GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #12-16 (1991)

Again, I’m not sure how much of these stories–about the ORIGINAL Guardians (not the movie stars)–are actually canon. But for what it’s worth, issue #12 ishows us that Firelord is still round in the future. Issues #13-14 have a future version of Ghost Rider…

Which proves two things: 1. Ghost Rider still looks cool in space.  2.  Alternate future comics are not immune from the “must have Ghost Rider, Punisher, Spider-Man or Wolverine” on the cover editorial edict of the 1990s.

They team up with the future-Ghost Rider (who goes by the name Spirit of Vengeance) to free some people oppressed by The Universal Church of Truth, which is led by a devil-stand-in who looks a lot like Mephista but is called Malevolence. It’s never stated whether he is a manifestation of Zarathos.

I like the way this book is kind of becoming a pre-Ultimates way of telling Marvel’s older stories in updated ways.

After that, it’s a story about a character called “The Protege” that really should have been called “The Prodigy” because it was about a little kid alien with Godlike powers. Living Tribunal and Eternity appear at the end to debate the child’s power and set up a cosmic storyline.

Marvel Fandom says Mephisto appears in these issues, but I didn’t see him.

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