The Punisher #14 – Review

By: Greg Rucka (writer), Mico Suayan (art), Matt Hollingsworth (colors), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story:  Frank and Rachel plan and execute a daring attack on Exchange HQ with their leader, Dr. Gerard, firmly in Rachel’s revenge-fueled cross-hairs.

The Review:  Talk about a white-knuckle issues.  If you want a nice, easy read to relax you, this isn’t it.  This entire issue just drips with tension.  Every page feels impossibly heavy, with all the characters clearly clenched with stress and tension.  If I could give a prize for “most stressful issue of the month,” it’d be this one.  I cannot overstate the tension that Rucka has injected into this issue.  It’s almost like you have to grip the comic extra hard or something.

Daredevil #10 – Review

by Mark Waid (writer), Paolo Rivera (pencils), Joe Rivera (inks), Javier Rodriguez (colors), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story: Daredevil cuts Mole Man’s twisted romance short.

The Review:  This issue is a key example of why I enjoy Mark Waid’s take on Daredevil and why it’s been so critically beloved in general.  It features Matt battling a gigantic subterranean monster and dueling Mole Man in a diamond mine.  It so happens that I’m currently re-reading Brian Bendis’ celebrated run and it’s amazing just how different Waid’s story is.  Quite simply, Mark Waid is turning pre-conceived notions of what constitutes a “Daredevil story” on its head and continues to challenge limits and expand the kinds of stories that can be told about old horn-head while still staying true to the character.

Fighting Mole Man and giant monsters in subterranean monsters seems totally contrary to the “street-level” Daredevil comic, and yet it works here simply because Waid imbues it with enough pure fun and daring-do to still make for an enjoyable read.  Morever, despite the crazy circumstances, Waid accompanies it with narration by Matt that keeps it tied to the character.  Even in these wild situations, the story remains tied to Matt’s psyche and character so, in this sense, this still feels like a “Daredevil comic” despite monsters and moloids subbing for thugs and hoods and giant caves standing in for the mean streets of Hell’s Kitchen.  While it’s refreshing and fun, it’s still the life of a superhero very much through Matt’s eyes and THAT is ultimately what makes it feel truly “Daredevil” above all else.

Waid also does a great job in his writing of Mole Man, who is perhaps surprisingly competent in physical combat, giving his fight with Daredevil a vaguely slapstick feel that fits Paolo Rivera’s style perfectly.  Waid’s depiction of Mole Man is very engaging as well – he’s pathetic and disturbed, but not “evil”.  Basically, Waid makes it much more nuanced than he’d necessarily have to.  He gives us a peak into a disturbed mind, which leads to a fully realized, three-dimensional villain.

Moon Knight #11 – Review

by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Alex Maleev (art), Matt Hollingsworth (colors), and Cory Petit (letters)

The Story: Buck and Moon Knight go after Madame Masque in order to recover the Ultron head.

The Review:  In it’s penultimate issue (unfortunately), Bendis and Maleev’s Moon Knight is cooking on all cylinders.

The majority of the issue is taken up by a fight between Moon Knight and Madame Masque.  It is elegantly drawn and carries the required, gritty “street level” feel.  It’s well choreographed, but feels just as low-powered as should be.  More than that, Bendis and Maleev really bring home the ludicrous “faux Avengers” fighting style of Moon Knight, including just how bizarrely effective it actually is.

A good part of what makes this issue exciting, however, is that with the death of Echo still casting a shadow on the book and Buck’s being a new Bendis-created character, you really don’t know if everyone is going to make it out alive.  The result is some serious teasing on Bendis’ part – at a couple points, he really does succeed in making you think Buck is a goner.  After all, if Buck went, it wouldn’t even be a blip in the Marvel Universe.

Buck and Marc’s buddy teamwork is also part of what makes the action so much fun.  It’s enjoyable seeing them work as diversions for one another and really, as a no-nothing SHIELD agent, that teamwork only make’s Marc’s fighting style seem all the more ragtag.  Even without much dialogue, the “buddy dynamic” the two share shines through even in their actions.

The Punisher #5 – Review

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

The Story: It’s a somber Thanksgiving for Frank and friends, as if there’d be any other sort.

1.  A good supporting cast goes a long way

In making the Punisher a silent force of nature, Rucka has had to create a strong supporting cast to do the heavy lifting and this is the first issue where we get a big picture view of that cast as a whole.  Put simply, it’s fantastic and gives this book the realism and the kind of pure heart that pulls you into a narrative.  Each of these characters is distinct and brings their own unique dynamic to Frank but more than that, each of them also feels truly human.  All are fully realized, with their own personalities, lives, and relationships and all are unique and engaging while also coming across as real people.  It’s fantastic character-work that makes for a comic that feels all the more likable and intimate, things not usually associated with a Punisher comic.

2.  The Punisher is kid-friendly?

Rucka seems to add another member to this supporting cast this month, a young boy who unwittingly runs into Frank and starts visiting him regularly.   The dichotomy is amazing and the result is a character dynamic that is so emotionally genuine and sincere.  As polar opposites, the dynamic between the human horror that is Frank and the innocence of the kid is such a treat to read.  This is highlighted by the kid’s chattiness and Frank’s very few words.  While Frank’s words speak volumes, it’s as though he is buoyed by the waves of the kid’s happy chatter and the juxtaposition between Frank’s guarded silence and the kid’s completely trusting disclosure is striking.  Better still is the end of the issue, which shows again the difference between Frank the man and the legend of the Punisher: one the kid likes, the other alienates him.  Again, this highlights the burden that the Punisher mantle places on Frank as a human being and how it stops him from developing much of anything as a person.

3.  Marco Checchetto is amazing.

We’ve seen Marco do cityscapes…..now we see him execute a snowy, windswept rural landscape.  The result a continual atmosphere of sadness and melancholy, a feeling of isolation.  In other words, it’s absolutely perfect and truly an emotionally evocative experience.

Checchetto also does fantastic work illustrating the wounded Frank.  He looks more vulnerable and more…human.  Furthermore, Checchetto’s work on Frank is so subtle as well; while he says little, he looks more tender, if not nicer, when around the kid.  Unlike previous issues, he’s just a man here, and a very lonely one at that.

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.

The Punisher #2 – Review

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

The Story: The Punisher has marked his prey, tracking a poor, hapless goon back to his masters while Bolt and Clemons are left to pick up the bodies.

What’s Good:  For the second issue in a row, the Punisher doesn’t utter a word, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.  This silent Frank Castle is as fresh as the first issue and his silence makes him all the more monstrous and inhuman, if not mythical.  In many ways, Frank’s silence actually opens opportunities for Rucka to make him even scarier, particularly in one scene, where Rucka perfectly illustrates the Punisher’s uncompromising mercilessness.  The Punisher has never been more predatory.

The result is a comic where Frank hunts this thug and follows him, always just in the corner of the poor guy’s eye, haunting him like a vengeful spirit.   The Punisher plays the hunter through and through, the thug in question the hapless deer.  Franks silence and the way he manipulates his unwitting prey to run from safehouse to safehouse, allowing the Punisher to rack up the bodies, is utterly brilliant and makes Frank appear to, on some primitive level, possess an awareness, calm, and intellect that his prey lacks.  He leads the guy, tracks him, nudges him, all without saying a word.  Frank is so menacing and so coolly calculating that in many ways, as this unrelatable hunter of people, we come to experience “the Punisher” legend just as the criminal underworld does.

Daredevil #2 – Review

by Mark Waid (writer), Paolo Rivera (pencils), Joe Rivera (inks), Javier Rodriguez (colors), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story: Matt discovers that there’s a lot more weirdness behind Ahmed Jobrani’s case than expected, but first he has to dodge the big, red, white, and blue shield aimed squarely at his head.

What’s Good:  After last issue’s extra-sized big splash, this issue sees Waid and the Riveras settle into a nice groove, giving us a better idea of what we can expect month in and month out from this series.

As we really get into the meat of the story of Jobrani’s case, Waid really delivers a massive twist that hammers home the fact that this is going to be a Daredevil series very different from those we’ve been getting for the last ten years.  In so doing, he also made me realize how strongly my narrative expectations have been shaped by Bendis, Brubaker, and Diggle when it comes to this series.  Sure, we get the superhero legal drama: Daredevil needs to find out why Jobrani won’t press charges in his case, but as Matt gets closer to the bottom of things, they take a distinctly weirder direction.

Leading up to the big reveal, the story has all the hallmarks of a cut and dry street-level story.  You expect that the pressure on Jobrani will come from mobsters, crooks, or something along those lines, but Waid ends up going in a direction so opposite to this, that it feels almost surreal.  Instead, we get a Daredevil comic that takes an abrupt left turn from street level grit to retro sci-fi kookiness and boy is it awesome.  It’s so different, so refreshing, and completely shatters the mold that Daredevil had settled into as a comic.  Waid’s story ends up feeling both nostalgic and unique.

More than that, Waid also continues to make great use of Matt’s powers in his storytelling.  Of course, those wire-frame illustrations by Paolo Rivera are still amazing, but Waid serves up another old-school, forgotten villain that is absolutely perfect for DD.  I mean…a man made of sound?  There is no way that that isn’t awesome in a Daredevil comic.