Punisher War Zone 5, Thunderbolts 5

Punisher War Zone 5
Rucka (w) and Di Giandomenico (a) and Hollingsworth (c)

Never really thought I'd be sad to watch a Punisher book end but this was a solid limited series. I also liked Rucka's run in whole, from what little I read, and it seems evident to me that he totally understands the character and where he wanted to go with him. So yes, I am actually a bit sad to see this book go because it's always sad, no matter personal feelings on the character or whatever, to see a quality book go under. Plus, as no one reading this will be shocked to hear for the fiftieth time, Punisher is growing on me.

After breaking Sergeant Cole-Alves out of her court hearing (verdict: guilty, sentenced to death), Punisher has fooled the Avengers one by one. He meets up with Wolverine (who doesn't have a problem with Punisher and has said so all along) and passes Cole-Alves on to him, telling her that it was always about the mission, never about the man. This comes back at the end, as we see Cole-Alves punishering people again at the end of the book. Wolverine has an intricate escape plan for Cole-Alves and Punisher plans to let the Avengers take him down, but to take enough time to give them a getaway. As the Avengers find his location, they converge on him and are held at arm's length for a little bit before eventually bringing Castle down. They lock him up in a prison made just for him (far underwater in Lake Michigan) where he has all sorts of amenities but no real chance at freedom, supposedly. They question why he used his non-lethal methods and the book wraps with Cole-Alves punishing. Nice and tidy little wrap up for Frank Castle (who will inexplicably still be appearing in Thunderbolts. I guess maybe they pick him up out of the prison and bring him back down whenever? I don't know, not really explained). This series was definitely worth reading and this issue was equal parts fun and satisfying (there were a lot of fun little bits around Iron Man making brash mistakes in his anger at how Punisher stole his armor last issue). I'm genuinely sorry to see Rucka's run end. Good books should be rewarded, but it seems like he had a solid near-two years on it. Happy for that, at least.

Thunderbolts 5
Way (w) and Dillon (a) and Guru eFX (c)

The Kata Jaya storyline is wrapping up (seemingly next issue) but not before we get another look into the revolution and what exactly is happening around these parts. The Leader is with a depowered General Ross (not as in lost powers, just as in not Red Hulk right now) and they're trying to make their way back, Leader now alive but still a little depowered himself (seemingly actually depowered, his mind is still not what it was), when they're met by a flying lady who has some connection to all this. In truth, this part lost me a little bit, which might have to do with my limited knowledge of the Leader. Also because I'm more interested in literally every other member of this T-Bolts team so I kind of zoned out a little more when the Leader/Red Hulk stuff started happening. So let's move on to the rest.

Elektra, broken out last issue by Venom before parting ways with him, has found Punisher wounded in the forest, hot off using a landmine to incapacitate Madman. The two fight off a squadron of General Awa's men. Deadpool, meanwhile, has brought the powered-down Madman to the revolutionaries of Kata Jaya (whereupon he makes a solid Yukon Cornelius reference) and explains his long and rather intricate (particularly for Deadpool) reasoning behind keeping Madman depowered and bringing him to the revolutionaries instead of killing the man himself. He gives them Madman and leaves to go find Elektra, to whom he may be attracted. He arrives just in time to see her and Castle kissing fresh from the battle. Weird. That was weird, you guys. I'm not sure why it happened. It was just so weird, is all. MEANWHILE AGAIN, Venom is still in Awa's base and trying to put the finishing touches on this coup. He finds an underground lab full of people strapped to a machine and apparently unable to be disconnected. It's revealed that they're powering a brain. But a brain of what? Who knows.

This wasn't a bad issue but, again, I find myself far more attracted to the Deadpool parts than any other part of this book (which is not to say that's unwelcome; I love Deadpool as a character and I really hate him in his book so if this is the only way to see Deadpool being a good character, I'll take it happily). I think the story's a little convoluted, which again, may be because of my ignorance in Hulk related history. I also haven't seen much characterization in the five books of anyone except Deadpool. I'm not upset about that, necessarily, but I'd like to see some more exploration there as the book moves forward. Still, Way continues to do a good job with Deadpool and it's worth checking in on this book if just for that.

Comics this week!

There aren't as many books out this week as I expected, after a cursory glance, but the ones that are out make me hesitate to pick the ones I'm most excited for. Lot of good stuff makes it harder to narrow down to the top five. But, because I'm a champion, I have done so.

Hawkeye 8
I'm not going to stop choosing this book as one of my most anticipated. There are a handful of books at Marvel that I look forward to giddily every time they come out. This is right around the top of that list. There's a doubly strange effect with Hawkeye, too, where I know I'm not reading to keep up with the story. There hasn't really been an ongoing story yet, though there have been a couple arcs and there are things that are clearly built to become a story but they haven't yet developed. I'm reading this book excitedly every time it comes out because I just really enjoy this book. It's a nice little departure from the feel of most Marvel books.

Punisher War Zone 5
After duping the Avengers into following a false trail and stealing Iron Man's armor to rescue Sergeant Cole-Alves, the final book of this mini is primed for crazy action and some major character choices for Punisher and Cole-Alves, particularly. This will also mark the end of the series that tied together the Avengers world and Punisher, two corners that tend to stay pretty far apart in the Marvel Universe, so it's a little interesting just to remember that this is unlikely to happen again immediately (of course, it will happen again eventually, this is Marvel, after all).

Uncanny Avengers 4
This book has been stellar so far and the last issue haunted me long after the issue ended. It's rare that an image or issue stays with me that vividly (I remember after the first issue of Shadowland thinking constantly back to Daredevil stabbing Bullseye through the chest) and I'm simultaneously incredibly nervous and excited to see where the series goes from here. It's very dark and it feels pretty big, unlike most typical Avengers stories. Almost none of them go this dark. I'm interested to see where it goes from this spot.

X-Men Legacy 6
This book has been great so far and the cliffhanger at the end of last issue was about as good as any I've seen in recent comics. I'm not even particularly invested in the outcome (I've never really had a connection to Blindfold) beyond wanting the good guys to win. They've made me invested in the series as a whole, without needing to be terribly invested in how things end, which is a really weird feeling. It's kind of like Hawkeye in that way, but with a more dedicated story driving the series.

Young Avengers 2
Another big cliffhanger to end the previous issue sets this one up for some interesting progress moving forward. Even though we saw all the characters, nothing is really tied together yet; none of the original Young Avengers are really with each other (aside from Billy and Teddy) and the new members of the team have appeared but haven't been nearly inducted to the team. On top of that, Billy's parents have been melted to go by a crazy version of Teddy's mother from another dimension (good work Billy). Lots to go on here. Plus Gillen and McKelvie.

Good week, everybody. Good week.

Punisher: Nightmare 5, Punisher War Zone 4

Punisher: Nightmare 5
Gimple (w) and Texeira (a) and D'Armata (c)

Punisher: Nightmare, the five issue weekly mini-series, comes to an end with this issue. As you may have seen from past reviews, I've gone a little back and forth on this book. It spawned from a distaste of Punisher as a character and turned a little because the story was at least enough to keep me entertained. As the series went on, I found it, at different points, frustratingly written and really well-written. It went from showing Punisher as the guy who has to find and kill bad guys to Punisher quietly questioning himself and showing pain and an overwhelming sadness that plays into his typically quiet demeanor. Overall, it was a solid series with the big bang kind of ending that most comics strive for. What I would say is most interesting about the finale is that it could of gone a couple different ways. In a way, I think some of the bigger questions that surround Frank Castle in this book were pushed aside a bit as he faced a greater and greater enemy. Still, Gimple did his work to make sure there was a resolution, an affirmation of what it is Punisher does. Instead of falling back into the moral question that always will surround Frank Castle (is it right or necessary to kill killers?), Gimple allows Castle to remember why he does everything he does.

I'm not trying to make it sound like Gimple is putting forward a big statement. It never comes across that way. Gimple is simply writing what Punisher is doing. Punisher thinks it's necessary for people to pay for their crimes, we all know that. That's why he's Punisher. Does he shoulder the weight because he think he's already going to hell so he might as well alleviate those kinds of worries others might have? Or is he just a psychopath who is still trying to avenge his murdered wife and kids? Or, as Thor suggested in the last Punisher War Zone, is he just a soldier who has forgotten his war? Punisher can't answer that and Gimple doesn't try because it's not his business. What Gimple does so well is show that Punisher himself doesn't have a real answer. He has an answer insofar as to what he's going to do (keep killing) but the why is probably a mix of everything and Punisher likely feels that. We don't need him to come out and explicitly ask himself why he's doing it. He's just going to do it.

As a minor side-note, I'm a little nostalgic writing this review. My blog has only been going for a little over a month and it HAPPENED to coincide with this mini-series. I've reviewed every one (as linked above, or all over the right side if you're patient) and fallen right into Punisher's corner of the Universe as a result. At this point, it's possible I've reviewed Punisher more than any other Marvel character on this blog, a distinction I absolutely would not have assumed I'd be making at this point. It's a little sad to see this arc go, but it's also kind of exciting to know I won't have to decide if the tags for this post should have colons or not.

Punisher War Zone 4
Rucka (w) and Di Giandomenico (a) and Hollingsworth (c)

Both Punishers this week strayed a bit away from the questions of their last few weeks and towards the action the Punisher is better known for. It's not a bad thing, necessarily. We're working in a medium that requires thought and action for a full story, typically, and we're particularly working with a character who has been known to be more heavy on the action side. So where the first three issues of this series have focused on Punisher evading the Avengers in their quest to find him, this issue focuses on the Punisher finding the Avengers in their quest to evade him. By that confusing plot reveal, we know already that there's likely to be more action abound in this issue (though last issue's Thor attack was pretty awe-inspiring).

Punisher's sidekick of sorts, Sergeant Rachel Cole-Alves, has been found guilty (in the background of this series which serves as the foreground of this issue) for killing police officers. Everyone from the Avengers to her defense attorney Matt Murdock believe that the punishment the DA is seeking (death penalty) is overly severe and that the DA is trying Cole-Alves as if she were Punisher because they can't get their hands on him. She's still guilty but the punishment doesn't fit the crime (it wasn't just straight-up killing two officers in cold blood, it was more nuanced). This series has focused on the Avengers trying to bring Punisher in so he can a.) stop being Punisher and b.) get Cole-Alves' sentence reduced. Last issue was a big deal, as Punisher and Thor hashed out a ton of Castle's past and dug into his psyche a bit. By this issue, he's returned to America from hiding from the Avengers overseas (while breaking up drug and slavery rings there for a bit) and begins to plan his rescue of Cole-Alves. The Avengers attempt to plan for this with a big ruse, having Black Widow dress as Cole-Alves as Captain America transports her with Thor overhead to her holding facility. They indeed get attacked on the road but they find out too late that it wasn't Punisher attacking them, just two criminals Punisher let live to aid him in this (which was a little weird, I admit). Meanwhile, Punisher has gotten the jump on Tony Stark and stolen the Iron Man armor, in which he proceeds to attack Spider-Man and rescue Cole-Alves from the courthouse.

So yes, plenty of action, plenty of Avengers, plenty of Punisher. I think we're going to see some more questions on top of good action in the next issue, as a few threads have been left unpulled. Wolverine remains kind of a wild card (in the first issue, he told Punisher that the Avengers were coming for him. In this issue, Cap benches him from the mission because they don't know where his loyalties lie in this), Tony's out of action but we don't see how so there's always the chance we'll see dueling Iron Men. Cap, Thor, and Black Widow are somewhere else right now but always have the possibility of getting back to the courthouse (particularly Thor). Spider-Man, though attacked by Punisher's Iron Man, is still the one with the biggest axe to grind with Punisher and is the only one in the courtroom with him (and it's still Peter Parker Spidey, so he won't just leave going "WELL THIS IS TERRIBLE, I'M LEAVING"). More importantly, we haven't heard from Cole-Alves in any of this and it's entirely possible, even likely perhaps, that she will refuse Punisher's assistance and force him to look inwards. Plenty of possibilities. This book is good for most Marvel fans. Punisher is interesting in it (and it's pretty rare we have a protagonist who is as quiet as Castle, so that's a neat kind of change) and the Avengers, for what limited amounts we see of them, are portrayed well and competent, though still beaten by Punisher at every turn. It's a really interesting dynamic. I still believe that, given enough time and energy, the Avengers would bring Punisher in. But they don't have as much time as that, so there's a good chance Punisher leaves here unpunished (HA). It leaves the stakes feeling high, which is how you want each book to leave things. Exciting times.

Thunderbolts 3, Cable and X-Force 3, Punisher: Nightmare 2, Punisher War Zone 3, Marvel Universe vs the Avengers 4

Thunderbolts 3
Way (w) and Dillon (a)

One of the things I talked about at length in my X-Force post-game entries near the start of this blog was the way in which Remender handled Deadpool. He's got a crazy streak to him and he's certainly unbalanced, but he's good at what he does and he has something of a moral center. This is, I feel, especially true in Uncanny X-Force, maybe more so than in his own series, but the groundwork was definitely laid by Daniel Way over in Deadpool. For as much as I love Remender's Deadpool, I think I like Way's better. On the one hand, he's had him longer and has been able to focus more attention to him, but on the other, I think he's got a really good mix of absurdity and seriousness. Thunderbolts looks to be a good outlet for that.

Our ragtag bunch of killers are working in Kata Jaya in Southeast Asia to train freedom fighters to destabilize a jerk dictator who apparently set off a gamma bomb. Elektra has been caught (intentionally) and Venom and Punisher are working with the freedom fighters to get more supplies and work on thinning the enemy ranks a little. Meanwhile, in Madripoor, Red Hulk and Deadpool have a frank discussion of Red Hulk's plans, which include using the mind of a de-powered Leader who Red Hulk is slowly re-powering to actually make his mind worth using. This is one of the more entertaining parts of the book, and where Way shows his Deadpool skills. A lot of writers would have had Deadpool flippant the whole time and almost unbearable beside Red Hulk and seeing the Leader. Way gives him his sense of humor but also makes him a valuable voice in the conversation. He points out that this plan doesn't seem so great and that, even if there is a good plan somewhere within it, Punisher will shoot the Leader right in the forehead if he finds out. By the end of the issue, he has.

There are some stories boiling in here, both in the tensions between team members (turns out NO ONE thought bringing the Leader along was a good idea) and in the story. The cliffhanger of this issue, or one of them, is that the jerk dictator didn't set off a gamma bomb to destroy a village, there's something else afoot. Also, Elektra is being held by the Leader's brother, Hulk villain Madman. I still think that Deadpool is the strongest written character of the group, but that could shift. For now, though, the most enjoyable parts of the book involve Deadpool. Then again, I'm biased; I'm not a huge Punisher nor Red Hulk fan. We'll see what I'm feeling halfway through this series.

Cable and X-Force 3
Hopeless (w) and Larocca (a)

My, but X-Force books are fun. As I eagerly await the new Uncanny X-Force that comes probably next week (look, I'm pretty sure that's when it is) and stars a couple members of my beloved X-Force team (including a few that are Fantomex), this Cable and X-Force team is really something. I was nervous about two separate X-Force books coming hot on the heels of Remender's, and that worry isn't out the window until the new book comes out, but so far Cable and X-Force has proved immensely readable. As I said in yesterday's Avengers Arena review, I like the Nick Fury-esque sort of planning aspect of a team leader/strategist. Apparently Dennis Hopeless does too. This book highlights that aspect quite nicely, as Cable is a pro at this sort of work and everyone on the team has some sort of experience with it and with him. There's a nice bit where he explains their mission and they all, one by one, offer their plan with him rejecting each one. It's a fun bit of quick character building that really works. It also works because the team is so small. It's easier than in most books to understand the relationships within the team because there are only six team members and they all have pretty well-established connections already. ALSO, I get happy whenever I remember that Dr. Nemesis is on the team.

This book dives right into the "threat to mutantkind" mantra of X-Force and goes to shut down an anti-mutant fast food chain because Cable has seen the future and a virus starts there that would kill thousands of humans and leave mutants untouched. Rather than allow it to be blamed on mutants and let the bigoted head of the company blame mutants for it, they aim to shut the virus down at its start, a factory. Forge has a talk with Theresa Payton, the aforementioned bigoted head, and finds out that she's not as bigoted as she might have seemed and that, unlike what the team is thinking, she seems to have no knowledge of the virus. Forge exhibits some cool Sherlock-like detail noticing about a robot bodyguard she has and disables it and breaks loose to head home. Things go slightly awry in the plans and they finally make it to the factory to find that the plague is already at work within and has incapacitated Colossus already.

Okay, as I was typing the summary, I noticed that it sounds absolutely crazy. I don't think I did a horrible job summarizing because all of that does happen, but the problem is that there's no useful way to summarize MOST comics, and this seems to be one of them. This book really is worth reading. I heartily recommend the series so far so maybe stop reading that summary and just read everything else I've written. The fun bit is that people who HAVE read the issue would read that summary and go "I KNOW, WASN'T IT GREAT?"

Punisher: Nightmare 2
Gimple (w) and Texeira (a)

We continue where we left off last week, with Punisher and Niman/Johnny Nightmare (his murderer persona) out searching for the twin killers who killed Niman's wife and daughter. We start to get into a more mysterious backstory for Niman. He wasn't just a soldier who had a couple personalities within him and who is currently on the track to becoming another Punisher. Through some strained memories and plenty of repeated dialogue, Niman remembers that he was the sole guinea pig in a new series of inoculation tests during his training at Fort Bragg. Though they discontinued the treatments, they seemed to have a lasting effect in terms of accelerated healing and, to some extent, strength and vision and focus, etc. A sort of mini-super soldier serum. However, it also seems to be opening the door to the Johnny Nightmare persona taking over. Whether that was in there before and was amplified by the war and the serum or if the serum caused that has yet to be discussed.

The writing of this issue was interesting. Complicated. As I said, there's a lot of strained memories and repeated dialogue to illustrate the cracks in Niman's mind. It's effective, but I think it tends to lose some of that effectiveness after too much time. After enough time for a reader to go "right, got it, now you're just holding me up." I also do find it interesting that the title character of this book was present for the entire issue and had about four lines. I'm not saying that as a negative. I don't imagine Punisher as the chatty type (besides, Marvel has enough of those as is) and I think this level of dialogue is about accurate, especially when we're focused on the other character in the book. The book has taken a bit of a turn from what I was initially anticipating, so we'll see if it holds interest in the final three issues.

Punisher War Zone 3
Rucka (w) and Di Giandomenico (a)

Okay, I keep saying I don't like Punisher. I'm going to have to go back and read Rucka's run because this Punisher War Zone book is pretty incredible. YES, it definitely sucks me in that it has the Avengers and YES they are often the focus more than him but STILL. There's a lot of really good examination of what Punisher is and what he does. It's like the Wolverine-in-X-Force idea of using something as an outlet for your animal nature. Thor examines this after chasing down Punisher in Indonesia and being led into a secret munitions stockyard. Punisher hides out to the side as Thor, doing exactly what I said YESTERDAY he doesn't do, makes extremely quick work of the whole affair. I'm not bringing that up because I think it's out of character for him to do it, I bring it up because it really is something he doesn't really do. Thor doesn't tend to fight regular humans because he would devastate them. Of course, if he's led into a place with clearly illicit and dangerous things going on, it's well within his character to stop it. He just typically doesn't go to those places. It's a nice touch and follows from the last issue of the book, where Punisher led Black Widow to an exploited group of young boys and girls so she might save them instead of fight him. It's a good strategy for Castle but, of course, he ends up being caught by Thor because, while Natasha's problem last issue took time to resolve, Thor had destroyed the place in a matter of seconds.

Though the premise of this book has been that the Avengers are trying to bring Punisher in because he's a public danger and because his protege is going to get the death sentence after she was caught to make an example of him, Thor chooses not to bring in Punisher. He has a talk with a captive audience, letting Frank know that he's free to take his arms and go after their talk but it would be wise to listen. They have a couple beers and talk about what it is Punisher does. Though Frank says Thor doesn't know anything about him and the war he fights, Thor quickly shows off his own knowledge of war and being a warrior and seems to nail down Frank's entire personality. This was telling to me and the moment I decided I needed to go back and read Rucka's run. He clearly knows what he's doing with Punisher and clearly has a plan for him of some sort. This book is definitely worth reading, as Rucka treats the Avengers well in their limited capacities and clearly has a grasp on Punisher. Also, the art, particularly the art surrounding Thor's attack on the base, is pretty fantastic.

Marvel Universe vs. The Avengers 4
Maberry (w) and Fernandez (a)

I'm going to be honest, I'm not really a huge fan of these books. Marvel Universe vs., Marvel Zombies, Deadpool kills, etc. I don't know why. But I have a few theories. One is just that I don't understand the universe. I know this is all kind of a possible future or an alternate timeline or, you know, fiction. But in a Marvel world so organized, I have trouble piecing together where this fits in. Also, there's always that zombie-story feel of "we don't know why this started but it did and here we are and there's no way to stop it." There's never a cure in any of these books, which is probably fitting but even if you put one cure in one of these books, it would make it feel like it was possible in any of them. That would be the reference point as a reader to say "Oh, well they survived beyond the series that one time, so it could happen again here." In a way, that leaves books like this with no stakes. You see your favorite heroes fall and some may survive but there are no stakes because you know they won't eventually. Like, know, not just have a bad feeling. That leads to the last and likely more truthful theory: I don't like watching my favorite characters all die.

Anyway, my favorite characters all died in this book. The writing wasn't bad, the art was good throughout, but all characters became possessed or became dead. Except Punisher. I still don't care.


So this ends "necessary force" day, as I dubbed it when picking out which days I'd review which books. Get ready for "X-Men day (minus X-Force)" tomorrow.