I Love the Smell of Comics in the Morning.
I’m torn. I like this comic. I like the art, done by the talented and well know Punisher artist Goran Parlov. I even enjoy the story, but that’s where my issue lays. By all accounts, I should (and mostly do) love Garth Ennis’ writing. He’s written some incredible work that includes; Preacher (now a hit TV show), lots of Judge Dredd and plenty of Hellblazer (that’s Constantine). So, I should love his stuff but I’ve also read some other things from him that by no fault of his own, affected me in ways that I did not enjoy and I worry sometimes he writes just to be edgy. So, the reason that I am torn, is that as much as I enjoyed this early set up to a Punisher “pre-origin”, I’m concerned for the follow up issues.
I worry my feelings are superfluous as this issue really gave me no reason to think this way. The issue itself was an engaging mystery that teases Frank Castles first tour of duty in the Vietnam war and even more interestingly, life, before his first ever kill. That’s why I called it a pre-origin, as we all know that Frank Castles family is gunned down by gangsters and that is what triggers his one-man war against all things terrible. So, this comic is now added some extra backstory to either give more reason for why Frank is the way he is or maybe adding some needed (maybe not) justification to why he is such a broken man. This comic is published through the Marvel MAX banner which is essentially the no holds barred R rated comics that can’t have barriers to hinder their storytelling. Some of the previous comic to get this rating are; Jessica Jones (of Netflix fame), Blade, Deadpool, Wolverine and arguably most notably the original Punished MAX series and the spin on BORN which is almost a retroactive sequel to this new series.
The writing is subtler than the last few MAX titles I’ve read and even more so when it comes to Punisher. I find this to be a welcome change, as even though I do love the raw reality that is set in comics of MAX, I think that this subject matter and concept would be hindered without special care to the narrative. The art is not rushed but has a sketchy feel to it that I’ve come to know from this team up, as both artist and writer have worked on punisher before and as it may not look as flashy as other Marvel comics today, it suits the tone and setting that Frank Castles story needs.
I’ll be the first to admit that my preconceived notions of this comic are probably unfounded but I still found that enjoyed this comic, I just hope that the quality and tone that this story expresses stays the same.