New Site. New Mission.

TL;DR version:

Punisher Central has a new site: https://punishercentral.home.blog/. No more articles will be posted on this blogspot, but it will remain for archival purposes.

Long version:

Hello fellow Punisher Central readers!

Thank you for all your years of support and readership on the Punisher Central blogspot.

My name is Eric Nguyen and I'm the latest addition to the Punisher Central team.

As a former reader, Punisher Central has definitely served as THE most informative and reliable source for me for years...so much that I was finally driven to join up with the always reliable solo-operator Ivo Santos to see what we could do together.

My first act as a Punisher Central team member was setting up a new, organized site for Punisher Central, (CHECK IT OUT HERE! https://punishercentral.home.blog/) one where news, updates and features could be found through easy navigation. This will serve as the NEW site for Punisher Central news, articles and updates and old reliable here will be put into retirement.

Along with the new site is a new mission for Punisher Central to be THE preeminent Punisher source. We want to be the first in breaking new stories, to be clear and entertaining in our reviews and hype building as well as a welcome home and educational source for grizzled Frank veterans and newcomers alike. With our hard work and the readership that will follow (thank you!), we hope to attract the attention of those directly involved with the creation of the stories and visuals of The Punisher and create exclusive features for you all. Read up on the mission statement here: https://punishercentral.home.blog/2018/08/09/the-war-goes-on-2/

Again, thank you for the years of readership and hope to see you on the new site. Comment on articles and let us know what you think!

- Eric

PC POST #408: -NEWS- A Possible NEW Villain Might be Revealed!

It's been a while since we had some bit of news regarding Marvel's the Punisher season 2. Last time we knew something regarding the series was a few weeks ago that they were filming in Albany, NY.

Five days ago Robbie DeRaffele posted the upcoming image on Instagram where he is with Jon Bernthal.

@jonnybernthal aka #ThePunisher and i... @robbie.deraffele season 2- 2019? #actor #tv #back #instagood #happy #fun #instamood #bestoftheday #netflix #movies #film #camera #cinema #fact #didyouknow #moviefacts #cinematography #screenplay #director #actress #act #acting #movienight #hollywood #netflix #caps

Uma publicação partilhada por Robbie DeRaffele (@robbie.deraffele) a 27 de Jul, 2018 às 5:32 PDT

After a careful look on IMDB, Robbie DeRafelle was cast as "Vor" in Marvel's the Punisher season 2. And for the look of his build ( 6'7", 225lbs) he might play the role of a big Punisher villain. Some rumors even say that he can be an adaptation to the Russian.
So far, there wasn't any announcement from Marvel regarding the cast of  DeRafelle's or what will be his role in the upcoming season but with everything we are seeing, it would be a waste if they didn't use him as a villain.

There is no eta for the release of the Punisher season 2, but I believe we will have it streaming on Netflix during the first semester of 2019.

@jonnybernthal @netflix “There's a stillness, as though the air itself is afraid to move. I do some of my best work in that silence.” #repost #thepunisher #netflix #movies #badass #dontmess #revengeful

Uma publicação partilhada por Robbie DeRaffele (@robbie.deraffele) a 1 de Ago, 2018 às 7:47 PDT

Article by Ivo Santos (@ivomgs)

PC POST #407: -REVIEW- THE PUNISHER 227

Last issue, the Punisher set his sights in Baron Zemo headquarters, but Zemo was waiting for him. There were Crossbones, Ghost and Taskmaster ready to take on the Punisher. On the verge of losing his life, he was saved in the last minute by Winter Soldier and Black Widow. But they had plans for Frank...

Rosenberg played out very well in this issue. He brought back Widow's and Bucky cameos to the Punisher comic and it really worked. It's great to see the relationship between Bucky and Frank and these boys cannot stand each other, with Bucky always hitting on Frank and him answering with some snarky humour. It just worked very well! But this isn't just only jokes. Rosenberg did nail these characters and he develops a good chemistry between them even without their divergences.

This issue is fantastic, great action, tons of body count with Widow and Bucky adapting themselves to Frank's killing methods, which is good. It's good for once that "heroes" don't whine about Frank killing bad guys, especially Bucky and Natasha. Now... Imagine these characters in a super-powered prison designed for villains... yes, that's what we have in here.

Stefano Landini did a good job once again, I really like his artwork. Looks like he changed Frank's design once again, he now looks a bit bulkier than before. So far, with the change of artists the characters design changed a few times and it would be good if we could get the same design or approximately.

Either way, I really like his art. Lee Loughridge is very consistent in the tone of this comic, he helped Landini's artwork shine with his bright and realistic colours. 

Conclusion: I'm very excited for what's to come in the upcoming issue. It's the last one featuring Punisher in the War Machine suit. I'm really happy to have Rosenberg on board for the Punisher comic. He understands the character and more importantly, he knows where the character is going.

I want to tell people, Punisher fans and non-fans to read this Punisher: War Machine, it's solid, great writing, good art and very entertaining.

Overall Rate: 9 / 10

Coming up next week!

ARMOR WARS!

• It’s all come down to this. Frank’s used the War Machine armor to cross lines from which he can never come back.

• Some people have taken Frank’s actions personally. One of those people is Tony Stark.

• SUIT UP! It’s the fight you’ve been waiting to see!

Review by Ivo Santos

PC POST #406: -REVIEW- THE PUNISHER #226

The Punisher decided to attack HYDRA Nation head-on seeking for some sort of redemption due to the events of Secret Empire. But what lies ahead? What kind of threats did Zemo prepared for Frank? 

Matthew Rosenberg continues to treat the Punisher like a living mowing machine when it comes to dealing with crime. This issue is action packed and very entertaining. It's always good to see the Punisher destroying HYDRA goons and he does it with art.

Rosenberg wrote a fast-paced story, a thrilling ride that reaches his peak when Frank Castle meets Zemo, who is expecting him with a team of heavy hitters bad to the bone.

And at this moment, it's the only time I felt that was a bit of a "step back" when the Punisher with the armor just took the best out of a good amount of heroes in the last issue.

During the fight with these villains, I felt that he didn't enough to put them down, I don't mean to kill them (because they are BIG in the Marvel Universe) but at least to hurt them much and to instill fear into them. There is some unexpected appearance from some heroes who intervene directly from the fight, sadly it wasn't the way I wanted.

This isn't a major thing, it doesn't ruin the run or the character, it was just a slight let down who didn't satisfy my inner fanboy.

The cover artwork by Clayton Crain is self-explanatory, not always a cover is what is going to happen in the comic but this time it gives us some signs of the content. Great cover by Crain who didn't disappoint in his covers and he is getting better and better. 

The art of Stefano Landini was really good and remember me a lot in certain parts with the art of Laurence Campbell but with a bit more detail. I really like the dynamic he imprinted to this comic, the action scenes are very fluid and the colors Loughridge did set the tone right for this comic book.

I still think Matthew Rosenberg is doing a superb job handling the Punisher and his run. He's becoming my favorite Punisher writer of the past decade hands down. I'm excited to see what comes next and especially for the penultimate issue of this run!

OVERALL RATE: 7.5 / 10

Next month:

The Punisher #227
July, 11


Synopsis

ROAD TRIP TO HELL!

• The Punisher and Black Widow go off the grid on a secret mission of revenge!

• Frank and Natasha are now Most Wanted by heroes and villains alike!

• The War Machine armor is busted, and with the forces coming down on our heroes, they’re going to need every bit of firepower they can get.

review by: Ivo Santos

PC POST #405: -REVIEW- THE PUNISHER #225

For once we have the Punisher fighting against some of the toughest Marvel heroes and he isn't some sort of punching bag.

REVIEW

The great premise of this issue was the fight between the Punisher and Marvel heroes and it wasn't a disappointment! It was a great fight and one of the best I've seen. 

This battle between heroes and Frank covers at least half of this issue and no. It's not, Punisher kills Marvel Universe, for the contrary, what we see is the Punisher avoiding confrontation and using his strategic mind and every sort of tactic for not killing some of them. 

These heroes weren't even the "A-Team" of Avengers but it was clearly a "B-Team" and once again and due to a clear understanding of Frank's mindset it was proven that Frank with the proper equipment can fight against some of the heavy hitters of Marvel Universe.

After action-packed pages, Rosenberg slows it down a bit and let Fury and Frank interact with each other. The Punisher is dealing with how heroes see him after what happened in Secret Empire and Fury remembered him of that and in some way set him into a new mission. For heroes, the Punisher is a villain but at the end of the day he is looking for redemption, that's the set up for next issue.

Matthew Rosenberg is writing a great story. In my opinion the most consistent storyline since the days of Garth Ennis Marvel Knights brand. The story is very well constructed and it has an objective. Rosenberg knows his Frank Castle, and he executes him flawlessly. 

I'm not a fan of what Marvel did to the Punisher in Secret Empire, as a matter of fact, I consider it the worst thing they ever did to the character. Rosenberg got the difficult task to deal with it and he's doing it very well without being out of character.

Rosenberg to me is becoming a favorite already.

Guiu Vilanova and Lee Loughridge are part of the success of this comic/ run. Guiu's dynamic panels during the battle against heroes were really good. The way that Loughridge set the tone of this comic was superb.

Overall Rate: 8.5/10

I just can't wait for the next issue set to be released in less than two weeks (June 13th)

The Punisher #226

Review by Ivo Santos

PC POST #404: -REVIEW- THE PUNISHER #224

The Punisher is back in the United States and he's hunting down the criminal empire but there are a few surprises coming his way.

Another fantastic issue where Rosenberg explores who would be a target when Frank arrived in the US. It's a tough job when you think that you can't make the Punisher kill the entire criminal empire of the Marvel Universe but Rosenberg did a great job not ignoring this fact but make it what was right.

Cover by Clayton Crain

A few villains were down during the attack and a few references were done. It was a good touch seeing again "The Bar with No Name" ( Punisher War Journal Vol.2  #4) and the Scourge, a villain that was used as a disguise by Frank to infiltrate into the Kingpin inner circle in Civil War II: Kingpin #3 this last story by Matthew Rosenberg.

Aside from this, we get great action and some fierce dialogue and fight between Captain Marvel and the Punisher who didn't like to see Frank using the War Machine armor for his personal mission. The dialogue between these two is as fierce as the attacks they launch to each other. In this issue and because we know other characters perspectives we get the feeling that the villain is the Punisher. There are a few cameos in this comic book with characters like Daredevil and Hawkeye.

The artwork of Stefano Landini was great, fantastic panels, especially in the fight between Castle and Danvers. Stefano's artwork, seemed a bit more ruthless in terms of violence if we compare to Guiu Vilanova artwork. His artwork shine in every panel with great dynamic and of course, Lee Loughridge's colors helped a lot as always.

I'm really liking what Rosenberg is doing with the character so far, in this current arc "War Criminal", the Punisher seemed a bit more villain when we compare to the last arc "War Machine" which is easily explained why we get a lot more the views of Marvel heroes than Frank Castle.

Overall rate: 8 / 10

Don't forget that in two weeks there will be out The Punisher #225!

review by Ivo Santos (@ivomgs)

PC POST #403: [SPOILERS PUNISHER SEASON 2]On SET VIDEO reveals a returning character...

Yesterday was a great day for leaked Punisher shots on set. A fan on Instagram shared a video when we see an "action scene" and a big character revealed.

First of all, let's share some Punisher on-set photos.

Let's go to the video, watch it! This is a HUGE SPOILER, so if you want to stay in the dark, don't watch the upcoming video shared on Twitter by @PunisherHQ. 

SPOILERS!!!!

This one is huge and a big SPOILER! You've been warned! The Punisher vs Billy Russo / Jigsaw #punisher #thepunisher #marvel #netflix pic.twitter.com/J4dW3ZeU5P

— The Punisher HQ (@PunisherHQ) 16 de maio de 2018

If you watched the video you already know who is the guy with the mask. It's Billy Russo!

For the shot, it doesn't show any signs of his injured face but this is only the pre-production. We don't know so far if his scars will be in cgi or the shot isn't clear to notice them.

For the theatrical way Billy took off his mask and show himself to Frank, it looks like it's the first time they encountered since last season, my guess is that this episode will be during mid-season of season 2.

Let's wait and see for further developments in the upcoming weeks. The Punisher season 2 doesn't have an official date but my guess is for the second quarter of 2019.

By Ivo Santos

PC POST #402: -REVIEWS- THE PUNISHER #222 & #223

Here are the last reviews of The Punisher #222 & #223 that needed to be reviewed.

REVIEW: THE PUNISHER #222

Matthew Rosenberg has built an amazing story arc with Frank wearing the War Machine armor to wage his war and achieve new lengths. Issue #222 is a good example of that, we see Frank Castle in the armor is literally mowing down dozens of men who were commanded by general Petrov. 

Matthew Rosenberg knows how to handle the Punisher. In this issue, there is almost no development in the plot, just pure fun, and entertaining mayhem. Rosenberg makes the Punisher in the armor almost like an invincible force of nature, there are no missiles, tanks or blasts of energy who could deal with Frank and his most rudimentary ways. Yes, even with the armor he can make the dirtiest tricks to put the enemy down. There are no rules to make the enemy down, as long as they are down. This is the Punisher and Matt knows how to handle it.

One note that needs to be said is that the A.I. is becoming one of the best sidekicks that Frank had since Henry Russo. The dialogues between Frank and the A.I. are hilarious. It's fantastic. 

Guiu Vilanova and Lee Loughridge are part of the success of this issue. Great dynamic panels, great action scenes almost in a cinematic way. The tone set by the art team is great and in the first issues I had some problems with the art of Guiu, especially in the design of the armor, but not anymore. Guiu is becoming a favorite.

Overall Rate: 8.5 / 10 

REVIEW: THE PUNISHER #223

Finally the last issue of this current arc and by far the best issue of this series. Matthew Rosenberg pushed Frank Castle to the limit, he tries to stop a nuclear missile, he fought against ex-rogue SHIELD agents with armors closely like War Machine, Frank finally used his martial art skills and fights Petrov's armored suit with his ka-bar... and guts!

Rosenberg presented us with a thrilling ride where Frank is put to the test and his ability to control the War Machine armor. And more important we get to see Frank going "old school" fighting his way to survive against high tech threats.

It's been "ages" since I saw the Punisher using his martial art skills very well drawn into multiple panels and Guiu nailed it. 

Rosenberg is pulling zero punches regarding writing Frank Castle. He knows the very essence of the character and despite that he is using the WM armor, he keeps being himself. I don't like to make comparisons which writer is the best, but I can say that Rosenberg writes the Frank Castle I want.

Guiu Vilanova did once again a brilliant job. His art is very consistent and it's very well drawn, he makes the action flow through panels. He might not be fancy like some other artists but he is paving his way into success in every issue.
Lee Loughridge is part of this great artist team. His work with the colors makes Guiu's art a real treat to the reader's eyes.

There are great things to come in Punisher #224, Frank is back home with the War Machine suit and he's hunting some baddies! Review coming soon!

Overall Rate: 9.5 / 10

By Ivo Santos (@ivomgs) 

PC POST #401: -REVIEWS- THE PUNISHER: PLATOON #5 & #6

It's been awhile since I've reviewed a Punisher book but here I am to wrap up this fantastic 6 part story featuring Frank Castle in his first tour.

REVIEW: THE PUNISHER PLATOON #5

The premise of this issue is how Frank Castle's platoon handled the biggest ambush they ever faced in the series and how Ly took his personal vendetta to a new lenghts and at a highly cost to take out the platoon.

Garth Ennis is a fantastic war storyteller. This isn't Punisher MAX: Born, it's deeper than that. It's the very root of Frank Castle, first war experiences. 

Ly sees a chance to kill Frank's platoon and decides to attack them when they were in disadvantage in terrain and manpower.
Frank leads his platoon with a high performance, he makes them give their best for themselves and for the platoon.

Garth Ennis is pulling zero punches while writing this story, don't expect to see Frank Castle dealing with tons of vietcongs. It's more than that, it's the story of the man told by the last surviving members of his platoon.

Goran Parlov gave such a great dynamic in every panel, especially during the ambush. The expressions being terror, fury or surprised are very well portrayed in every panel. The action scenes are over the top and Jordie Bellaire gave her contribute to make it even better with a great coloring during the splash scenes. Fantastic creative team that was put together during this miniseries.

OVERALL RATE: 8 / 10 

REVIEW: THE PUNISHER PLATOON #6

 

Platoon #6 wraps up this fantastic series very well delivered by Ennis, Parlov and Bellaire. On the other side this is the most emotional issue of the series. A good thing to see is all the remaining survivors of the platoon praised Frank Castle action as their lieutenant. They praised the man. At the end of this issue and we see that at the end of the day he was just an exceptional "guy" who saved their lives.

By far the best issue of this series in my opinion. Where Garth Ennis explores Frank Castle's before he turned into the Punisher. This matter is even discussed by his former platoon.
The Platoon miniseries was never about death and killing. It was about the people who were there fighting side by side with Frank. Of course there are fighting and some deaths but that wasn't the premise of this series.

Garth Ennis was made for Frank Castle and vice-versa. There's no argue in this matter.

The success of this series couldn't be without the artwork of Parlov and with the colors of Jordie Bellaire. There isn't much things to be said in here. If Ennis was made for Frank Castle, Parlov art was made for the Frank too.

OVERALL RATE: 9 / 10

by Ivo Santos (@ivomgs)

PC POST #400: Marvel's the Punisher adds two more characters to the cast!

Another two characters were added to Marvel's the Punisher cast. This time the hints are strong enough to make believe that the "Slavers" storyline might be a huge possibility, despite these characters have different names than the original characters who were in the comics.

Corbin Bernsen (“American Gods,” “Psych”) will play the role of Anderson Schultz, an extremely wealthy man who’s grown accustomed to getting his way. His power and legacy are of prime importance, and he’ll implement less-than legal means to further those ends.

Annette O’Toole (“Cat People,” “Smallville”) has been cast as Eliza Schultz, a conniving, wealthy woman, cut from the same manipulative cloth as her husband, Anderson.

Corbin Bernsten and Annette O'Toole joins the cast of Marvel's the Punisher season 2 when other actors were previously announced a few months back like Josh Stewart (“John Pilgrim”), Floriana Lima (“Krista Dumont”) and Giorgia Whigham (“Amy Bendix”).

It's curious to see in the Marvel article when they mentioned returning characters there is word about Ebon Moss-Bachrach ( "Micro"). It's not sure if he will come back for the second season, since his mission was over in season 1 and he lives happily with his family.




Article by Ivo Santos (@ivomgs)

PC POST #399: New images on set of the Punisher season 2!

New images on set have surfaced when it shows Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) and Amy Bendix (Giorgia Wigham) together.

There is no news about what it will be the plot of the upcoming season of Marvel's the Punisher what we know so far is what it comes from the source material and Amy Bendix is established character from the early Punisher: War-Zone #34.

Amy Bendix took care of Frank Castle during "Suicide Run" saga, when Frank was hurt. During that saga, some criminals got to know Frank's whereabouts and decided to strike back and kidnapping the poor girl. Frank hunt those guys down and saved the kid.

The fans of the Punisher are shouting out for the "Slavers" saga. A Punisher MAX story when the Punisher puts down a sex slave ring. Amy Bendix is still seen as a someone who could replace Viorica in that arc.
Viorica was a sex slave who escaped from the organization and got lucky to cross path with the Punisher.

Article by Ivo Santos