Punisher #1 - Comic Review

 

The Punisher is perhaps one of the strangest characters at Marvel. Not because of who he is in the universe or the stories that are told with him, but because of the way he's spread beyond the page. Despite the character making it clear in the books more than once that he hates criminals, fascists, and corrupt cops, his skull symbol has become an image that's associated with all of them. Some of the worst kinds of people have glorified the Punisher, and adorn themselves with his symbol. As such, it's no surprise that Marvel would want to get rid of the character for a bit.

In his last run, Frank Castle changed his symbol, and through the process of the story was pretty thoroughly deconstructed, and eventually destroyed (it's comics, so he'll be back eventually). But for now, the Punisher as we knew him is gone. This has given Marvel the opportunity to start with something of a clean slate.

Punisher issue one begins with the death of a family. Detectives have been called out to a house fire in the suburbs, where the Garrison family have been found dead. Whilst it's initially believed to be a simple gas leak, one of the cops discovers an un-exploded bomb, that indicates that the family were the targets of a murder. And, with the father, Joe, missing, he becomes prime suspect number one.

Whilst the authorities comb through his home Joe, a former S.H.I.E.L.D. assassin, makes his way through the city's underworld, searching for the man who killed his family. Armed with some high-tech weapons, a set of S.H.I.E.L.D. body armour, and the assistance of his former handler, Triple A, Joe chases his target through gang controlled bars, into the sewers, and through the subway, eventually coming face to face with the man who took everything from him.

So, we have a murdered family, a former solider out for revenge, and the killings of criminals and gang members; what makes this different from Frank Castle's Punisher? Well, not a huge amount. The things that made the Punisher work, the bare bones of the character and his mission are here in this new book. This is a good thing for me, as it means that the stuff people liked about the character is still there, the flavour of the book hasn't changed a whole lot. The flip side of this is that with it being so similar, but not being Frank Castle you might have folks asking 'what was the point?'.

And it seems like the point was to move the character away from Frank Castle and his imagery. No matter what Marvel does with the character he seems to end up back where he was, and even though they recently changed his logo, he's always going back to that skull. The skull that has some very negative connotations now for reasons outside of Marvel's control. Joe Garrison is a fresh slate, and they're able to launch this new Punisher without that negative image connected to him. Joe's armour makes the suggestion of the skull, but he never wears it. His chest piece has some segments that light up that hint at eyes and nostrils, and some of his pouches on his belt make the teeth. It uses negative space and tiny elements to make your brain think skull without ever actually putting it on the page.

I kind of like his look. The glowy patches on him might not seem like the most sensible thing, as they draw the eye and make him a target, but I assume that they can be switched off if he wants, and perhaps they're like Batman's yellow logo, and it's designed to draw fire to the most armoured part of the body. But despite that I like his look. He's more high-tech than Frank, and even his weapons reflect that too, with guns that fire energy rather than bullets, that make electronic noises when they're pulled out, and that open up and transform. His rail-gun is also pretty cool and used in a fun way in the issue too. With some folks sure to question why you'd even bother replacing Frank Castle it seems like Joe Garrison is potentially the best way to do it.

David Wachter does the art on the issue, with Dan Brown colouring, and the book looks really good. It's a Punisher title, so it's dark and grimy, and the art reflects that, but it never strays into the realms of messy or ugly. The book looks good, and the action scenes are easy to follow and have some great moments scattered throughout them. The designs for the characters are good, and there are a couple of panels that look really cool and creative, such as when a subway train is speeding past a character standing on the other platform, and we're seeing the effect of them standing there are is flies past.

Overall the first issue of this new Punisher series seems like a decent start to the new character. It's familiar enough to not feel like a drastic overhaul or reinvention, but has enough new elements to be trying things different enough to move it away from Frank Castle. I'm sure there will be criticisms of it for not being different enough, or even just existing, but I had a good time with this.

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