Saturday, July 19, 2014

PC POST #215: -REVIEW- THUNDERBOLTS #28

posted by Ivo Santos (facebook/Twitter)

-REVIEW- 
THUNDERBOLTS #28 


"Punisher vs Thunderbolts part II" was good! After a half dead book that from time to time had one decent issue, Acker and Blacker make the quality of this book improve drastically and for two issues in a row i've been hooked !

This issue doesn't have the Punisher appearence at least "apparently" but it's equally balanced between the members of Thunderbolts. The team is broken to pieces and we got a character that quits from the team. The Avengers are getting close to the Thunderbolts after Hawkeye investigate the remains of Frank's warehouse.

We get some good action scenes when Elektra found Hawkeye in Punisher's warehouse and Elektra facing Red Hulk, she thinks that he is reponsible for planting the bomb in Frank's warehouse.
The unthinkable happens when "someone" pull the trigger and shot two characters down and the weapon designed for killing a Hulk disappears.

 In this issue i wasn't a great fan of Sandoval's artwork. There was times that faces seems too exagerated and remind me of Jefte Palo's. Sandoval's has similarities with Barberi's but there are times when he wants to give some expression to the characters it gets too cartoony for me. Silva's pencils are spot on, it was what saved the art in my opinion.

OVERAL RATE: 7.5 / 10








Tuesday, July 15, 2014

PC POST #214: -REVIEW- RED HOOD vs PUNISHER

posted by Ivo Santos (twitter / facebook)

Finally the wait is over and these last months waiting for this episode to be released it really paid off!
First of all this battle was decided by the fans, there is no scientific explanation for the final result but i will give my opinion not only about the production in this short fan film but on what i think the final result is right.
This is my opinion so don't bother on ranting the comments box.





First of all, i really loved how dedicated Kevin Porter (Punisher) and Rich Manly (Red Hood) have represented their roles both are really talented and gave an extra boost of quality to this episode.

SPBD and Bat in the Sun crew are really improving each video they launch, not only on film making (special effects, fighting choreography, etc..) but all the attention they spare almost everyday to the fans. They know that fans are the fuel of this big machine and as long as the fuel doesn't end this project has everything to be succeded. The only "down" is the long wait for each episode but they always have delivered quality on each episode. Wonderful work Aaron Schoenke and all the staff!

At this point you probably have seen the film and you know that the Punisher was the last man standing. As all of you know i'm a big fan of the Punisher but i'm also a fan of Red Hood.

In this fan film Kevin Porter and Rich Manly caught the personalities of both characters flawlessly. The Punisher with more straight forward lines and Red Hood with his natural attitude always taunt the Punisher.

The fight scenes specially choreography felt natural and i didn't saw anything that these characters wouldn't do in a comic book. The Punisher through his body built more simple moves and direct and Red Hood with more agile and fast moves ( really loved the walk on the wall). I was expecting a bit more of knife fighting from both characters since both are very skilled at using them. Due to the time limit of this fan film i bet BitS crew would have wanted to try other things like using a bit more of the enviornment "tools" but it was clearly that they had to compile this episode to the essential and add a bit of everything.

I loved the background soundtrack, Sean Schoenke did a great job on producing it. Like he did on the last episode with White Ranger vs Scorpion, my favorite music.

In my opinion the Punisher was a fair winner of this showdown. He isn't as skilled as Red Hood in hand to hand combat even if he is master of several martial arts like Nash Ryu Jiu Jitsu, Hwarang Do, Shorin Ryu Karate and Chin Na and also trained Ninjitsu with the Shadowmasters. Even with this argument i think experience prevailed over martial art skills (I'm guessing this is pre-52 Red Hood without all the magic stuff he is been into with the All-Caste nowadays).

The Punisher is far more experienced in fighting crime than Red Hood and all the argument that is used over the web that he was trained under Batman it's important, i know, but in this case Frank has more than 20 years of crime fighting and all the experience he gather through his missions did pay off.

The Punisher was like a powerhouse in this film due to the excelent physical shape of Kevin Porter, i didn't saw that the Punisher was in disadvantage in any moment in this film. Every strike he delivered to Red Hood was like he was hit by a train. I couldn't have expected a better ending. Even if the result was different with all the respect both characters had in this film, i would be happy.

Final Note: If you can produce another fan film, make these characters team up to take out a common threat, i bet you will do a wonderful job and people would love it. Think about it!

OVERALL RATE: 9.5 out of 10




PC POST #213 -REVIEW- THUNDERBOLTS #27 & PREVIEW T-BOLTS #28

Posted by @ivomgs


It's been awhile since i reviewed a Thunderbolts issue, but since the upcoming arc is Punisher related i will make a review, sorry for being late. After the review there is a preview of the upcoming issue on sale tomorrow!




Great issue, action packed and very entertaining like a team of badasses should be. Acker and Blacker did a great job not only portraying these antiheroes and on developing this plot.

Acker and Blacker created a promising issue and i am very excited to see how this will end. In this issue they stopped Dr Faustus team to attack Avengers and they fought zombies!! 

They nailed very sensitive "items" that should concern any Punisher fan.
 
Like: How can Frank work with villains, when he can put a bullet in them for good? Well, Ross will make a questionable decision and there will be a conflict between the two characters.

Best start of an arc in this series to date, in my opinion. It ended with an huge cliffhanger but it was needed to keep every reader waiting for the next issue. I am really excited to see


Carlo Barberi artwork is really good but this could only succeed thanks to Carlos Cuevas and Israel Silva.
OVERALL RATE: 8 / 10

Here goes the preview for Thunderbolts #28 on sale tomorrow!






Thursday, July 3, 2014

PC POST #212: -REVIEW- PUNISHER #8



PUNISHER #8
-REVIEW-



( May contain spoilers) Here is the conclusion of 2 part story by Nathan Edmondson and Kevin Maurer. These two make a great team developing "military" stories and this one was a really fun read. After the "blast" of issue #7 ( which i gave 8.5 out of 10 in my personal page), this one "sacrificed" some badass moments for the sake of storytelling which is fine by me. I loved some background story about Tom and how Frank had such an impact in his military carreer, one year later.

The best moments in this comic (beside all the action) was the way Edmondson and Maurer showed us some real military drills and tactics. As an ex-military it was very nostalgic to see it. Great team work we see between Tom and Frank and the sense of partnership between the two is really refreshing and make us see more of these two in the future. Thumbs up to Edmondson, because he creates interesting secondary characters that makes me care about them in every issue. I really miss the other characters from the previous arc, specially Loot, the domesticated coyote.

I was expecting some sort of fight between Crossbones and the Punisher but that didn't happen, although nothing is lost because in the next couple of issues Crossbones will still in the game with the crossover between Black Widow and the Punisher. I really hope that Frank can deliver some punishment to this guy, every Punisher fan is waiting for it, some of us for years... Skull vs Skull.

Carmen still delivered some quality artwork like she did in the last issue, i really loved how Fabella and Pallot deal with colors, specially with the explosions. This issue doesn't have so many colors like the previous because most of the action is during the night but they still deliver it with quality. Great job.

FINAL NOTE: This new take by Edmondson for me, has been quite refreshing. I'm still struggling with the old "versions" of the Punisher, he was practically a machine, a dead man inside and he kick ass in almost every issue. I 'm liking a lot this "flesh and bone" and believable Punisher. This was almost a turn of 180 degrees to a almost "hero" version of the Punisher. But i can't get enough of badass moments of Frank like it was on issue #7!

A big thank you for Kevin Maurer he did a wonderful job and to Carmen Carnero and all the artists who worked in this issue. I hope to see you soon!

OVERALL RATE: 8 out of 10

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

PC POST #211: -PREVIEW- PUNISHER #8

posted by @ivomgs 

Here goes the preview of the conclusion of this "jungle warfare" arc with Nathan Edmondson and Kevin Maurer. Can't wait for the confrontation between skulls!

BUY IT TOMORROW!



• A wounded Frank Castle and a Special Forces medic hazard dangerous terrain and merciless mercenaries to make their escape

• Crossbones and his crew won’t stop until the Punisher is in their custody.

• It’s a race for survival not to be missed as Frank’s adventure south of the border comes to its blood-soaked end!





*Expect a review from me later tomorrow or the day after. -@ivomgs