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52-598: Cosmic Ghost Rider was created by Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw, in Thanos #13 (Jan 2018). He made his debut as Thanos' right-hand man in Thanos #13. His origin story was revealed in Thanos #16 by writer Donny Cates and artist Geoff Shaw. In the alternate reality where Thanos conquered all the Universe, Frank Castle's early life was seemingly similar to that of the Frank Castle of

104-586: A Diamond Distributors Gem Award awarded to Astonishing X-Men #1. At the advice of Marvel editor Mark Peniccia, Cates left the program after a year to pursue writing his own comics. After a chance meeting with a Dark Horse Comics staffer at C2E2 , Cates was given the opportunity to write short stories for the company. Cates' first comic work was a short story in Dark Horse Presents vol. 2 #24, released in August 2013. Co-written by himself and Eliot Rahal,

156-779: A Thanos-controlled Starfox. During the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Dark Guardians' fight with the Black Order, Hela was knocked off the platform causing her to lose control of Cosmic Ghost Rider. When confronted by Star-Lord, Cosmic Ghost Rider states that he can't hold himself together and falls apart leaving him as a pile of bones. When he arrives in Hell, Cosmic Ghost Rider is welcomed by its current ruler Johnny Blaze . Johnny Blaze later forced Cosmic Ghost Rider to possess Avengers Mountain and attack

208-479: A deal. This deal had the Cosmic Ghost Rider serving Mephisto of Earth-616 as Cammi is revived. The space demon parasite then showed up and took control of Cammi. It drained Cosmic Ghost Rider's powers yet again. This caused Cosmic Ghost Rider to claim the lifeforce of various Brood so that he can rebuild his body and work to free Cammi from the space demon parasite. Cosmic Ghost Rider had the same abilities as

260-415: A mysterious creature that was locked up as it drained the Cosmic Ghost Rider of his energy leaving him nothing but a skull. One of the prison officers initiated the prison's self-destruct sequence which destroyed the prison and presumably the energy-eating creature. Months later, some space pirates salvaged what's left of the prison and the Cosmic Ghost Rider's skull. Upon awakening, Cosmic Ghost Rider killed

312-625: A one-shot, Star Trek: Deviations . Cates eventually began writing for Image Comics , where he released God Country . With this title he attracted the attention of editors at Marvel, who offered him a contract. His first long-term Marvel works were runs on Doctor Strange and Thanos. After the success of these titles, Cates was given writing duties on Venom , where he was paired with artist and podcaster Ryan Stegman . This led to him penning multiple company-wide events, including Absolute Carnage and King in Black . In January 2020, Cates took over as

364-504: A prisoner. He investigates rumors of a prisoner with the aid of Thanos and Star-Lord . The prisoner turns out to be an amnesiac Beyonder . Guided by the cosmic entity Living Tribunal , Gladiator fights the Champion of the Universe in an attempt to liberate the population of a planet the Champion had enslaved. At the request of Lilandra, Gladiator returns to Earth on a mission to capture

416-605: A purpose. Fearing a Strontian rebellion, the Shi'ar emperor ordered Kallark, among other Strontians, to kill the Strontian elders. Only Kallark was devoted enough to carry out the order, and the others were killed when their wavering commitment rendered them weak. As a reward for his actions, Kallark was named the Praetor (leader) of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard . When the X-Men come into conflict with

468-522: A regenerative healing factor, psionic resistance (capable of withstanding mental attacks from telepaths to a certain degree), and warp speed flight (measured as "a hundred times the speed of light ", and shown moving across galaxies before Heimdall could blink). Gladiator's abilities increase and decrease in accordance with his level of confidence and he is vulnerable to a certain form of rare radiation. Gladiator also has advanced longevity, having survived for centuries with very little aging. In

520-529: A result. Gladiator (Kallark) Gladiator ( Kallark ) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . He first appeared in The X-Men #107 (Oct. 1977) and was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Dave Cockrum . The character is a Strontian, and like others of his race has the capacity for great strength and various superpowers, but can only use them when he

572-458: A way to get the upper hand, the Cosmic King offered to give him his soul back after he had stolen it from Mephisto. Afterwards, Cosmic Ghost Rider killed the Cosmic King. Cammi arrived where she actually traveled through time and revealed that the Cosmic King was possessed by an ancient space demon parasite that wanted to claim Cosmic Ghost Rider as its next host as this creature is the same one that

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624-622: Is completely devoted to a purpose; his abilities vary in accordance with his level of confidence. He was born on Strontia, which is part of the Shi'ar Empire and he is the leader of their Imperial Guard . He was also a member of the Annihilators , Dark Guardians, and Guardians of the Galaxy . Gladiator and the Imperial Guard were created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Dave Cockrum as an homage to DC Comics ' Legion of Super-Heroes , with all

676-567: The Avengers vs. X-Men storyline, Gladiator attempts to contact Kubark's bodyguard Warbird about the Phoenix Force's return to Earth. Gladiator orders them to leave the planet, but the close proximity of the Phoenix prevents the message from reaching Warbird. He then orders the preparation of his ship so he could go rescue his son and sends Death Commandos to kill the Phoenix's host. He is overwhelmed by

728-629: The Fantastic Four . With the aid of Spider-Man and Captain America , the real Skrulls are exposed and captured. Meanwhile, Lilandra's sister Deathbird stages a coup and becomes the new Shi'ar Empress. After an alternate universe version of Gladiator has a bout with Thor , the Earth-616 Kallark has an encounter with a rogue alien. Deathbird commands him to lead the Imperial Guard against

780-631: The Uni-Power and bring it back for evaluation. After an encounter with the Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four, Gladiator invites the Uni-Power to return to the Shi'ar Empire as their guest. Although the Uni-Power agrees, it is captured en route by Krosakis , an energy leeching warlord who forces the Uni-Power into his body to become Captain Universe. Gladiator attempts to stop Krosakis but fails, with

832-538: The alternate universe title Marvel Zombies 2 , the character appears with other extraterrestrial beings "recruited" by the Galacti (the original infected heroes empowered by devouring Galactus ). He is killed while trying to eat the humans under the protection of the Black Panther and Forge . In the alternate universe title Last Planet Standing , Gladiator appears with the Imperial Guard but fails to stop Dominas

884-744: The war with the Cancerverse , Gladiator joins the Annihilators . With them, he protects Galador from the Dire Wraiths and opposes the Universal Church of Truth 's attempt to revive the Magus . Gladiator's son, Kubark, also known as Kid Gladiator, is sent to Earth with bodyguard Warbird (Ava'Dara Naganandini) as a punishment and is enrolled in the Jean Grey School For Higher Learning to train and learn more about his powers. During

936-494: The Avengers at the time when they were planning to exorcise Robbie Reyes . Cosmic Ghost Rider later left Earth and began a campaign in the cosmos punishing its villains for their sins. This attracted the Shi'ar who had the Imperial Guard subdue him. Cosmic Ghost Rider was locked up in an alien prison on an asteroid that the Shi'ar Empire ran. Some of its inmates tried to kill Cosmic Ghost Rider only for him to kill them. This freed

988-469: The Dark Guardians tracked down Nova and clashed with the Guardians of the Galaxy in order to take Gamora. Hela and the Black Order crash the battle where Hela takes control of Cosmic Ghost Rider leaving him a flaming skeleton and asserted Thanos' consciousness into Starfox. Hela began her work to fully resurrect Thanos. Due to being controlled by Hela, Cosmic Ghost Rider was forced to retreat with Hela and

1040-589: The Earth-616 Universe. However, when Thanos came to Earth, the Punisher was one of the last casualties during the last stand of the heroes, and his soul was subsequently sent to Hell. Willing to give anything in order to punish Thanos for slaughtering his planet, the Punisher signed a demonic deal with Mephisto and became the Ghost Rider . When he returned to Earth, however, Thanos was already gone, and everything on

1092-508: The Ghost Rider as well as Hellfire manipulation and wielding the Power Cosmic. He additionally wields chains made from the bones of his reality's Cyttorak . Donny Cates Donny Cates (born September 14, 1984) is an American comic book writer, artist, and podcaster, known for his work on titles like Venom , Thanos , Doctor Strange , Thor , and Hulk . Donny Cates

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1144-684: The Imperial Guard's original members created as analogs of Legionnaires. Gladiator was the analog to Superboy ; the name "Gladiator" was a conscious homage to the Philip Wylie novel Gladiator (1930) on which Superman was partially based. Gladiator's name, Kallark, is a combination of Superman 's Kryptonian and human names: Kal-El and Clark Kent. The character first appeared in The Uncanny X-Men #107 (Oct. 1977). Since then, he has been periodically featured in X-titles, Fantastic Four , Rom

1196-407: The Phoenix Force, a blast comparable to the full power of Odin, direct attacks from Thor and Mjolnir, point blank planetary explosions, and an explosion equivalent to a supernova ), reflexes, microscopic and telescopic vision, X-ray vision, heat vision (stated as "hotter than a star "); super-breath, "frost breath", super-hearing (capable of hearing sounds from light years away in space),

1248-501: The Shi'ar empire regarding the Phoenix entity, Gladiator battles them first at the command of Emperor D'Ken , and then at the behest of his successor, Empress Lilandra Neramani . He later aids the X-Men against several renegade Imperial Guardsmen serving a Shi'ar traitor named Lord Samedar . While pursuing a band of shape-changing Skrulls , Gladiator arrives on Earth and mistakenly attacks

1300-570: The Spaceknight , Silver Surfer , Nova , and New Warriors . His origin was revealed in War of Kings : Warriors #1 (2009). He has played important roles in some of Marvel's major storylines, such as Operation: Galactic Storm (1992), Maximum Security (2001), and War of Kings (2009). During the Heroes Reborn era (1997), he starred in the three-issue Imperial Guard miniseries. Following

1352-449: The Tamer , Gladiator is captured by Tyrant with the intention of harnessing their power as a weapon for universal domination. Tyrant is defeated after the intervention of his creator, Galactus . When many of Earth's heroes vanish after defeating Onslaught , Lilandra (who has resumed control of the Shi'ar) orders Gladiator and many of the Imperial Guard to help protect Earth. He later aids

1404-479: The X-Men again during an encounter with Galactus He is present when Galactus dies. After thwarting an assassination attempt on Lilandra, Gladiator plays a role in temporarily turning Earth into an intergalactic prison . Gladiator battles Thor at the request of Zarrko , but is defeated. He later came looking for the X-Men to help him fight against the Phalanx; however, his aggressive arrival led him to blows with

1456-446: The X-Men's Cannonball , and while he was defeated by the young mutant, he managed to get the help of several X-Men in stopping the invasion. Some time later, on Lilandra's orders, Gladiator returns to Earth and attacks the X-Men's home, but later learns that Lilandra was possessed by Cassandra Nova and frees her. Liladra sends Gladiator to infiltrate the Kyln , an intergalactic prison, as

1508-461: The aftermath of the " Infinity Wars " storyline, Gladiator and the Shi'ar Empire arrive to save everyone after they were ejected from a hole in the space station following the Black Order stealing Thanos' body during the funeral. Gladiator joins up with Starfox 's Dark Guardians. The Dark Guardians found Nova and ambush him, wounding him enough to crash land onto a planet. When Gladiator and Cosmic Ghost Rider order Wraith to back off, Nova takes

1560-483: The chance of punishing Thanos as his herald which Galactus accepted. Bestowed with the Power Cosmic, Ghost Rider became Cosmic Ghost Rider. Alongside Galactus, Cosmic Ghost Rider traveled across the cosmos on a quest to halt Thanos' systematic annihilation of every living being in existence, which led them to become legends. Their story lasted centuries, but it came to an end once they finally confronted Thanos, who beheaded Galactus as he approached to battle. Thanos offered

1612-452: The chance to fly off again. The Dark Guardians plan to track down again. Gladiator possesses a number of superhuman capabilities as a result of his unique alien physiology including superhuman strength (capable of shattering a planet , ripping apart a black hole , and holding off the Destroyer armor ), superhuman speed, stamina and durability (capable of withstanding the heat emitted from

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1664-666: The combined Phoenix Force Five and forced to recuperate at the X-Mansion . During the Infinity storyline, Gladiator appeared as a member of the Galactic Council. Kubark participates in the Infinity incidents, sneaking into battle against his father's wishes. Kubark's performance in battle so impresses Gladiator he allows his son to return to his desired schooling back in the X-Mansion. In

1716-472: The conclusion of The Thanos Imperative , Gladiator has appeared as a member of the titular team in Annihilators #1-4 (March–June 2011) and Annihilators: Earthfall #1-4 (Sept.-Dec. 2011). Kallark is a member of the Strontian race, and was born under Shi'ar rule. All Strontians are born with the capacity for great strength and various superpowers, but can only use them when they are completely devoted to

1768-497: The film's adaptation of their character Knull . Cates lived in Austin, Texas with his ex-wife, comic artist Megan Hutchison. They hosted the comic review podcast, The Devil’s AdvoCATES Book Club . In 2022, Cates was seriously injured in a car accident that gave him amnesia with no recall of the prior six months of his life. During this time, he also went through a divorce. Cates was forced to pull out of numerous writing projects as

1820-432: The issue of the Black Order, but Starfox assures they are searching for them and Nebula states that the team should track down Nova to find Gamora's location. The Dark Guardians found Nova and ambush him, wounding him enough to crash land onto a planet. When Gladiator and Cosmic Ghost Rider order Wraith to back off, Nova takes the chance to fly off again. The Dark Guardians plan to track him down again. Cosmic Ghost Rider and

1872-556: The main reality retrieved Cosmic Ghost Rider's soul from the dead reality and rewarded him with Valhalla , though Cosmic Ghost Rider was unsatisfied. Odin returned his powers and offered to revive him in any time period of his choosing. Cosmic Ghost Rider chose the day Thanos was born. Being revived in that year, Cosmic Ghost Rider confronted the baby Thanos where his Penance Stare has not detected any sins yet. Cosmic Ghost Rider then takes Baby Thanos under his wing in order to change his future so that he won't be evil. Tracking down Galactus to

1924-429: The monster Thanos will become. In the aftermath of the " Infinity Wars " storyline, Cosmic Ghost Rider is revealed to be stranded on Earth-616 and was present at Thanos' funeral. Eros shows all the guests a recording of Thanos stating that he uploaded his consciousness in a new body before his death. The funeral is attacked by the Black Order , who steals Thanos's body and rip open a hole in space, sending everyone into

1976-492: The new writer of Hulk , with Ryan Ottley joining as artist. In June 2022, it was announced Vanish would receive a physical release via Image Comics. In August 2023, it was revealed that he provided "additional literary material" for Kraven the Hunter . In October 2024, it was confirmed that he was allowed to read the screenplay for Venom: The Last Dance and consulted alongside Stegman in an advisory relationship due to

2028-414: The new writer of Thor with Nic Klein as artist. Later that year, he would reteam with God Country artist Geoff Shaw on the book Crossover . In June 2021, Cates and Stegman started their own production company entitled KLC Press, named after a Todd McFarlane quote ("Kids Love Chains"), with its first title set to be the book Vanish by Cates and Stegman. In November that same year, Cates became

2080-456: The pair stage a coup and usurp Lilandra. Vulcan escapes with the aid of some rebellious Shi'ar and leads a successful coup against Lilandra, becoming the next Shi'ar Emperor. Gladiator does not like Vulcan, but is honor-bound to serve him. Vulcan consolidates his rule over the Shi'ar - with Gladiator reluctantly assisting - as their forces destroy a race of ancient enemies, the Scy'ar Tal , and capture

2132-436: The pirate crew while rebuilding his body. The only one he didn't kill was Camille Benally whose penance stare declared her innocent. Camille became Cosmic Ghost Rider's companion where they fought various villains and came into conflict with the Cosmic King. After the Cosmic King threw Cammi into the wormhole, an enraged Cosmic Ghost Rider attacked the Cosmic King who proved to be too powerful for him. When Cosmic Ghost Rider found

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2184-650: The planet Markus-Centauri which he plans to devour, the Cosmic Ghost Rider tried to get Galactus to help him to no avail after Galactus scanned his memories. With Uatu the Watcher bearing witness, an angry Cosmic Ghost Rider vowed to raise Thanos on his own consequently. By doing that, Cosmic Ghost Rider created a new timeline where Thanos grew up to become something worse. The Guardians of the Galaxy of that timeline tried to change their future by killing Thanos. Unfortunately, Frank and later baby Thanos killed them all. They were subsequently greeted by Thanos' future self, who sported

2236-425: The planet was dead. Roaming endlessly and undying with no one to kill or love, the Ghost Rider spent the next countless years alone. He eventually began to lose his mind when even Mephisto fell silent to his calls. When a badly injured Galactus arrived on Earth seeking help against Thanos, unaware that the population of Earth had already been killed by him, the Ghost Rider offered the dead planet to him in exchange for

2288-579: The rebel Starjammers . Vulcan begins to expand the empire, leading to a war with the Kree . When ordered to kill Lilandra, Gladiator abandons his post to protect her. During an attempt to return her to the throne, she is assassinated. Vulcan is killed during a battle with the leader of the Kree , Black Bolt . With no one in line to inherit the throne, civil war threatens the Shi'ar empire. Gladiator accepts an offer to be Emperor to avoid further conflict. Following

2340-399: The rip. Though Cosmic Ghost Rider got to safety with Star-Lord , Groot , Beta Ray Bill , Phyla-Vell , and Moondragon . Everyone is saved by the arrival of Gladiator and the Shi'ar Empire. Starfox begins to recruit warriors to find Gamora, the most likely candidate to be Thanos's new body, as they form the Dark Guardians which causes Cosmic Ghost Rider to side with them. Wraith brings up

2392-429: The same clothes Cosmic Ghost Rider used as the Punisher. Thanos from the future brings Rider and his infant self to his world where he stopped all of the wars in the universe and saved Frank's family. The Rider was happy at first until he found out that Thanos was dictator of the planets he invaded. Frank, horrified of what Thanos turned into, kills him and goes back in time to leave baby Thanos where he got him, accepting

2444-534: The space pirate Starjammers and superhero team Excalibur , but orders a retreat after learning the rebels are led by Lilandra. Gladiator briefly comes into conflict with the X-Men again when he is mentally controlled by a Warskrull posing as Professor X . He then encounters several members of the Avengers during the Kree-Shi'ar War . Along with Beta Ray Bill , Ganymede, Jack of Hearts, Silver Surfer and Terrax

2496-527: The title of this story was Hunter Quaid: Armageddon Outta Here . It was followed up three issues later with Hunter Quaid: The Only Things We Have to Fear… are Nazis and Creepy Monsters . Satisfied with these stories, Dark Horse gave Cates the green light for later projects like Buzzkill , The Ghost Fleet with Daniel Warren Johnson and The Paybacks . Between 2016 and 2017 Cates also wrote stories for IDW Publishing, including an entry in Star Trek : Waypoint and

2548-626: The undying Rider the chance to see more evil than he could punish in a thousand lifetimes, and thus became his servant. Thanos then gives him a shard of the Time Stone so he could use it to travel to the past in order to drag a younger Thanos to the future so he could help in the killing of the Fallen One . The Cosmic Ghost Rider was smashed by the Fallen One using the Asgardian hammer Mjolnir . Odin from

2600-469: The warlord finally beaten by the Silver Surfer. Gladiator is then commanded to stop the conqueror Vulcan , who is determined to destroy the Shi'ar empire as revenge against former emperor D'Ken for murdering Vulcan's mother. Gladiator captures and delivers Vulcan to a Shi'ar prison facility. A Shi'ar agent, however, wishing a return to the days of D'Ken's rule, frees Vulcan and together with Deathbird

2652-564: Was accidentally freed from the Shi'ar prison. The Mephisto from Cosmic Ghost Rider's reality then appeared on Earth-616 to reclaim the soul of Cosmic Ghost Rider that was stolen from him. After finding out that Cosmic Ghost Rider reclaimed his soul, the alternate Mephisto chose to steal Cammi's soul instead. While fighting his way through Hell, Cosmic Ghost Rider returned to the Hotel Inferno and confronted Earth-616's Mephisto who wouldn't give Cammi's soul back, though he did offer Cosmic Ghost Rider

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2704-606: Was born in Dallas, Texas . Raised in Garland, Texas , Cates states that he was taught to read by his father using comic books. Cates graduated from Garland High School and attended the Savannah College of Art and Design , where he would meet future artistic collaborators Tradd Moore and Geoff Shaw. Cates majored in sequential art, but left the school after being accepted into a Marvel internship program. While interning, Cates stole

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