Customer Reviews

Punisher War Journal - Volume 2: Goin' Out West (Punisher (Marvel Hardcover)) (v. 2)

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

 

 

Matt Fraction's (co-writer of the surprisingly good Iron Fist with Ed Brubaker) launch and run on Punisher War Journal has been less than flattering to the character to say the least. The issues contained in the first volume of the series found Frank Castle making his "return" to the Marvel universe in the midst of the Civil War, and now with Captain America dead, Frank reveals himself in a new Cap-inspired costume. If you can't tell already, the new uniform is laughable, as is the rest of the story contained in Goin' Out West, which finds Frank taking on the Bushwhacker. What really gets me about Punisher War Journal is that Fraction's take on the character is that of an insane zealot that has no method behind his madness. Granted, the Punisher has never really had a creative team to show the character at his full potential besides Garth Ennis in the acclaimed Marvel MAX series, but the character certainly deserves better than how he is depicted here. Ariel Olivetti's artwork, which was a bit of an acquired taste to begin with for some, doesn't fare any better here, and is sadly hard to look at in spots. No matter how much of a die-hard fan of the Punisher you may be, Goin' Out West is a laughable take on the character that is better off not read, and better off ignored.

Possibly the worst thing to come out of the Marvel Civil War event from a few years ago was the Punisher's involvement. I know he started out in a Spidey comic but I think he's changed to the point where he and supes just shouldn't mix. That stupid Capt America type costume he's wearing on the cover of this book is proof positive.

Then there are other things - he's got a sidekick (which never worked eg. Micro), he spends most of his time in thrall to some moronic neo-Nazis, trying to get his way into their organisation for some reason (the book barely held my attention) but the Frank I knew from the Garth Ennis reboot would've just killed them all and figured it out later. Here he does that but only after the lamest attempt at becoming one of them for some reason. Utterly pointless.

Besides the crap storyline and poor characterisation and sub par art, what else is there to say? Nothing else really, it's more along the lines of "this is stupid, this isn't the Punisher, this book blows". And it does, it really does. Avoid.

The Punisher's reappearance in the Marvel universe was incredible during the Civil War. In the first volume of this new War Journal he shows us that merciless hero we've missed for so long during a literal beatdown he gives the Rhino! What great stuff!

Then this volume comes out. The majority of this story during his "I'm Captain America!" phase is told in a flash-forward/flash-backward method that makes no sense. We see him tied to a pole, then we see him starting the trip, flash back to him tied to a pole, flash back to the trip, and so forth. The story doesn't even really progress for about twenty percent of the book! When something finally starts happening it's such a letdown you'll find yourself bored out of your mind. Fortunately Marvel doesn't indulge this stupid Captain America phase for long and allows the Winter Soldier to show up in a future issue to take the mask away.

Marvel had such promise with this character. They brought him back with a bang (literally) during the Civil War and his interactions with Captain America were amazing. Even his decision to steal the mask was a good choice and showed potential. But when the time came to deliver on it, we are treated to the stupidest variation of the costume you've ever seen, and Punisher taking more of a beating than a nerd at a jock convention. They really blew it during this storyline, but fortunately it picked back up somewhat during the World War Hulk phase (which will come out in the next volume). If you like the Punisher, my advice is to buy the first volume, skip this one, and buy the next.

OK. So far, I bought all 5 volumes of this series (hardback too)as I was so enamoured of the Punisher Max series.
So on with the reviews.

It is obvious that the intention here is to recast the Punisher in a totally different style. He has to intereact with superheroes. In the first review, I was not enamoured of the fact that the Punisher was involved in some Civil War stuff, which means that you have to buy other marvel series to see the entire picture.

There is also the problem of developing the Punisher's character here. Whereas all the other superheroes retain their characters, the Punisher here is actively being "dumbed down", a diluted version of the sociopath. The character of Stu Clarke, Rampage is also ambivalent. His falling in with the Punisher is too sudden and unconvincing.

The Hate-monger plot was just too reminiscent of another a hick-town setup for a merc army from an earlier Punisher story of dealing with the same.

The Punisher killing Tati is a new twist to the Punisher character. Without any further angst, this is really out of character for the Punisher.

The art takes some getting used to.

I think I must have bought this book by accident, high on excitement of preordering both Punisher MAX 9 and The Boys 2 I must have added it to my order on a whim. Yeah, I don't mean to sound so Comic Book Guy pretentious but plainly speaking this book isn't worth the money. In the positive column the art is fantastic, there's no doubting that, and the beginning with Bushwacker is exciting, maybe both those things enough that I should add a second star, but unlike the description suggests the Bushwacker story doesn't really go anywhere. Obviously this Frank Castle is a whole different character to the MAX imprint, although they share a name I think it's a valid arguement that people should not be going in expecting the two to have anything alike. Unfortuantly this character, judged entirely on his own merits, is still ludicrously horrible. He goes about posing, preening and running around going on about how tough he is like a five year old's idea of a hardcase. The writing is childish and horrible, which would be fine I guess if I could say to myself "No duh, it's a comic, it's meant for children." And accept I made a mistake in buying a comic that was actually meant for a younger crowd, but at the same time, unsurprisingly for a Punisher book, it also wants to juggle around with themes a little too mature for kids. And although I said you shouldn't judge the Frank Castle of this series with any other creative team there is one major, major misstep. Sure you can take him from calm, ruthless tactician to rageaholic, preening, blood-crazed psychopath who invents flimsy excuses to wear the dumbest costume of all time, but absolutely no character wearing the famous skull should ever cross the one line. I should warn you this is a spoiler, even though I'm begging you not to buy the book and you should take my advice, you've got your warning for this: Frank kills an innocent, oh there's some terribly shallow brain-ray excuse for it, but there it is, he stone-cold murders an innocent bystander and doesn't really seem all that broken-up about it. Don't go thinking it adds any depth to the story, it doesn't, and for whatever Punisher you're thinking of I think it's damn blasphemous.

The Punisher's reappearance in the Marvel universe was incredible during the Civil War. In the first volume of this new War Journal he shows us that merciless hero we've missed for so long during a literal beatdown he gives the Rhino! What great stuff!

Then this volume comes out. The majority of this story during his "I'm Captain America!" phase is told in a flash-forward/flash-backward method that makes no sense. We see him tied to a pole, then we see him starting the trip, flash back to him tied to a pole, flash back to the trip, and so forth. The story doesn't even really progress for about twenty percent of the book! When something finally starts happening it's such a letdown you'll find yourself bored out of your mind. Fortunately Marvel doesn't indulge this stupid Captain America phase for long and allows the Winter Soldier to show up in a future issue to take the mask away.

Marvel had such promise with this character. They brought him back with a bang (literally) during the Civil War and his interactions with Captain America were amazing. Even his decision to steal the mask was a good choice and showed potential. But when the time came to deliver on it, we are treated to the stupidest variation of the costume you've ever seen, and Punisher taking more of a beating than a nerd at a jock convention. They really blew it during this storyline, but fortunately it picked back up somewhat during the World War Hulk phase (which will come out in the next volume). If you like the Punisher, my advice is to buy the first volume, skip this one, and buy the next.

The Punisher has never really fit in with the Marvel Universe's superheroes. Mostly because he uses guns and other lethal weapons while most Marvel heroes are apprehensive using that level of force, but he continues to appear in comics. Matt Fraction took this line of reasoning to its logical conclusion and has made the Punisher book a funny book...only Frank's not in on the joke. This worked flawlessly in the previous volume, and continues to work in this one even as the plot turns a touch more serious.
Reviving the Hate Monger (originally a clone of Hitler clad in a purple KKK uniform) as a neo-Nazi using the recently slain Captain America's uniform to enact horrible crimes against immigrant villages along the US/Mexican borders.
Castle puts on the uniform of his fallen idol to reclaim the good name of Capt America. Ariel Olivetti's art is spectacular, capturing a kind of modern-50s look where the men are all beefy, lantern jawed giants and the woman are ultra-angular and...well endowed, but he brings it into the modern day with much smoother lines and more dynamic action scenes. Ultimately I love Fractions take on the character who isn't in the joke in his own book and Olivetti is one of my favorite artists, thus this book is easy to recommend as long as you understand what's being conveyed.

Matt Fraction's (co-writer of the surprisingly good Iron Fist with Ed Brubaker) launch and run on Punisher War Journal has been less than flattering to the character to say the least. The issues contained in the first volume of the series found Frank Castle making his "return" to the Marvel universe in the midst of the Civil War, and now with Captain America dead, Frank reveals himself in a new Cap-inspired costume. If you can't tell already, the new uniform is laughable, as is the rest of the story contained in Goin' Out West, which finds Frank taking on the Bushwhacker. What really gets me about Punisher War Journal is that Fraction's take on the character is that of an insane zealot that has no method behind his madness. Granted, the Punisher has never really had a creative team to show the character at his full potential besides Garth Ennis in the acclaimed Marvel MAX series, but the character certainly deserves better than how he is depicted here. Ariel Olivetti's artwork, which was a bit of an acquired taste to begin with for some, doesn't fare any better here, and is sadly hard to look at in spots. No matter how much of a die-hard fan of the Punisher you may be, Goin' Out West is a laughable take on the character that is better off not read, and better off ignored.

Matt Fraction takes the Punisher out of the grim and gritty world of the great Garth Ennis MAX series and does something readers haven't seen since the 80s: make him relevent to real world issues and make him an actual part of the Marvel Universe again. Fighting a swastika and star clad Hate Monger on the US/Mexican border really creates some fun and interesting moments of the character. The other reviewer, unfortunatly, doesn't seem to understand this, as the Captain Punisher costume is supposed to be over-the-top and ludicrous, just as the entire series itself is. It's a fun romp through the eyes of a not-so-stable vigilante. It's a book that requires the reader to have a sense of humor and a certain expectation that this won't be Ennis' Punisher, and to compare the two is just idiotic. Enjoy it for what it is: a well-written book by one of the best in the industry Matt Fraction with a completly unique art style of Ariel Olivetti.

i love the new war journal series. great story that shines a little light at franks soul, and finly he's part of the greater picture. the art in this series is frick'n sweat as well. if you like the punisher you'll love this book.