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.