On Sale Date: April 2019
Writers: Paul Scheer & Nick Giovannetti
Artist: Todd Nauck
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Colorist: Antonio Fabela
Editor: Darren Shaw
Assistant Editor: Danny Khazem
Senior Editor: Jordan D. White
Editor-in-Chief: C.B. Cebulski
Cover Artist: Gerardo Zaffino
Posing as his own Uncle Fredo, the future Frank Castle spends time talking with his wife about all the times he met Spider-Man. He uses the stories to illustrate how war affected her husband and how two people can come together in love after heartbreak, just as Spider-Man and Mary Jane did. Maria cries and says she wishes she could be as strong as Mary Jane, then before preparing dinner asks "Fredo" to upstairs and check on her daughter, Lisa. Meanwhile, the Costa crime family are making plans to carry out their execution in Central Park the next day.
Posing as his own Uncle Fredo, the future Frank Castle spends time talking with his wife about all the times he met Spider-Man. He uses the stories to illustrate how war affected her husband and how two people can come together in love after heartbreak, just as Spider-Man and Mary Jane did. Maria cries and says she wishes she could be as strong as Mary Jane, then before preparing dinner asks "Fredo" to upstairs and check on her daughter, Lisa. Meanwhile, the Costa crime family are making plans to carry out their execution in Central Park the next day.
THE ROADMAP
Cosmic Ghost Rider made his final trip to the past in Cosmic Ghost Rider (2018) # 5.
Frank Castle relates his version of events from Amazing Spider-Man (1963) # 347, Amazing Fantasy (1961) # 15, Amazing Spider-Man (1963) # 50, Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) # 107-110, and Amazing Spider-Man (1999) # 50.
CHAIN REACTION
Frank Castle relates his version of events from Amazing Spider-Man (1963) # 347, Amazing Fantasy (1961) # 15, Amazing Spider-Man (1963) # 50, Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) # 107-110, and Amazing Spider-Man (1999) # 50.
CHAIN REACTION
After an appallingly terrible first issue the second Cosmic Ghost Rider mini-series manages to at least be funny and entertaining, though what any of this has to do with Ghost Rider is beyond me.
Seriously, this is a Spider-Man story with Frank Castle making Deadpool-esque commentaries, it is in no way a Ghost Rider comic. It could be argued that it has importance as Punisher story, because where the comic really does shine is in the serious interactions between Castle and Maria, allowing some of the character's actual personality to come through as he talks about what war can do to a person and what Maria's husband is actually going through. Why Frank Castle would spend a second chance to have a conversation with his wife by talking about Spider-Man is one of the flimsiest plot justifications I think I've ever encountered in a comic, and it's borderline insensitive to use an impending execution of his wife to tell a comedy story. I like my shit dark, sure, but not so dark it blots out the sun.
Unlike the first issue, though, the jokes in this one actually landed fairly well. The opening bit with Spider-Man and Venom's homoerotic dialogue was genuinely funny, especially since it's dialogue straight from the original story and taken only slightly out of context. The bit with Castle smothering the fake Aunt May in the hospital to avoid the Clone Saga was clever, too. At the end of the day, though, this was nothing but a rehash of Spider-Man stories that were better told the first time. Absolutely nothing was done to enhance or even change the Death of Jean DeWolff or Spider-Man No More storylines, it's just waving a flag and saying "I remember those stories!".
The artwork is a definite improvement as well, with the art chores this issue being handled by Todd Nauck. He's not an artist normally associated with a character like Ghost Rider, but he definitely fits the Spider-Man material that fills up the majority of the comic. He also does really well capturing the few sentimental moments between Frank and Maria, with his version of Frank looking less like a hobo and more like an aging musician.
This is still not a good series and I straight-up dread the next four issues, but this was at least better than the last one. That is, of course, damning it with the faintest of praise.
Seriously, this is a Spider-Man story with Frank Castle making Deadpool-esque commentaries, it is in no way a Ghost Rider comic. It could be argued that it has importance as Punisher story, because where the comic really does shine is in the serious interactions between Castle and Maria, allowing some of the character's actual personality to come through as he talks about what war can do to a person and what Maria's husband is actually going through. Why Frank Castle would spend a second chance to have a conversation with his wife by talking about Spider-Man is one of the flimsiest plot justifications I think I've ever encountered in a comic, and it's borderline insensitive to use an impending execution of his wife to tell a comedy story. I like my shit dark, sure, but not so dark it blots out the sun.
Unlike the first issue, though, the jokes in this one actually landed fairly well. The opening bit with Spider-Man and Venom's homoerotic dialogue was genuinely funny, especially since it's dialogue straight from the original story and taken only slightly out of context. The bit with Castle smothering the fake Aunt May in the hospital to avoid the Clone Saga was clever, too. At the end of the day, though, this was nothing but a rehash of Spider-Man stories that were better told the first time. Absolutely nothing was done to enhance or even change the Death of Jean DeWolff or Spider-Man No More storylines, it's just waving a flag and saying "I remember those stories!".
The artwork is a definite improvement as well, with the art chores this issue being handled by Todd Nauck. He's not an artist normally associated with a character like Ghost Rider, but he definitely fits the Spider-Man material that fills up the majority of the comic. He also does really well capturing the few sentimental moments between Frank and Maria, with his version of Frank looking less like a hobo and more like an aging musician.
This is still not a good series and I straight-up dread the next four issues, but this was at least better than the last one. That is, of course, damning it with the faintest of praise.
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| DOOM THANKS NO ONE! |
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