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!

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.

you hit like a girl #17

in a Fables/Marvel crossover, superspy Cinderella gives a Nick Fury with Norman-Osborn-hair the closeup on her glass slipper.




ok, it wasn't really a crossover. but still.

-----
Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love #1

dakota northwest

drive-by readings

Stumptown #1 (Oni Press) "The Case of the Girl Who Took Her Shampoo But Left Her Mini" Greg Rucka Matthew Southworth Lee Loughridge

Stumptown is not just another detective noir story. for starters, its set in Portland, Oregon. i don't think that's regular territory for noir tales. but anyway, here we have Dex (short for Dexedrine. heh.) Parios, P.I. and gambling addict, getting hired to find the missing granddaughter of the casino she's run a huge tab in. Dex, who runs Stumptown Investigations - presumably specializing in missing people - may have bitten more than she can chew as she gets threatened, harassed, threatened again, and shot all in less than 24 hours. Greg Rucka builds the intrigue masterfully, aided in the best way by Matthew Southworth's fittingly-accurate depictions of real-life moody Portland scenery. this definitely goes into my list of favorite non-mainstream books, behind Scalped and Chew.

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: Deadpool #13

Deadpool #13 (Marvel) "Wave of Mutilation: Profiteerin' L.A.M.F. Part 1" Daniel Way Shawn Crystal John Lucas Lee Loughridge Cory Petit Jason Pearson (cover)

Deadpool is officially overexposed, but since Wolverine remains popular despite appearing in about a gazillion books every month, Marvel just keeps churning 'em out. not sure if the two 'Pool books cross-reference each other, because here Daniel Way takes the Merc with a Mouth and his faithful parrot sidekick Bob out to sea and do some serious pillaging. seriously. and right after he got bank. i guess being rich does get boring after awhile. putting 'Pool in breaking-the-fourth-wall comedy situations can be fun for awhile, but i miss the wisecracking badass who can slice and dice with the best of them (yes, talking to you, Logan, Bullseye). and at the end of the day, he's gonna have a heart of gold and be a lovable loser - please, there's only one Peter Parker. next issue, i want to see him carve up the nasty pirates threatening a resort island in deliciously gory ways as the story title suggests, but i think i am going to be disappointed.

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?

Gods get dumped too.

-----
Incredible Hercules #125

a familiar knight

somewhere, Dan DiDio is twirling his moustache and fiddling with his cellphone, contemplating on calling the DC lawyers. he calls Joe Quesada instead and rants.



but Quesada says "hey! you have a "Dark Knight"! that means no moons! do you or do you not see a moon in the picture? thought so." DiDio is left with a dial tone.

he then goes back to ripping up alternative scripts to the ending of Final Crisis.

-----
Moon Knight: Silent Knight