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.

Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Detective Comics #880 – I absolutely loved Scott Snyder’s take on the Joker, a horrific monster who dwells in the very subterranean, dark heart of Gotham.  Not only was the Joker creepy as hell, but Snyder did a great job in fitting him seemlessly into the themes regarding Gotham that Snyder has made integral to his series.  Oh, and the James Jr. slasher flick cliffhanger was pretty fun too.

Most Anticipated: The Punisher #1 – Greg Rucka returns, not just to Marvel, but to comic books in general (seriously, where the hell is Stumptown?). The Punisher has often struggled outside the Marvel MAX imprint.  Too gritty and realistic and he doesn’t quite fit in the superhero abundant Marvel Universe.  Too wacky, and you end up with weirdness like Frankencastle or Frank as an angel. I think Rucka is a writer who will manage to find the balance and, at the very least, I’m sure will get some dark, noir-y goodness. And certainly, the art is going to be absolutely gorgeous.

Other Picks: Flashpoint #4, Batman: Gates of Gotham #4, Scalped #51, Secret Six #36, Wolverine #13, Superboy #10, Sweet Tooth #24, Amazing Spider-Man #667, Moon Knight #4

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Captain America & Bucky #620 – This one comes with a big asterisk as I just came back from vacation and haven’t picked up some primo books from the LCS yet (American Vampire, Detective Comics, etc.), but this issue really illustrated by Chris Samnee and Elizabeth Breitweiser are two of the brightest lights out there on the artistic front.  Sure, the story of how Bucky became THE Bucky is entertaining, but Samnee and Breitweiser are the real stars here.

Most Anticipated: Scalped #51 – With the sad news that Scalped will be ending with issue #60, you just KNOW that Jason Aaron is going to be bringing the heat for the remaining 10 issues.  He’s been pretty unafraid to do bloody and traumatic things to these characters, so I can only imagine what he’ll do now that he isn’t saving anything for future story arcs.  The end starts here!

Other Picks: 50 Girls 50 #3, Severed #1, Infinite #1, Hulk #38, Punisher #1, Rachel Rising #1, SHIELD #2, Sweet Tooth #24

Punisher #1 – Review

By Rick Remender (writer), Jerome Opena (artist), Dan Brown (colorist)

The Story: The time for fun and games is over.  This is after all, the Dark Reign of villainy, and there is glorious, bloody work to be done.  Frank Castle knows this to be true, therefore he has restructured his crusade accordingly.  Armed with a newfound sense of purpose, as well as a high-powered Skrull sniper rifle accurate up to four miles, Castle is fully prepared to put a well-placed bullet through Norman Osborn’s head and be done with his brand of madness once and for all. But when the Sentry intervenes on Osborn’s behalf, Frank must decide fast if he’s willing to make a strategic retreat or go down fighting.

The Good: Remender is clearly distancing himself from Fraction’s work on the previous Punisher War Journal, giving us a more traditional portrayal of Punisher.  Here, he is grim and gritty, locked and loaded, and it’s totally appropriate within the context of Bendis’ fairly ridiculous Dark Reign premise.  And just like Fraction on Invincible Iron Man, Remender takes the writing direction he is given and makes it shine, and I’m grateful for it.  Opena has a great eye for action scenes, and isn’t afraid to beat the crap out of his Punisher if it will make the scene look good.  His Punisher looks like a regular human going up against super-powered gods; and when he gets smacked around by The Sentry, you can almost feel his ribs popping.

The Not So Good: For the first issue of a relaunched title, this was painfully light on plot, amounting to little more than a glorified chase scene.  This problem could have easily been solved if Marvel hadn’t decided to include an unnecessary thirteen page recap of Punisher’s history.  Also, I think Opena would benefit from having a professional inker go over his work as his own inked art looks scratchy and unfinished.

Conclusion: Remender and Opena are an interesting team to bring on to Punisher, and “Dark Reign” is an ideal story for the character, so let’s hope they use that to their advantage.  I’ll stick with this for awhile and see where it goes.

Grade: B-

-Tony Rakittke