closer

drive-by readings

Punisher MAX #9 (Marvel) "Bullseye Part Four" Jason Aaron Steve Dillon Matt Hollingsworth Cory Petit Dave Johnson (cover)

what we learned: after Frank guns down a corrupt cop, the NYPD guns after him, but Bullseye takes his sweet time and tries to get more into Frank's head, not to mention irritating the hell out of Kingpin. its 95% amusing, because we all want the mano-a-mano between the Punisher and Bullseye to commence, but somehow you feel it might not be worth it, because status quo reigns here - nobody friggin' dies.
oh shit moment: Bullseye brazenly walking into a Punisher safehouse, knowing he's there and he's going to wipe out everyone.
what's next: just get it on, dammit!!!


no, its black and white, you dumb ass.

closing circle

drive-by readings

Punisher Max #3 (Marvel) "Kingpin Part Three" Jason Aaron Steve Dillon Matt Hollingsworth Cory Petit Dave Johnson (cover) here we get our first encounter between Wilson and Frank, and it ends inconclusively, as they end up killing Mamma Cesare, mother hen to the East Coast mafia. its mildly surprising that they didn't shoot themselves after seeing her in the buff - gaaaah. we also have a mysterious assassin in the mix, a Mennonite who's reluctant to go back to his murderous roots, but a family tragedy may give him no choice. though we have an idea somewhat where all of these is headed, Jason Aaron makes it a thrilling slowburn ride.

king of the mountain

drive-by readings

Punisher Max #2 (Marvel) "Kingpin Part Two" Jason Aaron Steve Dillon Matt Hollingsworth Cory Petit Dave Johnson (cover)

after my initial misgivings, this is a better read than i thought. and no, its not because of the sex and violence allowed in a Max title. and no, its not the edgy scary tinkering of the mind of Jason Aaron. nor is it the simple yet powerful etchings of artist Steve Dillon (who could draw Frank in his sleep). no, it must be ... wait, yeah, you're right.

i think there might have been one or two superb Kingpin origin stories in the past, but this version by Aaron takes a backseat to no one. a master schemer and manipulator, the once-bullied fat boy takes his lumps, bides his time, leaves no loose ends, and is poised to take over current mob boss Rigoletto's empire. which leaves him obviously on a collision course with the Punisher, whom Rigoletto aims to herd into their crosshairs.

its amazing that the non-superpowered Fisk is considered a 'supervillain' in Marvel canon and has gone toe to toe with everybody including the likes of the Red Skull and Hydra and still manages to survive, time and time again. he'll probably still escape a direct confrontation with the Sentry. ok, that's a stretch.

Jason Aaron is impressing me, as usual.

fat man rising

drive-by readings

Punisher MAX #1 (Marvel) "Kingpin, Part One" Jason Aaron Steve Dillon Matt Hollingsworth Cory Petit Dave Johnson (cover)

so, this is essentially a reboot. i mean, over in the other Punisher series, he's been reborn as Frankenstein. here, we have him harkening back to his mob-killing days, slightly after the Garth Ennis run. i'm just a little confused to have Barracuda referenced here, then the key point of putting in Wilson Fisk as an ambitious enforcer, presumably preceding his ascent to eventual Kingpin status (it is, because that's his wife Vanessa and his son Richard - the future Rose). i guess am just used to have the Frank's timeline in my head. Steve Dillon returns for another go-round, and it remains to be seen if his team up with Jason Aaron, no mean SOB himself, will scale the heights he did with Ennis.

yippee ki-yay, M'F-er!

drive-by readings

Die Hard: Year One #1 (Boom!) Howard Chaykin Stephen Thompson Matthew Wilson Ed Dukeshire Dave Johnson Jock/John Paul Leon (variant covers)

well, well, well. i didn't know they were putting this out. as a fan of the Die Hard series, i feel that its best served on film, not on sequential art. but whatever. until the next movie comes out, this is aimed squarely at the ... well, die-hards.

here our intrepid hero John McClane starts life as rookie cop in mid-70s Big Bad Apple, emphasis on the bad, which today's generation wouldn't really know about. yes, kiddies in those days, you would not want to walk in Times Square, and no, there wasn't any Toys R Us then!

and that's as far as we go. this is primarily a set up issue. we have country bumpkin Rosie Haskell, trying to keep up with life in the big city, becoming a witness to a murder perpetrated by two corrupt cops (and before you say anything, only one of them is white). the vague reason being, the victim, Ira Lewis, wanted more money for something, and the two cops wouldn't budge. so as usual, events beyond his control will engulf McClane and be his first test of fire, honing the skills of getting out of sticky situations, skills that should serve him well in the future.

drive-by readings: The Punisher #73

The Punisher: Frank Castle #73 (Marvel) "Welcome to the Bayou, Part 3" Victor Gischler Goran Parlov Lee Loughridge Cory Petit Dave Johnson (cover)

continuing our throwback horror movie distilled into a Punisher comic - Frank gets captured by the Geautreaux cannibal family - the kind of sickos you don't want to get stranded with. luckily, the main reason why Frank's even here in the first place - the black thug in his trunk - has managed to crawl out of the car and yes, get himself captured as well. but give him credit for escaping again (i guess rednecks don't fancy colored people for hors d'oeuvres) and freeing Frank from his Jesus Christ pose. the problem with horror movies is that just when you think you're safe, you're not. Frank manages to kill their biggest champ Earl, but think of it as a reverse-Matrioshka doll - there's always somebody bigger.

drive-by readings: The Mighty #6

The Mighty #6 (DC) "Blue Moon" Peter Tomasi Keith Champagne Chris Samnee Rob Leigh John Kalisz Dave Johnson (cover)

i admit, i am torn between The Mighty and Mark Waid's Irredeemable. the two are fairly similar, but diverges slightly in execution, as the latter explores the conditions that drive a beloved superhero to evil, while in the former, the protagonist/antagonist Alpha One has dark secrets that the other protagonist Gabriel Cole has to unravel. in this issue, Cole finally realizes what the vagrant Taylor Rhines, ex-Section Omega, was trying to tell him. we all know Alpha One killed him, and its up to Cole to (prove it and) find out why. his closeness and friendship with Alpha One is a big problem, but it seems like Alpha One doesn't trust him anymore anyway. the tension is building, and this may not be a big DCU title, but its worth checking out.

cover of the week

The Punisher #63 by Dave Johnson

screen capture, part 3

continuing our fantasy list of favorite comicbook storyline-turned-movies!

i want the movie industry to make films for us geeks. there are only two conditions - throw money at everything and write it the way the fans want it. some of them may need an origin movie first, but either way, this is a fantasy casting call for my favorite TPBs.

check out the previous posts:
10. Invincible
9. Empire
8. Ultron Unlimited


7. THE AUTHORITY: CIRCLE
Warren Ellis/Bryan Hitch/Paul Neary (DC/Wildstorm)

do you like fascists? well, here's one for you. actually, here's a whole bunch. The Authority, a supergroup born out of the ashes of Stormwatch (don't ask), appeared at the end of the 20th century to bring order to a world descending into chaos (must be all those silly Y2K predictions). assembled by the electrifying Jenny Sparks, the Authority was needed to deal with superterrorists, cosmic scumbags, interdimensional tyrants - even God (bless you, Warren Ellis).

this movie would be heavy on the sci-fi side - one of the team members is composed of living circuitry and after all, they reside in a "Carrier", a humongous spacecraft that travels between universes, and have the luxury of teleporting to any point in time anywhere. you don't wanna know how many times i yelled "Door", only to find there wasn't any. it'd have fantasy elements too, like the Doctor warping reality as needed. and if you've come for bone-crunching action, well, there's always Apollo and Midnighter ("Bert and Ernie" for those in the know).

the storyline would be the first in the series, where a psychotic tyrant gives the world the finger and sends his superclone army to devastate its cities. this gives the Authority the opening to alert humanity to its presence, and show them who's the boss.

casting call:

Jenny Sparks - the role of the chain-smoking, foul mouthed free spirit of the 20th century seems to have Cate Blanchett's name all over it.

Jack Hawksmoor, the God of Cities can only be depicted by one who played a king. Gerard Butler, come on down!

Midnighter? the team's resident badass will of course be played by someone who's familiar playing a dangerous psycho - Christian Bale. the problem here is when someone decides to do a DC/Wildstorm crossover movie - Bale will have to play both Batman and Midnighter. oh, well, there's always CGI.

Apollo? Matt McConaughey. before everyone gets riled up: this is for a number of reasons. - all of them gay. those who watched Reign of Fire will probably be aghast finding Bale and McConaughey swapping spit. oh wait, didn't you know Midnighter and Apollo were an item? you didn't??

Angelica Spica = The Engineer = Rosario Dawson


Shen Li Min a.k.a. Swift, the Winged Huntress, a.k.a. Maggie Q.

the Doctor - hippie/druggie/the most powerful entity on the team. well, well, Ryan Philippe was practically begging us for the role. we couldn't resist.

sorry to typecast, but asian superterrorist Kaizen Gamorra can only be played by the magnificent Ken Watanabe. eat that.

geek goosebump moment: Kaizen sends his super clone army against London, and the Authority makes its first - and authoritative - appearance. game over.


6. SUPERMAN: RED SON
Mark Millar/Dave Johnson/Kilian Plunkett/Andrew Robinson/Walden Wong (DC Elseworlds)

speaking of ruling with a mailed fist, here's one explored by progressive writer Mark Millar: the last baby out of Krypton does not land in Kansas, he lands in Ukraine. in that one moment, the world changes as the Soviet Union becomes a world power, tipping the balance to the side of the communists and the Warsaw Pact. what would the outcome be?

Luthor does all he can to eliminate the threat to his superiority, which is what he does, regardless of timeline or universe anyway. up to his eventual assumption of the presidency of the USA, he makes a Superman clone, collaborates with aliens, creates supervillains, and even procures an alien weapon to be used by the military - all against the Soviet Man of Steel. and all this time, Superman just wants to be a working class citizen, helping out his countrymen, until he learns that the price of having powers is far too greater than he can bear. too much dependence can be a bitch. ask your local crack addict.

in the meantime, Superman's greatest foe may not be Luthor - but the freedom fighter named ... Batman! hoooohaaaaaa!!!!

i suspect this will be a much better film than that dreck served by Bryan Singer.

casting call:

casting Superman is always difficult. he's so iconic, nobody can just step up and say they're the Man of Steel convincingly. in addition to this, the ghost of Christopher Reeve is hanging around the role. that'll be enough to scare the bejeezus out of anyone. Brandon Routh couldn't act his way out of a can. which is why i can't decide as of this writing (cop out, cop out ...). how about this guy? no? have you seen Hollywoodland? no??

Lex Luthor, smartest man on the planet, playing for good ol' USA. as usual, his vanity is always his undoing. i think we should keep the best role player on Singer's film in here; just make sure Kevin Spacey plays ball, and make like this is an Oscar-worthy role and not just chew scenery.

Batman = can we just put Bale in anything involving the Bat? he probably can even play a geriatric Dark Knight. wait, i have another in mind for that.

another difficult role to cast would be Wonder Woman, what with Lynda Carter's shadow looming from the 70s. well, howzabout we give Jessica Biel a spin? i mean, for real? it's too late to reanimate Carter's corpse, you know. i kid, i kid.

Lois Lane Luthor. yes, you read that right. The Daily Planet's ace reporter does not meet Clark Kent, she meets and marries our favorite bald villain instead. poor Maria Bello.

guvmint agent Jimmy Olsen. is redhead Eric Stoltz still available? or young enough?


Pyotr Roslov - an equivalent to "Pete Ross", childhood pal of Clark, now a jealous KGB chairman. Tim Dalton can do this schtick.


Lana Lazarenko = Lana Lang = Catherine Keener


Josef Stalin should only be played by the one! the only! Ulrich von Lichtenstein Sir Ben Kingsley!


Perry White should always be played by Frank Langella. yes, Singer got this right too.


Colonel Hal Jordan, Vietnam survivor with a one-track mind, perfect for Operation Green Light.



geek goosebump moment: take your pick. this:


or this:




'nuff said!