wktf
12-18-2008, 11:08 AM
A Dark Reign has settled over the Marvel Universe and so, appropriately, The Mighty Reviewers have changed our Secret Invasion Heidi Banner to a most truly awesome (gotta love that whip!) Dark Reign Heidi Banner. All hail the mighty Dawg for his vision and skills in crafting this, the most awesome banner to hit this forum.
Catching my breath, it's on to the reviews!
Dawg’s Reveiws
Uncanny X-Men #505
Marvel Comics
Written by: Matt Fraction
Drawn by: Terry Dodson
It’s Matt Fraction week here in the Dawg portion of this weeks Mighty Reviews. One theme seems to run constantly across the mutant titles in the Marvel Universe. They are feared and hated everywhere they go. The mayor of San Francisco has welcomed the X-Men to her city with open arms, but it seems that many have not and the mutie hate continues. Most recently this hate is being spewed forth by a relative of Bolivar Trask (the creative madman behind the mutant hunting sentinels).
Cyclops offers to relocate again, but the mayor refuses stating that San Francisco has always been a haven for those not deemed normal enough for regular society… the freaks, the monsters, and now the mutants. For better or worse X-Fans… the muties are from the west coast now and in truth the stories thus far seem familiar but much more invigorated and fresh.
Colossus on the other hand is in a major funk. He lost Kitty to space and he is not pleased at all. Taking Cyclops orders to not come back until he gets whatever it is out of his system, he heads to a tavern Wolverine style. He gets far more than his drinks as a piece of his past comes crashing into his life at just the right time for him to work off a little aggression.
The X-Men seem to have a weird vibe going on in the house. Certain members of the team are returning at weird hours, bruised, battered, tired, and as Emma puts it “sullen even for X-Men.” Members like Angel and X-23 and Wolverine. Emma asks Scott about what is going on and Scott gives her a reception that is worthy of the term ICY…
Emma does not like that Scott may know something that she does not have access to and a part of his mind that is untouchable for Emma. We all know this dirty little secret is X-Force: Scott’s little wetwork team of X-Men.
Emma has a chat with Storm about it all and Storm fills Emma in on Scott and how he has been trained to be a warrior and a leader in ways that he may not even realize and that above all he loves her and is probably just protecting everyone the best he can.
What does Emma do in response to this? Well she makes a phone call and accepts an invitation a meeting. This meeting we all know by now is Norman Osborn’s little evil Illuminati gathering as seen in Dark Reign by Bendis and Maleev.
Oh how very interesting Emma… You have me intrigued as to your intentions. On one hand Fraction plays it as if she’s a woman scorned, but on the other, Emma is doing her best to lead and not have her people slaughtered. It’s going to get very interesting.
So far I must say, I like the pairing of Fraction and Dodson on the X-Men far better than Brubaker and Land. I love the way Bru writes… but Fraction seems to get the X-Men characters and their voices a bit better. I thought this issue was fantastic and as an X-Men fan of 23 years now, I really like where their corner of the Marvel Universe is heading. The books have really been well done since Messiah Complex and it feels like Marvel is once again committed to them like they were in the 80’s.
And as a “bonus” this week? Not a page of Wolverine in this issue for all of the haters who say he is in every Marvel book every month… That coupled with the fact that the Beast is creating an All Science Team with Dr. Nemesis to figure out the riddle of mutant extinction make this my pick of the week.
Invincible Iron Man #8
Marvel Comics
Written by: Matt Fraction
Drawn by: Salvador Larocca
Tony Stark has been on top of the world for a while now… literally and figuratively as the head of SHIELD. The Skrulls invaded, and all of the work the Tony had done to protect the world was undone in an instant as the little green men made the heroes of the Marvel Universe look like nitwits. Inevitably as we all know, the Skrulls were stopped… but not by Tony’s promises. It was by a large gun toted by none other than Norman Osborn.
Now for some reason Norman is the hero of the world. Never mind that if it weren’t for Thor, they probably all would have had their asses handed to them, but the world sees Norman as the man who saved the planet.
SHIELD has been disbanded, Tony Stark is public enemy number one, and he is sent packing from being the head of SHIELD in favor of Norman’s new outfit HAMMER.
Maria Hill is out too as the rest of the soldiers from SHIELD being absorbed by Norman’s outfit seems to rather enjoy. At least she has a job with Tony as I have really come to like Maria Hill’s character. What that job will be considering that Tony has nothing at the moment is anyone’s guess however.
During the Skrull attack, Tony’s Extremis was basically given a virus and was shut down. This disabled almost all of Stark Tech across the planet. He cannot fly his newest set of Armor properly without it and he’s quite the mess… yet somehow, he’s still Tony Stark and he’s got that swagger.
In a scene that is rendered and written so damn good it’s almost pick of the week worthy in itself, Norman and Tony exchange un-pleasantries over Norman wanting access to all of the information in the Super Human Registration Act. Norman has been given the keys to the kingdom and he wants everything including the civilian identities Tony swore to protect. What follows in this book is truly some of the best pages of 2008 in my opinion and needless to say Tony is in for a world of trouble as Norman declares war on Tony Stark and Iron Man.
What else can I say except that Fraction does it again. This guy will be winning Eisner awards any day now. He’s got quite a few titles going at Marvel and he seems to write them all so well. I have never liked Iron Man more than I do now since this book came out and started kicking ass. I cannot wait to see how Tony tackles “Commander Osborn”…
Wktf’s Reviews
Mighty Avengers #21
Marvel Comics
Written by: Brian Michael Bendis
Drawn by: Lee Weeks, Jim Cheung & Carlo Pagulayan
Cover by: Marko Djurdjevic
The cover of this issue titles it a Secret Invasion Epilogue and that’s generally pretty appropriate. Following the events of Secret Invasion #8 we focus on Hank Pym, his confusion at being back in the world after having been a Skrull captive for years and, of course, his grief over The Wasp’s death. There’s an interesting parallel involving a familiar flash-back scene (with some revisionist history thrown in) from Avengers #4, the famous moment Captain America joined the modern era, where Hank remarks to Janet how strange it must be to wake up after being away for years. And, of course, this is exactly the situation in which Hank now finds himself. And, of course, his world has changed considerably.
This issue is Marvel’s good-bye to Janet, told in three acts. And it pulls all the right heart strings, especially as it’s told through the lens of her husband. After making funeral arrangements Carol Danvers takes Hank through all he’s missed post-Avengers Disassembled, and Jim Cheung delivers some fantastic full page spreads summarizing the events of House of M, Civil War, Captain America’s Death, World War Hulk and Secret Invasion. And with each page we see the emotions on Carol’s and Hank’s faces change in line with each event, most dramatically with Cap’s and Janet’s deaths. But the drama doesn’t end there, because the final act is Janet’s funeral service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral with everyone, and I mean everyone, in attendance. The fireworks that begin are quelled by the appearance of one prominent Avenger, only to be taken up again in a confrontation between Clint Barton and, of all people, Norman Osborn. As with all of this issue, this particular moment was beautifully handled and, I have to admit, I did hear a “Go Clint!” voice in the back of my head at that moment.
Bendis writes a poignant issue and the art chores (split between three artists, each of whom handle the different time sequences covered), while a bit inconsistent are solid and powerfully delivered. I particularly liked Djurdjevic’s beautifully symbolic cover, with Janet’s arms outstretched to her teammates, all reaching desperately for her yet she with a peaceful, sad and resigned look on her face falling backward away from them. Jan, I’ll miss you and can only hope someday, along with Cap, we’ll see you again. In the mean time, this issue was a fitting tribute to your legacy as well as a look into the pain your leaving has caused your friends. My pick of the week.
Thor God-Size Special #1
Marvel Comics
Written by: Matt Fraction
Drawn by: Dan Brerton, Doug Braithwaite, Mike Allred and Miguel Angel Spulveda
Cover by: Marko Djurdjevic
Love and Affection to: Walt Simonson (seriously, it’s in the credits!)
To get prepared for this issue I reread Mighty Thor nos. 360-362, three of my favorite issues from Walt Simonson’s seminal Thor run. What a pleasure! To this day, outside of Lee and Kirby’s groundbreaking initial run on this title, no one has come close to delivering the thrills and wonder we saw with Simonson. It turns out, though, that those issues were summarized in part one of this book. In addition, Thor #362 wherein Skurge sacrifices his life to insure Thor and Baldar’s safe passage from Hel, is preprinted here. So rereading those Simonson stories really wasn’t necessary.
Today, oddly enough, no one can remember what happened to Skurge nor even, truly, who he was. Thor, Baldar, Loki, even Hela all have different senses of Skruge’s identity and how he met his end. This mystery causes The Mighty Thor to investigate the source of this trickery and with Baldar and Loki at his side. Their journey takes them to the depths of Hel where they must encounter Hela and her wrath, to Svartalheim and encounters with Dark Elves, to Jotunheim where they must battle Storm Giants and, finally, to the World Tree Yggdrasil from where the cause of their troubles, a cause rooted in pain and heartbreak, originates. As he did with his recently completed three part Thor tale, Matt Fraction shows he is in full command of Asgardian legends and mythology and can weave a compelling and powerful tale that makes use of Thor’s world while still making it exciting and accessible to the reader. The shifting art responsibilities as our players change not only their setting but also their garb and forms, are a bit distracting, considering how different each artist’s style is, but this doesn’t from the story while punctuating the different worlds in which our heroes must travel.
I mentioned that rereading those Simonson issues to which this story relates wasn’t necessary, and it wasn’t, but it sure was fun to experience them again. What doing this brought to my attention, and can be found in the reprint at the back of this book, was that there actually was some business to which Thor had committed on which he’d never followed through. Kudos to Matt Fraction for discovering this and resolving this bit of unfinished business, finally, some twenty years later. Excellent one-shot story and one for which maybe even Walt Simonson himself might be grateful.
Moon Knight #25
Marvel Comics
Written by: Mike Benson
Drawn by: Mark Texeira
Cover by: Arthur Suydam
Well, no question Norman Osborn and his Thunderbolts had been getting a lot of play since the end of Civil War. I guess we now know why. Recently we even saw them in Amazing Spider-Man where Spidey basically took out the T-Bolts but then had to face Bullseye before going toe-to-toe against Osborn himself as the Green Goblin. The Bullseye fight was disappointing, really anti-climactic. Bullseye simply was dispatched too easily by Spidey, even though Spidey’s certainly got him in the strength and speed categories, maybe because Spidey just had to get past him to get to the title bout with Osborn, Spidey’s long time uber-foe.
Well, no issues with Bullseye’s being taken seriously enough in this title. This issue marks the conclusion of “The Death of Marc Spector” and, yes, The Thunderbolts have been brought in to take care of a renegade problem Stark and SHIELD seemed unable to get under control. Like Spidey, though, Moon Knight completely embarrassed the two prior attacks by The Thunderbolts and, as a result, Osborn’s let loose the psycho assassin, Bullseye, to finally get the job done. And in Mike Benson’s and Mark Texeira’s hands Bullseye is a complete over-the-top, totally whacko nut case. A man who loves to kill and kills to live. Cutting down police officers during his battle with Moon Knight means nothing to this Thunderbolt, and Spectre admits he’s in over his head. This is called “The Death of Marc Spector,” after all, and as capable and “badass,” as Bullseye calls him, Moon Knight is, Bullseye’s just the bigger badass.
This issue may officially wrap up this chapter of Moon Knight’s life, and he certainly does go out with a bang. Benson and Texeira end Moon Knight’s career (maybe) just as they’ve been handling it. Filled with anger, pain, desperation and even some laughs. This is the highest evolution of the Moon Knight character thus far and, while I have no clue where this creative team goes from here, I am definitely along for the next part of this ride. And you should be, too. But first, do yourself a favor and pick up these last five issues if you haven’t done so already. You’ll be glad you did.
Sam Wilson’s Reviews
Punisher War Zone #2 (of 6)
Marvel Knights
Written by: Garth Ennis
Drawn by: Steve Dillon
Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, to a legion of fans they are the peanut butter and chocolate of comic books. I first became a fan of theirs with their run on Vertigo’s “Hellblazer”, and of course I became a die-hard worshiper with their legendary title “Preacher”. Probably the smartest thing Marvel Comics ever did during the Bill Hemas reign, Axel Alonso, new editor at Marvel Knights, brought Garth and Steve in (as he did for Vertigo) to bring the Punisher back to his ‘80’s prominence, and bring him back they did with “Welcome Back Frank”, a mad storyline for the ages where Garth showed Frank Castle for who is us, an unrelenting stone cold killer who truly gives a flying rats fu$# about anything other than his war to punish the guilty. And punish the guilty he did, making a lifelong adversary of mob boss Ma Gnucci. Yeah, under Garth’s pen Frank made her a paraplegic and bald (hey, he did Herr Starr worse) and now she’s back for one last hurrah to pay Frank back for what he did to her. Somehow I don’t think that’s going to happen and Frank is going to fu$# her up even worse and kill a sh$#load of people doing it, but hey, with Garth and Steve running the show I’m in.
“War Zone” started last week in typical Ennis fashion, a low love goodfella is about to get whacked because he let the bosses son get his c$#k ripped off by an escaped monkey at the zoo and then eaten by a vulture (no, seriously). Frank Castle saves the poor sap from execution via shotgun to turn the guy into his personal inside man in La Costa Nostra. Frank isn’t happy because he has heard rumors of a Gnucci family resurage; apparently they have an Italian side that wants to make their name in the US. Yes, last we saw Ma Gnucci Frank had killed all her men and allowed her to be rendered limbless by a giant grizzly and then burnt alive in her own house. Meanwhile, Lt. Von Richthoffen (superhot lesbian), previously assigned to bring in Frank Castle, finds herself unlucky in love and possibly loosing her mind. It only guess worse in issue two when her sometime lover, who has a boyfriend, finds all of her potential suitors being the victims of a viscous scorned-lover ass whuppin. Meanwhile, “the Elite” (vigilante crazy from the first Ennis Punisher series, whom Frank Killed) as a kid, and he’s still having dreams of killing Frank. All this and Frank pays a visit to a mob cookout and kills a !%&!%&!%&!%&load of mob guys, and possibly Ma Gnucci (for the second time, or does he?). Hell yeah…
Classic Ennis, and I’m damn happy with that. Quirky (and fairly twisted) supporting characters, extreme sadism and Frank freakin’ Castle with a big ass shotgun. What more could you possible want? I know, make the series weekly, which it is. Word. I’m in for the series, in for the eventual hardcover, and down anytime Garth and Steve want to write the Punisher…
Catching my breath, it's on to the reviews!
Dawg’s Reveiws
Uncanny X-Men #505
Marvel Comics
Written by: Matt Fraction
Drawn by: Terry Dodson
It’s Matt Fraction week here in the Dawg portion of this weeks Mighty Reviews. One theme seems to run constantly across the mutant titles in the Marvel Universe. They are feared and hated everywhere they go. The mayor of San Francisco has welcomed the X-Men to her city with open arms, but it seems that many have not and the mutie hate continues. Most recently this hate is being spewed forth by a relative of Bolivar Trask (the creative madman behind the mutant hunting sentinels).
Cyclops offers to relocate again, but the mayor refuses stating that San Francisco has always been a haven for those not deemed normal enough for regular society… the freaks, the monsters, and now the mutants. For better or worse X-Fans… the muties are from the west coast now and in truth the stories thus far seem familiar but much more invigorated and fresh.
Colossus on the other hand is in a major funk. He lost Kitty to space and he is not pleased at all. Taking Cyclops orders to not come back until he gets whatever it is out of his system, he heads to a tavern Wolverine style. He gets far more than his drinks as a piece of his past comes crashing into his life at just the right time for him to work off a little aggression.
The X-Men seem to have a weird vibe going on in the house. Certain members of the team are returning at weird hours, bruised, battered, tired, and as Emma puts it “sullen even for X-Men.” Members like Angel and X-23 and Wolverine. Emma asks Scott about what is going on and Scott gives her a reception that is worthy of the term ICY…
Emma does not like that Scott may know something that she does not have access to and a part of his mind that is untouchable for Emma. We all know this dirty little secret is X-Force: Scott’s little wetwork team of X-Men.
Emma has a chat with Storm about it all and Storm fills Emma in on Scott and how he has been trained to be a warrior and a leader in ways that he may not even realize and that above all he loves her and is probably just protecting everyone the best he can.
What does Emma do in response to this? Well she makes a phone call and accepts an invitation a meeting. This meeting we all know by now is Norman Osborn’s little evil Illuminati gathering as seen in Dark Reign by Bendis and Maleev.
Oh how very interesting Emma… You have me intrigued as to your intentions. On one hand Fraction plays it as if she’s a woman scorned, but on the other, Emma is doing her best to lead and not have her people slaughtered. It’s going to get very interesting.
So far I must say, I like the pairing of Fraction and Dodson on the X-Men far better than Brubaker and Land. I love the way Bru writes… but Fraction seems to get the X-Men characters and their voices a bit better. I thought this issue was fantastic and as an X-Men fan of 23 years now, I really like where their corner of the Marvel Universe is heading. The books have really been well done since Messiah Complex and it feels like Marvel is once again committed to them like they were in the 80’s.
And as a “bonus” this week? Not a page of Wolverine in this issue for all of the haters who say he is in every Marvel book every month… That coupled with the fact that the Beast is creating an All Science Team with Dr. Nemesis to figure out the riddle of mutant extinction make this my pick of the week.
Invincible Iron Man #8
Marvel Comics
Written by: Matt Fraction
Drawn by: Salvador Larocca
Tony Stark has been on top of the world for a while now… literally and figuratively as the head of SHIELD. The Skrulls invaded, and all of the work the Tony had done to protect the world was undone in an instant as the little green men made the heroes of the Marvel Universe look like nitwits. Inevitably as we all know, the Skrulls were stopped… but not by Tony’s promises. It was by a large gun toted by none other than Norman Osborn.
Now for some reason Norman is the hero of the world. Never mind that if it weren’t for Thor, they probably all would have had their asses handed to them, but the world sees Norman as the man who saved the planet.
SHIELD has been disbanded, Tony Stark is public enemy number one, and he is sent packing from being the head of SHIELD in favor of Norman’s new outfit HAMMER.
Maria Hill is out too as the rest of the soldiers from SHIELD being absorbed by Norman’s outfit seems to rather enjoy. At least she has a job with Tony as I have really come to like Maria Hill’s character. What that job will be considering that Tony has nothing at the moment is anyone’s guess however.
During the Skrull attack, Tony’s Extremis was basically given a virus and was shut down. This disabled almost all of Stark Tech across the planet. He cannot fly his newest set of Armor properly without it and he’s quite the mess… yet somehow, he’s still Tony Stark and he’s got that swagger.
In a scene that is rendered and written so damn good it’s almost pick of the week worthy in itself, Norman and Tony exchange un-pleasantries over Norman wanting access to all of the information in the Super Human Registration Act. Norman has been given the keys to the kingdom and he wants everything including the civilian identities Tony swore to protect. What follows in this book is truly some of the best pages of 2008 in my opinion and needless to say Tony is in for a world of trouble as Norman declares war on Tony Stark and Iron Man.
What else can I say except that Fraction does it again. This guy will be winning Eisner awards any day now. He’s got quite a few titles going at Marvel and he seems to write them all so well. I have never liked Iron Man more than I do now since this book came out and started kicking ass. I cannot wait to see how Tony tackles “Commander Osborn”…
Wktf’s Reviews
Mighty Avengers #21
Marvel Comics
Written by: Brian Michael Bendis
Drawn by: Lee Weeks, Jim Cheung & Carlo Pagulayan
Cover by: Marko Djurdjevic
The cover of this issue titles it a Secret Invasion Epilogue and that’s generally pretty appropriate. Following the events of Secret Invasion #8 we focus on Hank Pym, his confusion at being back in the world after having been a Skrull captive for years and, of course, his grief over The Wasp’s death. There’s an interesting parallel involving a familiar flash-back scene (with some revisionist history thrown in) from Avengers #4, the famous moment Captain America joined the modern era, where Hank remarks to Janet how strange it must be to wake up after being away for years. And, of course, this is exactly the situation in which Hank now finds himself. And, of course, his world has changed considerably.
This issue is Marvel’s good-bye to Janet, told in three acts. And it pulls all the right heart strings, especially as it’s told through the lens of her husband. After making funeral arrangements Carol Danvers takes Hank through all he’s missed post-Avengers Disassembled, and Jim Cheung delivers some fantastic full page spreads summarizing the events of House of M, Civil War, Captain America’s Death, World War Hulk and Secret Invasion. And with each page we see the emotions on Carol’s and Hank’s faces change in line with each event, most dramatically with Cap’s and Janet’s deaths. But the drama doesn’t end there, because the final act is Janet’s funeral service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral with everyone, and I mean everyone, in attendance. The fireworks that begin are quelled by the appearance of one prominent Avenger, only to be taken up again in a confrontation between Clint Barton and, of all people, Norman Osborn. As with all of this issue, this particular moment was beautifully handled and, I have to admit, I did hear a “Go Clint!” voice in the back of my head at that moment.
Bendis writes a poignant issue and the art chores (split between three artists, each of whom handle the different time sequences covered), while a bit inconsistent are solid and powerfully delivered. I particularly liked Djurdjevic’s beautifully symbolic cover, with Janet’s arms outstretched to her teammates, all reaching desperately for her yet she with a peaceful, sad and resigned look on her face falling backward away from them. Jan, I’ll miss you and can only hope someday, along with Cap, we’ll see you again. In the mean time, this issue was a fitting tribute to your legacy as well as a look into the pain your leaving has caused your friends. My pick of the week.
Thor God-Size Special #1
Marvel Comics
Written by: Matt Fraction
Drawn by: Dan Brerton, Doug Braithwaite, Mike Allred and Miguel Angel Spulveda
Cover by: Marko Djurdjevic
Love and Affection to: Walt Simonson (seriously, it’s in the credits!)
To get prepared for this issue I reread Mighty Thor nos. 360-362, three of my favorite issues from Walt Simonson’s seminal Thor run. What a pleasure! To this day, outside of Lee and Kirby’s groundbreaking initial run on this title, no one has come close to delivering the thrills and wonder we saw with Simonson. It turns out, though, that those issues were summarized in part one of this book. In addition, Thor #362 wherein Skurge sacrifices his life to insure Thor and Baldar’s safe passage from Hel, is preprinted here. So rereading those Simonson stories really wasn’t necessary.
Today, oddly enough, no one can remember what happened to Skurge nor even, truly, who he was. Thor, Baldar, Loki, even Hela all have different senses of Skruge’s identity and how he met his end. This mystery causes The Mighty Thor to investigate the source of this trickery and with Baldar and Loki at his side. Their journey takes them to the depths of Hel where they must encounter Hela and her wrath, to Svartalheim and encounters with Dark Elves, to Jotunheim where they must battle Storm Giants and, finally, to the World Tree Yggdrasil from where the cause of their troubles, a cause rooted in pain and heartbreak, originates. As he did with his recently completed three part Thor tale, Matt Fraction shows he is in full command of Asgardian legends and mythology and can weave a compelling and powerful tale that makes use of Thor’s world while still making it exciting and accessible to the reader. The shifting art responsibilities as our players change not only their setting but also their garb and forms, are a bit distracting, considering how different each artist’s style is, but this doesn’t from the story while punctuating the different worlds in which our heroes must travel.
I mentioned that rereading those Simonson issues to which this story relates wasn’t necessary, and it wasn’t, but it sure was fun to experience them again. What doing this brought to my attention, and can be found in the reprint at the back of this book, was that there actually was some business to which Thor had committed on which he’d never followed through. Kudos to Matt Fraction for discovering this and resolving this bit of unfinished business, finally, some twenty years later. Excellent one-shot story and one for which maybe even Walt Simonson himself might be grateful.
Moon Knight #25
Marvel Comics
Written by: Mike Benson
Drawn by: Mark Texeira
Cover by: Arthur Suydam
Well, no question Norman Osborn and his Thunderbolts had been getting a lot of play since the end of Civil War. I guess we now know why. Recently we even saw them in Amazing Spider-Man where Spidey basically took out the T-Bolts but then had to face Bullseye before going toe-to-toe against Osborn himself as the Green Goblin. The Bullseye fight was disappointing, really anti-climactic. Bullseye simply was dispatched too easily by Spidey, even though Spidey’s certainly got him in the strength and speed categories, maybe because Spidey just had to get past him to get to the title bout with Osborn, Spidey’s long time uber-foe.
Well, no issues with Bullseye’s being taken seriously enough in this title. This issue marks the conclusion of “The Death of Marc Spector” and, yes, The Thunderbolts have been brought in to take care of a renegade problem Stark and SHIELD seemed unable to get under control. Like Spidey, though, Moon Knight completely embarrassed the two prior attacks by The Thunderbolts and, as a result, Osborn’s let loose the psycho assassin, Bullseye, to finally get the job done. And in Mike Benson’s and Mark Texeira’s hands Bullseye is a complete over-the-top, totally whacko nut case. A man who loves to kill and kills to live. Cutting down police officers during his battle with Moon Knight means nothing to this Thunderbolt, and Spectre admits he’s in over his head. This is called “The Death of Marc Spector,” after all, and as capable and “badass,” as Bullseye calls him, Moon Knight is, Bullseye’s just the bigger badass.
This issue may officially wrap up this chapter of Moon Knight’s life, and he certainly does go out with a bang. Benson and Texeira end Moon Knight’s career (maybe) just as they’ve been handling it. Filled with anger, pain, desperation and even some laughs. This is the highest evolution of the Moon Knight character thus far and, while I have no clue where this creative team goes from here, I am definitely along for the next part of this ride. And you should be, too. But first, do yourself a favor and pick up these last five issues if you haven’t done so already. You’ll be glad you did.
Sam Wilson’s Reviews
Punisher War Zone #2 (of 6)
Marvel Knights
Written by: Garth Ennis
Drawn by: Steve Dillon
Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, to a legion of fans they are the peanut butter and chocolate of comic books. I first became a fan of theirs with their run on Vertigo’s “Hellblazer”, and of course I became a die-hard worshiper with their legendary title “Preacher”. Probably the smartest thing Marvel Comics ever did during the Bill Hemas reign, Axel Alonso, new editor at Marvel Knights, brought Garth and Steve in (as he did for Vertigo) to bring the Punisher back to his ‘80’s prominence, and bring him back they did with “Welcome Back Frank”, a mad storyline for the ages where Garth showed Frank Castle for who is us, an unrelenting stone cold killer who truly gives a flying rats fu$# about anything other than his war to punish the guilty. And punish the guilty he did, making a lifelong adversary of mob boss Ma Gnucci. Yeah, under Garth’s pen Frank made her a paraplegic and bald (hey, he did Herr Starr worse) and now she’s back for one last hurrah to pay Frank back for what he did to her. Somehow I don’t think that’s going to happen and Frank is going to fu$# her up even worse and kill a sh$#load of people doing it, but hey, with Garth and Steve running the show I’m in.
“War Zone” started last week in typical Ennis fashion, a low love goodfella is about to get whacked because he let the bosses son get his c$#k ripped off by an escaped monkey at the zoo and then eaten by a vulture (no, seriously). Frank Castle saves the poor sap from execution via shotgun to turn the guy into his personal inside man in La Costa Nostra. Frank isn’t happy because he has heard rumors of a Gnucci family resurage; apparently they have an Italian side that wants to make their name in the US. Yes, last we saw Ma Gnucci Frank had killed all her men and allowed her to be rendered limbless by a giant grizzly and then burnt alive in her own house. Meanwhile, Lt. Von Richthoffen (superhot lesbian), previously assigned to bring in Frank Castle, finds herself unlucky in love and possibly loosing her mind. It only guess worse in issue two when her sometime lover, who has a boyfriend, finds all of her potential suitors being the victims of a viscous scorned-lover ass whuppin. Meanwhile, “the Elite” (vigilante crazy from the first Ennis Punisher series, whom Frank Killed) as a kid, and he’s still having dreams of killing Frank. All this and Frank pays a visit to a mob cookout and kills a !%&!%&!%&!%&load of mob guys, and possibly Ma Gnucci (for the second time, or does he?). Hell yeah…
Classic Ennis, and I’m damn happy with that. Quirky (and fairly twisted) supporting characters, extreme sadism and Frank freakin’ Castle with a big ass shotgun. What more could you possible want? I know, make the series weekly, which it is. Word. I’m in for the series, in for the eventual hardcover, and down anytime Garth and Steve want to write the Punisher…