hail to the king

drive-by readings

Marvel Universe vs The Punisher #3 (Marvel) "Partner in Crime" Jonathan Maberry Goran Parlov Lee Loughridge Cory Petit

what we learned: Patient Zero, Spider-Man himself, makes a deal with Frank, to leave him alone and every uninfected human like him, as long Frank dispatches the "King of Death" that's taking out his tribe and recovers his mate (MJ who else?). leading a ragtag group of warriors including Deadpool, Frank learns the job is a bigger crap sandwich than he thought.
oh shit moment: four issues are not enough to deal with each and every death in the Marvel U. and with Frank doing scorched earth, this should be shock and awe at its finest.
what's next: what's the deal with the Kingpin?


uh oh ... so that's what Brand New Day means.

patient zero

drive-by readings

Marvel Universe vs The Punisher #2 (Marvel) "Warrior of Heaven" Jonathan Maberry Goran Parlov Lee Loughridge Cory Petit

what we learned: after dispatching the Hulk to Green Heaven, Frank gets a distress call and rescues a priest and a child (and taking care of Venom along the way). they get into a philosophical discussion of ethics in the time of cannibalized people, but then Deadpool regenerates himself and distracts Frank so Patient Zero - which then makes sense as its revealed its Spidey (or Spidey-Rodent) - can have a chat with the Punisher over tea and crumpets.
oh shit moment: was it that easy to kill the Hulk?
what's next: there should be something more to this rather than just survival of the fittest, no?


can we have an Official Handbook on How Frank Kills Everybody?

punishing the world

drive-by readings

Marvel Universe vs The Punisher #1 (Marvel) "Last Gun on Earth" Jonathan Maberry Goran Parlov Lee Loughridge Cory Petit

what we learned: a contagion has wiped out the world, starting with the superheroes, transforming them into not-quite-Marvel-Zombies-but-what-else-could-it-be. except the goddamn Punisher. another spin of 'what if the puny mortal unleashes holy hell on the Marvel U' that started with Fred Hembeck and Garth Ennis. but instead of gleefully counting the creative ways Frank can off his former friends, we get an honest-to-goodness story instead. Jonathan Maberry, fresh off the largely-overlooked Doomwar, brings the Punisher art team with him and makes us watch. gleefully.
oh shit moment: Spidey, the greatest hero in the Universe, losing it at The Mecca.
what's next: kill! kill! kill!


i take it back! THIS is a cooler fighting game!

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 Punisher: Frank Castle #72

The Punisher: Frank Castle #72 (Marvel) "Welcome to the Bayou, Part 2" Victor Gischler Goran Parlov Lee Loughridge Cory Petit

this kind of narrative seems more familiar territory to Victor Gischler - Frank gets detoured in the Louisiana Bayou by a bunch of what else - stereotype redneck cannibals. i find that the Punisher laying the law down on psychotic serial killers (in the vein of B-movie horror thrillers) works better than say, trying to kill Norman Osborn with a high-tech Skrull rifle (look how that worked out). did he ever finish anything when dealing with super-powered A-list criminals? Scourge had a better tally. now, the Geautreaux clan of tourist choppers - that's the kind of scum Frank should be putting down on any given day. they should make a TV series out of this. HBO, are you listening?