The Punisher #3 – Review

by Greg Rucka (writing), Marco Checchetto (art), Matt Hollingsworth (colors), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story: Frank grapples with the Vulture in a fight to the death over the skies of New York City.

The Review:  Given how much of this issue is consumed by a sprawling action scene, it seems fitting to start out with a discussion of Marco Checchetto’s artwork.  Simply put, it’s really, really good and it’s becoming increasingly surprising how Checchetto has flown under the radar for so long.  Once again, Checchetto draws a dark, gritty, and mysterious New York City, but it’s the action that he shines at this month.

A long, aerial grappling session is no easy feat in comics and could have easily been disastrous.  I was fearing that we’d get an incomprehensible jumble of bodies and storytelling gone out the window, but somehow, Rucka and Checchetto manage to make it all completely understandable and, in fact, they even manage to make it beautiful, creating a fight scene that, while primal, tells a story in its own right.  It’s intense, elegant, and an experience that’s unique to the medium.

The fight’s ending also shows some serious balls on Rucka’s part and should go a long way in answering the complaints of those who question how Frank Castle can operate in the Marvel U.  Rucka shows that he has no qualms about having Frank run amok in New York and making sizable impacts.  I can’t go any further without major spoilers, unfortunately, but let’s just say that this fight doesn’t end how most superhero/villain fights end and that the conclusion is very appropriate for Frank.  There’s no equivocation here.

But it’s not only in the villain-fighting that Rucka’s Punisher impacts the Marvel Universe.  Rucka seems to want to establish Norah Winters as a major supporting character for this series, which is fine by me.  Norah is a brilliant addition to the cast, as I could not imagine a more polar opposite to Frank Castle.  I’ve always loved the character, who’s unfortunately often been thrown to the periphery due to Spider-Man’s massive cast.  Seeing her in this dark and very different context is wonderful and her mouthy, energetic character is a fantastic counterpoint.

DMZ #62 – Review

by Brian Wood (writer), Riccardo Burchielli (art), Jeromy Cox (colors), and Jared K. Fletcher (letters)

The Story: We get back to the present day, as Matty Roth finds himself as the eyes and ears at the vanguard of the US invasion of the DMZ.

The Review: I cannot begin to express how relieved and overjoyed I am that Brian Wood has returned the focus to Matty Roth and the main, present-day narrative of DMZ.  Usually, I really like Wood’s in-between short arcs, but I found that the last couple of issues just didn’t grab me and reading this issue, I know why.

The past couple of months lacked a compelling protagonist and the solid character work that Wood excels at.  With Matty back at the helm, all of that’s changed and DMZ has gone back to being the emotionally gripping read that it usually is.  It’s grim, gritty, and desperate, but now that Matty’s back, it also feels intimate and personal in a way that we readers actually feel attached to.  Roth’s narration returns as well, always bluntly honest in message and emotion with hints of self-loathing and cynicism.

The tension this month, heading into this new arc, is certainly palpable and Wood’s doing his best to showcase the bizarre new/old position Matty finds himself in.  It gives the series a good taste of familiarity while also feeling fresh, if not darker.  There’s something uncompromisingly bleak about Wood’s series right now that makes for a unique read.

DMZ #45 – Review

by Brian Wood (writer), Riccardo Burchielli (art), Jeromy Cox (colors), and Jared K. Fletcher (letters)

The Story: Matty Roth takes on a more pro-active, and more violent, role in Parco Delgado’s government.

What’s Good: When we last saw him in issue 40, Matty Roth had really hit a crossroads in his life, and this issue succeeds in showing a new and very different Matty, one who’s full of confidence, power, and ruthlessness.  Wood achieves this evolution very organically; the Matty we see in this issue, while very different, is nonetheless clearly and distinctly the “Matty Roth” that we’ve grown to know over the course of the series.  Considering how much has changed since his bumbling intern status at the beginning of the series, that’s quite the achievement.

While still maintaining the voice and integrity of the “Matty Roth” character, Matty in this issue sounds a lot more like the major power players we’ve encountered over the series in his intelligence and political maneuvering.  Of course, that also foreshadows the serious shades of grey to come, as those very power players were generally the adversaries.

It’s also great to see Angel  (the sniper who hangs out in his perch all day) back in the mix and playing a more central role.  The guy’s a definite fan favourite and Wood seems well aware of this.

Burchielli puts out some of the best art I’ve seen him draw on DMZ.  While his urban designs and landscapes have always been impressive, and that’s once again the case here, I’ve often found his art to be a bit too “scratchy” or scraggly for my tastes, but everything feels surprisingly crisp and well-defined here.  It’s a very good-looking book with a lot of detail and the haunting, barren, yet super dense architectural work that we’ve come to expect.

What’s Not So Good: While I’m all in favour of this evolution of Matty and believe it’s well done overall, I’m not entirely sure that I buy his actions at the end of this month’s issue.  It’s not so much what he plays a part in or orders, nor is it necessarily in his behaviour.  What I don’t buy is Matty suddenly becoming the tactical field-leader of a unit of commandos.  Did I miss something?  When did Matty become well-trained enough to lead and command a team of soldiers, let alone in the field?  While there’s a definite cool factor in seeing “spec ops Matty,” it’s not believable.  While for most comics, I’d play it to the suspension of disbelief often necessary in the medium, Wood, research-intensive as he is, has never been one to need that card played on his behalf.  Seeing Matty lead a raid and blow people away with an assault rifle also still feels a little weird for the character and still too much of a stretch.  Matty has evolved, yes, but not to the point of being an ice-cold commando.

I also felt Parco to be a little more bland in his dialogue than he usually is.  The basketball court meeting was a nice touch, but the rest of his conversation with Matty just felt a little more lifeless than it could’ve been.  It was clearly more a matter of moving the pieces across the board than anything else.

Conclusion: A good issue that’s solid throughout, before a rather questionable final scene.

Grade: B

-Alex Evans