Finally issue #5 was released. It took awhile but the wait was well worth it. Behold, to the best Punisher issue from Becky Cloonan and Steve Dillon's run!
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| (W) Becky Cloonan / (A) Steve Dillon / (Cover) Declan Shalvey & Jordie Bellaire / (C) Frank Martin |
It's been awhile since i had so much fun with a Punisher comic, Becky Cloonan and Dillon provided me non-stop action with the over the top violence to satisfy my inner fanboy waiting for a issue like this.
The odds are against Frank. Frank continues to track down the remnants of the Condor who is producing the EMC. He ends in an asylum with Ortiz who wants to find his partner that was captured by Face and the cherry on top is that this asylum is full of over powered crazies drugged by the EMC.
Becky Cloonan did once again an amazing job. She is a writer who doesn't complicate things, the Punisher is not a character to be complicated.
I really like how Frank and Ortiz team up, she puts aside her feelings towards the Punisher and focused in his own mission, rescue agent Henderson.
The Punisher is not much of a talker and honestly he doesn't need, he is a man of actions, not words.
Cloonan's achieve one thing amazing. When i did miss Punisher's inner dialog in the first issues, currently, i was entertained enough not even to remember it or miss it.
People compare much of her run to Ennis or Aaron, i think in some elements are similar but she is leaving her own mark in the character, the most straight forward action-wise story i have ever seen.
Dillon continues to improve too and this time the requirements were higher regarding passed issues due to the action itself. We can see amazing panels beautifully executed. Dillon is perfect when he executes violent scenes, he can do it perfectly and gory. For moments i thought i was reading a Punisher MAX instead of story from the current Marvel Universe.
Frank Martin did a great job too for the coloring of this issue and once again he keep the high standards with a great balance of colors and during the splash scenes he adds a very vivid colors.
Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire created a good cover. Graphically perfect. It's not accurate of what happens in the comic but it's still great. I really like this partnership.
Conclusion: It's been awhile since i had so much fun reading a Punisher comic. Thanks to this great creative team that is working perfectly.
Can not wait to see more developments about the relation with Olaf and Frank ( next issue!) and obviously more about Frank/Ortiz. Ortiz is mentally broke after some events of this comic. Let's wait and see the aftermath of it.
It's been a blast and i highly recommend for every Punisher fan.
It's been a blast and i highly recommend for every Punisher fan.
Overall rate: 8.5 out of 10
Ivo Santos | @ivomgs
