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 #397: -REVIEW- THE PUNISHER 221

Sorry about my absence everyone but I've been very occupied with personal things that I couldn't update the blog or the reviews.

Still got to catch up with the reviews of Punisher #222 and Platoon #5 and #6.

After Frank got outnumbered by the rogue ex-SHIELD agents they did a good amount of damage to the armor and Frank drop into the sea. 

This story told us how he gets back into the "game" with the armor ready to continue the mission.

Matthew Rosenberg doesn't waste time in telling us a good Punisher story with a great pace even when it slows down a bit he recovers the pace in a few panels. It's amazing on how he can deliver such a great Punisher comic without a dull moment.

Matthew's Punisher punishes. Even without the armor. For those who want to see Frank Castle as he is, Matt's didn't forget those fans too. In this issue, he goes around mostly without the armor punishing bad people to get what he wants. 

This arc is getting good and good for those who were skeptic about how good this could be seeing Frank in a foreign country to take down some guy who hurt Nick Fury feelings, well... it is fun. It is fun seeing Frank destroying dozens of military troops who work for Petrov's, smashing vehicles and getting rid of Petrov organization. He could've done it without the War Machine suit, sure... but it would've been tougher and require a lot of prep work. Now, Frank doesn't need to take cover because of bullets. He flies straightforward to the targets with no hesitations.

Guiu Vilanova is doing a great work with the collaboration with Lee Loughridge on the colors. These two set a great theme for this comic book. Sometimes too dark but nothing that could harm the art overall.

The action is very dynamic and very well made. It's bloody when it needs to be and this creative team makes it flawlessly. 

I'm still not a fan of the Punisher being similar to his Netflix counterpart (Jon Bernthal). I still prefer a generic face than a character in the comic that looks like an actor. The cover artist Clayton Crain used to give us high-quality artwork and he delivers it. Great colors, great art, and great dynamic.

Overall Rate: 8.5 / 10 

review by Ivo Santos

PC POST #394: PUNISHER: PLATOON is over! But Ennis work with Frank Castle isn't.

Punisher: Platoon #6, was released today and it ended in the best way possible. Still got reviews of issues #4, #5 and #6 to make for the blog but I will keep it spoiler free for you to enjoy the great news below.

After reading Punisher: Platoon #6, I thought Ennis was done with his work with the Punisher, at least for a while. But no! In the letters page, Ennis just gave all the readers some insight of his future plans if they are approved.

"Pretty soon we will see our hero-- on his second tour of duty, now with the Marine Recon-- fighting shoulder to shoulder with the one man who loves combat even more than he does.
Beyond that, I'm talking with the editor Nick Lowe about another Punisher story, a contemporary one this time,  featuring... Well, I may have said too much".

So let's make some sort of breakdown of this statement.

I couldn't be more excited to see that Ennis work with the Punisher is far from being done. It seems that he's born for the character as the time goes by, more and more I believe in this.

Looks like Ennis is already preparing two gifts to all Punisher fans, first, a sequel to the Platoon when Frank enters the Marine recon. Ennis hints us that he will fighting be with "one man who loves combat even more than he does", there aren't many characters in the MAX universe who could share this feeling with Frank, my guess will be a guest appearance of Nick Fury.

The second piece of good news is that we might have a modern story of the Punisher. Ennis didn't unveil details if it's a MAX story or set in 616 Universe but if he's writing I'm on board. Day one.

Written by Ivo Santos

PC POST #393: No more Punisher as War Machine in May?

Marvel announced a "fresh start" for their books to begin in May. Some titles will be renumbered and "lose" their legacy numbering.
Marvel is promising new creative teams, new storylines, new beginnings and new directions.

At least this change will bring back the classic characters we care and love.

So what this has to do with Punisher: War Machine? Well in my opinion everything.

As you can see in the poster of this new promotion, the Punisher is on the right side of Spider-Man. 

He's with his regular suit, not War Machine. I'm happy with the "back to basics" but I've enjoyed a lot of this Punisher War Machine run written by Matthew Rosenberg.

Rosenberg said that his run would be a miniseries but I always thought it would be a matter of sale numbers to keep it going for just a while. I was expecting a maxiseries and after this arc when he hunts down Petrov's army he could deal with the likes of Iron Man and Captain Marvel due to their relationship with James Rhodes and seeing the Punisher using the War Machine armor to do his own war.

Again, this doesn't mean they will end this war machine run, my theory is just based on the teaser above when we see the Punisher with his regular gear. But we have to wait for the upcoming Marvel solicitations to May and find out what will happen to the Punisher War Machine.

Article by Ivo Santos

PC POST #392: [Rumor] Punisher Season 2 new character descriptions and a possible storyline

Earlier today we've been hinted by The Hashtag Show about three character roles for Marvel TV. This is still a rumor, not an official source. But still, they did some logical connections.

Marvel TV is looking to cast two female and one male role. Those characters names are:

Annie Beir - A 16-year-old who is described as “someone who is used to the streets and is both scrappy and aware of her environment.”

Kim Davis -A mid 30's female regular series therapist.

Melvin Skelling - An honest detective in his early-30's.

The Hashtag Show make the logical connection that Annie Beir might be Viorica from the Slavers arc, one of the darkest stories ever written for the Punisher by Garth Ennis. In this story, Frank saves this young girl (Viorica) whose story helps Frank discover those behind the sex slaves ring. Vera Konstantin and Cristu Bulat.

This is where Kim Davis might enter if she will have the same role as Jen Cooke in that story.
Jen Cooke is a social worker who helped Frank put down the sex slaves ring.

Viorica

Jen Cooke

The other character breakdown connection was Melvin Skelling being Martin Soap. Martin Soap does have nothing to do with the Slavers arc, but the character made his first debut in "Welcome Back, Frank". He was part of a "damned" police department that no one wanted to belong. The Punisher Task Force. Soap is a good cop but during the Punisher MK run by Ennis, he was one of the unluckiest characters ever in a Punisher comic.

Again, this is just speculation. It's not official. But it would be great to see The Slavers being portrayed in the Punisher season 2. Being this story one of the darkest stories ever written for the Punisher, it would be a good call to see Frank back as the Punisher.

Steve Lightfoot revealed that he would like to see Barracuda and Kathryn O'Brien in the Punisher series. Not to mention Billy Russo as Jigsaw that might appear in season 2. Too many things in hands and very few info.

So far the only official details about the show are that it will be set in New York and they will start shooting this year.


Written by Ivo Santos

PC POST #388: -REVIEW- MARVEL'S THE PUNISHER & Easter Eggs!

Non-Spoiler Review

Ten days have passed and two times I've watched the Marvel's the Punisher and my opinion didn't change at all since the first time... It was brilliant.

I've been waiting years, hoping for a good depiction of the Punisher and it's finally here. I can official say that Jon Bernthal is my Punisher.

Jon Bernthal's portrayal of the character is my favorite of all the movies we know ( Punisher 89', The Punisher 04' and The Punisher War-Zone 08') but it's tricky and might not be likable by Punisher fans from Grant, Dixon and Ennis.
Frank Castle in this series is a violent man. But as a character, if we compare to the comics written by the previous authors I mentioned, he's more sociable in the way he relates to other characters, remembering me a lot of the early runs from Mike Baron and Carl Potts. But make no mistake, the violence of this show can be almost on par with Punisher MAX.
There are details that I didn't like. Sometimes Jon Bernthal portrayed a Frank Castle too emotional in certain circumstances, we get it he's more human but sometimes he needed to be a little tougher. But it's a minor detail and only in two times at most that we have seen him behaving like this.

This series doesn't have non-stop action. Like if we compare to Punisher: War-Zone. But we will have Frank Castle kicking ass for eleven episodes out of thirteen. This series, unlike the movies, had the time to develop Frank's story and the other two subplots.
I felt that it should be space for one episode to show us Frank's family being assassinated and Frank waking up from the coma and trying to fix things using the legal system. It would be important for the audience to understand that he was failed by the system like it was showed in Punisher: Year One.

Marvel's the Punisher wouldn't be good without all the actors and actress that paved the way for its success. Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Micro, Amber Rose Revah as Dinah Madani, Ben Barnes as Billy Russo and Deborah Ann Woll as Karen were the main foundation of these series.
It's unforgettable the moments we had between Frank and Micro, starting with torture and ending with friendship, Dinah Madani a Homeland agent who fought against the system to get the truth, Karen Page who was great help to Frank in providing intel about Micro and of course, Billy Russo who was amazingly played by Ben Barnes. With 25 years of reading Punisher comics, THIS Billy Russo is my favorite portrayal of the character in any media. Take this from a guy who didn't like Billy Russo/Jigsaw as a character in comics.

I have to mentioned and give a shout out to the filming quality image, great colors and it wasn't as dark as Daredevil season 2. Fantastic panorama shots and filmmaking.
Tyler Bates did the score for this series and it's superb! Great fit for the series and those like me who love to appreciate scores, you will get goosebumps when you hear some of them and relate to specific scenes.

The most notorious characters in the series.

Micro - Amazing cast. Just as good as Barnes for Billy Russo. This Micro is an updated version of our days modern ex-NSA analyst going rogue, with a Snowden-ish style. Nowadays the usual nerd isn't the "fat guy" behind the computer who eats trash food.
Micro was the main foundation to help Frank achieving his objectives and primarily while he was doing that he helped Micro achieving his. The bromance between both characters was really good to see. A relationship that began with torture end up like a good friendship. It's impossible not to laugh between the rants of these two characters on many occasions.

Billy Russo - What a role... and cast. Ben Barnes fit perfectly to the role. Not to mention the twist Netflix give this classic Punisher character. He isn't some hitman from the mafia. like he is portrayed in the comics, he is Frank's friend and possesses the same skillset as Frank due to his experience in the Marines corp. Finally Frank might have a true nemesis.

OVERALL RATE: 9 out of 10

Now let's go into the easter eggs and watch OUT for the SPOILERS!!

Easter Eggs & Punisher references

Some easter eggs you will see featured in this article you won't see it anywhere. I will only mention the easter eggs that are related to the Punisher source material. References or things outside this won't be mentioned. There are some references I did in a previous article.

In the episodes list we have two references to the comics...

Ep.9 Front Toward the Enemy

Name of the Punisher MAX comic book written by Ennis

Ep.13 Memento Mori

The name of the first issue of Edmondson's and Gerads run.

In the first episode, we get some references to the comics.

Frank's look in the series just like the Punisher run from Greg Rucka 

The Sledgehammer fight is a clear homage to PunisherMAX 11.

The Gnuccis

Was a gang led by Ma Gnucci in the comics. Ma didn't appear in the series but the door was left open to a possible plot in the upcoming Punisher season ( If we have one) when she can avenge the death of her own member or maybe he has some with familial ties.

"Welcome Back, Frank"

During the end of the first episode, when Micro is trying to track down Frank and spot him. He says "Welcome Back, Frank". That's a reference from the first Punisher miniseries written by Garth Ennis.

Kandahar scenes / Punisher: BORN

On episode 3 we got an amazing scene when certainly is an homage to Punisher: Born. Frank's platoon is being cornered and Frank goes alone into a warehouse in "one man army" mode and wastes all the hostiles by himself.

Pinball Machine

Seen on episode four when Frank kills the mook and put him above a pinball machine, a clear easter from this classic figure.

Flamethrower

We continue on episode four and Frank gets into a van full of weapons of the Homeland Security, he scares the agents with a flamethrower. 

Frank used a similar maneuver in the comics by Ennis but he did actually burn the criminals to a crisp.  

Curtis Hoyle

The same name, different characters. Both knew Frank in the war. The MCU version is one of the most trustable people Frank know and a good friend. The comics version cross paths with Frank in the Vietnam but he started working with a crooked general Van Tran's, tried to kill Frank, but Frank threw him out of the helicopter.

Battlevan

After a long absence from comics and the movies, the Battlevan is back. In the comics, it was literally a walking tank. Equipped by Microchip with all sorts of guns and gadgets to aid the Punisher in his missions. 

The MCU version is a regular van where they use only for mobility.

Senator Ori

Ori appeared in the Punisher comics back into the 90's in the War Journal run. Ori was a senator with ties with the mob and he began a quest for vengeance because Frank killed his crooked nephew. In the series, Ori is a senator who defends gun control and tries to frame Frank accusing him of being attacking the hotel with Lewis.

Pete Castiglione

In the comics, Castiglione is the original of Frank Castle. He changed his name to  Frank Castle just to make another tour in Vietnam. In the series, Frank Castle was known to the public as a dead man, he adopted the name of Pete Castiglione and tried to live a normal life... for a while.

Fight Ali vs Foreman

This fight was mentioned in episode 5. Where the father of Lewis emphasizes the date (1974) give us a hint of the first appearance of the Punisher in the comics. In Amazing Spider-Man #129.

Barracuda Reference

On the seventh episode after Frank Castle took the data from Bennet's cell phone. Billy Russo said to Bennet that if it wasn't for himself, Frank Castle would probably have Bennet's testicles hooked up to a car battery. Pretty much what Frank did to Barracuda.

Painted Face

Another reference to the comics when Frank is prepping himself to face ANVIL he paints the face just like in the YEAR ONE comics when he was ready to hit Billy Russo's headquarters.

 Shooting the Head

Another reference but now for Punisher MAX. In comics version, this scene is when he's killing Microchip, they used the same shot when he's executing one of the ANVIL's agents.

Billy Russo / Jigsaw

The final fight between Frank and Russo was superb. In the final scenes, we saw the same scenes from the panels of PUNISHER: YEAR ONE comic. When Frank puts Russo in front of the mirror and smashes his face into it.

 Finally I could complete this review, almost two weeks after the show. A bit late but didn't want to spoil anyone. I hope you enjoy it.

Done by Ivo Santos (twitter)

PC POST #386: -REVIEW- THE PUNISHER #17

 Becky Cloonan's 17th issue of her Punisher series comes to an end with a bittersweet taste.

The problem I had with this particular issue is that the Punisher behavior didn't make any sense. And once again he put innocent lives in danger. Like it happened to the homeless veteran a couple of issues ago.

The storytelling of this issue is very compressed and in terms of action is very straightforward while we are constantly being teased for the main event. The fight with the Punisher and Face.

The fight was enjoyable and even the contribute from the supporting characters was very important to the conclusion of this fight. 

I still don't understand why he let that actress and the director be in this fight or even let the director film his own actions to take out Face.

Matt Horak's art continues to keep his own quality, I get the feeling the more he would've worked on this issue the better he would become. 

The splash scenes were good and every panel of the fight between Face and Frank was worth it. There were a few dark panels and like issue #14 I really liked how Horak draws dark pages. Great shadows and pretty detailed despite the lack of "light".

The cover was decent. Not the best I've seen in this run but decent. Different than I am used to seeing in a Punisher comic. I didn't like the pattern of skulls in the back but overall it was a very decent.

Overall Rate: 7 out of 10

The final verdict of the run: Becky Cloonan portrayed one hell of a Frank Castle. Probably the most accurate to the classic stories of the past decades. He punished evildoers with everything he got like Bear traps, swords and all kinds of crazy stuff. I have to give it to Cloonan she imprinted one hell of diversity tools that Frank handle it perfectly. It might not be for everyone's taste but it was good for me. This Frank Castle doesn't mess around with or without weapons.

The best moment of this comic was around issue 13 to 15. I freaking love those one-shot stories, I think this was the best Punisher Cloonan could offer. It was great seeing the Punisher dealt with common problems aside from the "super stuff" like the EMC.

The weak point was the main arc of this comic, I've said it in many reviews that 12 issues for the Condor arc were too much. Long arcs don't work with the Punisher. The formula doesn't need to be reinvented. 5/6 issues one arc. It just took too long to finish this storyline.

The fact that Steve Dillon passed away was a huge blow to this comic. Matt Horak dealt with his own way which was good but no one can be Dillon and like no one can be Matt Horak.

Horak gives his best and I think, honestly he was up to the task. But, Steve Dillon was born for this kind of storyline that Cloonan wanted to tell.

My only regrets for this run was that I haven't seen Cloonan's interior art and didn't have a good amount of one-shot stories, those good "domestic" storylines that I grow up with.

Overall Rate for the Run: 7.5 out of 10.

PC POST #384: -PREVIEW- PUNISHER #218 and tons of Variant Covers!

In the last days it was released a few pages of the artwork and bits of the story of this new Punisher run by Matthew Rosenberg and on pencils Guiu Villanova that it will begin on 15th of November, two days before Marvel's the Punisher.

Cover by Clayton Crain

FRANK CASTLE: WAR MACHINE  Part 1

For years, Frank Castle has been fighting a one-man war against criminals who endanger the innocent, but when a certain one-eyed operative offers him the tools to take his fight global...how could he say no? Find out how Frank found his way into the WAR MACHINE Armor! PLUS: Includes 3 bonus MARVEL PRIMER PAGES!

Variant Covers!

TV Variant

Tim Bradstreet

Greg Smallwood

Mike McKone

Leinil Yu

So far, the art of Guiu made me want that I could see a bit more of the Punisher without the War Machine armor. These preview splash pages are very well developed and it's pure straight up 90's action. Not to mention how the Punisher looks exactly like Jon Bernthal!

Can't wait for November, it will be a great month for us, Punisher fans!

Tomorrow don't forget to pick up Punisher #17 and Punisher: Platoon #2!

Posted by Ivo Santos