Review by: Neil Byce, aka @Neil4LOST
*WARNING* This review may contain spoilers for this specific issue.
Punisher #7 seems to be a mixed bag for me. It is a welcome change of pace to this young series that sees Castle journey south of the border to find refuge and to get as far away from Los Angeles as possible. It sees him go from being captured to being tortured to then being sold off to an old-school villain by the name of Crossbones.
Edmondson delivers a solid entry for the series by including plenty of action elements, a new villain and by having Frank get back into an old-school environment...the jungle. These elements help the story to overcome some questionable story line choices such as Frank once again getting captured and he even needs the help of a POW to get out alive. Then there are the too frequently inserted acronyms used throughout the book that have to be explained to the reader as to what exactly is being communicated. It makes sense for that to be used maybe once but there were at least four to five times it happened in the book. I truly think that Edmondson has a long-term plot that helps tie all of this together but at this point it just seems a little too discombobulated. Hopefully this will change over the course of the next few issues.
The art on this particular issue I felt suffered a bit. Mitch Gerads steps back from doing the pencils in this issue but he still shines in cover art. Carmen Carnero steps in to do the work in this issue and even though there are things that people have taken issue with Gerads work it is still clear that he has improved significantly during his time on this title and that this issue suffered due to him being away. Hopefully he will be back soon.
In conclusion, I really liked certain parts of this issue but it still frustrates me that the title is still missing a special something. Edmondson started this book by painting Castle as a mysterious vigilante who few people can recognize in person who can be extremely tactical to know being a character that is extremely vulnerable and is a step behind on everything. It just doesn't seem to add up is all. I really hope that the title steadily improves over the course of the next few issues or this book could see an end unfortunately sooner rather than later.
OVERALL SCORE: 7 out of 10
Next issue will be again reviewed by Ivo.
4 Comments
I thought this was the best issue yet, mainly because Frank is back to sticking it to the bad guys in the jungle. I'm waiting for more inner monologue especially towards that fool Crossbones! Frank's lack of success reminds me of the early days of Punisher vol 2 issues 1-25 when he would admit he makes mistakes, was getting older, artwork envisioned some truly frightening characters, Kingpin issue #18, graveyard issue #8. Maybe the most iconic was issue #14 with the high school cheerleader dying in his arms on the cover. To me, this series is almost a throwback to that era where he was outmatched and kept going anyway, with some heartbreaking losses along the way (Microchip's son getting killed). I do suspect Frank is luring them all in after he dropped that there were minor super-villains he could handle while the heroes fought in the sky, maybe pulling the guts out of AIM and using the technology to lay waste to the average criminal network or possibly getting SHIELD to do that for him. Issue #8 shaping up to be the best yet, 2 weeks even better!
ReplyDeleteBut the thing is, it's not the early days for him anymore, hasn't he learned anything for those days at all??? Is the Punisher so weak that he can be this easily beaten and caught???? After 40 years (1974 to 2014) of living in the Marvel world and getting into almost every type of battle there is and having his age being revered, which means he's younger (late 40s or 50s). That really doesn't make scene after that many decades to suddenly being a weak amateur.
ReplyDeleteHe has truly become the weakest and the dumbest character in the Marvel world who really isn't relevant in today's world. How is it that the fans (hardcore fans) say that he makes mistakes, is getting older, then go on to say that he can take on and beat such characters like Daredevil, Wolverine, Batman and so on???? Because they say that all the time while ignoring crappy issues like this one.
Why should I simply cave in and agree with your assessment? Have you read the nearly 400 issues of the character or own a portion of those issues, no you have not. Yes, I don't like the fact that Frank is struggling, but he has always been written that way historically in the 1990's, in the Ennis era, and the current versions. All his partners were killed and he eventually killed all his enemies. He could never take on any superhero and win one on one but used his head, and even then, would squeak through. Frank is a comic book character who would not have survived 40 years of combat at that level anyway in real life. I have to accept a monthly book for a character whose glory is probably 10 years past but enjoy collecting the book. Buy it if you like it or don't if you hate it, but give up being another armchair quarterback for a character you are not invested.
ReplyDeleteYou Sir are completely right on the subject, I salute you.
Delete