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| Cover Artist: Geoff Shaw |
Original Price: $3.99
Title: "Thanos Wins, Part 3"
Writer: Donny Cates
Artist: Geoff Shaw
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Colorist: Antonio Fabela
Editor: Jordan D. White
Editor-in-Chief: Axel Alonso
SYNOPSIS
Thanos uses the Ghost Rider's Penance Stare to relive every horrible act of violence and suffering that he's caused, which the Mad Titan enjoys immensely. King Thanos tells his younger self that he performs that ritual every day. Young Thanos tosses the Rider's head to the ground, where his body retrieves it to place back on his shoulders. King Thanos tells young Thanos that he has killed every being in the universe save for one, the Fallen One, and not until his enemy dies can he be reunited with Mistress Death. Thanos scoffs at his older counterpart's fear of a "forgotten Herald" and in response King Thanos tells him to prepare for the coming battle and leaves. Ghost Rider invites Thanos to help him "feed the dog" and takes him to the dungeon beneath the throne room, talking all the while about how different he was before becoming the right hand of King Thanos. In the dungeon, the "dog" needing to be fed is a bestial Hulk, who is kept chained in a pit of bones and relics of long-dead heroes. Ghost Rider then introduces himself to Thanos as Frank Castle, a name Thanos fails to recognize.
In the chapel where King Thanos worships Death, young Thanos confronts the old man who has readied himself for battle, holding Surtur's Twilight Sword. After the two argue over their perceived love and servitude for Mistress Death, an explosion announces the Fallen One's arrival. King Thanos explains that the Fallen One is not a name, it is a title, this time held by the incoming Silver Surfer, accompanied by the Annihilation Wave behind him.
ANNOTATIONS
The story of how Frank Castle became the Ghost Rider is told in Thanos (2017) # 16.
This issue was released with three additional printings, all of which featured new covers taken from Geoff Shaw's interior artwork.
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REVIEW
"Thanos Wins" continues with a major revelation from the Cosmic Ghost Rider and the story's antagonist gets a grand introduction.
It surprises me just how dead-on Donny Cates "gets" the concept of the Ghost Rider. The opening page contains the absolute best description of the Penance Stare that I've ever read, it's an absolutely chilling and perfect encapsulation of what the Ghost Rider's most powerful weapon does to his victims. Going through all of that narration, then hitting the reader with the idea of Thanos' using the Stare to essentially relive his greatest hits is pretty ballsy. I've talked a bunch of times about how the Penance Stare is only as effective as the writer wants it to be, and when Ghost Rider gets used as a guest-star a lot of times the person he's fighting just sort shrugs off the Stare. Morbius, the Punisher (more on him in a minute), the Deacon, Deadpool, Venom...there's a long list of characters who were used to make the Spirit of Vengeance look a bit like a chump. Cates at least goes through the motions of making the Rider and his Penance Stare into something epic and terrifying, which keeps the Thanos bit on the next page as something monumental that doesn't undercut what's being done. It's a powerful opening to a comic, I'll say that much.
And, while the ongoing conversations between the two versions of Thanos is certainly compelling, the real twists of this issue are the two big reveals that Cates has been building up to. One of which is absolutely effective and one of those moments where you slap yourself on the forehead and yell "of course that's who it is!" I am not referring, I'm afraid, to the identity of Cosmic Ghost Rider, but instead to that pitch-perfect last page that shows the Silver Surfer looking more badass than ever before. The Frank Castle reveal is built up in the preceding pages, but at this point in the story I don't think it's really earned. Did Cates really play fair with the readers? I know I certainly never would have pegged Castle as the maniac Ghost Rider that talks incessantly. The insanity angle is addressed here to try and account for the differences, but I almost think it's TOO far a stretch for a character like the Punisher to go from what readers know and understand to this fundamentally and disparately different incarnation. It definitely made my jaw drop open the first time I read that page, and Thanos' response is perfect ('cause really, why WOULD he know that name?). I just don't think the story has gone far enough to sell the reveal. Thankfully, that will change with the next issue's origin sequence, but here it's a little more than shock value that made me (and a lot of others, specifically Punisher fans) scratch my head in hesitation.
The artwork, though, continues to be a revelation in its own right. Geoff Shaw is a name I wasn't familiar with before this series, but it's damn sure on my radar now. Look at that opening splash page of the Rider's skull giving the Penance Stare and tell me this guy can't draw a phenomenal Ghost Rider. The design for the Cosmic Ghost Rider, in hindsight, gives more clues to the Punisher connection than the story has so far, but it was so subtle that I didn't piece it together until after I read the issue and was able to go back for a deeper inspection. Shaw is knocking this series out of the park and I cannot wait to see him cut loose with that Silver Surfer fight that's coming up.
Thanos remains an absolutely amazing series on pretty much every level, and I highly recommend everyone read it. Cosmic Ghost Rider might be a bit of a pill for long time Ghost Rider fans to swallow, but as one of those fans I was swept away by the epic storytelling and artwork. Still not buying the Frank Castle stuff at this point, but that's a minor criticism. Go buy this comic.
Grade: A+
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