Customer Reviews

Punisher War Journal, Vol. 1: Civil War (v. 1)

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

 

 

There is one thing that you have to understand when you read PWJ: THIS IS MARVEL UNIVERSE PUNISHER. If your expecting the same guy written by Garth Ennis over in the MAX book then your gonna be disappointed. That character for all intents and purposes lives in an alternate universe from the Marvel Universe. This is the Punisher who lives in the neon-fantastic and wonderfully absurd world of Stilt-Men, Superhero Civil Wars and Mad Scientists in robot suits. The fun of Punisher War Journal is seeing this normal guy running around taking on super villains and superheroes believing himself to be the only sane man in an insane world but is actually quite insane himself as revealed through his internal monologues filled with weird tangents and delusions of righteousness. The writing and the art is crisp, bouncy, and full of energy. Fraction and Olivetti make a great team. This is a comic book without pretense, it's not trying to be Watchmen or Sandman, its not deep and meaningful its only mission is to be a fun read. Mission accomplished

Looking at all these reviews, it is pretty clear that most everyone is aware that there are 2 Punishers, the gritty Max series and this War Journal series. Without doubt, the Punisher character was defined by Garth Ennis - a full-blooded sociopath, hell-bent on vengeance on all criminal types. It would be a very difficult act to attempt to recast the Punisher as something else. In fact, when looking at the early history of the Punisher, he is introduced now and then as a mercenary "superhero", without the super-abilities. In that clime, he can't compete against the supes. That Punisher wasn't very successful until Ennis' mind-blowing conversion of the character.

Unfortunately, in this starting series, the Punisher is reverted back to the old status. Thus he plays second fiddle to Captain America and other Avengers. The plot unfortunately meanders too much, due to the fact that the Punisher story here has to meld in with the stories of other superheroes in this Civil War Marvel universe. This is not necessarily a good thing. Thus there are seemingly open-ended situations here resolved eslewhere and vice versa. Thus, unless one reads other related Marvel comics issues, there are ambiguities in the plot lines. As I only read PWJ in Civil war, I am left in the dark as to who is Rampage, Stu Clarke and why is he a 2nd rate Tony Stark? Who is EW Bridges, and why is there this emphasis on him being a Moslem? Why did the Punisher murder the Stiltman? I gather that the Punisher only goes after killers and rapists, not bank robbers?

The story of all the criminal types getting together for a post-funeral wake for the Stiltman was OK. There were light touches of humor but definitely out of character for the Punisher.

I don't care for the artwork. Pseudo neon, not quite Corben, Chaykin, not anything. I'm giving this a 3 star for valiant effort, as I hope that the plot lines will improve and get resolved, and will continue to assess as I read the follow-on journals.

This book wasn't near as good as the rest of the civil war books but it was still a decent read. The art work isn't the typical kind you would see in a comic too but still not bad. Even though I do prefer the usual artwork, there's nothing wrong with changing it up a bit.

With Marvel's much hyped Civil War striking every corner of the Marvel universe, and Garth Ennis writing the character over on the mature themed MAX imprint, the Punisher gets his own mainstream title again with a relaunched Punisher War Journal series. This first TPB finds the criminal killing vigilante in the midst of the superhero Civil War, and choosing a side. When Tony "Iron Man" Stark starts employing super villains to bring in the renegade heroes, Frank Castle takes a stand with Captain America and the rest of the rebels, for a while anyway. The first thing you'll notice with this storyarc is that we don't get into the Punisher's head as much one would imagine considering this says "War Journal". Not to mention that the characterization given to him by new writer Matt Fraction just doesn't ring true to the character either. My biggest complaint with the main Civil War story was Mark Millar's lame characterization of the Punisher, and Fraction doesn't really do much better. He's not a bumbling, bullet crazed sociopath as other writers would make you believe; the Punisher is a methodical, highly intelligent, tactician who is aware of what he is doing and does his work for himself and himself only. That's what has made Garth Ennis' long run on the other Punisher title so successful. The art by Ariel Olivetti is great though, so this TPB isn't a total bummer. All in all, the first volume of Punisher War Journal may be worth a look for longtime fans, but you are much, much better off with any of the books from Ennis' brilliant and bloody run on the title.

I've always been a bit of a Punisher fan, though I'd lost touch with him over the best ten years or so (outside of the wonderful Jane/Travolta film), but I sort of got into this whole Marvel Civil War thing, and when I saw the Punisher had a part, I had to check it out. It's a nice solid story, nothing particularly groundbreaking or even all that important to the Punisher himself (cept of course the way the man can take a beating). But it's a nice book, and the b&w issue is great.

Great book completely different from the Ennis era Punisher. Gives insight to what Frank Castle was doing durning Marvel's Civil War.

There is something to be said for tie-in comic book stories, especially those who have a direct link into the big, mainstream events, the Civil Wars and the Infinite Crises. When done extremely well, these stories can be delightful nuggets of story, adding tons of elaborations and back-story to the main events themselves. Punisher War Journal: Civil War shows us the Punisher's side of Civil War, the event that spawned the death of Captain America and many other universe-changing plotlines. Matt Fraction has outdone even himself with a plethora of crazy ideas here. Captain America teaming up with the Punisher? Who would have thought of such a simple yet conflicted relationship to drive things forward? The guy who came up with Casanova, that's who.

This book has the makings of something special. The hints and references to the main series were handled with a subtle sense of layered storytelling. While the villains ran amok in the absence of superheroes, it seemed the Punisher was more than glad to pick up the slack, picking off big-time baddies like Stilt Man and the Rhino, even to a point of killing off a couple of them. The body count runs high in this one, ringing true to Punisher's persona, where killing is his modus operandi. Fraction brought out Punisher's psyche and motivation, and then fit him into a plot teeming with intrigue. And you get the feeling Captain America will show up, and he certainly did.

The dialogue between Captain America and the Punisher says all we need to know about these two's conflicting ideals and ethics, which makes this team-up all the more interesting and worth the admission fee alone. Fraction played through that dynamic with the obvious sense of knowledge that Captain America can never work with the Punisher, not unless either of them compromises their beliefs. Which means the Punisher is back on the streets doing what he deems to be the all-important job of killing criminals. That's why this story was special; it ties in so well into the happenings of Civil War and yet still works out so well as a stand-alone story, effectively making this book a textbook example of how a satisfying tie-in should be done.

Plus, Fraction made it clear in the last issue that there's so much more where it all came from. This book looked like it was intended to be a springboard for things to come and when one sees scenes such as a stoic-looking Captain America confronting a young and idealistic Frank Castle back in boot camp within the pages of this beautifully penciled and inked book, expectations for this series will no-doubt skyrocket. Not a small feat for a young writer like Fraction. He does have the prodigious talent to thrust him forward as a leading Marvel writer.

One only wonders why a black and white edition of issue six was reprinted for this collection. Other than probably just aesthetics, this strange addition has no logical justification whatsoever being here. But that is a small complaint to give when the Punisher here looks frighteningly vicious, while taking care of some of the worst and most powerful villains around. Who said humans aren't strong enough to take on superhumankind? Let the Punisher change your perception in this one.

Punisher War Journal volume 1 follows Frank Castle's storyline during the Marvel Civil War. For those that have read the main storyline, the first three books included in this edition address his activities during the Civil War. During these stories, GW Bridge is pursuing the Punisher. You see how the Punisher came to Spider-Man's aid and his rise and fall within the anti-registration forces of Captain America. The three Civil War stories are pretty solid and they tie in very well with the main storyline. They also focus very heavily on how the Punisher is perceived by supers and vice versa. One stunning omission, however, was the lack of any frames regarding his break in at the Baxter building. I guess the authors felt that this was addressed enough in Civil War #6, but I would have liked to see a little more of it. You also get a short fight with the Rhino, which was decent.

#4 is a one shot, related to but standing apart from the Civil War stories in this book. It takes place at a super-villain's wake, where other villains have gathered to reminisce. It has an explosive ending.

Over all, the book is pretty solid. It's a good start to the series. The art on the 3 Civil War books is done by Olivetti, an extremely talented penciler. I was very impressed. The stories are written by Matt Fraction, who has gone on to do a short stint in the Uncanny X-Men as well as the incredibly popular Invincible Iron Man (volume 5).

This is a great read for any Punisher fans.

Includes Punisher War Journal (vol. 2) #'s 1-4, as well as a black and white copy of #1 and a few pages of sketches.

I don't know anything about Punisher so I can't say whether this story is out of character. The story was pretty fun, nothing that will blow you away; the art is the real winner in this book. I love Ariel Olivetti's art and he delivers with this book! Every single panel could be a cover, if you are an artist looking for inspiration I highly recommend this book. I have been doing all of my art using Ariel's style (He generously has shared it through a video both on YouTube and on his site) and I don't see myself ever going back.

In the original Civil War issues, The Punisher makes an appearance and it leaves some questions unanswered, this book answers them such as how he found and saved Spiderman, the fight between Captain America and him back at the hideout, etc. Also, it gives some insight into what the villians do in their spare time and mourning over their friends lost in combat. Not the best Civil War book, but it is definetly one of the more darker Civil War books involving the killing of villians, (a lot of villians in fact if you read it till the end), much like the Wolverine edition of Civil War.