Punishermax #3 – Review

by Jason Aaron (writer), Steve Dillon (art), Matt Hollingsworth (colors), and Cory Petit (letters)

The Story: Wilson Fisk goes out to silence the one person who’s onto him, before finally going one on one with Frank Castle.

What’s Good: Three issues in, and this month is, more than anything, Aaron and Dillon testing the limits of the MAX imprint.  How much can they get away with?  A lot of this button-pushing comes from the character of Mamma Cesare, introduced in this issue.  Personally, I thought the old lady to be an absolute ball.  The ridiculous barrage of profanity that she produces pretty much continuously is simply unbelievable.  But really, it’s the horrible mental images I got from the many and varied gruesome acts she threatens which really had me laughing.  It’s just so completely over the top, and yet I can’t help but commend Aaron’s creativity.  All told, Mamma Cesare is just a wholly entertaining character who leaps off of the page.

Aaron also gives us a little more Castle this month, and it certainly pays off.  Those grizzled Punisher monologues that Ennis perfected return in a much bigger way, and they certainly make the book feel more “Punisher.”  It’s grim stuff, and that’s just as it should be.  Frank also gets in a tussle with Fisk, and it’s both thrilling and smile-inducing in a slapstick kind of way, with Castle flying head first through a door or nonchalantly breaking the neck of a faceless of goon.

But the thing that really piques my interest is a new, as yet nameless, character who Aaron introduces this month.  An Amish-styled farmer who doesn’t seem to share his community’s faith and appears to have something of a dark past.  He’s an interesting figure, sympathetic and menacing, at once searching for redemption, yet ultimately willing to return to his dark, old ways when the phone call comes.  The fact that this return seems to be perceived by the character as a kind of divine will is also very promising.  At the moment, the character is a big, menacing question mark of faith and shame with an ambiguous relationship with forgiveness, and I really like where this is going.

WCBR’s Picks Of The Week

Alex’s Top Picks

Pick of the Week: Stumptown #2 – A great series with pitch-perfect art, this issue, and this series, are not to be missed.  A lot of fun with one of the most lovable, and human, protagonists in comics today.  This really is a must-read, unless you demand spandex in all of your comics.

Most Anticipated: Punishermax #3 – Aaron is hitting this out of the park, being the first, and really only, person other than Garth Ennis to give me the Punisher comic that I want.  I just hope that this month’s issue will give Frank Castle a little more screen time.  Aaron’s version of Wilson Fisk is cool, but I’m positively frothing for some Punisher mayhem!

Other Picks: Secret Six #17, Invincible Iron Man #22, The Unwritten #9, DMZ #49

DS’s Top Picks

Best of the Past Week: Marvel Boy: The Uranian #1 – This was a surprise pick for me and isn’t even that special, but the weakness of this week’s offerings from the big two made it possible for this book to come out on top. I did like the nods to the Daily Bugle and Timely Comics, and the prototype of the SHIELD helicarrier though.

Most Anticipated: Batgirl #6 – Bryan Q. Miller consistently delivers great action with solid character work and the art by Garbett and Scott never misses. The rivalry between Damian and Stephanie doesn’t hurt either. Someone needs to take him down a notch. I hope Batgirl gets to do it! This is a must-buy.

Other Top Picks: Batman #695, Black Widow: Deadly Origin #3, Uncanny X-Men: First Class #7, Secret Six #17, Titans #21

Ray’s Top Picks

Best of the Past Week: Sweet Tooth #5 –  The first arc to Lemire’s debut series ends in his familiar haunting heartbreak way, while managing to make the next chapter something worth surely picking up.

Most Anticipated: Invincible Iron Man #22 – Marvel U’s greatest mind IS still trapped in his own subconscious, and Fraction IS still kicking ass and delivering some of the best character work in pop literature.

Other Top Picks: Unwritten #9, Catwoman #83, Batman #695, Amazing Spider-Man #617