Monday, January 11, 2010

who dares punishes

drive-by readings

Punisher Max: Get Castle one shot (Marvel)
"Get Castle!"
Rob Williams
Laurence Campbell
Lee Loughridge
Cory Petit
Tim Bradstreet (cover)
a harrowing tale of betrayal, greed and honor, Get Castle! is loosely patterned after, of course, the classic British gangster film Get Carter starring Michael Caine (not Sylvester Stallone, for those born in the '90s). in the movie, hitman Jack Carter unleashes unholy lead hell on his hometown after he finds out his brother is murdered.

this time around, Frank follows up a lead from his recently-deceased pal Yorkie, a former SAS soldier who suspects an SAS squadron under Major Tommy Bresslaw has gone corrupt and even puts his own son in to pass SAS selection. unfortunately, Yorkie dies before he gets to the end of his investigation, and doubly so, not knowing his son dies at the hands of Bresslaw. enter Frank Castle.

not in his stomping grounds, and not knowing whom to trust, Frank goes right into the heart of the matter and doesn't make it hard for the SAS to find him. on the negative side, Frank has a nagging issue of thinking hard about losing his edge. on the bright side, the SAS keep walking into his traps like amateurs. mirroring its source material, Frank figures out a local dealer's game and uses him to draw attention to Bresslaw's not-so-sterling operation. in the final showdown with Bresslaw in a Chinook, Frank's prep work pays off. and in the final scene, his concerns about his edge are invalidated as he presumably kills the junkie woman who helps him the first time, and set up the whole thing for heroin - with no hesitation.

taking Frank out of his regular concrete jungle habitats make for some interesting stories (teaming with Nick Fury in Russia, going hand to hand with the IRA, that business with Gen. Kriegkopf in the Grand Nixon Island). this one in particular, is quite excellent, even if the material isn't that original.

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