Customer Reviews

Punisher MAX, Vol. 9: Long Cold Dark (v. 9)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Barracuda, the crazed contract killer that managed to survive his bloody encounter with Frank Castle (and even star in his own Marvel MAX mini-series) is back with revenge on his mind. His plan involves a secret about Frank that Frank himself doesn't even know about, and pushes his limits unlike that we've seen before since legendary Preacher creator Garth Ennis took the reins of The Punisher. I won't spoil things by revealing the secret, but needless to say, Ennis has clearly been working up to this point from the very beginnings of the mature-themed MAX series. What results is an incredibly brutal showdown between Frank and Barracuda, so much so that the artwork of Goran Parlov gets just plain ugly to look at. He's done some mostly solid work before with these characters, but when things get super-bloody, Parlov's work just looks sloppy. Howard Chaykin, who is the regular artist on Matt Fraction's inferior Punisher War Journal, contributes some guest art in the opening issue, which isn't as bad as what we've seen from him working on Wolverine and Blade, but by and far the biggest flaw of Long Cold Dark is definitely the artwork. That aside, Ennis once again provides a dark, dreary, and just plain brutal Punisher story that doesn't disappoint, and the stage is set for what will be his final storyarc on the series. All in all, if it wasn't for the artwork, Long Cold Dark would be another flawless storyarc of The Punisher MAX, but flaws aside, the book is still worth picking up regardless for fans of the series.

I must say, Garth Ennis is probably one of the greatest,if not THE greatest, comic book story teller of my generation. He is up there with Frank Miller, Chuck Dixon and Robert Kirkman. By the last few pages of the book, Ennis had me feeling genuine sympathy for the characters involved, especially Castles antagonist. At the end of the story I closed the book and had to take a few deep breaths. This had nothing to do with the gratuitous violence throughout the pages, believe me this I can handle, but had everything to do with the gravity of Frank's predicament. Prior to reading this volume, I recommend picking up previous volumes of Punisher MAX so you are up to date on all the circumstances leading up to the events in this book. At least read volume seven: Man of stone. That should get you caught up enough.
As far as the art goes in this story, the majority of the book, minus the first chapter, is done by Goran Parlov. Many Punisher MAX fans are critical of Parlov's art because, let's face it, Leandro Fernandez has spoiled us. I on the other hand truly enjoy Parlov's European style of cartoon mixed with realism. The characters will have cartoon like expressions at times but when someone is toting an M-60 machine gun, Parlov draws that M-60 spot on.
I absolutely recommend this book. Garth Ennis's storytelling is amazing .Period.

Ultimately I rate this book highly although I've got some mixed feelings about it. As a stand-alone title I think this one falls down, but as a chapter in the ongoing saga of the Garth Ennis' MAX imprint I found it excited and unexpected. The most obvious thing I can say is don't start with this book if you're not into the whole series. I don't know why you would anyway of course, this being number nine.. But I did read a couple of the books out of order and I think reading this one before the others would unfairly turn you off the whole series.

Complaints begin as soon as you crack open the book, I admit I hadn't looked close enough to realise Howard Chaykin did the first issue in this particular title, and when I saw what I suddenly thought was going to be the majority of this stories artwork I got chilled to the bone. I don't want to be unfair and say it's horrible, but.. yeah, it's pretty horrible. Not all the time, there are actually some great bits mixed in as well, like the full-page shot of Barracuda stepping out of the lift I loved, but, well there are some real lows too. The main problem was he hasn't even gotten close to what Barracuda looks like in the other books or even the majority of this one. The one we start off with in this title is smooth and handsome and looks entirely unlike the guy we know and love. There may be moments when Frank looks like a leathery over-the-hill fifties greaser but at least its somewhere in the ball-park. I can't tell you how relieved I was to turn to the second issue and find it picked up by clearly the only man who should be doing Barracuda, Goran Parlov. I'm not a huge fan of how he draws Frank but he has Barracuda's whole character mastered to a T. Anyway, summing up about Chaykin's art I guess ultimately I've only got one lingering problem with it, and I don't want to spoil anything so if you're being really really careful, skip on to the next paragraph, but: There's a really significant character death here, and I'm just real disappointed he had to go while in that art-style, heh.

Secondly, and I'll try to make this a lot shorter obviously, some parts of the writing in this story just seem very sloppy and lazy for Ennis. It goes back to what I said, I think as a chapter it has some majorly important and exciting moments to focus on, but as a story in itself there are moments it seems rushed and disregarded. It's a book for fans of the whole series, in other words, not someone who's just starting out to read and enjoy the new Frank Castle.

Frank's confronted with an unexpected surprise - he's a father again! Except Barracuda has abducted the baby and intends to draw the Punisher out for a final showdown. It's up to Frank to rescue the baby and take our Barracuda once and for all. But can Frank be a father again? And can Barracuda be put down once and for all?

The penultimate book of Garth Ennis' run on the Punisher Max series calls back to previous books for it's plot so isn't the best place to start if you're coming to this fresh. Frank's deadliest foe returning is good fun to read as for once it's Frank who's on the ropes rather than gunning down gangsters left and right. It shows him having to think on his feet, especially with the added element of a baby.

There's some background to Barracuda's childhood that isn't particularly original (abused as a kid, grew up to be a killer) and the artwork isn't up to much, but it's still a great book to read. Also, Frank's choice at the end is quite touching and reaffirms his desperado status and sad life, adding some pathos to a character often seen as one dimensionally macho. Not the best in the series but still a good read, can't wait to see how Ennis closes out this series in the next book!

In Vol 9, the Punisher has a final reckoning with Barracuda. The plot is really one very long and drawn-out fight with Barracuda, very similar to either a Mad Spy versus Spy or a Mr and Mrs Smith situation. Those are sort of funny. This is not. The plot is supposed to be gritty but this is where the problem lies - with Barracuda.

First introduced and firmly imprinted as a darkly funny character, Barracuda is wrongly depicted here as gritty. The problem is further compounded by the initial use of Howard Chaykin as a guest artist (absolutely NOT suitable) and by Goran Parlov. I am not sure if the comic would have read better if drawn by Fernandez or similar, but I didn't like it.

I liked this book for the story but the art is why I'm only giving it 4 stars. Well I gotta be honest I never did like Goran Parlov's rendition of the in Punisher max vol 6 nor did I like Barracuda but in this story he actually becomes a pretty damned good villian and the first one since nicky cavella to get under franks skin and, you'll find out why at the end of the first part of this arc which I have to say left my jaw hanging on the floor with it's suprise. All in all I'd have to say this is right up there with Mother Russia and the slavers but not quite close to up is down black is white in quality, except for the art which kinda blows.

This could have been an awesome issue. It had so many great moments like the what if Frank's family lived and the fight with barracuda. With a good artist, even a mildly competent artist working on this book it would have been awesome instead we have to imagine what it should look like. When I read the first issue with that terrible art I wanted to return the book. The reamaing issues are kinda sloppy but they don't make your eyes bleed. Frank and Baraccuda have popeye syndrome you'll see what I mean. The only thing that saves this book is the story that's pretty danm good. Maybe with all these complaints about the art they redraw it. I got my fingers crossed.

I gotta say, I've never been a huge Punisher fan till Ennis created the Max series, even the movie wasnt that exciting to me. I always felt that the punisher should be portraid this way, the max way. like all of ennis's max titles, I enjoyed this one to the end, the story and the scenarios were awesome, with Parlov's art its somewhat cartoony for my taste but he still pulls it off. Chaykin's okay at best. I also enjoyed some of the quick flashbacks throughout the issue, the little "What if my family didnt die" dream was a nice touch, this issue really let me know just how depressing Frank Castle really is. This arc to me was mostly for shock value, the fight scenes between frank and Barracuda seem a little well, unbelievable, but I still loved them. If you havent read it and are going to, prepare for a bloody phycotic rollercoaster of a comic engineered by the wicked mind of no other than Garth Ennis.

First off, I agree with "Big Evil's" review. The artwork is the only downside of this story arc. Again, really sloppy during the extremely brutal and graphic scenes. But artwork aside, I almost didn't notice it due to the storytelling. I was completely caught up in it, like I havent been since the Up Is Down, Black Is White storyline. You get a brief background on Barracuda and why he's so messed up as well as a shock for fairly longtime fans right at the beginning, not to mention an even bigger one not much later on. Reading stories like this from Garth Ennis makes me want to pick up everything the man has done.

As the owner of every Punisher Max title, I was more than a little dissapointed in this title.I think the plot was hastily put together (there could have been a little more shown of barracuda's early life)etc..However I would have given this book 4 stars if that were to be it's only short coming. The artwork for the first half was absolutley horrible and should not have been included in this title. A charitable 3 stars this time around Mr. Ennis.