What comic books have you read today? Part two.19596
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| Wow, I’m glad I already read this. There wouldn’t be a point now. | ||
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 Issue 2 goes by pretty quickly. It begins with the police investigating the home explosion unable to find a history for Joe and then spot him on subway footage fighting Hyde in the last issue. We’re then introduced to a Kingpin-like character called The Offer. Joe is breaking into his building to get to him. When he’s spotted on surveillance The Offer calls in his security team, The Night Shift, to stop him. The Night Shift is a team of villains lead by Bushwacker and includes The Eel, an electricty-based villain, Finesse, daughter of the Taskmaster with “photographic reflexes” and training from AIM and SHIELD, and Doughboy, a clayface-like villain. Each villain gets a couple of pages before Joe dispatches them. He sneaks up on Eel and knocks him out with a fire extinguisher. Finesse is able to avoid Joe’s gunshots and from his movements recognizes that he’s not Castle but was former SHIELD. When she gets in close for the kill, Joe uses Eel’s electric glove to incapacitate her. Doughboy tries engulfing Joe but he pulls several grenades, taking the blast to his advances SHIELD ballistic vest and blowing Doughboy apart. This scene kind of reminded me of a scenes in the Thunderbolts Red series where Frank was wearing some kind of advanced vest himself, attaches a claymore mine to it and uses it to blow up a hulked out soldier. The fight with Bushwacker gets a few pages with the two shooting at each other down a stairwell until they arrive to a room under the piano bar where the fight began. Joe triggers some explosives that bring the piano crashing down on Bushwacker. The fight itself was pretty cool, for how short it was, but the ending was a little too Looney Tunes for me and it’s hard to imagine when Joe would’ve planted the explosives and why he’d have the inclination to. When Joe finally meets The Offer he demands information on who killed his family. The Offer tells him he doesn’t know but that it was a hit sent out across the dark web but not for Joe but for his wife, who worked as a secretary and flagged payments going to shady people. When the offer asks if they are good Joe throws him out of the window. It looks to be dozens of floors up but The Offer hits an awning and then onto a car and survives the fall; apparently Joe did not intend to kill him. This also reminded me of s previous Punisher moment, though the mobster didn’t walk away from that encounter  The issue is once again solid though Joe really can’t escape comparisons to Frank and the fact that, in the story, it’s meant to be unintended on his part (it’s the press giving him the name because of the giant Skull Joe is wearing) just feels weird. If I were to guess, I’d imagine that the story arc was meant to conclude with Joe accepting that he is the new Punisher but we’ll see if the story manages to get that far. I did like the twist that the target of the murder wasn’t Joe but his wife. I’d definitely like to see where that takes the story but with only two issues left, I’m betting it won’t be especially satisfying |
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 If the viagra is working you should be well over a 9.8.
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Quote:Originally Posted by dielinfinite He's on the cover of the current Elektra (Daredevil) series, but I haven't read them. |
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| @xkonk Interesting! Looks like he’ll be featured at least until Issue 4 of Woman Without Fear. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like that series is on Marvel Unlimited yet so I’ll have to read that later. Thus far these are Joe’s only appearances so he’s not exactly storming the Marvel Universe. It’s neat that he’s interacting with Elektra but again but why have Joe retread the same ground as Frank instead of sending him out in his own direction? With his high-tech angle Joe seems like he should be facing off against more powered or sci-fi enemies, basically more super-villains, than Frank’s more street level niche. |
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 I really enjoyed issue 3, though not perfect. It begins with Joe being chased by the detectives investigating the murder of his family. Joe is injured and has apparently been drugged with a fear toxin. He hides away in a warehouse. The cops call for backup but there’s some kind of gang war elsewhere in the Marvel Universe New York so they have to go in alone. The fight with Fearmaster, apparently the daughter of Mister Fear, is little more than a scuffle before she hides away. Most of the issue is Joe having Scarecrow-like fear hallucinations of his murdered family. Joe expresses his desire to join his family but they tell him that his mission isn’t as simple as he thinks. Joe stumbles on a room with dozens of people strung up from the ceiling, previous victims of Fearmaster, who was hired by the same person that put the contract out on Joe’s wife. Joe realizes his mission is not just to avenge his family but everyone that’s been killed by the people that killed his family. Throughout the issue there’s an ongoing thread of the fear toxin straining Joe’s heart, possibly to the point of killing him. Intercut with Joe’s hallucinations, Triple-A’s base is attacked by unknown thugs. She puts up a fight but is captured. Meanwhile, one of the detectives is killed by Fearmaster who then attacks the second. Joe’s heart gives out, but literally for a single frame when his heart starts beating again. When Fearmaster is just about to kill the second detective, Joe bursts in and beats on Fearmaster and ultimately snaps her neck. The detective tries to arrest Joe but Joe tells him he didn’t kill his family. Joe shows the detective a map he’d found earlier with targets list and tells him that whoever funded Fearmaster is planning an attack on upcoming peace talks. The detective asks who’s running it but Joe says he only knows the name is Jigsaw (he’s shown as a masked figure so we’ll see if this is the Jigsaw we already know). I enjoyed this issue since it gave us a little character development for Joe and helped crystalize his mission and made it sufficiently different from Frank’s. I’m not a huge fan that they keep tossing C-list villains at him or the children of villains at him and that they only last one issue. Another thing I’m not a fan of is how much happens off-screen, though I imagine part of that is due to the book being cut short. We don’t see what lead Joe to The Offer last issue, though I could kind of let that go if he’s meant to be a well-known information broker in the underworld. In this issue though, we don’t see anything leading up to the start of the issue. Sure starting in media res is an artistic choice but I still would’ve liked to see Joe’s first encounter with Fearmaster, how the cops found him to give chase, and definitely how he found the name Jigsaw. I know Joe wouldn’t die in this issue but still, I would’ve preferred they play up the drama of it a little instead of having him flatline, cut to one frame of the detective fighting Fearmaster, and then cut back to Joe’s heart beating once more. One thing I haven’t really talked about is the artwork by Dave Watcher. I’ve really enjoyed the art thus far. His work is very detailed and shines especially with the more grotesque creatures Joe encounters like Mister Hyde, Fearmaster, and the charred corpses of Joe’s family. Sometimes it can take on a more sketchy quality for certain scenes. |
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 Issue 4 again moves at a fast pace. It begins with Jigsaw’s goons infiltrating the peace talks and planting Fearmaster’s toxin into the vent. The plan is to foil the peace talks by having the delegates kill each other under the influence of the fear toxin. As the gas begins to deploy and the delegates between fighting, Joe crashes through the window and begins killing Jigsaw’s goons. He then uses some electric nunchucks to stun the delegates but is overwhelmed. He then triggers the fire sprinklers and uses the nunchucks to stun everyone at once but is then surrounded by Jigsaw’s goons. Upon Joe’s arrival, Jigsaw orders his goons elsewhere to Kill Triple-A, per his ultimatum in the previous issue. Triple-A is trying to cut her bonds with some kind of laser torch when the goon comes in to kill her but is himself shot by the surviving detective. Joe had him track one of the tracer bullets from the first issue to find her. Triple-A then takes the dead guard’s communicator and uses some kind of terminal to send a signal that stuns all of Jigsaw’s goons, allowing Joe to confront Jigsaw (Jigsaw is also the name of the organization btw). As Joe fires at Jigsaw, Jigsaw activates a SHIELD signal that disables Joe’s hi-tech guns. While Joe is momentarily confused, Jigsaw shoots him with a gun that is able to punch through his armor. Joe gets in close and fights hand-to-hand but Jigsaw pulls a hidden knife, cutting him. As Jigsaw gloats over the wounded Joe, he finally accepts that he’s the (new) Punisher and tackles Jigsaw through the window. Jigsaw is impaled on a sculpture but is still alive and babbles on about how the organization and how Joe will never win. Joe grab’s Jigsaw’s gun and kills him. The detective waits for Joe at a diner while Joe’s thought text, which in previous issues was labeled as a Mission Log is now his War Journal. Joe meets the detective who hands over a file on rumored Jigsaw activity. Joe tells the detective that Triple-A added his name to the list of casualties at the peace talks so he won’t be hunted for his family’s murder as he goes off to wage his war on Jigsaw. Again, I feel like a lot of shortcomings with the book are due to the truncated length. Jigsaw is a flat villain with a very generic “war is good for business” motivation and the his reason for killing Joe’s family is just as thin. So as a big-bad he’s kind of generic, which is fine but again, why name him Jigsaw if only to invite further comparisons to Castle’s tenure as the Punisher? As I mentioned in a previous post, Joe’s hi-tech arsenal has him better suited for facing more super villains than Frank’s usual stomping grounds and to an extent, the series seems to agree. In the first issue Joe fights Mister Hyde, in the second he fights a team of c-tier super villains, and issue 3 he fought Fearmaster. In issue four it was anonymous goons (they’re literally all wearing face masks) and it was a little anticlimactic for it since Joe was able to dispatch them fairly easily. Yeah Jigsaw got some shots in but it never felt like the odds were as against Joe as they were when he fought Hyde. Overall, I think this is a decent introduction for a new character to take on the name Punisher, though I ro hope we see Frank back at it sooner rather than later. Joe’s got a mysterious violent past as the gravedigger of SHIELD though the book never goes into it too much. I’d be interested in seeing that explored more and also for Joe’s personality to be fleshed out a little more. |
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 Beaten by boat oars
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| Ghostlore #12 wraps up the miniseries. Once again, an interesting concept of a father and daughter being able to converse with spirits after a car accident and helping shepherd them in the afterlife after their stories are told. At some point, this douche who also sees dead people tries to form a ghost army but they stop him, and there is peace on Earth and goodwill towards man. I'll be honest, the story didn't need to be 12 issues. It is also harder to follow along when only a few issues are released consecutively before the creative team takes a break to focus on other projects. Either have the shit ready to go or don't do it until you do. House of Slaughter #25 wraps up the current storyline. It was alright. A tale of betrayal and revenge. Public Domain #7. The creative team argues, and that's really it. Good dialogue and character interaction. I did pick up the first two issues of the tie-in series. I'll get around to those in my next update.  Hello Darkness #1. It crams a lot into the issue and some stuff doesn't need to be there. There is a tie-in to Something is Killing the Children. It has its own title, so why should it be here also? Mostly the first story and the last story were the ones that stick out. The first story could have used another page or two of exposition, while the Ennis story at the end is a "to be continued" story. Garth knocks it out of the park on the dialogue because he really makes it a point to show how some people enjoy being pretentious.  Transformers #11. Prime leads a raid on Shockwave's citadel to rescue his friends who were captured. Shockwave is a whackjob in a purely logical sense. I'm picking up the vibe that other Decepticons aren't taking kindly to his dismissal of their concerns for some of their missing comrades.  Wolverine: Revenge #1. Ok, kinda cool. Not sure what continuity this is in since a lot of folks die, but Logan is in the Savage Land and gets recruited by white Nick Fury when Magneto's death releases an EMP knocking out power around a good chunk of the globe. Wolvie teams with Captain America, white boy Fury and a few others to go after the Brotherhood which consists of the likes of Sabretooth, Deadpool and Omega Red amongst others. Nice start to the story so I'd like to know if this will be more layered than a standard Wolverine "revenge" tale that we've seen ad nauseum.  Wolverine: Deep Cut #2. Wolverine dispatched of Sabretooth in the last issue and is now hunting down the rest of the Marauders on his quest to find Mr. Sinister. He makes a discovery on Sinister's cloning experiments which will lead to the next issue. Lots of action and enough story to move the plot.  Get Fury #4. Frank is helping white Fury's smash piece by getting into the Hanoi Hilton to bust out Nick. The big meanies in the CIA aren't too confident in Frank and Nick's deaths being imminent so they are working behind the scenes to ensure they don't make it back to South Vietnam.  Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #1-6. Kitty's father decides he needs to conduct business with the Yakuza. Willingly working with organized crime typically works out for everyone. Long story short, Kitty trails him to Japan and Wolverine eventually shows up. Kitty is brainwashed by Ogun and tries to kill Wolverine. She gets better and Wolverine fights Ogun who is his old friend. This is a very good storyline by Chris Claremont with Al Milgrom art. Check it out.       |
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I'm a McNugget guzzler.
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| Man, 2 places in town dropped the ball on Get Fury #4. | ||
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| Just starting this series. Story by Larry Hancock and John Ellis Sech. Art and cover by Michael Cherkas. The cult-classic series about alien invasions and conspiracy paranoia was years ahead of its time. In the 1950s, reporter Matt is investigating UFOs when he aids a beautiful woman, becoming a target of the FBI in the process.  |
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