, leaves him bare naked, which in my opinion is scarier than when he was clothed. The Rider takes The Punisher, and emits more energy, melting his skin and flesh, and then removing his s skull from his body, before crushing it in his hand. Castle subsequently frees the city, meeting Hope, a teammate, and tinkerer of Cable’s. She hands him a box to give to Cable (not knowing his head was blown off), as Frank Castle and his wife from the past find baby Thanos. Baby Thanos pees his pants and announces it for everyone to hear. The Rider takes Baby Thanos back telling his past self to “never beg” and the returns to the past using what was in the box, one of Cable’s time jumpers. The easy ending, Rider goes to put baby Thanos back so that the future he saw may never happen, but of course, nothing could be that simple. Death (the character) confronts Castle outside Thanos’ room, thanking Castle for teaching the boy how to kill. Death states that Thanos is her instrument of Death in the mortal world, and nothing would be able to change that, and thus ends the Cosmic Ghost Rider series. For Now. Cosmic Ghost Rider continues his path in a new comic series, known as the Guardians of the Galaxy, which is funny because that was my next stop too.

 

For anyone willing or wanting to read Cosmic Ghost Rider (2018) and a plethora of other comics, I use comicpunch.net to read for no price at all. Fair warning, some of the banner advertisements on the website are quite vulgar but are easily avoidable, and sometimes are not present. Leave a comment with any suggestions or any help if needed!