PROBABLY SPOILERS!

Being more of a viewer than a re-viewer (time is tight), I’m just gonna give you my impressions of some stuff I’ve read.

What I’ve read is:

  • Marvel Comics One-Shot Dark Reign The List Punisher
  • Punisher Max #1
  • Sugar Shock

the-list-punisher

    Marvel Comics One-Shot Dark Reign The List Punisher

    Published by Marvel Comics

    Written by Rick Remender

    Art by John Romita Jr.

    I dropped Punisher when Garth Ennis stopped writing it and the title split into several books.  Wewll, it looks like I’m back.   I heard special Dark Reign tie in was ridiculous in a good way and I like Romita so I picked this up.  Apparently Remender has been busying himself with the task of reintergrating Frank Castle into the Marvel Universe proper by having him use Ant Man tech and fighting Mighty Mainstream Marvel types.  Fair enough.  I enjoyed seeing Frank’s use of Pym Particles to make his escape from a bunch of Norman Osmond baddies.  My main frame of referance when it comes to the Punisher is Garth Ennis’s take on the character so there’s a novel thrill for me in seeing Mr. Righteous Indignation interacting with the wider Marvel U.  I am a nerd.
    Basically this one-shot is one big fight.  Page after page of Frank Vs. Dark Wolverine.  Frank loses in the biggest way possible and Romita Jr. is the perfect man for the job of portraying this ridiculously catastrophic battle.  It is taking all my energy to not show you the final page and spoil it all if you haven’t read it.  That’s a lie actually.  In reality it would take more energy to scan the page and post it here so I guess laziness is good for something after all.

    Punisher Max # 1

    Published by Marvel Comics

    Written by Jason Aaron

    Art by Steve Dillon

    As I’ve already mentioned, I’m an Ennis guy when it comes to Punisher comics.  I’m also a Jason Aaron guy when it comes to all other comics.  Jason Aaron is writing Punisher Max with Ennis’s pal Steve Dillon doing the art.  This is a good read but I couldn’t help feeling a little conflicted.  By now Ennis and Dillon are so synonymous that Ennis’s absence here is strongly felt.  Aaron is taking a similar approach to Frank as Garth did; he doesn’t say much, just turns up and kills bastards whilst the plot fun is spun by the criminals trying to deal with this angel of death.  The inventive violence is there too; a man’s head is squeezed so hard that his eyes pop out.  I think I need to read some more issues before I can stop comparing Ennis to Aaron.  What I can say at this point is that the reinvention and introduction of the Kingpin is clever, (not just sticking a new hat on what has come before) and I am in on this one and want more.

    Sugar Shock

    Published by Dark Horse

    Written by Joss Whedon

    Art By Fabio Moon

    I loved Buffy, I’m digging Dollhouse, Astonishing X-Men was okay and I gave up on the Buffy comic ages ago.  Sugar Shock is a real departure for Babyface Whedon and I like it!  This self contained one-shot was originally written for the Dark Horse Presents free online anthology.  The short episodic format means we get to see Joss doing Pure Comics.  By that I mean this comic is not trying to ape TV, cinema or any other type of storytelling and revelling in the liquid brainspill afforded by a guy writing some words and another guy drawing pictures.  The story focusses on a band who stumble apon a battle of the bands on an alien planet which actually turns out to be just a battle.  Unfettered by continuity or any obligation to be “realistic” this comic goes anywhere it wants.  The tone is somewhere between Tank Girl, Scott Pilgrim, Dan White and Matt Howarth’s Savage Henry (if anyone’s read that indie oldie).  In a word, FUN!  Fabio Moon’s loose brushwork fits perfectly.  Having gushed so, I did feel that there was something slightly inauthentic or forced about Whedon’s spotineity, but that might just be me not getting pop culture references and/or projecting my experiences with his other work onto this.

    Oh yeah, it was pretty reasonably priced too!


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