Punisher #3 – Review

by Nathan Edmondson (Writer), Mitch Gerads (Artist)

The Story: Can you harm electricity with bullets? I suppose Frank will find out soon enough as he fights Electro.

The Review: It must be tough to have a handle on a popular property. When a writer gets to write another chapter in the continuing adventures of a highly known and liked character, there must be a high amount of pressure. There’s a need to stick to what makes the property well-liked in the first place, but also a need to add something new all the same, to integrate a new voice all the same to the continuity.

It’s what Nathan Edmondson has to struggle with in this latest volume of Punisher. With some definitely highly-regarded stories done by reputed storytellers before him, the writer has the challenge to match them but also distinguish himself from what came before, which is a tough task with a character as singularly-minded in his appeal as Frank Castle. While past issues did their best to make it so this new volume has promise, does the third issue shows the same promise is the premise faltering?

Unfortunately, it’s a bit of a weaker offering this time around, despite some good ideas being thrown around to make things interesting. The explanation of what the weapon that brought Frank to L.A is, the arrival of Electro and the pretty solid amount of action is definitely a plus for the book, putting forth a good amount of what the character is appreciated for as well as a certain amount of depth to the first story arc.

What’s also good, but also different, is the manner in which Frank acts and operates with his mission. A bit more open to other people, yet not without his tactical approach to wholesale slaughter of criminals, this is a new type of Punisher that is quite fun to read. The contrast in how he talks to Tuggs in this issue and how he simply blast his way through henchmen is a rather simple, yet effective one that do send the message that Edmondson knows who Frank Castle is well.

Punisher #2 – Review

by Nathan Edmondson (Writer), Mitch Gerads (Artist)

The Story: The Howling Commandos get even more interested in Frank as he begins to settle down in L.A.

The Review: Some people believe that opening issues are crucial. They need to open up possibilities, set up one or many ongoing threads, set up a world and its characters along many other things. There is a need for a hook to make sure readers are ready to get invested in the story and how the characters have to do with it. In a market with plenty of new series and new volumes starting in a competitive manner, that is something that stands up as even more truthful these days.

It is also something that I believe in, yet I also completely believe in an even bigger importance in the second issue. The follow-up to the opening needs to prove that it can sustain the themes and the possible progress the title has previously introduced. Unfortunately, as much as the first issue of this current volume of Punisher had been potent, there are some problems with the second one that does not necessarily bode well for the series.

The problems have nothing to do with some of the finer points like the cast. The way Frank Castle interacts with Tuggs, his weapon supplier, Lou the restaurant owner and officer Stone is actually quite interesting. With the character previously portrayed as a loner dedicated solely to his job, it is kind of refreshing to see a sort of nuance to how he actually talk with them in a semi-friendly manner. The addition to Loot, a coyote Frank saved could also bring a nice little humanity to the character that has been missing in previous iterations.

Punisher #1 – Review

by Nathan Edmondson (Writer), Mitch Gerads (Artist)

The Story: Now located in L.A, Frank Castle continues his war on crime.

The Review: Like any human being, I am full of contradictions. While I do enjoy cosmic and high adventure tremendously, I still have a soft spot for lower settings, for the more mundane stories with a more realistic approach. Preferring ambitious stories instead of more traditional ones, I still find ways to thoroughly enjoy the adventures of characters like Frank Castle and the noir approach of certain writers like Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka.

Thus, it’s a rather welcome sight to see the Punisher getting a new ongoing, with a creative team that has shown it can handle military, espionage and warfare very well in The Activity. With the writer being rather good when it comes to realistic settings and to a more nuanced approach to violence and war tactics, this could be very well the beginning of a very beautiful thing. However, does Nathan Edmondson provides the necessary spark to begin a new chapter in the life of Frank Castle, a character that has been touched by a plethora of talent in the past?

If the first chapter of this new volume is any indication, this ought to be good, as Nathan Edmondson dives right into the heart of the matter, giving new readers and fan a good take on the character without forgetting to add to the character. There has been many different interpretation of the character, with Garth Ennis driven and rather stoic Punisher, the more bombastic and pragmatic one from Rick Remender or the more silent and professional version that was Greg Rucka’s. Edmondson version is his own, with a more talkative personality and a certain penchant for conversation and repartee that is not unlike Ennis or Remender, yet it is dialed down to a certain approach to his work that makes this an elegant amalgamation of three distinct voices without being defined as just that. Distancing the character from the loner perspective that has been his in the past, there are a few supporting characters with which Frank might interact with in further details down the line, cementing this as not just being the ongoing war on crime that Frank is in, but perhaps something more. It is a certain diversion of what the character is known for, yet it is not one that remove or destroy anything from the character. As far as alternative versions goes, this one isn’t bad at all.

The Activity #1 – Review

By: Nathan Edmondson (writer), Mitch Gerads (art & letters) & Kyle Latino (colors assists)

The Story: Edmondson & Gerads bring us a new series about a covert action team.

Three Things:

1. Tight espionage thrillers are needed. – It always amazes me that we don’t have more comics in the espionage genre.  I mean, even if comics are mostly sold to geeky guys who like superheroes, I think those geeky guys also like espionage.  So, this is probably a smart entry by Edmondson and Gerads.  It is very much in the vein of Mission Impossible: Small team assigned with difficult tasks that they accomplish as much via stealth and brains as by brute force and firepower.  Judging from his past writings, Edmondson should be very good at this type of subject matter.  For one thing, it isn’t that far afield from his very good Who is Jake Ellis? and for another, Edmondson seems the type of writer who does his homework to make sure he gets the technical stuff correct.

2. Nice intro/meet-the-team issue. – This issue didn’t try anything too complicated.  It just introduced us to the team through the eyes of its newest member.  That’s always a reliable and intimate way to view this type of action (the alternative being a story told in complete third person like GI Joe).  And the creators take us on a few simple little missions.  These aren’t action epics….just quickies that show what kinds of things the team can do.  They can shoot when they have to, but they’re just as happy to stay behind the scenes and use high tech gadgets.  I’d imagine that we’ll be getting multi-issue stories in the future, but this issue does a nice job of kicking things off the new readers.

3. Effective art, NICE coloring. – For a first issue, Gerads and Edmondson are working pretty nicely together.  A few of the action sequences go silent and Gerads is up to the task, nicely taking us through a series of panels where there is no doubt about what is happening.  It’s so nice to see a comic be able to do this without resorting to cumbersome word balloons like bodyguards yelling, “This way sir!  We’ll protect you.”  This type of silent art also has the appropriate effect of speeding the storytelling up during the action sequences.  A word should also be said about the coloring.  My first exposure to Gerads was as the colorist on the Boom! series, Starborn.  He did a great job there and is doing it again on this issue.  He makes wonderful use of blue and otherwise uses background color to establish a mood for the scenes.

Conclusion: A very nicely done first issue.  It introduces the characters and situation about as well as any #1 issue I’ve read in a long time.  Further, it doesn’t leave us with any messy baggage dragging into the second issue.  You should be able to tell whether you like this series by the first issue alone.

Jumping on Point?: They don’t get much better.  Even for a #1 issue, it is especially good at introductions.

Grade: B

-Dean Stell

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Starborn #4 – Review

By: Chris Roberson (writer), Khary Randolph (art), Mitch Gerads (colors), Ed Dukeshire (letters) & Bryce Carlson (editor)

The Story: Ben & Tara continue their escape from a whole host of bad-guy aliens as the initial arc of Starborn wraps up.

What’s Good: This is a pretty well executed story.  The themes are all things we’ve seen in fiction before, and (as they say) there are no “new” stories… But that doesn’t mean that creators can’t do a snappy job of giving us a fresh take on something we may have seen.  We wrap up the first story arc with this issue and it leaves us in a pretty compelling place:  Earthling Ben has been plucked from his mundane life where he writes mediocre science fiction as a hobby.  A few issues ago, he was attacked by aliens who seemed ripped from the pages of one of his novels but he was saved by the remnants of some galaxy spanning civilization.  The rescuers claim that Ben is the heir to the throne and that all the aliens trying to kill him are insurgents of some stripe or another.  Clearly, the mission will be to put “the rightful heir back on the throne”.  At his side, he’ll have the sexy/competent bodyguard, Tara, and the gruff/grim General Talon.  Color me intrigued, I’ll read this story going forward.

I’ve really enjoyed Khary Randolph’s art and Mitch Gerads colors in this series so far.  Randolph comes from the Humberto Ramos/Chris Bachalo style of character design that I love so much, and his work is especially strong in this issue.  It looked like he was using a heavier (but still varied) line to ink his work this time and I really liked the way this works with Gerad’s bold colors.  These characters are all expressive and alive and that’s what I want from sequential art.  If I just want a pretty picture, I can look at something in a museum.  If I’m reading a comic book, I want my characters to look vital.

Starborne #3 – Review

By: Chris Roberson (writer), Khary Randolph (art), Mitch Gerads (colors), Ed Dukeshire (letters) & Bryce Carlson (editor)

The Story: Benjamin & Tara continue trying to escape from the supposedly bad aliens that have descended upon Earth.

What’s Good: I said in some other recent review that strong art is vitally important to a comic book because it can help the comic remain interesting when the story hits a lull.  Stories are going to do that because that is simply how drama works and strong art is what keeps you from saying, “Boring!” and possibly dropping the series (especially in this brutal comic sales environment where there are too many series chase a shrinking pool of readers).

That’s a round about way of saying that the art is (again) a very strong point for Starborne #3.  In reviews of the first couple issues on this site I’ve spoken about the strength of Khary Randolph’s loose, cartoony style.  I think it is more effective for this series when the characters are running and jumping, but it still works pretty well even when the characters are standing around more (as they are in this issue).  So, let’s take a second to talk about Mitch Gerads’ colors.  Starborne is a cosmic book and coloring is very important to putting the reader in a “cosmic” frame of mind.  The action going on in a story like Starborne is a level of non-realism that is well beyond a typical superhero book, so normal color palates aren’t going to cut it and there are a few panels in this issue where Gerads just kinda cuts loose with a whole spectrum of colors to emphasize the fantastical nature of that element of the story.

Starborne #2 – Review

By: Chris Roberson (writer), Khary Randolph (art), Mitch Gerads (colors), Ed Dukeshire (letters), Bryce Carlson (editor) & Stan Lee (Grand Poobah)

The Story: Benjamin Warner starts to lean WHY it seems that a science fiction story he has had in the back of his mind for years is coming to life around him.

What’s Good: This is a cool little story.  In the last issue we saw the first bits of Benjamin’s sci-fi story coming to life around him in a scene that was very reminiscent of The Matrix or Wanted or A New Hope where suddenly this nothing-special cubicle worker finds out that he may be a part of something bigger than he can imagine.  Only…he did imagine it, because the people and aliens showing up all around him are from a novel/story that he has been trying to write since he was a kid.  WTF is going on???

I really enjoy stories that just toss you into the action and then dole out little bits of background as the story unfolds.  So, here we learn that [SPOILER] Benjamin’s imaginary world is real and that he (and all the other humans) have somehow ended up on Earth (as in BSG) with a big memory wipe.  The reason he has been writing his story is that his memory blocks are falling apart.

Adding to the fun is his protector: Tara Takamoto.  Benjamin has had a crush on her his entire life and now we learn that she has been assigned by some secret society to guard him, so she has a vibe like the Fox in Wanted or 355 in Y the Last Man.

All of this action unfolds against what looks like a huge cosmic backdrop of warring alien races that seems yanked out of any number of space operas.  What is really neat about this issue is that although many (all?) of the plot elements borrow from other fictional works, the result is pretty slick.  It just goes to show that there aren’t really any new ideas, but you can certainly do an excellent job of putting a unique spin on stories we all know.  Not to mention that when a story reminds me of Wanted, The Matrix, Y the Last Man, Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica that means I enjoyed the story.  This is really what Stan Lee does well: Take other folks’ concepts and polish/repackage the hell out of them to make a fun story.

Starborne #1 – Review

By: Chris Roberson (writer), Khary Randolph (art), Mitch Gerads (colors), Ed Dukeshire (letters) & Bryce Carlson (editor)

The Story: Is this man crazy, or is the novel he’s writing really coming to life around him?

What’s Good: This was a good first issue.  I’ll go ahead and spoil the basic premise because it is the most enticing aspect of the title so far.  After a really rough first couple of pages, you realize that those pages were actually from a novel being written by our protagonist, Benjamin.  Ben is a struggling author, stuck in a job he hates while he tries to write a space opera.  It turns out that he has had this story in his head since he was a small child and that his imagination was so intense that his parents actually thought he might be insane and took him to psychologists.  All seems well, but then his novel starts to come to life in a scene that reminded me of a cross between The Matrix and Wanted (the movie moreso than the comic).  All of this begs the question: Is he crazy or is this stuff really happening?