What do you think?
Rate this book
Modern Warfare 2: Ghost
In anticipation of the sequel to the groundbreaking Activision video game, WildStorm brings you a no-holds-barred, brutal tale of the mysterious Task Force 141 soldier known as "Ghost." Learning the motivation behind his mask and moniker is the tip of the iceberg in a story spanning the globe from the United Kingdom to war-torn Afghanistan to the drug war in Mexico. Award-winning creator David Lapham (YOUNG LIARS, Stray Bullets) is joined by artist Kevin West in a shattering epic!
Sgt. Riley – codenamed "Ghost" – has found himself in many a sticky situation while serving in the S.A.S. But never has a mission fallen apart so fast. On his first Joint Task Force mission, a combination of betrayal and bad luck has landed him in the hands of a blood-thirsty Mexican drug czar.
Sgt. Riley – codenamed "Ghost" – has found himself in many a sticky situation while serving in the S.A.S. But never has a mission fallen apart so fast. On his first Joint Task Force mission, a combination of betrayal and bad luck has landed him in the hands of a blood-thirsty Mexican drug czar.
144 pages, Paperback
First published September 28, 2010
11 people are currently reading
153 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
January 22, 2023
my comfort character (who never even had his days of comfort)
August 25, 2016
My favorite parts of this comic were the chapter intro pages that had nothing but a nice picture of Ghost on them otherwise I can say that I really hated this comic. I thought it was ridiculous, immature, and dumb. I can't believe it's gotten such good reviews. Stick to gaming when it comes to this you'll be better off.
December 18, 2011
An important soldier has joined Task Force 141 group after finishing a success operation with Special Air Service (SAS), a special forces unit of the British army known as Ghost. The group went to Russia to investigate a nuclear weapon and disarm it before the ultranationalists sent it to Afghanistan.
The mission leader set a plan with the Russian army special forces (Spetsnaz), who sent Ghost with two expert soldiers, Captain Price and captain Soap Mactavish. The team was hidden in an old estate in the forest and gave the orders to air support to attack the ultranationalists locations, then they approached to the main warehouse and the fight started with these criminals.
Finally, Ghost found the nuclear bomb and disarmed it, then sent a final order to the chopper gunner to destroy the site. After that the team escaped with nuclear warheads to the UK and all of them were promoted to a new rank.
The mission leader set a plan with the Russian army special forces (Spetsnaz), who sent Ghost with two expert soldiers, Captain Price and captain Soap Mactavish. The team was hidden in an old estate in the forest and gave the orders to air support to attack the ultranationalists locations, then they approached to the main warehouse and the fight started with these criminals.
Finally, Ghost found the nuclear bomb and disarmed it, then sent a final order to the chopper gunner to destroy the site. After that the team escaped with nuclear warheads to the UK and all of them were promoted to a new rank.
December 15, 2014
This comic actually made me like Ghost less.
December 24, 2023
09’ ghost is literally a devianart oc
March 27, 2024
Nice to learn more about Ghost, but this story could have been fleshed out so much better, and I couldn't get jiggy with the art style.
December 15, 2022
trochę długo mi zajęło przeczytanie tego ale podobało mi się i koniec nie był rozczarowujący chociaż bałem się ze taki będzie I ŚWIADOMOŚĆ TEGO ZE UMARŁ GHOST W TAKI JAKBY ŁATWY SPOSÓB A ON JEST TUTAJ TAK SUPER POSTACIA NIE UMIEJĄ GO ZABIĆ ANI NIC A UMARŁ TAK FKABDKSBJD NO SMIESZNJE
April 29, 2025
I could've written it when I was 13 and made it better
August 9, 2025
People are hating too much, and it looks like I'm too, but hear me out.
People are criticising the art style, and I don't get why. I like it, could do more to show different faces, but the mix of pencil with watercolour and being able to see the process and mistakes? I actually like it, and the covers were sick as fuck. I only find it funny when it looks so quickly done the hands are just childish.
The plot, yeah, kinda nonsense that they allow him to tell the story, but then people are again forgetting that the kidnappers are bored out of his mind, are new to this, and got hooked too. It's not the same when they tell you a story than when you're reading it, first one usually catches more the attention. Otherwise we wouldn't listen to our friend's boring anecdotes.
Big negative point for me? Ghost's motivations are never clear. I never knew if he was actually in the military because of patriotism, but the father being a punk story line, almost trying to portray him in a "anti-Queen!!!" light was just cringing me. I appreciate a clash of ideals, doesn't need to conclude with my own take, but it was obviously only trying to be patriotic in a cheap way. No argument, just "this guy is a drunkard and drug addict and rapist, and he doesn't like the queen or military so that's obviously what it's wrong" and Riley being against that. I want to think that's not the point of that plot line and it wants to call for critical thinking of "this character was bad, but had a point, Riley has been so hurt he didn't listen to actually good arguments". I don't know if I'm trying to save a plot line with a huge mistake, but I'll give the benefit of the doubt.
Otherwise, I liked how Riley is so different from the common image people make of Ghost. He's emotional, he's hurt in an ugly way, he's bad, he struggles with feelings, but struggles even more to work towards solving it. However, I'm missing the transition from that Riley to the Ghost we see in the videogames and that is portrayed in the present inner time of the comic.
Would I recommend it? More than the booktok-fication of the character, that's for sure. A good character needs flaws, and I'm sure this version will make most gooners give up the character unless they try to actually understand. But oh well, I've seen people refusing to acknowledge he was sexually abused EVEN after reading the comic, or deeming it as non-canon. Probably only because it doesn't fit what they want Ghost to be.
[VENT]
"When you love a media with complex themes but the fandom lacks critical thinking skills", now I have to go through layers of 4'9 yumeship dark booktok bullshit to get anything decent. Don't get me wrong, some selfship is ok and they do whatever they want, but it gets annoying when renditions of the actual character on the fandom are buried deep and sometimes seen as non-canon, just because the fanon version is more popular. Girl if you want your OC to be with any of them but keep her short and skinny, make her a medic, that girl is NOT surviving the lines LMAO
People are criticising the art style, and I don't get why. I like it, could do more to show different faces, but the mix of pencil with watercolour and being able to see the process and mistakes? I actually like it, and the covers were sick as fuck. I only find it funny when it looks so quickly done the hands are just childish.
The plot, yeah, kinda nonsense that they allow him to tell the story, but then people are again forgetting that the kidnappers are bored out of his mind, are new to this, and got hooked too. It's not the same when they tell you a story than when you're reading it, first one usually catches more the attention. Otherwise we wouldn't listen to our friend's boring anecdotes.
Big negative point for me? Ghost's motivations are never clear. I never knew if he was actually in the military because of patriotism, but the father being a punk story line, almost trying to portray him in a "anti-Queen!!!" light was just cringing me. I appreciate a clash of ideals, doesn't need to conclude with my own take, but it was obviously only trying to be patriotic in a cheap way. No argument, just "this guy is a drunkard and drug addict and rapist, and he doesn't like the queen or military so that's obviously what it's wrong" and Riley being against that. I want to think that's not the point of that plot line and it wants to call for critical thinking of "this character was bad, but had a point, Riley has been so hurt he didn't listen to actually good arguments". I don't know if I'm trying to save a plot line with a huge mistake, but I'll give the benefit of the doubt.
Otherwise, I liked how Riley is so different from the common image people make of Ghost. He's emotional, he's hurt in an ugly way, he's bad, he struggles with feelings, but struggles even more to work towards solving it. However, I'm missing the transition from that Riley to the Ghost we see in the videogames and that is portrayed in the present inner time of the comic.
Would I recommend it? More than the booktok-fication of the character, that's for sure. A good character needs flaws, and I'm sure this version will make most gooners give up the character unless they try to actually understand. But oh well, I've seen people refusing to acknowledge he was sexually abused EVEN after reading the comic, or deeming it as non-canon. Probably only because it doesn't fit what they want Ghost to be.
[VENT]
"When you love a media with complex themes but the fandom lacks critical thinking skills", now I have to go through layers of 4'9 yumeship dark booktok bullshit to get anything decent. Don't get me wrong, some selfship is ok and they do whatever they want, but it gets annoying when renditions of the actual character on the fandom are buried deep and sometimes seen as non-canon, just because the fanon version is more popular. Girl if you want your OC to be with any of them but keep her short and skinny, make her a medic, that girl is NOT surviving the lines LMAO
September 4, 2022
Modern Warfare 2: Ghost brings almost nothing to the table and probably isn't worth your time.
This series serves as a six-issue origin story for the character Ghost who was introduced in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 -- but Ghost had no interesting characteristics beyond his distinctive skull mask., so I didn't feel like there was any particular draw to this comic. It just feels like a marketing gimmick (look that this cool-looking character that we won't tell you anything about, read the comic if you want to know anything about him!).
Unfortunately, Ghost couldn't be less interesting after you get to know him. The series starts with a frame story where Ghost is captured in Ukraine with a bunch of kids and basically tells them a story to pass the time. I have no idea why his captors are letting him tell this story, but he proceeds to share the exploits of one Simon Riley, a British operative with a relationship to Ghost (SPOILER: ). Riley had a messed up childhood, rough relationship with his parents, all sorts of bad things happened to him in the army, etc. But the story is told so poorly that nothing that happens to him grabbed my attention or made me care about him.
Another of the big problems with this series is the art. Most of the art in Modern Warfare 2: Ghost has sort of a strange plastic or clay look to it, everybody looks lumpy and unexpressive like they're not actually experiencing anything. When writer David Lapham draws some of the flashbacks to Riley's childhood, though, the book starts to show its potential. The style is grittier and feels more like an actual comic book rather than some weird promotional material.
And I think ultimately that's one of the biggest problems with Modern Warfare 2: Ghost -- it doesn't feel like Call of Duty. It feels like some marketing product whipped up to try and make a quick buck off Ghost but that failed to identify and replicate the feeling of a Call of Duty story (in my experience, the moments of humanity between soldiers on the battlefield coupled with bombastic, blockbuster-style action -- and this series doesn't have many battlefields, comrades in arms, or explosive action sequences).
You probably aren't interested in Ghost enough to enjoy this comic series. I don't know who asked for this, I don't know why anyone beyond the most obsessive Modern Warfare fan would like it, and I don't recommend it.
This series serves as a six-issue origin story for the character Ghost who was introduced in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 -- but Ghost had no interesting characteristics beyond his distinctive skull mask., so I didn't feel like there was any particular draw to this comic. It just feels like a marketing gimmick (look that this cool-looking character that we won't tell you anything about, read the comic if you want to know anything about him!).
Unfortunately, Ghost couldn't be less interesting after you get to know him. The series starts with a frame story where Ghost is captured in Ukraine with a bunch of kids and basically tells them a story to pass the time. I have no idea why his captors are letting him tell this story, but he proceeds to share the exploits of one Simon Riley, a British operative with a relationship to Ghost (SPOILER: ). Riley had a messed up childhood, rough relationship with his parents, all sorts of bad things happened to him in the army, etc. But the story is told so poorly that nothing that happens to him grabbed my attention or made me care about him.
Another of the big problems with this series is the art. Most of the art in Modern Warfare 2: Ghost has sort of a strange plastic or clay look to it, everybody looks lumpy and unexpressive like they're not actually experiencing anything. When writer David Lapham draws some of the flashbacks to Riley's childhood, though, the book starts to show its potential. The style is grittier and feels more like an actual comic book rather than some weird promotional material.
And I think ultimately that's one of the biggest problems with Modern Warfare 2: Ghost -- it doesn't feel like Call of Duty. It feels like some marketing product whipped up to try and make a quick buck off Ghost but that failed to identify and replicate the feeling of a Call of Duty story (in my experience, the moments of humanity between soldiers on the battlefield coupled with bombastic, blockbuster-style action -- and this series doesn't have many battlefields, comrades in arms, or explosive action sequences).
You probably aren't interested in Ghost enough to enjoy this comic series. I don't know who asked for this, I don't know why anyone beyond the most obsessive Modern Warfare fan would like it, and I don't recommend it.
May 10, 2022
Fortunately, I did not buy these comics; I only borrowed them, so the only thing wasted was my time. The art style is washed out and fairly drab, and the faces all look the same. The only way I could identify the protagonist (an SAS soldier named Simon Riley) was when he was identified by other people speaking to him. Everything is hyper-violent and hyper-masculine, which was narratively boring on the rare occassions when it wasn’t grotesque: a torturer receives his comeuppance through having syringes stabbed into his eyes by the protagonist, and a female drug addict is raped in a bathroom stall by the protagonist’s father and dies during the assault. (Side note: there are SO MANY content warnings for this comic collection—proceed with caution if you’re sensitive to sexual assault, vomiting, torture, gore, drug use, death of children/civilians, and more—that’s just what I can list off the top of my head).
I found the fluctuation of the story’s timeline somewhat interesting: we see an unnamed soldier telling a story to a bunch of kids in a hostage situation in Ukraine in the present day, and within the soldier’s story there are other timeskips as Riley A) is found and tortured by a “Mexican drug czar” named Roba and B) is getting his abused family into a healthier lifestyle and C) is dealing with the aftermath of being tortured as his civilian life crumbles to pieces around him due to external influences. However, that timeline was the only interesting thing to me. The overall narrative feels really “stereotypical pop culture military” instead of “real world military” – Riley’s post-torture PTSD doesn’t really slow him down or cause problems in civilian setting, and Riley himself felt like such a cliché of what special forces soldiers are like in the eyes of civilians (gritty superheroes with guns) that I found myself unable to truly sympathize with him.
I found the fluctuation of the story’s timeline somewhat interesting: we see an unnamed soldier telling a story to a bunch of kids in a hostage situation in Ukraine in the present day, and within the soldier’s story there are other timeskips as Riley A) is found and tortured by a “Mexican drug czar” named Roba and B) is getting his abused family into a healthier lifestyle and C) is dealing with the aftermath of being tortured as his civilian life crumbles to pieces around him due to external influences. However, that timeline was the only interesting thing to me. The overall narrative feels really “stereotypical pop culture military” instead of “real world military” – Riley’s post-torture PTSD doesn’t really slow him down or cause problems in civilian setting, and Riley himself felt like such a cliché of what special forces soldiers are like in the eyes of civilians (gritty superheroes with guns) that I found myself unable to truly sympathize with him.
November 20, 2022
jesus christ
August 17, 2023
So I cried at 4AM because of this comics
January 16, 2024
Стиль малювання зовсім не подобається
February 18, 2024
Ghost.
August 11, 2025
Okay so it was alright! Definitely not my favorite comic but I was intrigued and excited to read it. Ghost is the reason I got into Call of Duty, so I’ve been eager to read his backstory and get to learn more about him.
The set up for this was a bit confusing cause there was so much jumping around. A lot of time skips forward and backward along with a lot of characters rapid fire introduced but I guess if it’s only six issues it has to be fast paced 🤷♀️
I liked getting to dive into why and how Simon became Ghost, but it really wasn’t what I was expecting when I started reading it. I’m not really sure how I feel about this comic overall.
I mean, I’ve read a lot of comics and this one wasn’t that heart pounding, intense, addicting, I-need-to-know-what-happens-next. I mean I was curious enough and I know I’ll read it again, but idk.
I loved how each section starts with Ghost’s “friend” telling the story and the end revealing that this is Ghost telling the story. That was good. (I was convinced that this was after his death MW2.)
I liked the ending with TF141 being hinted as well. That was cool!
Overall, this was really graphic and bloody but enjoyable. I like getting to explore where Ghost came from and what led to him being the way he is.
Overall not an outstanding comic but not bad? Idk it just really wasn’t what I was expecting. There were parts I liked and parts I didn’t.
I tore through it pretty fast so maybe it’s just blurring together a bit. But yea!
The set up for this was a bit confusing cause there was so much jumping around. A lot of time skips forward and backward along with a lot of characters rapid fire introduced but I guess if it’s only six issues it has to be fast paced 🤷♀️
I liked getting to dive into why and how Simon became Ghost, but it really wasn’t what I was expecting when I started reading it. I’m not really sure how I feel about this comic overall.
I mean, I’ve read a lot of comics and this one wasn’t that heart pounding, intense, addicting, I-need-to-know-what-happens-next. I mean I was curious enough and I know I’ll read it again, but idk.
I loved how each section starts with Ghost’s “friend” telling the story and the end revealing that this is Ghost telling the story. That was good. (I was convinced that this was after his death MW2.)
I liked the ending with TF141 being hinted as well. That was cool!
Overall, this was really graphic and bloody but enjoyable. I like getting to explore where Ghost came from and what led to him being the way he is.
Overall not an outstanding comic but not bad? Idk it just really wasn’t what I was expecting. There were parts I liked and parts I didn’t.
I tore through it pretty fast so maybe it’s just blurring together a bit. But yea!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 20, 2024
I came to read this comic to find out more about one of my favourite characters from the franchise and left with… nothing? Just disgust.
Overall the plot was absurd and unnecessarily edgy. The art style is just terrifying, the artist is supposed to be a professional yet he uses black for the shadows IN A COLORED COMIC, all the characters have the same face, plus every panel shows no motion, as if all the characters were caught and froze in the spot.
Also, tell me why a Manchester guy would see the 9/11 and be like “yeah I need to become a military soldier. I’ll also absolutely pass all of the psychological exams and become the best even though I have shit tons of trauma. I absolutely can be trusted with a gun.” WTF. By the way, usamericans? You’re not the centre of the world. Just saying, you know?
The ending was dogshit, you’re telling me a guy that is 100% more traumatized than he was in his childhood (level: hard) is now recluted to the most secret and important task force in the entire world? Unbelievable, at least end the story with him going to therapy again, geez, the guy literally just annihilated an entire villa, what makes you think he’s not going to have a psychotic episode and kill his teammates? Oh my God
Overall the plot was absurd and unnecessarily edgy. The art style is just terrifying, the artist is supposed to be a professional yet he uses black for the shadows IN A COLORED COMIC, all the characters have the same face, plus every panel shows no motion, as if all the characters were caught and froze in the spot.
Also, tell me why a Manchester guy would see the 9/11 and be like “yeah I need to become a military soldier. I’ll also absolutely pass all of the psychological exams and become the best even though I have shit tons of trauma. I absolutely can be trusted with a gun.” WTF. By the way, usamericans? You’re not the centre of the world. Just saying, you know?
The ending was dogshit, you’re telling me a guy that is 100% more traumatized than he was in his childhood (level: hard) is now recluted to the most secret and important task force in the entire world? Unbelievable, at least end the story with him going to therapy again, geez, the guy literally just annihilated an entire villa, what makes you think he’s not going to have a psychotic episode and kill his teammates? Oh my God
August 22, 2018
hmmmmmm
M
M
February 15, 2023
Yay for Ghost's backstory, meh for illustration and ugh for alpha male storytelling.
March 9, 2024
did i just read a comic about a video game character just because i saw tiktok edits of him? well... i'm just a girl
January 5, 2025
hyperfixation has led me to places i have never dreamed of
July 4, 2025
2.5 stars
October 28, 2025
I’m literally him
November 30, 2025
uwu ghost....
But on a serious note, the beginning jumps around so much, it's kinda confusing. The art is just okay.
But on a serious note, the beginning jumps around so much, it's kinda confusing. The art is just okay.
February 13, 2015
All the type of thrill that is injected in the story was possessed of a very grotesque image,
but still was not compleatly disenchanting.
As we all are aware that the background of this story is borrowed from a game which is famous
for its hysteria battles of multiparty people dealing with catastrophic events; however, this
was rather of a single sole.
If you have played that game you might ponder that why does "Ghost" wear such grim cloths. Will
this the answer of that question.
The text of the book was just fine or perhaps it was merely created in such a manner that it
it seems strong, but was mere grotesque.
The thing that I was in seek did not meet a bank because I was looking forward to see some action
but I merely got an emotional story; I merely got a grotesque image.
There was not a point where the story was either cunning, enchanting, charismatic or hysteric
it was mere an emotional story of a character.
Over and above this was not what I expected it to be.
but still was not compleatly disenchanting.
As we all are aware that the background of this story is borrowed from a game which is famous
for its hysteria battles of multiparty people dealing with catastrophic events; however, this
was rather of a single sole.
If you have played that game you might ponder that why does "Ghost" wear such grim cloths. Will
this the answer of that question.
The text of the book was just fine or perhaps it was merely created in such a manner that it
it seems strong, but was mere grotesque.
The thing that I was in seek did not meet a bank because I was looking forward to see some action
but I merely got an emotional story; I merely got a grotesque image.
There was not a point where the story was either cunning, enchanting, charismatic or hysteric
it was mere an emotional story of a character.
Over and above this was not what I expected it to be.
February 16, 2025
did i read this comic only because of my current obsession with simon riley? yes. yes i did.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews