Writer: Dennis “Hopeless” Hallum

Artist: Scott Hepburn

Colorist: Antonio Fabela

Letterer: VC’s Travis Lanham

Covers: Scott Hepburn & Antonio Fabela; Superlog; Logan Lubera & Rachelle Rosenberg; Ron Lim & Israel Silva

Release Date: January 15th, 2020

Price: $3.99

Frank Castle and new sidekick Cammi Benally are burning across the cosmos, punishing the worst of the worst. But the Cosmic King is hot on their heels and has a trick up his sleeve. Let’s see how it all plays out in Dennis Hallum’s REVENGE OF THE COSMIC GHOST RIDER #2!

The issue opens with the Cosmic King presumably taking Frank’s soul from Mephisto after beating the crap out of him. This part along with the King’s transformation at the end were kind of wonky, transition-wise. The rest of the issue is pretty straightforward, and consists of Cammi finding targets for the Cosmic Ghost Rider to obliterate while the Cosmic King tracks them down.

The wash-rinse-repeat aspect of this issue gets a little stale by the end, but it does allow Hallum to explore the burgeoning relationship between Cammi and Frank, easily the best aspect of the book, writing-wise. Frank trying to keep Cammi’s soul clean by refusing to let her kill is fun and charming, but one has to wonder how clean her soul is since she’s constantly trying to whack somebody! Hallum excels with Cammi’s character and dialogue, but at times CGR comes off sounding a bit too much like Deadpool. Still, if you don’t laugh at the “deliver some meat” line, just stop reading this review… No, wait, come back!

Once again the real star of the book is the art. Antonio Fabela’s colors stand out from page one, and Scott Hepburn packs each page with crazy creatures and beautiful backgrounds. Boomer hippie Frank Castle may throw some people off, but Cosmic Ghost Rider is still badass. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

REVENGE OF THE COSMIC GHOST RIDER #2 is a bit of a step back for the short series. The art is still top notch, but the story suffers from some repetitive punishing. Still, Dennis Hallum delivers some nice character interactions between Cammi and Frank, and the cliffhanger ending is enough to bring readers back.

7.0/10