Writer: Donny Cates; Artist: Geoff Shaw; Letterer: VC's Cory Petit; Colorist: Marte Gracia; Senior Editor: Jordan D. White; Editor: Darren Shaw; Assistant Editor: Danny Khazem; Editor-in-Chief: C.B. Cebulski; Cover Artist: David Marquez
Aboard the space ship Milano, Star Lord speaks with his ex, Kitty Pryde, about the Black Order taking Thanos' body and Eros wanting to kill Gamora. He checks on two of his new crew members, Moondragon and Phyla-Vell, then hears sounds of a commotion coming from elsewhere on the ship. He finds Groot in a fight with Cosmic Ghost Rider, a fight that's only broken up when Moondragon intervenes. Castle wants to kill Gamora to prevent Thanos returning in her body while Groot and Beta Ray Bill want to help save her. Star Lord refuses to get involved and tells Castle to leave. Meanwhile, Hela and the Black Order interrogate the Collector about the whereabouts of Thanos' head, which he reveals is in the Negative Zone.
Later, aboard a Shi'ar ship, a scarred and paralyzed Eros has gathered his team of Dark Guardians, which includes Gladiator, Wraith, Nebula, and Cosmic Ghost Rider. Determined to find and kill Gamora, Eros asks Nebula how to find her. She replies that they need to find out from Richard Rider, Nova.
While Eros and his Dark Guardians hunt for Gamora, Hela and the Black Order arrive in the Negative Zone to confront Annihilus. He shows them the severed head of Thanos, which Hela takes after quickly defeating Annihilus in combat. The Dark Guardians chase a wounded Richard Rider, Nova and former lover of Gamora, to learn from him her location. Nova stands his ground until he is attacked by Wraith, who is ready to kill Rider. Cosmic Ghost Rider intervenes and tries to talk to Nova, attempting to reason with him and convince him to give up Gamora. Nova flies off, but Nebula has already figured out where he is going. Meanwhile, Star Lord finds himself relieved of command if his ship by Groot and the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy, who intend to save Gamora from Eros. Star Lord protests but eventually gives in, revealing that Gamora has gone to Halfworld to find Rocket Raccoon.
The Guardians arrive on Halfworld to locate Gamora, who attacks them before Groot intervenes. Groot takes Gamora onto their ship, stating that they will come back to deal with Rocket Raccoon another time. Star Lord locks Gamora's hands in cuffs, not willing to belief that she's a victim in Thanos' game. Nova runs into the ship, crashing his way inside to warn them that the Dark Guardians are after Gamora, not realizing that Gamora is already with them. The Dark Guardians force Star Lord's ship to crash back onto Halfworld, and the two teams engage each other in battle. Nebula attempts to shoot and kill Gamora, but Star Lord jumps in front of the blast, seemingly killing him as the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy are defeated by the Dark Guardians.
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| "I am stab!" is a great catch phrase |
THE ROADMAP
Eros and Cosmic Ghost Rider discovered Thanos' body and his will in Thanos Legacy # 1.
CHAIN REACTION
CHAIN REACTION
Cosmic Ghost Rider's role as a Guardian of the Galaxy takes an unexpected turn as the series progresses through its first arc.
I'm going to go ahead and say it, this series has way too many damn characters running around. When the title characters are still woefully undeveloped as anything other than names and costumes, that's a problem. Its something that Cates has struggled with before when writing an ensemble cast, going back to the Doctor Strange: Damnation miniseries. Characters get lost in the shuffle, are given no explanation besides the briefest of description, and outside of a few focus characters most are left to languish in the background. Here, any character not named Eros or Star Lord are used almost interchangeably. Wraith gets a solid introduction, but Cates relies a lot on assumptions that everyone knows about Nova and Gladiator.
Cosmic Ghost Rider gets the worst fate of all, as the cover promises a featured role for him that the comic fails to deliver. Castle is a victim of diminishing returns in this series, he's there for what should be a good reason but the amount of characters included are serving to push him further into the background. This isn't a Cosmic Ghost Rider series, of course, but I feel like he's been used as a major selling point for this series and that comes with expectations.
It's not surprising that the character that comes out looking the best in this issue is Cosmic Ghost Rider, and it's his interactions with the other characters that make the best moments. His exchanges with Beta Ray Bill, Star Lord, and later Wraith in the second issue are all very well written and come off as genuine character moments. I think Cates might be trying too hard with this series, filling it with a cadre of characters that barely get introductions, but Castle at least stands as a believable bridging element. In the third issue, though, Cosmic Ghost Rider gets the worst fate of all, as the cover promises a featured role for him that the comic fails to deliver. Castle is a victim of diminishing returns in this series, he's there for what should be a good reason but the amount of characters included are serving to push him further into the background. This isn't a Cosmic Ghost Rider series, of course, but I feel like he was used as a major selling point for this series and that comes with expectations.
Cosmic Ghost Rider gets the worst fate of all, as the cover promises a featured role for him that the comic fails to deliver. Castle is a victim of diminishing returns in this series, he's there for what should be a good reason but the amount of characters included are serving to push him further into the background. This isn't a Cosmic Ghost Rider series, of course, but I feel like he's been used as a major selling point for this series and that comes with expectations.
It's not surprising that the character that comes out looking the best in this issue is Cosmic Ghost Rider, and it's his interactions with the other characters that make the best moments. His exchanges with Beta Ray Bill, Star Lord, and later Wraith in the second issue are all very well written and come off as genuine character moments. I think Cates might be trying too hard with this series, filling it with a cadre of characters that barely get introductions, but Castle at least stands as a believable bridging element. In the third issue, though, Cosmic Ghost Rider gets the worst fate of all, as the cover promises a featured role for him that the comic fails to deliver. Castle is a victim of diminishing returns in this series, he's there for what should be a good reason but the amount of characters included are serving to push him further into the background. This isn't a Cosmic Ghost Rider series, of course, but I feel like he was used as a major selling point for this series and that comes with expectations.
Right around issue # 4 is where I've lost patience with and interest in this series. Characters are still showing up with no introductions, no dialogue, and in the case of some of the Dark Guardians not even names. The creators are really taking advantage of the cosmic sandbox, which is admirable, but by doing so are giving the short shrift to some of their "core" cast. Phylla Vell and Moondragon are still ciphers at this point, while Cosmic Ghost Rider is just there as background noise. Instead of bringing in Nova and Nebula and everyone else, why not make the actual main characters useful and interesting?
While Cates may be struggling with such a large cast, Geoff Shaw seems to be thriving. He has a serious eye for style and dramatic design that really serves this series well. The splash page reveal of Annihilus is amazing and he does similar striking work during Wraith's attack on Nova in the second issue. Even Groot, a walking tree, has a wonderfully emotive scowl present on his face. He brings a real grit to these characters who usually see a much cleaner style applied to them. It goes without saying that his Cosmic Ghost Rider looks great, the Nebula reveal near the end of issue # 2 is appropriately and dramatically staged, and his work continues to be the real highlight of the series so far. The man can draw the hell out of a big fight scene, but not even that is enough to maintain my flagging interest. The characters may be emoting like mad visually, but the story isn't engaging enough to justify it. He does draw a mean Beta Ray Bill, though.
I guess I can't help but be disappointed, but that's only because my expectations for this series were so high. That doesn't make these bad comics, far from it, just a bit perplexing. By this point I'm only reading this series because of Cosmic Ghost Rider, and his appearances in these issues are making me question even that decision. Its disappointing considering how excited I was for this series going in.
While Cates may be struggling with such a large cast, Geoff Shaw seems to be thriving. He has a serious eye for style and dramatic design that really serves this series well. The splash page reveal of Annihilus is amazing and he does similar striking work during Wraith's attack on Nova in the second issue. Even Groot, a walking tree, has a wonderfully emotive scowl present on his face. He brings a real grit to these characters who usually see a much cleaner style applied to them. It goes without saying that his Cosmic Ghost Rider looks great, the Nebula reveal near the end of issue # 2 is appropriately and dramatically staged, and his work continues to be the real highlight of the series so far. The man can draw the hell out of a big fight scene, but not even that is enough to maintain my flagging interest. The characters may be emoting like mad visually, but the story isn't engaging enough to justify it. He does draw a mean Beta Ray Bill, though.
I guess I can't help but be disappointed, but that's only because my expectations for this series were so high. That doesn't make these bad comics, far from it, just a bit perplexing. By this point I'm only reading this series because of Cosmic Ghost Rider, and his appearances in these issues are making me question even that decision. Its disappointing considering how excited I was for this series going in.
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| Don't lie, you always want to kill people! |
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