The Punisher ongoing discussion!

[Spikes]

It's difficult to forget, i follow since the beggining but yeah for me Frank Castle rebooted in 2000 with Garth Ennis.

 

[Balthus Dire]

Hmm, well I enjoyed FrankenCastle. For one, I knew it wouldn't last and I could read regular Punisher stories in MAX. Also, it was well written. I haven't gotten a chance to read the new series yet, but from what I've seen and heard, it sounds great.

I also really enjoyed FrankenCastle. I just caught up on Rucka's Punisher and it's alright so far. It's interesting to see Frank as a boogeyman but the story seems a bit generic for me so far for a 616 story. One of the main reasons I liked Remender's 616 was because it was a fun read. If I want serious I can read MAX, which does it far better than 616 ever could IMO.

Also, the very blatant Seven rip off with the two main detectives was a bit distracting for me, and throughout the entire opening of issue #1 all I could think about was how it was similar to Kill Bill.

 

[El Bastardo]

How is it a blatant Se7en rip-off because there's two detectives? Because one's black and one's white?

There's two detectives in Law and Order episodes. There were two detectives in the Lethal Weapon movies. There were two detectives in the first Dirty Harry.

 

[Balthus Dire]

When's the last time you saw Seven?

Their character intro is almost exactly the same to the film. The character dynamic is the same. They also dress the same, especially the black dude. And, there's one panel (in issue #1 I believe) where the black cop is drawn exactly like Morgan Freeman. The similarities are more than obvious; they're distracting. IMO, of course.

 

[El Bastardo]

If you say so.

 

[Balthus Dire]

 

[Shockdingo]

Preview for next issue is up.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=10027

 

[TheCorpulent1]

What's Norah Winters from again? I know the name but I don't remember where I've heard it before...

Also, I don't think I ever knew the names of Frank's family. Usually his origin recap is so easy that most people just throw up a panel of him clutching their dead bodies without any mention of their names.

 

[Spikes]

The only issue i remember seeing their names on a grave in Punisher Max #01 Garth Ennis run.

Their names are Maria Elizabeth Castle, Lisa Barbara Castle and Frank David Castle aka Frank Jr.
You can confirm this info here http://marvel.com/universe/Punisher_%28Frank_Castle%29

 

[runawayboulder]

Norah is from ASM, introduced during BND. And I remember seeing Maria's name in a ton of old Punisher stories, the kids names I was never familiar with.

 

[Shockdingo]

Interesting how they handled "what war he was in" issue. They never outright say "NAM NAM", though the picture shown, he looks like he's fighting in the middle east due to the uniform. Norah goes on about how he's been doing this a long time and has racked up a bigger body count than those he kills etc. Overall, a nice little flashback to his past, in fact, this is how I'd prefer them doing it in a new movie if it ever gets on its feet; Have the action going on etc, but have a brief mention through a new report or something. He's still pretty familiar to general audiences due to his recent flicks, so we don't need an entire movie explaining what happened.

I'm loving this book so much

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I've long since decoupled Frank from any specific war. He's a soldier who fought in and lost his humanity in some war. The exact war doesn't really matter too much.

I don't think we're in any danger of a rehash of his origin if he gets another movie, either. The Tom Jane version isn't that old, and they didn't even go in-depth into his background in the Ray Stevenson film despite its technically being a reboot.

 

[runawayboulder]

As far as I'm concerned he was in Vietnam. I don't put too much thought into about how long ago that was, so it doesn't bother me. You start worrying about that you end up with what DC did with the original Crisis, then it spirals out of control.

One of the main reasons I love Punisher MAX so much is that he's portrayed as actually being 60 and he's still a f***ing monster that kicks ass.

 

[Spikes]

There's not too much to think about in 616, he fought in Vietnam and more recently got restored and rejuvenated by bloodstone.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

He didn't look 60-something before he became Franken-Castle either.

 

[runawayboulder]

He didn't really look 60 in Punisher MAX either.

 

[Balthus Dire]

He didn't really look 60 in Punisher MAX either.

Yeah he looked like 80.

 

[runawayboulder]

Uh, no. He had jet black hair and was built like an NFL all pro defensive end. His face was weathered and scarred but he isn't exactly using a cane, hunched over and complaining about loud music.

 

[Balthus Dire]

I was being cheeky.

But in all seriousness, it really it depends who draws him. I found La Rosa drew him to look insanely old sometimes during In the Beginning, while others like Parlov make him look a bit less ancient. My perfect Punisher artists are Parlov and Fernandez, though, who seem to find the right balance between making him look older but still able.

 

[cthulhu]

Funny how time works - I reread Punisher Max the End there a few days ago and its set about now or a years time. Great story funny how things change...

Anyway Punisher 4 and Punisher Max 18 both came out yesterday fun to read and compare but no new punisher for weeks now

Punisher 4 was very good again nice solid build on what has already been established, vulture is definatly dead t: and great art as usual. Good to read that the team is on for the long haul too. New punisher announcement at the NYCC wonder what it is? Texiera's Punisher in outer space or something else entirely?

Punisher Max 18 was also good, nice reintroduction to bullseye and a few suprises regarding Elektra too. Glad there isnt going to be a bullseye/elektra fight which is where I thought this was going. Anyway the whole Elektra thing has gone in a completely different direction to what I was expecting so kudos for wrong footing me there Aaron! Just curious whats going to happen after this arc does the series end or continue? Dave Johnston is leaving cover duties at issue 22 I believe so is that the series end too? Hmm...

 

[chamber-music]

Damn just when I thought Punisher Max could not get anymore hardcore I read this weeks issue.

 

[antonydelfini]

What makes me love Rucka's series is the restraint he shows. Restraint is not usually the word people associate with the character but it actually works well. When the violence comes in, it's more effective. The violence is almost poetic, the blood artistic. And I also love the fact that we find out a lot about the character without him having inner monologue and him not speaking. He becomes more mysterious and bad a%# in my opinion.

Punisher 4 gets a 9.5/10 from me.

 

[Shockdingo]

Agreed, this new direction is not one I'm used to, but it works so well and is making for an impressive revitalization.

 

[Punisher_MAX]

ok so i havent read too many Punisher comics since the Max arc with Jigsaw in Mexico...i also dont want to read FrankenCastle cause it looks dumb.

where should i pick up again and has the quality of Max and this new 616 run been good?

 

[Shockdingo]

For 616, it starts off fresh; you don't need any backstory. As for Max, starting from the Bullseye and Kingpin arc should catch you up nicely.