PC POST #354: Venomverse War Stories: The Venomized Punisher

It's been announced for weeks that will be a story event for Venom, called the "Venomverse" with Eddie Brock as Venom,

Today it's been announced that we will have a short story featuring the Punisher but Venomized!

Revealed here; I'll be writing/drawing a Venomized Punisher story for VENOMVERSE: WAR STORIES https://t.co/pnxh9H08uB

— Declan Shalvey (@declanshalvey) 30 de maio de 2017

After 25 years, we will get to see once again a "Venom Punisher", last time it was during a What if story called "What if... Venom Possessed the Punisher".

It was a great story and one of my favorites "what if stories".As "Venom Punisher", Frank goes hunting down the major crime figures of the Marvel Universe and struggles himself to control the symbiote turning his actions to be more and more violent against villains and heroes.

Great story wrote by Kurt Busiek with art of Luke McDonnell.

 















Couldn't be more excited to see once again this Venomized Punisher and with a talented artist like Declan Shalvey i can expect nothing less than epic. 

Posted by Ivo Santos

PC POST #353: Goran Parlov talks about The Punisher "Platoon" miniseries and more!

For those who missed this interview by Les Commis Des Comics, Goran Parlov talked a bit about the upcoming Punisher miniseries "The Platoon", Barracuda and the many styles of Frank Castle he worked on these years. 

Goran Parlov started to explain why this project took three years to be finished. 

"I had this opportunity to work with Mark Millar and we created Starlight and i just politely asked if i could have time for myself to do my own creator project..." He continued. "The Platoon was postponed, and i took my time to write Starlight and i returned to do the Platoon."

The interviewer asked if the Platoon is the Punisher's origin story, Goran replied:

"Yes, you will see Frank Castle as innocent guy who never killed anybody before, just a guy who arrived in Vietnam... okay, he's never been innocent but you know, we will see the youngest Frank Castle ever."

Goran was asked about the creation of Barracuda, what did he add to the character or it was Ennis script.

" I add the visuals, but i remember the first episodes, i didn't know he will become an important character so, i didn't pay so much attention to Barracuda. As matter of fact when i see the first panels of Barracuda, i'm not happy with it, he wasn't characterized well enough... it's my frustration. Later i realized it could be a very funny character and very important.character at least for me... "

Goran continued... "A few episodes later, he became what i really wanted him to be, his face and his exaggerated figure.

Goran talked about his favorite fight in Punisher MAX, the final battle of Punisher vs Barracuda..

"...They kept mutilating each other and at some point i really didn't know how human body looks like without all those parts... The nose, the ears, the eyes, the fingers, the arms, the legs, the axe in the chest.. and you know... what's left of the human body?" 

He continued "...Barracuda is all about exaggeration... We exaggerated as much as possible and in the end Frank put 30 bullets from an AK... and i hope he's dead."

Goran was asked about his favorite Punisher style, Punisher MAX, Punisher vs Marvel Universe or the Platoon version.

"The Punisher MAX version. I feel connected with that kind of character. Although the Punisher vs Marvel Universe was completely another universe that doesn't have anything to do with the MAX character, so i wanted to destinguish the two Punishers and that was the reason... I thought the ponytail was a cool thing to add, even because i hoped that later i could remove the ponytail and make him look like the Conan. At the end of the book he looks very much like the Conan the Barbarian."

At the end of the interview he talks again about the Platoon...

"I'm really proud of the Platoon. I can't wait to see it published and i hope you enjoy it."

Editor's note: Personally i can't wait to see you and Ennis together in this miniseries, it's been too long and you should work more together! 

Posted by Ivo Santos (@ivomgs)

Check out the full interview here!

PC POST #352: -REVIEW- THE PUNISHER #12 (2016)

The conclusion of Condor arc is here but there is only a few good things out of this issue...

This run has been a complete rollercoaster, with great issues and some not as good as it should be. The fight between Frank and Olaf ends after 12 pages, it's brutal and pure brawl but the artwork of Matt Horak doesn't seem so consistent as previous issue specially in the last pages.

(W) Cloonan (A) Horak
(C) Frank Martin (CA) Declan Shalvey
& Jordie Bellaire

In my opinion Cloonan did some mistakes in this issue with Frank. I mean, at the end of issue #11, Olaf challenged Frank to fight hand to hand on an iceberg when Frank was armed and with ground advantage to kill him off easily ( Frank was in the boat). But in issue #12, while fighting Olaf, Frank missed his guns. The big question is... why he let the guns sink with the boat? Why didn't he shoot Olaf when he had the weapons and ground advantage (Olaf was in the iceberg and Frank in the boat).

I can see that Cloonan is portraying a heroic and honorable Frank Castle by fighting Olaf hand to hand , but he doesn't play by the heroes rules, he's smarter than that.

The fight itself was good, it makes you feel hooked while you are reading it, The fight scenes were well built by Cloonan and Horak.

The artwork is solid but my grip was in the last pages when Frank is seen with a different face design. I can understand that the hair has grown, but the face looks a bit different specially the jaw. I really like Matt's artwork but didn't understood why the sudden change in Frank's face... 

Aside from this, the action scenes were perfectly portrayed and choreographed in every panel.

Frank Martin did a great work specially in the day scenes where the fight between Frank and Olaf was placed.

Again great cover by Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire, it's far from being my favorite cover but it's a great one too. I think it lacks a bit of color ( of course! It's a glacier theme,,,) and the characters lack a bit more of detail.

Conclusion: With the end of this arc, i think it took too long to end this Condor chapter. I'm more a fan of compressed stories and a 6 issues arc would be enough instead of 12. But it's far from being a bad run, not at all. It's been quite decent run with very good moments and with a Frank who is like a force of nature who doesn't compromise.

It was too bad that the main bad guys couldn't be punished, they will eventually, but i don't know if they can show something interesting to pull them back into the game and keep things interesting.

Pros:

Good fighting scenes with Frank and Olaf;

The Punisher is back in New York!

Cons: 

The main villains were unpunished;

Significant changes in Frank's face. 

OVERALL RATE: 7 / 10

Posted by @ivomgs

PC POST #351: -Review- DEADPOOL VS PUNISHER #3

Deadpool and Punisher are still looking for Mariana and Hudson to get the backup of the account numbers of the major crime syndicates... But the Bank hired a new player to recover the backup account numbers... the Taskmaster!

Fred Van Lente /Pérez/ Redmond
Cover art by Declan Shalvey and
Jordie Bellaire

I couldn't be more excited about this miniseries, Fred Van Lente and Pere Pérez are making one of the best team up books with the Punisher i've read in awhile.

It's a delight to read a comic book that respects the main characters and Van Lente does it. This third issue reveals the main aspects of personality from Deadpool and Punisher. Any new fan with zero knowledge about these characters would understand perfectly their beliefs and motivations.

I couldn't be more excited to see Taskmaster in this miniseries, specially because the Punisher never met him before and i hope to see these two fighting.

We can expect an action pack story from the beginning till the end with a little bit of a twist by Taskmaster. It was amazing that Taskmaster didn't care about Deadpool, because he knows him, but how interest he showed regarding the Punisher, in one page he describes the Punisher fighting skills while he sent all his mercs against him. Really cool stuff!

The art of Pere Peréz is great. The action scenes are superb and the characters are very well drawn. It's far from being a bored artwork in fact it's a very dynamic artwork. The coloring of Ruth Redmond is as precious as the art of Perez, she gives life and realism to the artwork of Perez and i really loved how she set the perfect tone for this miniseries.

The Good:

Great storytelling;

Amazing artwork;

High level of entertainment.

Not so good:

This should be called Deadpool / The Punisher ( Team up) instead of Deadpool vs Punisher.

Overall rate: 9 /10

Review by Ivo Santos (@ivomgs)

PC POST #350: Alternate Assassination: Punisher's Most Killed Villain

The Punisher got one problem, he can't kill major Marvel villains too often. But sometimes, when the world is ending or when he is in alternate universes the creative teams take the liberty to tell Frank's story without chains and let him be himself and do his job.

Although there is a certain character that is more "killed" than others and that man does not even belong to the Punisher's rogue gallery but made his appearance in Punisher comics several times, his name is...

WILSON FISK AKA THE KINGPIN!

The Kingpin is the most feared crime lord of the Marvel Universe, so it doesn't need a rocket scientist to figure it out that one way or another he would cross paths with the Punisher.
Both have fought hand-to-hand a few times.

In the first time Frank took a beating during Punisher Vol. 2 #15-#18.

Story: Mike Baron / Art: Whilce Portaccio

And in the most recent Civil War II: Kingpin #3, there was a more balanced fight between Frank and Fisk. Another spectacular fight with no winner.

Story by Matthew Rosenberg / Art by Ricardo Ortiz & Hayden Sherman

 But things changes in alternate universes when anything goes so let's start the list of the many deaths of Kingpin by the Punisher...

What If... Vol.2 #026 The Punisher had Killed Daredevil 

After accidentally kill Daredevil, most of the street level heroes went after Frank to bring him in and Fisk took advantage of it while all attentions were to Frank to rise up.
After a brutal fight between the Punisher and Peter Parker (injured and out of his mind) and without any chance but to kill Parker he went after Kingpin. Injured and without weapons he tried his luck, without any chance he died at the ends of Kingpin...but, he had a surprise.

Story by Kurt Busiek / Art :Luke McDonnel

Secret Wars #1 (2015)

The final days of universe 616 are almost over, with Kingpin inviting some super villains to celebrate the defeat of worlds mightiest heroes, during the party they don't expect a visitor... The Punisher with a huge amount of bullets fulfilling his mission until the end of his life and the main Marvel universe. 

This was the only time he killed Kingpin and other villains in the main Marvel universe.

In Punisher #19 (2014) by Nathan Edmondson and Mitch Gerads we can clearly see Frank getting out of the bar in flames.

Story by Jonathan Hickman / Art: Esad Ribic

Artwork by Mitch Gerads

Marvel Zombies vs Army of Darkness #02

Ash Williams lost his Necromicon book and wants to recover it to reverse what happened to Marvel Universe and it's heroes and villains, most of them are zombies. It's a battle of survival and Ash cross paths with Frank Castle with zero priorities in recovering the book his only mission is to terminate all crime.

He visits Kingpin and Hammerhead to deliver the final punishment.

Story by John Layman / Art: Fabiano Neves

What if Vol. 2 #044 Venom had possessed the Punisher

In this alternate universe the Punisher got possessed by the Venom symbiote and of course he wages his war on crime. After destroying most of criminal world he looks for Kingpin and not even Typhoid Mary or Daredevil could stop him from killing Kingpin.

Story by Kurt Busiek / Art by Luke McDonnel

The Punisher vs Marvel Universe

The Punisher was responsible to infect the earth with a virus that turned people into cannibals. Frank Castle is immune to it for being exposed to that virus. Along the way of his war he found non infected people and ends up being caught by Kingpin's tribe with a little help from Deadpool he could get rid of the ropes and ends Kingpin's life along with his tribe.

Story by Jonathan Maberry / Art by Goran Parlov

The Punisher Kills Marvel Universe

Definitely one of the most entertaining stories from an alternate Universe, this time his family was killed during a fight between heroes and skrulls and Frank wage is war on heroes and villains. Kingpin is just another guy that deserves to be dead.

Story by Garth Ennis / Art by Dougie Braithwaite

PUNISHERMAX #21

After failing to assassinate Frank by hiring assassins such as Bullseye and Elektra, Kingpin decides to kill Frank with his own hand. After a violent fight between both characters only one of the two was the last man standing. It was Frank Castle. Frank died from the injuries a few moments before. 

Story by Jason Aaron / Art by Steve Dillon

Kingpin might not belong originally to the Punisher rogues gallery but he sure could be his nemesis. More than Jigsaw or any other.

I hope you liked to see this list, share with your friends and increase your Punisher knowledge.

Article by Ivo Santos (@ivomgs)

Check out: The Unspoken Decade: 90's Comic Book Blog Extraordinaire

PC POST #349: -REVIEW- DEADPOOL VS PUNISHER #02 (2017)

(W) Fred VanLente / (A) George Pérez /
(C) Redmond/ (Cover) Shalvey & Bellaire

After a wonderful first issue this miniseries keeps up a good pace but this time with a little bit of plot development instead of action packed. Van Lente is doing a perfect job portraying both characters. I think the fans of both characters should be happy with this great service.

VanLente built a great chemistry between both characters when we see the usual comedian side of Deadpool and the seriousness of the Punisher. So far, it's working.

We can find some cameos of Marvel characters and we see how Bank got the hands on everybody pockets.

Last issue was top notch action packed adventure with some head to head fight between Deadpool and the Punisher. In this second issue, the action slows down a bit and we will see some detective skills of the Punisher, when he investigates the "tragic deaths" of Bank's family. The Punisher clearly is taking advantage of Deadpool's being a naive

We got some awesome sword fighting between Deadpool and the Don of the Dead.

This comic book is called Deadpool vs Punisher, but in this issue they did not fight against each other but for what i have seen it so far and how it ended we will have another clash between Deadpool and Punisher soon enough.

The artwork of George Pérez is great and i was highly surprised by the details of how gory he can be. Great detail when Deadpool sliced the intestines and head of his enemies during the sword fight with Don. Another positive detail is the great coloring by Redmond that turned this artwork really "smooth" and pleasant read/watch. 

The Good:

-Great pace and interesting plot;

-Awesome portrayal of the protagonists;

-Great artwork of George Pérez and Redmond.

Not so Good:

-Deadpool and Punisher didn't fight in this issue.

Overall Rate: 8 / 10

By Ivo Santos ( @ivomgs )