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 #348: -REVIEW- THE PUNISHER #11 (2016)

(W) Becky Cloonan / (A) Matt Horak
(C) Frank Martin / (Cover) Declan Shalvey
& Jordie Bellaire

The Punisher #11 is out and it was a blast! Clearly the best issue of the current run!

I can't describe how much fun i had reading this comic book, the storytelling and artwork were in perfect harmony.

Punisher #11 is like 80's movie in terms of action with minimal dialogue and straight up to business, this issue marked a fighting for survival with a cornered and wounded "animal" (Frank Castle) outgunned and outnumbered.

Becky Cloonan did a great work in the passed few issues, in former issues there was some dull moments and sometimes it gave me the feeling that i was lost in terms of storyline. 

But clearly she did set up the story very well and at this point and the results are seen in this issue. The final objectives of Condor are clear, agent Ortiz seems to find the right path and Frank has to close this chapter, that eventually it will be concluded next issue.

Matt Horak and Frank Martin did one hell of a job (again) on this issue. Matt because of his amazing splash pages and scenes during the fight scenes that last for at least 15 pages. Great hand to hand fighting with Frank using all the elements around him to take out dozens of Condor mercs.

Frank Martin set up a dark tone and amazing colors to this issue, once again he let Horak's artwork be even more amazing.

Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire are the perfect team for the covers of this run. Great creative team and how they set up this cover with a perfect aligned sharks formed the eyes and nose and the rocks bellow the ocean formed the teeth of the skull.

The bodies below the ocean and the boat described perfectly what was this story.

The Good:

-Great action;

-Good artwork;

-Compressed storytelling;

-Great cover.

Not so Good:

-

Overall Rate: 9 / 10

posted by @ivomgs

PC POST #341: -REVIEW- PUNISHER #9 (2016)

Punisher #8 is out, with less Punisher but more Agent Ortiz... And it doesn't have to be all that bad.

For those waiting to see a kick ass action scenes with the Punisher, might be disappointed, because there is only one page with him.

But overall it's far from being a boring comic, specially with the art of Matt Horak that gave a great dynamic to the comic with the storytelling of Becky Cloonan.

Becky Cloonan gave a chance to Ortiz to develop a bit more in this comic. It was important, in the past issues Ortiz seemed kind of obsessed with the Punisher instead of putting down the guy responsible for the death of his partner Henderson.

Ortiz is a kick ass character and we can see that in this issue specially in the scenes with Face.

We could have a bit more of the Punisher, sadly we got only one page with a few panels, as a Punisher fan i didn't like it but his lack of appearance was sacrificed with some characters development like Ortiz and Face.

I really liked the artwork, Matt Horak seems the right man to this book, i'm still on the fence about the details of his characters in a distance, but his "close ups" are really amazing and very detailed.

I have to give a special credit to the "crash scene" and the explosion in the Olaf's house. 

Frank Martin, the guy from the "background" is part of the success of Horak's work, like he did with Dillon's. Great coloring and very adequate to the tone of this series.

Decent cover by Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire, this time i'm not surprised with this cover. In fact it's my least favorite of this series, but hey, it's still a very decent artwork. But to me, not at the same level as for example last issue.

Overall i didn't felt so engaged like the previous issues, in terms of plot, but i liked that Cloonan could develop a bit more of Ortiz and Face. I was very surprised how the house of Olaf exploded, didn't saw that coming... i was expecting a simpler trap but nothing so extreme, specially to put his wife and kid in great danger. 

Let's hope we have more "Punisher" in the upcoming issue.

The Good:

-Good development of Ortiz and Face; 

-Great artwork and coloring.

Not so Good:

- Lack of appearence of the main character in this issue;

-Face is still around, barely, but still is.

Overall Rate: 7.0 out of 10

Posted by Ivo Santos (FB/Twitter)

PC POST #337: -REVIEW- THE PUNISHER #7

Punisher #7 marks the last pages of Steve Dillon, unfortunately he didn't finish this issue but Matt Horak stepped in to end this issue and will replace Dillon's as the main artist of this run.

Becky Cloonan didn't dropped the quality of this issue. But when i was reading it felt like a "filler". There was no huge improvements in the plot or any important events for upcoming issues.

On the other side, Becky Cloonan and Matt Horak built an amazing brawl fight between the Punisher and a few members of the Condor, gritty violence, pure fun and entertainment, almost like a western but with a significant amount of gore.

I think its about time that Face can meet his end and about time to see more action from Olaf (which i believe we will see next issue).

The artwork of this comic was divided by Steve Dillon and Matt Horak. There are five pages of Dillon's in this comic and it really gave that nostalgic feeling that he was born to make this comic. Nothing really fancy but it was really enjoyable to see his last work on this.

Matt Horak did a very good job, the first time i read this comic it didn't felt somewhat "off" but after two more reads it looks good.

It seems that Horak tried to adapt his style to Dillon's, it was expectable and understandable, because of the few pages of Dillon's art in this comic but i prefer that he can make his own design in the upcoming issues. I didn't like the look of Frank's face in some panels.

The bar fight was amazing and very well constructed, without a doubt my favorite bar fight i ever read.

The cover from Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire is a masterpiece like they used to do in this current run. Pretty much in context if it was released last issue but in terms of art it's amazing.

Frank Martin as the colorist did a good artwork, in the brawl fight scenes the splash pages are simply amazing.

The editor Jake Thomas did a great tribute to Steve Dillon in the letters page to a great artist with his own style and great storyteller. He will be missed.

Overall Rate: 7 / 10

posted by @ivomgs

PC POST #308: -REVIEW- PUNISHER #4

(W) Becky Cloonan / (A) Steve Dillon / (CA) Declan Shalvey / (C) Frank Martin

Finally our monthly Punisher "fix" is back at a high speed!

Straight out of Mad Max!

Yes, speed is the main constant in this issue. Most of the action with the Punisher and his little passenger Juniper is in the van. Great chase scenes that looked like it was taken from the Mad Max with a truck following Castle's van, fully decorated with spikes and a bunch of crazies in it led by Face.

Juniper turns out to be a great help to Frank at some point during the chase that practically ended it.

DEA is more active in this issue. Agent Ortiz and Henderson are getting closer to Frank and things get crazy in the last pages of this comic book.

Olaf appears in this issue and he seems to have a second agenda more important than just the EMC drugs.

Becky Cloonan once again keep high standards for this issue. There isn't too much plot development but it was solid action. 

We got a few more words changed with Frank and Juniper and Becky explored in the right way the few glimpses of humanity that Frank have left.

Liked how things went crazy for the DEA agents a plus for entertainment and another one to see that things are getting personal.

Steve Dillon was amazing. The chase scenes, the action, the kills and a bit of humor to the mix and we got an explosion of entertainment.

Dillon continues to show us a good artwork with the help of Frank Martin who emphasize his great colors into Dillon's artwork, Frank Martin turned the explosions into epic levels. Really good work of these two in this book.

Declan Shalvey continues to show his great artwork in the cover of this book. It describes perfectly how this book was and ended. Declan was in perfectly sync with Dillon and Cloonan.

Jake G Thomas (editor) really joined an amazing creative team for this book, let's hope it continues forever. It's been great ride and so much fun that i haven't felt in a Punisher comic for some time now.

OVERALL RATE: 8 OUT OF 10

Ivo Santos | @ivomgs

PC POST #307: -PREVIEW- PUNISHER #4

Getting a monthly comic is really hard, specially when the run is good! But finally we another issue coming out next week (3rd, August).

(W) Becky Cloonan / (A) Steve Dillon / (Colors) Frank Martin / (CA) Declan Shalvey, Jordie Bellaire & Chip Zdarsky

MADNESS AHEAD, TROUBLE BEHIND!
• The PUNISHER tracks the psychopathic FACE and his madness-inducing drug EMC to a derelict insane asylum!
• But Punisher's got his own tail: DEA agents, and Face...DRIVING A TANK.
• The little girl in the Punisher's passenger seat might be safer on the side of the road!

Ivo Santos | @ivomgs

PC POST #302: -REVIEW- PUNISHER #3

(W) Becky Cloonan / (A) Steve Dillon / (Cover) Declan Shalvey / (C) Frank Martin

After the events of last issue Frank is still trying to put down this criminal organization who wants to spread this new drug called EMC.

By far this is the best issue so far. Finally things start to kick off.

The plot advances and Face is gathering a few soldiers to test EMC2 that is far more effective than the original.

I really liked how Frank is playing with the DEA leaving them a little present of his presence. So far he is one step forward of agent Ortiz and Henderson.

This issue like the others is action packed and we see the Punisher attacking a lab of EMC that it's guarded by some country "bad boys" led by Josiah. A man who armed his daughter with a bomb as last resort to protect the lab and kill the Punisher.

Becky Cloonan gave us once again a solid issue, action packed, smart Frank and we were teased about his humanity while he dealt with Josiah's daughter.

Another great thing, she bring the Battlevan to a Punisher book! It's been decades that a writer bring that four wheels beast into a Punisher ongoing.

Just wanted to give some shout out for the fantastic variant cover by Becky Cloonan, it's really good and the dark theme was perfect for the character. I really loved to see her artwork more often. Specially for a issue in this current run.

-(Charles Soule introduce us already to the Battlevan during Daredevil/Punisher: 7th Circle).

Variant Cover by Becky Cloonan

The art is well done by Steve Dillon, i said it in the last review that this is the best of his work and this issue just confirms it. It's not by chance that after so many years, he's the most veteran Punisher artist. Great design of the characters and he delivered great action scenes.

Credits for Frank Martin too who gave depth and color to Dillon's artwork.

Congratulations for a great cover by Declan Shalvey, this is his year, since his work will be in many covers of Marvel like Civil War II: Choosing Sides and the Punisher.

Final Words: I am very happy with this last issue, finally i get the feeling that things are getting in a good way. Good action and a simple and comprehensive story, well fit for the character.
I'm getting used to Dillon's artwork every time a Punisher comic is released, i'm following his work since "Welcome Back Frank Back" and he's even better than his previous Punisher works in PunisherMAX and Thunderbolts.

Can't wait for issue #4!

 Overal Rate: 8 out of 10

@ivomgs