On Sale Date: May 2019
Writers: Paul Scheer & Nick Giovannetti
Artist: Nathan Stockman
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Colorist: Antonio Fabela & Rachelle Rosenberg
Editor: Darren Shaw
Assistant Editor: Danny Khazem
Senior Editor: Jordan D. White
Editor-in-Chief: C.B. Cebulski
Still posing as his Uncle Fredo, Frank Castle tries to connect with his daughter Lisa by telling her stories about the X-Men. This includes his time as the host for the Phoenix, the time he found the murderer of Emma Frost, and when he teamed up with Wolverine to fight a gang of evil little people. When the young Frank Castle enters the room, "Fredo" tells the story of how he traveled back in time to possess the body of Kitty Pryde, saving the life of Senator Robert Kelly to avert the dystopian future. Young Frank invites his "uncle" to the garage for some beer, but then confronts him with the knowledge that Fredo is dead. Holding a baseball bat, Frank demands to know who "Fredo" is and what he wants with his family.
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 Uncanny X-Men (1963) # 101, 134-137, & 141-142, New X-Men (2001) # 139-141, and Punisher (2001) # 16-17.
CHAIN REACTION
Frank Castle relates his version of events from Uncanny X-Men (1963) # 101, 134-137, & 141-142, New X-Men (2001) # 139-141, and Punisher (2001) # 16-17.
CHAIN REACTION
While the second issue showed some mild improvements by paying lip-service to genuine drama, this issue falls back into the depths of unfunny jokes and a continued inability to write believable children.
I'm not going to lie, this is a rough one to get through, and it's difficult to not type "I HATE THIS COMIC" and end the review there. The format of this series is infuriating, with Castle having conversations with each member of his family in turn that devolve into nothing but unfunny remixes of much better stories. The second issue was just a Spider-Man greatest hits package with Ghost Rider in the background for a few panels, and that actually made for a better comic than this one, which features Castle as the focal point for a bunch of really stupid X-Men moments. That Deadpool is trotted out to flag up the way the writers are using Cosmic Ghost Rider as little more than a Deadpool stand-in is appropriate, since this entire series is hinging upon readers' fondness for the Dark Phoenix Saga and other stories as the selling point.
It would help if the comic was funny, which it emphatically isn't, and that the inherent dramatic beats were at least addressed. This is a comic where Frank Castle has one last day with his family before their brutal execution by the mafia, and it's used as a way to show him crossdressing with the Hellfire Club and tossing around little people. The implications of that are too dark for a series that refuses to embrace that darkness, desiring instead to dance around it with sex jokes during a conversation with a little girl. That this comic is that tone deaf is staggering and really difficult for me to wrap my brain around.
The artwork continues to be as inconsistent as the narrative, with this issue's job going to Nathan Stockman. This comic does no favors to its artists considering its entire point is to recreate stories previously drawn by artists like John Byrne, Phil Jimenez, and Darick Robertson. Stockman just can't compare to those, even when he's trying to hit comedy beats. His facial expressions during the conversation scenes, which was part of the saving grace of Todd Nauck's artwork in the previous issue, are exaggerated to such an extreme level that it turns everything into a slapstick farce during the few parts of the comic that are supposed to be taken at face value.
So, yeah, I hate this comic.
I'm not going to lie, this is a rough one to get through, and it's difficult to not type "I HATE THIS COMIC" and end the review there. The format of this series is infuriating, with Castle having conversations with each member of his family in turn that devolve into nothing but unfunny remixes of much better stories. The second issue was just a Spider-Man greatest hits package with Ghost Rider in the background for a few panels, and that actually made for a better comic than this one, which features Castle as the focal point for a bunch of really stupid X-Men moments. That Deadpool is trotted out to flag up the way the writers are using Cosmic Ghost Rider as little more than a Deadpool stand-in is appropriate, since this entire series is hinging upon readers' fondness for the Dark Phoenix Saga and other stories as the selling point.
It would help if the comic was funny, which it emphatically isn't, and that the inherent dramatic beats were at least addressed. This is a comic where Frank Castle has one last day with his family before their brutal execution by the mafia, and it's used as a way to show him crossdressing with the Hellfire Club and tossing around little people. The implications of that are too dark for a series that refuses to embrace that darkness, desiring instead to dance around it with sex jokes during a conversation with a little girl. That this comic is that tone deaf is staggering and really difficult for me to wrap my brain around.
The artwork continues to be as inconsistent as the narrative, with this issue's job going to Nathan Stockman. This comic does no favors to its artists considering its entire point is to recreate stories previously drawn by artists like John Byrne, Phil Jimenez, and Darick Robertson. Stockman just can't compare to those, even when he's trying to hit comedy beats. His facial expressions during the conversation scenes, which was part of the saving grace of Todd Nauck's artwork in the previous issue, are exaggerated to such an extreme level that it turns everything into a slapstick farce during the few parts of the comic that are supposed to be taken at face value.
So, yeah, I hate this comic.
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| Neither character's proudest moment. |
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