Modern Warfare 2: Ghost
Encyclopedia
Modern Warfare 2: Ghost is a six-part comic book
mini-series
. The series ties-in with the Call of Duty
video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
. The first issue of the series debuted on November 11, 2009, and the second issue followed in December.
Community Manager Robert Bowling via Twitter
on August 17, 2009. The comic was published by WildStorm Productions and written by David Lapham
, with art by Kevin West and Federico Dallocchio, who drew the covers of each issue.
. The comic series is set before Ghost became a member of Task Force 141, with events from both before and leading into the game, focusing on the origins of the character, his skull-like mask, and why he calls himself Ghost.
, Ukraine
, and shows Ghost captured by a group of masked hostage-takers. He then begins to tell about an old friend of his called Lieutenant Simon Riley. He was recruited from 22 (spoken as 22 regiment) Special Air Service
to join a task force made up of United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group
and Delta Force
members. The group is given a task involving eliminating a terrorist-smuggling drug lord. However, things start to unravel as one member of the team's parachute fails and he is killed. Riley suspects there is a rat in the team. His hunch turns out to be correct as one of the team turns and reveals himself to be in collusion with Roba. Riley manages to shoot his way out of trouble only to be shot himself by Roba, leaving the action at a cliffhanger.
sheriff
. The story then jumps to December 18, 2010, Riley is being debriefed about his experience to his superiors. Physically Riley is fine, but his superiors fear that his mental state is still in question. Riley has nightmares, with Roba haunting and taunting him. While spending Christmas
with his family, Riley gets a surprise visit from Sparks. While having a beer together at a local pub, Sparks and Riley rehash old times and their experience during those hellish months in Mexico
. Sparks tells Riley that he and Washington are getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan
. As they are walking back home Sparks approaches a young woman he previously saw at the pub and tries to sweet talk her into bed, the young woman is not impressed. Angrily Sparks knocks the woman unconscious, and orders Riley to help him get her inside her house so that they can rape
her. Riley secretly calls the police
and they arrive just before any harm could be done to the woman, forcing Riley and Sparks to retreat. Once they both arrive at Sparks' hotel room, Riley suspects that Sparks is up to something and when he finally pieces together the clues Sparks points a gun at Riley's head. Riley immediately disarms Sparks, and interrogates him. Riley reveals that Sparks and Washington have been working for Roba, showing that they had been successfully brainwashed, but before Riley could get any more information Washington arrives from a task and attempts to gun down Riley. Riley escapes by jumping through Sparks' hotel window, slightly injuring his leg, and steals a cab to make his get away. Remembering about what Roba said about his family, Riley speeds towards his family's home and witnesses a shocking display. His mother, brother Tom, Tom's wife Beth, and his nephew Joseph have all been executed, no doubt by Washington himself. Riley vows that he will kill them all; Sparks, Washington, Roba, and his entire clan.
, Riley travels through the jungle
in order to finish off the criminal. He kills the guards and finds Roba, who tries to escape, but is ultimately captured by the protagonist. Roba then tells Riley that, when his parents died in a crossfire, the terrorist then saw that a few people are nothing among a billion. Riley then finishes him off, escaping Roba's burning mansion while fighting his guards. Back at the elementary school, the terrorists holding Ghost and the kids hostage decide to act, but Ghost, freeing himself while telling Riley's story, stops them while backup arrives from the windows. A girl then asks if Ghost is Riley and if the story he told is true. Ghost then answers that it is "true enough to that lot". We then flashback to Riley walking away from the burning manor. He is confronted by a high ranking military man (possibly Gen. General Shepherd from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
) with a "Task Force 141" Badge, leaving the reader to believe this is Ghost's origin.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
mini-series
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
. The series ties-in with the Call of Duty
Call of Duty (series)
Call of Duty is a first-person and third-person shooter video game series franchise, created by Ben Chichoski. The series began on the PC, and later expanded to consoles and handhelds. Several spin-off games have also been released...
video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 video game consoles and the Microsoft Windows operating system. Officially announced on February 11, 2009, the game was released worldwide on...
. The first issue of the series debuted on November 11, 2009, and the second issue followed in December.
Publication history
Modern Warfare 2: Ghost was announced by Infinity WardInfinity Ward
Infinity Ward is an American video game developer. Infinity Ward is responsible for the development of the video game Call of Duty and four other installments in the Call of Duty franchise....
Community Manager Robert Bowling via Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
on August 17, 2009. The comic was published by WildStorm Productions and written by David Lapham
David Lapham
David Lapham is an Eisner Award winning American comic book writer, artist, and cartoonist, best known for his work on his groundbreaking independent comic book Stray Bullets.-Biography:...
, with art by Kevin West and Federico Dallocchio, who drew the covers of each issue.
Plot
Modern Warfare 2: Ghost relates to the history of Ghost, an important character in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 video game consoles and the Microsoft Windows operating system. Officially announced on February 11, 2009, the game was released worldwide on...
. The comic series is set before Ghost became a member of Task Force 141, with events from both before and leading into the game, focusing on the origins of the character, his skull-like mask, and why he calls himself Ghost.
Episode 1: Dead for a Day
The first installment begins to tell the story of how Ghost came to use his skull-branded balaclava. The narrative begins in a school in LysychanskLysychansk
Lysychans'k is a city in the Luhansk Oblast of south-eastern Ukraine. The city is designated as its own separate raion within the oblast, and is located on the high right bank of the Seversky Donets River, approximately 90 km from the oblast capital, Luhansk.Population of 01.05.2010-...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, and shows Ghost captured by a group of masked hostage-takers. He then begins to tell about an old friend of his called Lieutenant Simon Riley. He was recruited from 22 (spoken as 22 regiment) Special Air Service
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
to join a task force made up of United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group
United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group
The United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group , commonly known as DEVGRU and informally by its former name SEAL Team Six , is one of the United States' four secretive counter-terrorism and Special Mission Units .The vast majority of information about DEVGRU is highly classified, and...
and Delta Force
Delta Force
1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta is one of the United States' secretive Tier One counter-terrorism and Special Mission Units. Commonly known as Delta Force, Delta, or The Unit, it was formed under the designation 1st SFOD-D, and is officially referred to by the Department of Defense...
members. The group is given a task involving eliminating a terrorist-smuggling drug lord. However, things start to unravel as one member of the team's parachute fails and he is killed. Riley suspects there is a rat in the team. His hunch turns out to be correct as one of the team turns and reveals himself to be in collusion with Roba. Riley manages to shoot his way out of trouble only to be shot himself by Roba, leaving the action at a cliffhanger.
Episode 2: Dead Life
During Modern Warfare 2: Ghost #2 it is revealed that Ghost and his team are captured by the Mexican cartel, and during their captivity they endure continuous torture and brainwashing techniques in order to be used as hired guns for various criminal and terrorist groups. Throughout this ordeal the reader sees flashbacks of Riley's early life, from his childhood and how he had to endure an abusive fiend of a father. To his early years in the SAS and how he, after coming back from his first tour of duty in Afghanistan on January 2003, takes care of his abused mother and helps clean up his drug-addicted younger brother named Tommy. In March 2004 he finally puts an end to his father and in June 2006 Riley is seen as best man at his brother Tommy's wedding, who is now completely free of drugs. During these flashbacks, many of Riley's adversaries are seen wearing "ghostly" makeup (presumably a hallucination of Riley) of similar style to that worn by participants in the Day of the Dead celebration. Eventually, the USSOCOM members Sparks and Washington are able to escape, having learned that the Mexican cartel plan to kill them due to the fact they can not break them down, but are forced to leave Riley behind. Moments later, Riley is buried alive with the decaying corpse of Major Vernon.Episode 3: Dead will Follow
By using Vernon's lower jaw bone, Riley digs himself up from the grave, which took him thirteen hours, and is later found by a TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
. The story then jumps to December 18, 2010, Riley is being debriefed about his experience to his superiors. Physically Riley is fine, but his superiors fear that his mental state is still in question. Riley has nightmares, with Roba haunting and taunting him. While spending Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
with his family, Riley gets a surprise visit from Sparks. While having a beer together at a local pub, Sparks and Riley rehash old times and their experience during those hellish months in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. Sparks tells Riley that he and Washington are getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. As they are walking back home Sparks approaches a young woman he previously saw at the pub and tries to sweet talk her into bed, the young woman is not impressed. Angrily Sparks knocks the woman unconscious, and orders Riley to help him get her inside her house so that they can rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
her. Riley secretly calls the police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
and they arrive just before any harm could be done to the woman, forcing Riley and Sparks to retreat. Once they both arrive at Sparks' hotel room, Riley suspects that Sparks is up to something and when he finally pieces together the clues Sparks points a gun at Riley's head. Riley immediately disarms Sparks, and interrogates him. Riley reveals that Sparks and Washington have been working for Roba, showing that they had been successfully brainwashed, but before Riley could get any more information Washington arrives from a task and attempts to gun down Riley. Riley escapes by jumping through Sparks' hotel window, slightly injuring his leg, and steals a cab to make his get away. Remembering about what Roba said about his family, Riley speeds towards his family's home and witnesses a shocking display. His mother, brother Tom, Tom's wife Beth, and his nephew Joseph have all been executed, no doubt by Washington himself. Riley vows that he will kill them all; Sparks, Washington, Roba, and his entire clan.
Episode 4: Dead won't Leave
Now that Riley is back in the real world, he's finding it hard to tell what's real anymore...until a face from his botched mission in Mexico appears. It's someone he thought long dead. Could this be another hallucination – or something far more sinister? The brutal action continues!Episode 5: Dead won't Rise
In an elementary school classroom, Ghost is tied and bound as a hostage. The leader of the terrorists barges in fully armed and says the soldiers outside are taking positions and to get ready for a fight. Riley is shown sneaking into a military base. He locates the barracks and kills Lt. Washington in his sleep. In a flashback, Riley locates Sparks in his home and binds, gags, and beats him for the murders of his mother, brother, nephew and sister-in-law. He is executed and the house is set on fire. Before torching the place Riley switched dog tags to fake his death. Lt. Washington's body is discovered the next morning and the base is put on alert. They head to the security room to check the video surveillance. In Mexico, two ex-military types are enjoying themselves on vacation. They are ambushed and killed. Riley learns about this ambush and starts the hunt for the ambushers. He locates the leader and kidnaps him. He is taken to a remote location and tortured for information.Episode 6: Dead and Gone
After finding out the location of El Gordo's manorManor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
, Riley travels through the jungle
Jungle
A Jungle is an area of land in the tropics overgrown with dense vegetation.The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala which referred to uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word refers to "dry land", it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its...
in order to finish off the criminal. He kills the guards and finds Roba, who tries to escape, but is ultimately captured by the protagonist. Roba then tells Riley that, when his parents died in a crossfire, the terrorist then saw that a few people are nothing among a billion. Riley then finishes him off, escaping Roba's burning mansion while fighting his guards. Back at the elementary school, the terrorists holding Ghost and the kids hostage decide to act, but Ghost, freeing himself while telling Riley's story, stops them while backup arrives from the windows. A girl then asks if Ghost is Riley and if the story he told is true. Ghost then answers that it is "true enough to that lot". We then flashback to Riley walking away from the burning manor. He is confronted by a high ranking military man (possibly Gen. General Shepherd from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 video game consoles and the Microsoft Windows operating system. Officially announced on February 11, 2009, the game was released worldwide on...
) with a "Task Force 141" Badge, leaving the reader to believe this is Ghost's origin.