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| Cover Artist: Leinil Francis Yu |
Original Price: $3.99
Title: "Crime & Punishment", Part 6
Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Leinil Francis Yu
Inkers: Gerry Alanguilan w/ Jason Paz, Edgar Tadeo, & Jeff Huet
Letterer: VC's Cory Petit
Colorist: Dave McCaig w/ Frank Martin
Assistant Editor: Sana Amanat
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Editor-In-Chief: Joe Quesada
Artist: Leinil Francis Yu
Inkers: Gerry Alanguilan w/ Jason Paz, Edgar Tadeo, & Jeff Huet
Letterer: VC's Cory Petit
Colorist: Dave McCaig w/ Frank Martin
Assistant Editor: Sana Amanat
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Editor-In-Chief: Joe Quesada
SYNOPSIS
Johnny Blaze, the Ghost Rider, attacks Vice-President Blackthorne, who is now also a demonically-powered Vengeance. Blaze quickly gets the upper hand, saying that he's fantasized about killing Blackthorne for 20 years, but before he can finish the job he is shot down by Hawkeye,the Punisher, and SHIELD. Blackthorne laughs and takes down the Avengers himself, then turns his attention toward the wounded Blaze. He's interrupted by Tyrone Cash, who grabs him while driving the Ghost Rider's motorcycle. Cash drives the flaming bike into a nearby gas station, causing a massive explosion. However, the explosion does nothing to Blackthorne, who insults the unconscious Cash for thinking fire could harm a demon. Having recovered, Blaze wraps his chains around Blackthorne and drags him into a church, which begins to sap the strength of both men, but not before Blaze beats Blackthorne into the ground. The two men continue to fight even as they transform back into their human bodies, with Blackthorne recovering and striking Blaze with a candle-holder. Blackthorne is then shot and killed by the newly-arrived Punisher, who also has orders to execute Blaze as well. Johnny gets up and walks away, telling the Punisher that he won't kill him because they have too much in common, namely seeking vengeance for the murders of their loved ones. Outside the church, Hawkeye arrives and asks Castle where the Ghost Rider is, with Frank replying that he let him go. Castle begs Hawkeye to tell him where the control implant is inside his body so he can escape to continue his mission of punishing criminals, but Hawkeye just punches him in the face, knocking him out.
In Illinois, Mephisto and Johnny Blaze sit on a park bench, watching Roxanne Simpson play with her husband and daughter. Mephisto states that he brought her back to life, but if Blaze ever once turns against him she will go right back in the ground. Johnny says that he'll continue being the Ghost Rider to send souls to Hell if it means Roxanne will have a happy life.
Meanwhile, Nick Fury confronts Hawkeye with the knowledge that the Punisher escaped and the control implant had been hidden in the tooth knocked out by Hawkeye's punch. Later, in Russia, the Punisher has caught up with the "Red Hammer" and prepares to executing him, wondering about the message that was passed along to him by the Ghost Rider. Who else but his family would tell him to keep up the good work?
Johnny Blaze, the Ghost Rider, attacks Vice-President Blackthorne, who is now also a demonically-powered Vengeance. Blaze quickly gets the upper hand, saying that he's fantasized about killing Blackthorne for 20 years, but before he can finish the job he is shot down by Hawkeye,the Punisher, and SHIELD. Blackthorne laughs and takes down the Avengers himself, then turns his attention toward the wounded Blaze. He's interrupted by Tyrone Cash, who grabs him while driving the Ghost Rider's motorcycle. Cash drives the flaming bike into a nearby gas station, causing a massive explosion. However, the explosion does nothing to Blackthorne, who insults the unconscious Cash for thinking fire could harm a demon. Having recovered, Blaze wraps his chains around Blackthorne and drags him into a church, which begins to sap the strength of both men, but not before Blaze beats Blackthorne into the ground. The two men continue to fight even as they transform back into their human bodies, with Blackthorne recovering and striking Blaze with a candle-holder. Blackthorne is then shot and killed by the newly-arrived Punisher, who also has orders to execute Blaze as well. Johnny gets up and walks away, telling the Punisher that he won't kill him because they have too much in common, namely seeking vengeance for the murders of their loved ones. Outside the church, Hawkeye arrives and asks Castle where the Ghost Rider is, with Frank replying that he let him go. Castle begs Hawkeye to tell him where the control implant is inside his body so he can escape to continue his mission of punishing criminals, but Hawkeye just punches him in the face, knocking him out.
In Illinois, Mephisto and Johnny Blaze sit on a park bench, watching Roxanne Simpson play with her husband and daughter. Mephisto states that he brought her back to life, but if Blaze ever once turns against him she will go right back in the ground. Johnny says that he'll continue being the Ghost Rider to send souls to Hell if it means Roxanne will have a happy life.
Meanwhile, Nick Fury confronts Hawkeye with the knowledge that the Punisher escaped and the control implant had been hidden in the tooth knocked out by Hawkeye's punch. Later, in Russia, the Punisher has caught up with the "Red Hammer" and prepares to executing him, wondering about the message that was passed along to him by the Ghost Rider. Who else but his family would tell him to keep up the good work?
ANNOTATIONS
Though the cover says "Ultimate Avengers 2 # 6", the indicia labels it as "Ultimate Avengers # 12".
Ghost Rider gave the Punisher his message from the afterlife in Ultimate Avengers 2 (2010) # 4.
Though the cover says "Ultimate Avengers 2 # 6", the indicia labels it as "Ultimate Avengers # 12".
Ghost Rider gave the Punisher his message from the afterlife in Ultimate Avengers 2 (2010) # 4.
REVIEW
The second Ultimate Avengers mini-series wraps up with resolutions to the Ghost Rider and Punisher arcs, with one ending quite satisfyingly and the other, well, not so much.
In the last review I talked about how I just didn't like the Avengers as characters in this series, and this issue made me realize why: outside of the Punisher, not a single one of the Avengers were important to this story. In fact, I think I would have enjoyed this series a helluva lot more if Millar and Yu had simply done an "Ultimate Ghost Rider" mini-series that cut out all of the useless Avengers bits. Because when you look back at this story, the Ghost Rider parts are really the only parts that work, the rest is at best filler and at worst distracting noise. The first two issues are essentially one-shots that are used to introduce two new cast members, the first being the Punisher, who does factor into the wider plot of "vengeance against those who wrong you", and the second being the utterly useless Tyrone Cash. It's not until you reach issue # 3 that the actual story kicks in with Ghost Rider's introduction.
I will say that I would read the shit out of a Millar/Yu Ghost Rider series, because their work on the character is fantastic. Millar cuts out a lot of the unnecessary clutter around the character and pares him down to two simple ideas: the deal with he devil and the quest for vengeance. Of course, we're given most of Johnny Blaze's backstory through a weird psychic flashback told to us by a character that's not explained at all, the Spider, but the central idea of Blaze's plight is still solid. He gets his payback here and at the end the character is set up with a status quo: reap souls for Mephisto and Roxanne gets to live, waffle even a little and she dies. That's a great theme for the character, and its a shame that with the death of the Ultimate imprint we'll never get to see this take on Blaze again.
Millar's take on the Punisher, on the other hand, so totally misses the mark. Ultimate Punisher whines and eventually begs for Hawkeye to let him go, he even says please!, and is shown to be as ineffectual as the other Avengers when it comes to, well, everything. The mysterious "message from beyond" that fuels the Punisher's flight to freedom, for him to "keep up the good work", also falls flat. He wonders if the message is from his family, but given that the message came from HELL shows that Frank must have a low opinion of his wife and kids. I'm a big Punisher fan, and everything about his appearance in this series irked me to no end.
What still remains great, though, is the artwork by Leinil Yu. Yes, he still struggles with fight sequences being coherent, but the guy draws one fantastic Ghost Rider. He also does something that I always feel is important for a Ghost Rider story, he communicates the darkness of the character and his circumstances through the artwork. Yu isn't drawing this like an Avengers comic, it's a horror comic that causes the garish outfits of Hawkeye and Captain Punisher to stand out like an eyesore, which is how it should look when you're mashing up superheroes with the supernatural.
This series has a lot going for it, and I do recommend it for Ghost Rider fans. Just be aware that everything OTHER than the Ghost Rider bits is flawed to say the least.
The second Ultimate Avengers mini-series wraps up with resolutions to the Ghost Rider and Punisher arcs, with one ending quite satisfyingly and the other, well, not so much.
In the last review I talked about how I just didn't like the Avengers as characters in this series, and this issue made me realize why: outside of the Punisher, not a single one of the Avengers were important to this story. In fact, I think I would have enjoyed this series a helluva lot more if Millar and Yu had simply done an "Ultimate Ghost Rider" mini-series that cut out all of the useless Avengers bits. Because when you look back at this story, the Ghost Rider parts are really the only parts that work, the rest is at best filler and at worst distracting noise. The first two issues are essentially one-shots that are used to introduce two new cast members, the first being the Punisher, who does factor into the wider plot of "vengeance against those who wrong you", and the second being the utterly useless Tyrone Cash. It's not until you reach issue # 3 that the actual story kicks in with Ghost Rider's introduction.
I will say that I would read the shit out of a Millar/Yu Ghost Rider series, because their work on the character is fantastic. Millar cuts out a lot of the unnecessary clutter around the character and pares him down to two simple ideas: the deal with he devil and the quest for vengeance. Of course, we're given most of Johnny Blaze's backstory through a weird psychic flashback told to us by a character that's not explained at all, the Spider, but the central idea of Blaze's plight is still solid. He gets his payback here and at the end the character is set up with a status quo: reap souls for Mephisto and Roxanne gets to live, waffle even a little and she dies. That's a great theme for the character, and its a shame that with the death of the Ultimate imprint we'll never get to see this take on Blaze again.
Millar's take on the Punisher, on the other hand, so totally misses the mark. Ultimate Punisher whines and eventually begs for Hawkeye to let him go, he even says please!, and is shown to be as ineffectual as the other Avengers when it comes to, well, everything. The mysterious "message from beyond" that fuels the Punisher's flight to freedom, for him to "keep up the good work", also falls flat. He wonders if the message is from his family, but given that the message came from HELL shows that Frank must have a low opinion of his wife and kids. I'm a big Punisher fan, and everything about his appearance in this series irked me to no end.
What still remains great, though, is the artwork by Leinil Yu. Yes, he still struggles with fight sequences being coherent, but the guy draws one fantastic Ghost Rider. He also does something that I always feel is important for a Ghost Rider story, he communicates the darkness of the character and his circumstances through the artwork. Yu isn't drawing this like an Avengers comic, it's a horror comic that causes the garish outfits of Hawkeye and Captain Punisher to stand out like an eyesore, which is how it should look when you're mashing up superheroes with the supernatural.
This series has a lot going for it, and I do recommend it for Ghost Rider fans. Just be aware that everything OTHER than the Ghost Rider bits is flawed to say the least.
Grade: B-
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