Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 122

"And Let There Be Light..., Part 4: The Light Within"

Cover Date: February 1993; Publication Date: December 1992

Writer: Paula Foye; Artist: Alexander Morrissey; Inker: Ken Branch/Tim Tuhoy; Letterer: Michael Higgins; Colorist: Mark Bernardo; Editor: Terry Kavanagh; Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Joe Madureira

In Grimbat's Castle, Ghost Rider, Cloak, and Dagger stand over the stunned villain - but Grimbat's wife, Melona, warns that the battle has only begun. Grimbat undergoes a strange transformation, sprouting three heads and distorted features. He has used the power of Dagger's light to become anything he desires, and easily swats Cloak away. He grabs Dagger and explains that her light has made him more powerful than ever before. Ghost Rider attacks Grimbat and gives one of his heads the penance stare, causing him to doubt his actions. He claims everything he's done was to help his people. Melona then tells him to face the error of his ways - he drained her completely of light and now he wants to do the same to Dagger. Grimbat tells Melona that she should be dead, but in truth she has been hiding and attempt to regain her former power. Cloak attempts to engulf the monster, forcing him to release Dagger, and the power of Cloak's darkness weakens Grimbat and forces him to question himself. He realizes that he must try and help his people in a different way - by asking Dagger to empower him once more to break up the atoms of his being and become a source of lasting light to shine down on his world. Melona and Dagger agree to combine their power to do as he wishes, and in return Grimbat blasts open a doorway back to Earth. Dagger and Melona then use their power to destroy Grimbat, his energy sailing into the sky to provide endless light. In thanks, Melona gives Dagger a golden crown to remember their people by.

 

Ghost Rider, Cloak, and Dagger then enter the gateway and arrive back on Earth. Cloak mentions that he can't help but feel pity for Grimbat, but the Ghost Rider states that he simply learned the error of his ways - that it is never just for the innocent to suffer, no mater what the cause. Back on Zianon, Melona stands under a bright sky and thanks Grimbat for his personal sacrifice...while back on earth, Dagger looks at her crown and swears to never forget.

Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 121

"And Let There Be Light..., Part 3: The Bride of Grimbat"

Cover Date: January 1993; Publication Date: November 1992

Writer: Paula Foye; Artist: Alexander Morrissey; Inker: Ken Branch/Tim Tuohy: Letterer: Steve Dutro; Colorist: Sarra Mossof; Editor: Terry Kavanagh; Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Joe Madureira

In the dungeons of Grimbat's castle, Ghost Rider and Cloak bust free from their prison to rescue Dagger. They have just been told that the planet Zianon is filled with suffering people from the lack of light, and that Grimbat has been causing even more suffering to gain power over light. Cloak and Ghost Rider climb upon the demon's motorcycle and ride through the cavernous tunnels, the darkness surrounding them seeming as if it has a life of its own. Entering a labyrinth, the two heroes encounter creatures desperate to claim Ghost Rider's light. Cloak attempts to absorb one into his darkness, but recoils due to their pain being too much for him.

 

Upstairs, Dagger is served by Grimbat's minions, enthralled by the dragon's spell, until she is confronted by a strange elderly woman. The woman, Melona, breaks Dagger free from the spell and tells her that her friends are not free. She tells them that the men are most likely lost in the labyrinth leading to the prisons and gives Dagger a key to a trapdoor in the floor. Without attracting Grimbat's attention, Dagger enters the tunnel and quickly finds Cloak and Ghost Rider. The three make their way back to the surface, but are discovered by Grimbat. The dragon grabs Dagger, but is interrupted by Melona, eliciting a reaction of shock from Grimbat. Using the opportunity, Dagger blasts the monster with a powerful burst of light, stunning him to the floor. The three heroes then ask Melona who she really is, to which she replies "the bride of Grimbat".

Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 120

"And Let There Be Light..., Part 2: In a Dark Place"

Writer: Paula Foye; Artist: Alexander Morrissey; Inker: Ken Branch; Letterer: Janice Chiang; Colorist: Fred Mendez; Editor: Terry Kavanagh; Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Joe Madureira

On the planet Zianon, Grimbat holds the kidnapped Ghost Rider and Cloak outside his castle. Ghost Rider frees himself and attempts to burn Grimbat with hellfire, but the dragon simply absorbs the light and tells the two heroes that they will serve him for eternity.

 

Inside the castle, Dagger is surrounded by Grimbat's servants, who hail her as their new queen. Back outside, Cloak teleports himself and Ghost Rider to Dagger's side, where the crime-fighting duo are reunited. A moment later, however, Grimbat bursts into the room with a legion of creatures brandishing chains. The monsters wrap the chains around Cloak and Ghost Rider, while Dagger demands that Grimbat stop attacking her friends. Grimbat then hypnotizes Dagger into following him, and his minions drag the two males into the dungeons below.

 

In the dungeon, the guards tell Ghost Rider and Cloak there is one strain among their people that can drain light from others to give to the rest, and that Grimbat is the last descendant of that line. But Dagger's light is sufficient enough that Grimbat need not take any more lives ever. Now that he knows Grimbat's motives, Ghost Rider easily frees himself from his chains. Upstairs, Grimbat adorns Dagger with jewels and a cape, telling her that she will want for nothing and that all she need do is that what comes most natural. Dagger comments that the planet is so dark with no sun or light, to which Grimbat replies that she must shine on her subjects to ease the pain and torment of their darkened lives.

Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 119

"And Let There Be Light...: Part 1: The Door"

Cover Date: December 1992; Publication Date: October 1992

Writer: Paula Foye; Artist: Alexander Morrissey; Inker: Ken Branch; Letterer: Janice Chiang; Colorist: Fred Mendez; Editor: Terry Kavanagh; Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Joe Madureira

 

In an alley in New York City, a dragon-like creature named Grimbat appears via a dimensional doorway, looking for his future queen. He immediately finds Cloak and Dagger, the latter of the two he has watched from his home world of Zianon. Grimbat snatches Dagger away, saying that he needs her light, and knocks Cloak unconscious with a single blow. When an innocent bystander happens by, Grimbat slashes at him, bathing the alley with blood. As Grimbat and Dagger retreat through the dimensional door, he tells her that she is to be his bride and rule beside him. Cloak awakens and immediately wonders where Dagger has disappeared to. With his darkness beginning to consume him, he engulfs some innocent teenagers and afterward feels remorse for draining the life of someone who didn't deserve it.

 

Several blocks away, the Ghost Rider senses the spilling of innocent blood and quickly makes his way toward the man slashed by Grimbat. He finds Cloak and immediately attacks him, believing him evil. Cloak defends himself, absorbing the Rider's hellfire into his void of darkness. He explains to the Ghost Rider that Dagger has been kidnapped through a doorway by a creature who wanted her light force. The Ghost Rider agrees to help, while a small group of people stared dazedly at the spot where the doorway had been. Grimbat then returns, wanting to capture the Ghost Rider as a light source as well. As Grimbat pulls Ghost Rider through the gateway, Cloak grabs hold, determined to rescue Dagger.