Civil War #7 - Marvel Comics

CIVIL WAR No. 7, January 2007

Having read Mark Millar’s narrative for Issue Seven of “Civil War” it is arguably easy to see just why this comic book mini-series “polarized critics but… was a commercial success.” For whilst some within this publication’s 265,886-strong audience were undoubtedly rooting for Tony Stark’s mishmash of government sanctioned superheroes and supposedly reformed members of the Masters of Evil, those applauding Captain America’s defiance of the Superhuman Registration Act were probably left utterly disillusioned as to just what the Sentinel of Liberty was trying to achieve with his defiance.

True, Steve Rogers’ apparent obsession to knock the seven bells out of his armoured former friend for imprisoning so many of their team-mates inside the Negative Zone does cause the First Avenger to inadvertently wage an incredibly destructive war upon the very civilian population which he thought he was protecting. Yet, it’s difficult to imagine being bundled to the ground by a handful of emergency service operatives would shake the World War Two veteran so badly that he’d instantly remove his famous winged cowl and allow the authorities to place him in handcuffs; “Oh my god. They’re right. We’re not fighting for the people anymore, Falcon… Look at us. We’re just fighting.”

Similarly as disconcerting is this twenty-eight page periodical’s aftermath, which somehow tries to sweep all the damage and death caused by the Pro-Registration faction’s determination to incarcerate anyone who disagreed with their viewpoint, right under the rug simply because the likes of Mister Fantastic “cried for a full ninety-three minutes” upon seeing his estranged wife using her invisible powers to help with the clean-up. Reed Richards was so convinced that he was 'fighting the good fight' that he became partially responsible for the cold-blooded murder of Bill Foster. However, rather than be held accountable for such dishonourable actions, his experiments “on the whole” are apparently deemed “an enormous success” and Sue incredibly returns to her husband's side within the space of just a fortnight.

Tony Stark too seems to suffer no ill-consequences for his disappointingly dark actions, and is actually rewarded by the President of the United States with the directorship of S.H.I.E.L.D. Such pay-offs for unforgivably allying themselves with the likes of Radioactive Man, Venom and a seriously-deranged Thor clone really are quite baffling, and although the so-called “radicalised” likes of Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and Power Man form an Underground Movement to continue their opposition, Millar’s extreme lack of consequences for so many of this event’s main players probably left something of a bad taste in many bibliophiles’ mouths.

Writer: Mark Millar, Penciler: Steve McNiven, and Inker: Dexter Vines

Civil War #6 - Marvel Comics

CIVIL WAR No. 6, December 2006

The best-selling title of January 2007, at least according to “Diamond Comic Distributors”, Issue Six of “Civil War” must have fairly surprised some of its 259,251 readers with its depiction of both lead antagonists dipping into the dark well of the criminally “insane” in order to achieve their goals. True, Captain America quickly realises his mistake in recruiting the Punisher to his cause once Frank Castle cold-bloodily guns down the Plunderer and Goldbug following the villainous pairs’ attempt to join the rebels. But before this moment of murderous clarity, Steve Rogers seemed fairly content to allow the vigilante to access the Baxter Building’s incredibly complex security system for him and retrieve “the plans on the Negative Zone prison”.

Mercifully though, the Sentinel of Liberty’s lack of judgement doesn’t prove too detrimental to his anti-registration side’s plans to attempt a rescue of their super-friends incarcerated by the American authorities, and even provides Mark Millar with an opportunity to demonstrate just how much in awe Castle apparently is of the living legend when the vicious vigilante refuses to defend himself against Rogers during their distinctly one-sided fist-fight; “Get him out of here! And throw his guns in the incinerator! I must have been out of my mind to give that animal a shot on this team!”

However, the same realisation, and subsequent rejection of ‘dealing with the devil’ cannot be found with the increasingly flawed shenanigans of Tony Stark, who actually appears proud to be leading a group of shadily-sanctioned operatives such as the Taskmaster, Radioactive Man, Bullseye, Elektra and Venom into battle against many of humanity’s most morally-righteous freedom fighters. Indeed, this twenty-two page periodical’s double-splash conclusion provides an abundantly clear difference between the two opposing theologies, with Captain America’s so-called unlawful resistance comprising of some of Stan Lee’s mightiest heroes, whilst Iron Man’s ‘holier than thou’ agents strongly resemble the despicable Masters Of Evil…

Somewhat disconcertingly, this particular instalment to the “Marvel Comics event in seven parts” also arguably shows some signs of the impact its print deadline was having upon Steve McNiven’s artwork. Everything looks great up until the point, towards the end of the book, when the Golden Avenger unleashes his ambush upon the rebels’ prison break, and then, presumably due to the sheer amount of figures suddenly ‘on screen’ the Canadian artist’s pencilling momentarily deteriorates before picking back up again for the magazine’s final few pages.

Writer: Mark Millar, Penciler: Steve McNiven, and Inker: Dexter Vines

Civil War #5 - Marvel Comics

CIVIL WAR No. 5, November 2006

Apparently delayed by two months “to accommodate artist Steve McNiven”, Mark Millar’s plot to Issue Five of “Civil War” arguably focused far more upon Tony Stark’s fast evaporating relationship with Peter Parker than it did with the larger implications of “Marvel Comics' event in seven parts”, and in doing so demonstrated to this mini-series’ 272,584 strong audience just how desperate the billionaire industrialist had become to win the fight. In fact, the Scottish author’s similarly unscrupulous portrayal of S.H.I.E.L.D. Commander Maria Hill makes it difficult to imagine that their literary counter-parts and comic book fans alike would ever like/trust the two so-called heroic characters ever again; “Guess that’s thirty-one pieces of silver you’ve got now, huh? Sleep well, Judas.”

Similarly as disturbing as the egotistical pair’s utter arrogance in believing that they are completely justified to pursue any avenue, no matter what the cost, in order to secure victory over Captain America’s so-called rebels, is the Coatbridge-born writer’s debatably demeaning portrayal of “little Peter Spider-Man” as a seemingly helpless victim of Iron Man’s Machiavellian manipulations. Having finally found the courage to challenge Stark’s utilisation of a cyborg killing machine cloned from Thor, Web-head’s personality is seemingly regressed back to the human mutate’s adolescent days in the Sixties, when the teenager is still developing both emotionally and physically.

Resultantly, the unbelievably experienced costumed crime-fighter appears to do little else but surprisingly panic in the face of his pursuers Jester and Jack O’Lantern. Indeed, despite the pulse-pounding nature of the subsequent action sequence, which sees the two ‘reformed’ super-villains batter the wall-crawler into semi-unconsciousness with an exploding toy and a whiff of pumpkin gas, Millar would have any perusing bibliophile believe that a pitiful Parker’s alter-ego requires the help of the Punisher to defeat his two opponents, whilst the ordinarily hot-headed Johnny Storm is calmly shown serenely evading the entirety of S.H.I.E.L.D. Capekiller Team Nine and Eleven in the very next scene.

Happily however, despite this apparent ‘nerfing’ of Spider-Man’s super-abilities, this comic still provides plenty of sense-shattering entertainment on account of McNiven’s excellent pencilling. The aforementioned clash between the Web-slinger, Jester and Jack O’Lantern within the confines of a stinking underground sewer is superbly paced, with Stark’s colourfully-garbed recruits really socking it to the all-too vulnerable Parker within the space of a dozen beautifully illustrated panels.

Writer: Mark Millar, Penciler: Steve McNiven, and Inker: Dexter Vines

The Punisher #9 - Marvel Comics

THE PUNISHER No. 9, April 2017

For a twenty-page periodical which is almost entirely devoid of its titular character, Issue Nine of “The Punisher” must have absolutely delighted its audience with new regular artist Matt Horak’s horrifically bloody depiction of Drugs Enforcement Agent Ortiz’s fight with the EMC-crazed Face. It's certainly hard to find fault with a Becky Cloonan narrative that somehow balances the disconcerting disgust of a one-handed homicidal maniac drooling over the prospect of eating a woman’s tongue first before sucking out her eyeballs, with Frank Castle’s tender burial of the “kindly old lady” Ethel in the Backwoods.

Quite possibility the main reason behind this comic’s “literally explosive” success however, is the Pisa-born writer’s penchant for providing it with an incredibly pulse-pounding pace, that starts with an ambulance ride from hell, momentarily fixates upon the desire of an insane drug-taker to cook a human alive, and then concludes with a shock ending which sees Olaf’s fire sale protocol being engaged; “I told her. One %$#@ thing I ask, don’t mess with the %$#@ basement door.” Such a dynamically diverse narrative really is hard to decry, and it’s easy to see why Editor Jake Thomas’ “mouth fell open” when “Becky sent in the script” and he saw she was “swinging for the fences on bringing the craziest $#%@ to this story she possibly can.”

Somewhat more subdued, but ultimately far more deadly than Ortiz’s tumble amidst the trees with a blood-soaked Face, is the American author’s attempt to give some additional depth to the decorated marine’s former commanding officer by way of exploring his domestic home life. It hardly comes as any surprise that the Condor operative’s wife has “started divorce proceedings and will “be moving back in with my mom this weekend”, considering that the mercenary has “been gone for almost a month on business” and threatens to “beat me black and blue if I ever event try to open the [basement] door.” But even so, the callously nonchalant nature in which he reacts when he realises his wife and baby child have been blown to smithereens by the boxes of C4 explosive he packed his “man cave” with, takes his cold-heartedness to another level…

Writer: Becky Cloonan, Artist: Matt Horak, and Color Artist: Frank Martin

The Punisher #8 - Marvel Comics

THE PUNISHER No. 8, March 2017

Worryingly devoid of any real “Parental Advisory” action until a good two-thirds of the way through, Issue Eight of “The Punisher” must have come of something of a disconcertingly sedentary reading experience for many of its fans when compared to the gruesome body-count depicted within some of its preceding editions. Indeed, it’s hard to think of another instalment of writer Becky Cloonan’s run on this title where every single murderous death has deplorably taken place ‘off-screen’ as opposed to being graphically illustrated within the confines of a splash page or two; “The bartender talked pretty easy. He won’t tell anyone anything ever again.” 

Arguably some of this change in the direction “Over The River And Through The Woods” takes is due to the Pisa-born American author’s exploration of “a gun-toting old crone” whom Frank Castle encounters having “barely escaped” an explosion at Exeter Asylum. Battered and bruised, yet ever the gentlemen, the titular character happily chops wood for the elderly widower in return for some kindness, hot soup, lots of stitches and a bed for the night.

True, this caringly human side to the “decorated Marine” makes a nice change from the one-time family man’s usual grim-faced blood-letting killing spree, and it’s not as if Ethel isn’t herself averse to gorily stabbing a Condor operative’s throat out with her knitting needles. But such moments of social interaction between the unlikely couple, such as when Bradford is reminded of her late husband and the Punisher fixes her Harley motorcycle, doesn’t understandably lend itself to causing too much bodily mutilation.

Disappointingly however, it isn’t just Cloonan’s desire to make Castle’s incongruous companion memorable which alters this twenty-page periodical’s tone. It is the competent, yet distinctly different, drawing styles of Laura Braga and Iolanda Zanfardino; one of whom pencils all the panels focusing upon Frank and his subsequent confrontation with Olaf, whilst the other sketches Face’s abduction of Ortiz in a rather disconcertingly cartoon-like manner which imbues the Drugs Enforcement Agent with a totally inappropriate comical gait. Neither style, perhaps intentionally, attempts to imitate the late Steve Dillon’s “unique ink line” and as a result appear genuinely inferior to the no-nonsense breakdowns the “definitive” Punisher artist would use for his storytelling.

Writer: Becky Cloonan, and Artist: Laura Braga with Iolanda Zanfardino

The Punisher #7 - Marvel Comics

THE PUNISHER No. 7, February 2017

Shifting 33,589 copies in December 2016 and featuring the first instalment of Becky Cloonan’s “Into The Wild” story-arc, Issue Seven of “The Punisher” is surely best remembered not for its titular character’s bloody bar-room brawl with “a couple of out-of-towners. Nasty looking dirtrags”, but because it sadly contains some of legendary Steve Dillon’s final pages before the Bedfordshire-born artist’s untimely death a few weeks earlier. Indeed, the Englishman’s sudden absence from the comic book world is keenly felt throughout this publication, from its unintentionally fitting cover illustration by Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire, through to the magazine's touchingly sentimental ‘memorial page’ “Publish Or Punish”, where Editor Jake Thomas undoubtedly must have brought a knowing smile to the lips of many long-time fans by re-publishing Steve’s iconically “outrageous” drawing of “the Punisher punching a polar bear” from the limited series “The Punisher: Welcome Back, Frank”.

However, it is undoubtedly Matt Horak’s passable pencils, which fill “the bulk of this issue”, that most markedly reinforces the fact that Dillon’s artwork will be “a hell of an act to follow.” True, the “designer headquartered at EarthQuaker Devices” manages to create a fair imitation of his predecessor’s instantly recognisable clean-looking artwork, especially when the “decorated marine” traverses some local woodland and Face brutally murders an entire bus load of passengers just North of Exeter Asylum. Yet for all his mimicry, it’s still evidently clear from the strangely flat-shaped noses and less disciplined sketching, that the visual exploits of Frank Castle are now in the hands of a less-able craftsperson.

In fact, as dynamic and savage as this twenty-page periodical’s ‘big fight scene’ is, with its bottlings, pool-cues, immolations and performance-enhancing drugs, it is hard not to wonder just how much better the breakdowns would have been had they been drawn by the “warm, funny, shy, welcoming guy” as opposed to someone who Thomas initially “reached out to” in order to simply “help out on a few pages.” Certainly, if the final “wonderful piece of art” Steve gave his Editor, a splash-page introducing the “nasty old piece of work” known as the Old Crone, is anything to go by, it would have been fittingly frantic and gloriously gory…

Writer: Becky Cloonan, and Artists: Steve Dillon & Matt Horak

The Punisher #6 - Marvel Comics

THE PUNISHER No. 6, December 2016

As ‘flashback’ one-shots go, Becky Cloonan’s narrative for Issue Six of “The Punisher” must surely have made most of its 35,344-strong audience reasonably happy, with its rare, gun-toting tale of Frank Castle as a ‘young’ marine in the desert conducting “one last mission.” True, the Pisa-born writer’s somewhat sensitive, almost naïvely optimistic, portrayal of the decorated soldier takes a little getting used to, especially when Castiglione warns his colleagues that they are only to “take out” the several armed guards between them and their target if it is “necessary”. But such virtuous thoughtfulness on the part of the titular character arguably must have made a refreshing change for some readers, considering all the gratuitous carnage and mutilation which the violent vigilante had caused in this series’ preceding instalments.

Additionally, this twenty-page periodical’s script would seem to be far more about justifying Olaf’s decision to become a member of Condor and exploring just why the “group of mercenaries” appealed to Castle’s commanding officer, than actually developing the adolescent background to an “upstanding citizen” whose family were “taken from him when they were accidentally killed in a brutal mob hit.” For whilst it is Frank who performs the “sanctioned kill”, courtesy of a bullet “right between the eyes”, it is his superior who somewhat ‘cold-bloodedly’ guns down a distraught grieving mother and subsequently requires a pair of Private Military Contractors to “pop off” a few incendiary devices to cover up his disagreeable conduct; “At Condor, we look out for our own and we’re always looking for a few good men.”

Acting rather like a librarian utilising a couple of book ends, Cloonan also manages to add a little more depth to Agent Ortiz, by opening this publication’s story-line with the distraught Rocky Hill-based agent forcefully ranting at her boss for wanting her badge when she just needs “one more week” to get “the whole Condor operation”, and then closing it with the D.E.A. operative mourning her dead partner Henderson within the ruins of Exeter Asylum. Such potent scenes really add a terrific amount of gravitas to the lamenting enforcement officer, with Steve Dillon’s wonderful pencilling providing the female protagonist with plenty of instantly recognisable heart-felt emotion.

Writer: Becky Cloonan, Artist: Steve Dillion, and Color Artist: Frank Martin with Lee Duhig

The Punisher #5 - Marvel Comics

THE PUNISHER No. 5, November 2016

Gratuitously depicting Frank Castle’s lethal storming of “Condor’s main [drug] production facility, Exeter Asylum”, as well as some truly harrowing scenes of facial mutilation and bodily dismemberment, it is hard to believe that Editor Jake Thomas wasn’t quietly stood beside this title’s creative team during the scripting for Issue Five of “The Punisher” and enthusiastically encouraging them to add even more gunshots, ghastly injuries and bloodshed to its already disconcertingly violent narrative. For whilst many of this comic’s readers clearly expected the “murderous… style of hard-core, gory Punisher action that made the character a hit” back when “Gerry Conway established the character in the 1970’s”, it’s doubtful many were anticipating a storyline where the “decorated marine” dispatches his narcotic-fuelled foes by making them swallow hand-grenades, stabbing them mercilessly through the eyeball and tricking them into having their hand weapons explode in their faces; “Do it. I dare you. Barrel was jammed. Let me guess… Olaf gave you that gun? With friends like him, huh?”

Incredibly however, Becky Cloonan’s tale doesn’t simply settle for having the one-time “family man” being the sole source of her script’s over-the-top violence, with the Pisa-born writer unsettlingly managing to give Agent Ortiz her own share of grisly goings-on too. Indeed, in many ways the female D.E.A. operative’s experiences during the twenty-page long gun-battle, are even more disconcerting than “Castle’s [personal] crusade against Condor”, as she not only has to kill her literally faceless former-partner Henderson when the mentally-damaged law enforcement officer tries to strangle her to death in his painful anguish. But also rather graphically blows off the left hand of “the maniacal Face” and leaves Olaf’s rival to fend for himself deep within a facility crawling with homicidal lunatics clutching just a bloody stump. Little wonder the American author is viewed within the letters of “Publish Or Punish” as someone who “certainly manages to keep the violence up to [Garth] Ennis standards.”

Perhaps worryingly for those bibliophiles with an aversion to grotesque marring and maiming, all of these distressing discombobulations are incredibly well illustrated by Steve Dillion. The English comic book artist’s breakdowns genuinely seem to have been drawn in order to admirably allow the audience’s vivid imagination to do much of the work by leading them up to the more repugnant scenes with well-detailed graphically-populated panels, and then hiding the truly macabre sights, such as Henderson’s savage skinless face, through the clever use of ‘camera angle’ or shadow.

Writer: Becky Cloonan, Artist: Steve Dillion, and Color Artist: Frank Martin

The Punisher #4 - Marvel Comics

THE PUNISHER No. 4, October 2016

Undeniably reminiscent of something from out of the “Australian dystopian action multi-media franchise” “Mad Max”, at least in the comic's awesomely incessant vehicular combat, Issue Four of “The Punisher” must surely have “totally grabbed… [its audience] right away” with Steve Dillon's graphically illustrated depiction of Frank Castle brutally battling both an armoured truck full of ‘juiced-up’ homicidal killers and a determined D.E.A. sharpshooter flying on board a ‘company’ helicopter. In fact, whilst Becky Cloonan’s narrative does momentarily focus upon “the Punisher’s former commander Olaf” visiting the Exeter Mental Hospital, the twenty-page periodical only strays ‘off-piste’ fleetingly before ramping up the action even more so, courtesy of Agent Ortiz’s pilot taking a fatal headshot and her ill-fated partner, Henderson, tumbling from their now erratic ride into the very ‘lap’ of the mercenary organisation the Administration agents were investigating…

Admittedly, not all of this title’s readers were entirely happy with such a “reboot” on account of ‘all the wordless action’ purportedly showing “the Punisher for what he really is and always has been: a two-dimensional character with really nothing to build upon.” But as Editor Jake Thomas pointed out at the time of publication, “so much of his [Castle] humanity dies with his family… [and] every now and then… you [still] see the man he used to be.” Besides, it’s arguably rather difficult to provide any significant insight into the anti-hero’s personality, even by way of an inner monologue, when he’s being repeatedly shot at by numerous semi-automatic weapons and has to deal with an overdosing wannabe ‘van-jacker’ armed with “a #@$% rocket launcher!”

In addition both the Pisa- born writer, and artist Steve Dillon, do actually manage to ‘lighten’ the ultra-violent script up occasionally with some much appreciated moments of caustic humour, such as the protagonist’s sarcastic response to nine-year old Juniper’s driving advice, the mercenary becoming so evidently awe-struck by Frank’s collection of weaponry that he momentarily forgets he’s supposedly there to kill the “decorated marine”, and Ortiz’s ‘over the top’ reaction to a deputy’s assertion that, having managed to walk away from her helicopter’s crash-landing, “everything’s all right now.” Indeed, Cloonan’s ability to intermix frantic pulse-pounding action with plenty of genuine laugh-out-loud moments is undoubtedly why some Punisher fans could not have been “any happier or prouder to see a woman take on a character [so loved]… and do him such justice.”

Writer: Becky Cloonan, Artist: Steve Dillion, and Color Artist: Frank Martin

The Punisher #3 - Marvel Comics

THE PUNISHER No. 3, September 2016

Judging by the reader mail published within this comic’s letters page, Publish or Punish, Issue Three of “The Punisher” doubtless ‘knocked the socks off’ of its 46,534 strong audience in July 2016 with its graphic portrayal of murder, mutilation and mayhem. Indeed, apart from the twenty-page periodical’s opening, which portrays D.E.A. Agents Ortiz and Henderson foolishly thinking they’ve cornered the “decorated Marine” in a Vermont Motel room, Becky Cloonan’s script concerning the titular character ably handling "a country throw-down” contains little in the way of exposition except the occasional “Augh!!”, “Aaagh!” and “Hng… Hnngh…”

Fortunately Steve Dillon’s well-detailed and traditionally solid breakdowns, which at times actually depict “the Punisher like a horror movie bad guy”, are more than up to the task of telling the Pisa-born writer’s partially wordless story, and it’s clear just why some of this title’s fanbase view him as being “on “peak form here.” Patient, wary and battle-experienced, the English artist does a terrific job of building the narrative’s tension up by first illustrating Castle carefully observing his targets through a rifle scope, before the one-time “family man” remorselessly kills every single one of them.

Admittedly, a never-ending series of pictures containing brains being blown out, legs getting shot away and throats being slit, would probably prove somewhat too much even for bibliophiles delighted when “Frank doesn’t say a single word for the whole issue”. Yet cleverly Cloonan avoids just such a trap by incorporating a moment of respite from the seemingly incessant farmyard slaughter, courtesy of a brief visit to Exeter Asylum and Condor's lieutenant Face; “I’ve been expecting you. I hand-picked some good soldiers, like you requested.”

The “American comic book creator” is arguably just as good at penning cliff-hangers too. For having saved the life of little Juniper and extracted the dinosaur-obsessed girl from her (very recently departed) father’s suicide vest, many lesser wordsmiths may well have settled for the story to end on a high with the stony-faced, victorious Punisher simply driving off towards the “centre of the whole EMC operation”. Dramatically however, this publication doesn’t actually quite finish there and instead somehow manages to cram in a final three-panel sequence depicting a wide-eyed homicidal-looking Face driving a van-load of heavily armed “&$#%-ass city-boy gangsters” straight towards the anti-hero’s screeching vehicle.

Writer: Becky Cloonan, Artist: Steve Dillion, and Color Artist: Frank Martin

The Punisher #2 - Marvel Comics

THE PUNISHER No. 2, August 2016

Frank Castle fans hoping for “a different take on the vigilante”, or even just some additional character development were doubtless rather disappointed by Becky Cloonan’s seemingly straightforward story for Issue Two of “The Punisher”. For whilst the one-time “upstanding citizen” is depicted deftly dispatching a good half dozen drug dealers with his impressive array of automatic firearms, the “Tokyopop” published writer’s twenty-page long narrative doesn’t actually entail anything different to what has been penned before by a number of her creative predecessors.

Indeed, with the exception of a vicious, no-nonsense fist-fight between the decorated marine and ‘spaced-out’ Face, as well as a deeply disturbing cliff-hanger that ends with a naive little girl wearing an explosive suicide vest, this “not for kids” tale of ‘the cold, calculated, self-appointed doer of justice on the road’ is depressingly unimaginative, and undoubtedly seems a wasted opportunity for a title which should have been capitalizing on actor Jon Bernthal’s “absolutely badass portrayal” as the ‘no qualms killer’ in the American 2016 web television series “Daredevil”.

Disillusionment with the overfamiliar and standard storyline aside however, the first female artist to draw the main “Batman” title for “DC Comics” has still scripted a 47,524 copy-selling comic book which proves an enthralling, if not a little bloodily disturbing, read. In fact Castle’s confrontation with Condor’s mentally unbalanced leading lieutenant is pulse-poundingly paced, with bullets “whump(ing)” into hapless corpses, lips splitting wide open and heads savagely clashing together. It’s certainly not all-too clear that the Vietnam-war veteran is winning the altercation until Face speeds away from his momentarily dazed opponent in an open-backed van; “See you soon, Frank!”

Steve Dillion’s solidly-drawn, reliable pencilling throughout this “blood-drenched deathscape” additionally adds to this magazine’s attractiveness, and actually becomes increasing integral to the series’ storytelling methodology as the Punisher dominates each and every panel without actually saying a blessed word of dialogue. Colour Artist Frank Martin’s work is also worth highlighting, even if it’s just for providing Face with some disconcertingly red eyes whilst under the psychotic influence of the strength enhancing drug EMC, and subtly suggesting, through shading, a rising swelling above Castle’s left eye after he had been head-butted in that spot.

Writer: Becky Cloonan, Artist: Steve Dillion, and Color Artist: Frank Martin

The Punisher #1 - Marvel Comics

THE PUNISHER No. 1, July 2016

Penned by “the very first female writer to tackle the murderous mind-set of Frank Castle”, Issue One of “The Punisher” proves to be something of a ‘play-by-the-numbers’ publication which, despite its dynamically-worded “Marvel Worldwide” sales pitch, disappointingly depicts the former “decorated Marine… upstanding citizen, and a family man” somewhat effortlessly gunning down a run-of-the-mill illegal drugs operation. In fact the “force of cold, calculated retribution” fails to confront any opposition even slightly formidable within this magazine, except perhaps an underweight junkie, who having overdosed on the narcotic he was supposedly guarding, momentarily transforms himself from a ‘shrimp into a soldier’. However even this wide-eyed, impervious underling is eventually bested by Becky Cloonan’s incarnation of Castle, once the skull-wearing vigilante has shot the youth in the chest, gouged out both of his eyes, and finally electrocuted the hoodlum by spearing him through the torso into a high voltage electrical panel; “I don’t need eyes, I’ll smell out this piece of &*@# and bite his neck out!”

Arguably far more successful is the Pisa-born writer’s introduction of a veritable “slew of [new] characters, (both good and bad, helpful and harmful)”. Indeed within the space of just three pages, the “contemporaneity comic book luminary” has populated the Punisher’s blood-splattered world with DEA operatives Ortiz and Henderson, twin gang-members Lloyd and Luther Luckett, Condor’s right-hand man Face, and one of Frank’s former commanding officers Olaf.

Admittedly the smart-mouthed brothers unsurprisingly don’t survive longer than mid-way through the periodical. But the two law enforcement agents appear suitably frustrated by Castle’s gunplay threatening to derail their “carefully constructed case against Condor” under “a pile of dead bodies” to be worthy of future appearances as supporting cast characters. As does the drug baron’s brown-skinned lieutenant, who disconcertingly seems to be cut from the same cloth as “DC Comics” gruesome villain Dollmaker, what with his predilection for tearing off the faces of those enforcers who disappoint him and nailing them to a wall as trophies.

Sadly “Quintessential Punisher artist” Steve Dillon’s breakdowns probably aren’t all that this comic’s readers thought they should be seeing either. For despite the Englishman having previously supported “Garth Ennis’ scripts [for The Punisher] with his personality-filled pencils”, a number of his panels for this comic book appear disconcertingly one-dimensional and flat. Whilst his Frank Castle, wordlessly sporting a close-cropped crew-cut, also takes some getting used to.

The 'Action Figure' variant cover art of "THE PUNISHER" No. 1 by John Tyler Christopher