PUNISHER MAX #16
Review by: kennyg
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Art by Steve Dillon
Cover by Dave Johnson
Size: pages
Price: 3.99
This review contains spoilers, click here to read
Following up his excellent "Kingpin" and "Bullseye" story arcs, Jason Aaron delivers the final chapter to his "Frank" arc with issue 16. On a lot of levels, he delivers. This has been an excellent character study where Aaron masterfully juxtaposed the past and present. Credit also has to go to Steve Dillon in his clean layouts and great comparisons of the young and old Franks. This reads like a classic Ennis/Dillon story. The tone and characterization are perfect.
I could gush all day about how much I've enjoyed this arc, but there are two things in this issue I really disliked. The first was what Frank said to Maria before the shootings. After this mystery building up to a boil since the Bullseye arc, I really expected something much more intense than "I'm leaving you." It seemed very anti-climactic. Sure, that was the last thing he told her before she died, which is pretty cold, and I understand his regret, but I expected something much more horrible. Had I written it, all he would have said is "I'm sorry." This would mean that he intentionally put his family in harm's way so they would die so he could become the Punisher. That would be way more sociopathic and f'd up than what we got here.
The second thing I didn't like was that Big Jesus was actually trying to bust Frank out. I know that's the twist, but it wasn't even a credible twist. It seemed very abrupt and simply served as a mechanism to get Frank out of prison. I thought it was pretty weak, and a writer of Aaron's caliber should be able to come up with something better.
The closeout of the story was well done, with Frank coming full circle back to the house. There were nice touches and good dialogue, but those two plot points didn't work for me.
I have no complaints about Dillon's art. I know everyone's faces look similar, but that's Dillon, take him or leave him. It's very clean, and he's a classic Punisher artist. Sure, a lot of the faces look similar, but I often think the same of Frank Quitely, so no big deal. Art gets a solid 4.
So, this arc ends not with a bang or a whimper, but more of a "Hmmm" from me. It could have been fantastic, but it didn't suck either. I'm a firm believer that ending a story well is hard, and this kind of reinforced that. I'm definitely onboard for more, though. Aaron has the tone and character down, which gets the writing a 4.
I could gush all day about how much I've enjoyed this arc, but there are two things in this issue I really disliked. The first was what Frank said to Maria before the shootings. After this mystery building up to a boil since the Bullseye arc, I really expected something much more intense than "I'm leaving you." It seemed very anti-climactic. Sure, that was the last thing he told her before she died, which is pretty cold, and I understand his regret, but I expected something much more horrible. Had I written it, all he would have said is "I'm sorry." This would mean that he intentionally put his family in harm's way so they would die so he could become the Punisher. That would be way more sociopathic and f'd up than what we got here.
The second thing I didn't like was that Big Jesus was actually trying to bust Frank out. I know that's the twist, but it wasn't even a credible twist. It seemed very abrupt and simply served as a mechanism to get Frank out of prison. I thought it was pretty weak, and a writer of Aaron's caliber should be able to come up with something better.
The closeout of the story was well done, with Frank coming full circle back to the house. There were nice touches and good dialogue, but those two plot points didn't work for me.
I have no complaints about Dillon's art. I know everyone's faces look similar, but that's Dillon, take him or leave him. It's very clean, and he's a classic Punisher artist. Sure, a lot of the faces look similar, but I often think the same of Frank Quitely, so no big deal. Art gets a solid 4.
So, this arc ends not with a bang or a whimper, but more of a "Hmmm" from me. It could have been fantastic, but it didn't suck either. I'm a firm believer that ending a story well is hard, and this kind of reinforced that. I'm definitely onboard for more, though. Aaron has the tone and character down, which gets the writing a 4.
Story: 4 - Very Good
Art: 4 - Very Good
Art: 4 - Very Good
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