PUNISHER #1

Review by: TheNextChampion

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Size: pages
Price: 3.99

It seems my hatred for Dark Reign is counter-balanced by my love for Punisher. That’s the only thing I can cop out too since I really had no desire to pick up anything Dark Reign related. Then I looked at the list at what titles will have the banter; I noticed that I am an idiot for thinking I could avoid it when most titles are effected by it….But also a new Punisher comic by Rick Remender would debut. Now I’m not an idiot (waits for laughter to end)……I’m not an idiot because I’ve tried reading a Punisher comic with him involved with the Marvel U. War Journal was iffy at best and it was no where near the quality of Ennis’s Punisher MAX.

Giving this a try though, it’s better then War Journal already….but it’s still got a ways to go. I like it that Frank Castle is really the smartest superhero on the planet. While others mull around and wonder what to do about Norman Osborn; Frank just takes the easy route and tries to kill him without a second thought. Through out this issue Remender has a great voice for Frank; it’s serious but has a touch of humor to it. Humor and Punisher rarely mix together (unless it’s a Ennis/Dillion book) but here it does. My favorite line of the week is Frank stating:

‘Sun-Tzu’s The Art of War, Written 400 years before Christ gave the hippies a dress code’

So a little dark humor like that can go a long ways if Remender keeps it in that tone. Overall though this was just a sub-par ‘cat and mouse’ game with Castle and Sentry….Yes for some reason Sentry returns in this comic instead of coming back in a more ‘A’ list title. Seriously, here is a guy who is suppose to be the strongest in the universe, cries like a baby in Secret Invasion, and the editorial lets his big come back be in a Punisher Comic? Why isnt he in any of the Avengers comics, or better yet: ‘What happen this whole Void thing where Sentry was completely black!?’ Unless a better explaination of Sentry’s return is issued in this book or in a one-shot…it’s like Marvel just completely ignored what Sentry did in the Invasion.

Okay got on a rant there about Sentry, sorry. Even still it’s fun to see Punisher try and get Sentry off his tail, but because the guy is so powerful…the cat and mouse game quickly gets old. I want to know more about Castle’s involvement in the Marvel U after the Invasion…not wait for another issue or two to get that aspect. Plus the price tag is clearly not worth the admission. It’s an extra buck just to give us a Punisher history (which we can all get for free on wikipedia), a chronological order to read Punisher books (helpful…but again wikipedia…) and a lame preview pages for ‘Agents of Atlas’ (counting down the days when that gets cancelled). So overall the story alone is boring, but has some interesting aspects I hope gets seeded out of.

Opena’s art is also a mix bag for me. On one hand, some of his character model’s are beautiful and his layouts are really great. Punisher plunging into the factory below him in the first few pages were beautiful to look act. But on the other hand, it can be way to sketchy for my tastes. Like my problem with Dustin Nguyen; he adds lines in places that shouldnt be and it hurts to tell what the facial reactions are to the characters. One shot shows a bunch of sketchy lines on Castle’s knee….Is that hair growing out of his pants or did Opena not erase those marks?

Just like when War Journal came out, I am willing to give this an issue or two more to see where it pans out. If War Journal taught me anything, it’s that Punisher is more suited to a realistic enviroment with no lame superheros or supervillains in the mix. Hopefully Remender can provide with a pretty good Marvel Universe Punisher to play around in….But if a better writer in Fraction couldnt keep me interested; what chance does Remender have?

Story: 3 - Good
Art: 3 - Good

Comments

  1. I’m not so sure Fraction is a better writer than Remender.  I’ve seen good stuff from Fraction, but Remender seems to be able to write so many different ways and cover so much ground with his stories, I never cease to be impressed.  Fear Agent, for years now, has been one of the most consistant and finest books on the market.  Franction’s brought us some good stuff (I never thought I’d want to read an Iron Fist solo book), but on the whole Remender is superior.

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