Bought/Thought October 28th, 2009 - SPOILERS

[deathshead2]

Geez those Punisher pages is like watching one of those Faces of Death movies. Feels almost like a real murder.

 

[squeekness]

Seriously. Meat, meet the grinder.

 

[Franklin Richards]

The Punisher got taken down!

Whoah! Seriously? By who?

Daken.

Who?

 

[deathshead2]

I've never, ever read a comic with Daken.

 

[Themanofbat]

Well, there's plenty of blame to go around, unfortunately.

In this specific instance, it sounds like your comic shop messed up. I mean, you had it on your pull list, so that's a guaranteed sale they've lost out on by neglecting to grab you a copy. I can't explain why you did that. You said you're in Tacoma? Which shop do you go to? I'm a local boy -- I live in Gig Harbor.

As for why the hype died off -- that's a tough question to answer. But basically, we don't know. The book started off well and buzz seemed to subside. Part of that is undoubtedly due to our shaky schedule. Out of sight, out of mind. When we stopped shipping regularly, it gave people (like yourself) a chance to forget about us. And it's not like there's a dearth of super-hero books on the shelves.

But a bigger question is HOW to build buzz on an Image book -- especially an Image super-hero book. Think about it: Marvel and DC build buzz one of two ways: by bringing in a new creative team to start a "bold, new direction" OR by doing some sort of big inter-company event. I can't do the former because I'm not gonna replace myself on my own book, and I can't do the latter because I don't own all the Image characters, so doing a crossover is next to impossible. Of course, both of those things are also ADVANTAGES of Image Comics -- I like that I own and control my own book and can't be replaced or made to take part in a crossover I have no interest in. And both of those things can't be said for Marvel and DC, where creators don't have that freedom.

So ... the bottom line is that there are a number of factors that contribute to a book's lack of buzz, and there is no easy fix. But we do have some plans to help regain prominence when the book returns from hiatus in 2010.

In the meantime, I hope you'll check out the issues you missed, either in back issues or TPB form.

~ Jay

Love the book Jay... have been since issue #1... I know there's talk about changing the format to a series of mini's rather than continuing the numbering, but I hope you guys don't go that route... it's usually a death knell for me ... remembering issue numbers is a LOT easier than "titles of mini-series"...

 

[squeekness]

The Punisher got taken down!

Whoah! Seriously? By who?

Daken.

Who?

Wolverine jr.

I've never, ever read a comic with Daken.

Daken has his moments.

 

[Franklin Richards]

Wolverine jr.

Who???

Daken has his moments.

Don't you just love Ben??

 

[squeekness]

Ben is awsome. He is my favorite FF guy.

 

[deathshead2]

They really should just rip him in half and call it a day.

 

[squeekness]

He'd just heal from it. He's like that obnoxious relative that never seems to move away.

 

[Jay Faerber]

Love the book Jay... have been since issue #1... I know there's talk about changing the format to a series of mini's rather than continuing the numbering, but I hope you guys don't go that route... it's usually a death knell for me ... remembering issue numbers is a LOT easier than "titles of mini-series"...

Thanks, man. We're currently working on a way to do the book that will be the best of both worlds -- do what are essentially mini-series, but also keep retain the numbering and continuity.

What makes the mini-series appealing is that we've pretty much proven that we can't do the book on a monthly schedule, so continuing to solicit it as a monthly series just wouldn't be very honest. So we're looking at other avenues. But in the meantime, the book is still in production. The next issue is already halfway drawn and I've written scripts for the next two issues.

~ Jay

 

[deathshead2]

He'd just heal from it. He's like that obnoxious relative that never seems to move away.

And then Ben should just put him in a rocket and send one half into space and the other half in the ocean. Done.

 

[squeekness]

And then Ben should just put him in a rocket and send one half into space and the other half in the ocean. Done.

*wonders if he would regenerate and then there would be two equally obnixious Dakens running around*

 

[StreetWarrior]

I find it kind of ironic that the Punisher has held his own against many "powered" characters, including Wolverine on MANY occasions, yet he was taken down by Daken. The lamer, *****ier verision of Wolverine. He just survived a run-in with the Sentry at the beginning of the year and the one who finally kills him after 30 years of stories is... Daken!?

The List: Punisher wasn't that bad. What's to follow, however, well ... F*** you, Marvel. I guess I feel how the Spidey fans felt after BND. This will be the second time I've dropped the Punisher in 2 years. "Frankencastle" is one of the worst ideas Marvel has ever had and I'm not sticking around to see how the character is raped further. I'm just going to pretend Frank died for good in "the List".

Sidenote: New Avengers #58 was one of the best issues in the entire run. That scene with Ares vs. Bucky, freakin' great!

 

[Franklin Richards]

Get Franklin.

Heal from that!

 

[deathshead2]

Val should kill him with some kind of super science thing. Then Hickman can write a special issue with Reed teaching Val about Ethics.

 

[squeekness]

I find it kind of ironic that the Punisher has held his own against many "powered" characters, including Wolverine on MANY occasions, yet he was taken down by Daken. The lamer, *****ier verision of Wolverine. He just survived a run-in with the Sentry at the beginning of the year and the one who finally kills him after 30 years of stories is... Daken!?

The List: Punisher wasn't that bad. What's to follow, however, well ... F*** you, Marvel. I guess I feel how the Spidey fans felt after BND. This will be the second time I've dropped the Punisher in 2 years. "Frankencastle" is one of the worst ideas Marvel has ever had and I'm not sticking around to see how the character is raped further. I'm just going to pretend Frank died for good in "the List".

Sidenote: New Avengers #58 was one of the best issues in the entire run. That scene with Ares vs. Bucky, freakin' great!

Yeah, Frankencastle just sounds lame.

Get Franklin.

Heal from that!

LOLs,

 

[Franklin Richards]

She is Victor Von Doom's goddaughter.

 

[squeekness]

Wolverine:Weapon X #6.
Wolverine wakes up to find he is in some sort of mental hospital and he has no memory of how he got there. You soon get the feeling that things aren't right because when he is called to take his meds, they give him a jellybean and a pencil erasure instead of real meds. The story grows more and more bizarre as it goes along and I can't help but wonder just what they would have had to do to Logan to make him forget so much. Not sure why he doesn't just hack and slash his way out of there, something you'd think would be instinctive by now. I also couldn't help but be reminded of that last Hush story where he was running some sort of strange mental ward with homeless peiople in it. Wonder if that isnpired this....

 

[bored]

Y'all know "Frankencastle" isn't going to stick, right? It'll go for a little while, depending on how long the buzz lasts (sorry for bring that term up again, people who have been debating it), then he'll go back to original, less stupid Punisher that I still don't read.

 

[squeekness]

How do you come back as normal or regular from something like that, though? You can't exactly just undo it like it never happened.

 

[PaleRider]

I find it kind of ironic that the Punisher has held his own against many "powered" characters, including Wolverine on MANY occasions, yet he was taken down by Daken. The lamer, *****ier verision of Wolverine. He just survived a run-in with the Sentry at the beginning of the year and the one who finally kills him after 30 years of stories is... Daken!?

The List: Punisher wasn't that bad. What's to follow, however, well ... F*** you, Marvel. I guess I feel how the Spidey fans felt after BND. This will be the second time I've dropped the Punisher in 2 years. "Frankencastle" is one of the worst ideas Marvel has ever had and I'm not sticking around to see how the character is raped further. I'm just going to pretend Frank died for good in "the List".

I agree, but like others are saying we all know FrankenCastle is not going to last. I'd like to hear from Remeder and see if he always had this plan for Frank or if Marvel told him "we need you to kill him" I thought he has been doing a good job so this kind of surprises me.

 

[deathshead2]

Y'all know "Frankencastle" isn't going to stick, right? It'll go for a little while, depending on how long the buzz lasts (sorry for bring that term up again, people who have been debating it), then he'll go back to original, less stupid Punisher that I still don't read.

I wonder how they'll bring him back.
-Frank Castle is somehow brought back to normal
-clone
-turned black again
-New Punisher

 

[Shockdingo]

Yup, we know it's not permanent, but according to Remender's plans, this will last at least a year or for as long he's on the book. Me? I'm not staying around ,flinging my cash at this book while hoping it'll get better. I need to catch up on Max anyways...

 

[bored]

I won't miss Major Victory too much, and I doubt Gamora is dead, considering she once regenerated from being MELTED BY A SUN at the start of the series. Groot, similarly, has been "destroyed" before. Phyla, Mantis, and especially Cosmo, though, will be missed. Assuming their deaths are permanent. Lord knows anything in which a cosmic cube is involved with gets weird, and things end up not being dead. Moondragon came back after Ultron tore out her heart, albeit in a year. Still, this reminds me of the era when books didn't need a hundred crossovers to be events unto themselves, and that is what this issue provides.

Groot survived. He was shown with the rest of the team returning to Nowhere at the end.