Something New.

Okay, the other day someone mentioned to me that I should write a comic blog. As my current blog is aptly named Shoot Your TV ---Read Comics, I figured I should give it a shot. Spoilers will abound.

Let me start out by pointing out that I read comics. This should be obvious, but I mentioned it just in case. The second thing I need to say is that I know nothing about comics. I know what I like, I know which writers make me laugh, I know what kind of art I enjoy. With all of this said I present to you...

The Fanboy Chubby of the Week

This week, I'm looking at Punisher War Journal issue one. Written by Matt Fraction, art by Ariel Olivetti, coloring by Dean White.

This is the first time Punisher is mentioned in the Civil War arc. It takes place right before Civil War issue 5.

For anyone not reading Civil War, I'll sum it up for you as best as I can. The Powers That Be have instituted something called the 'Superhuman Registration Act' which requires anyone and everyone possessing superhuman abilities to register with the government. As you can well imagine, this did not go over well. In fact it split allegiances down the middle. There's the pro side, led by Iron Man. This team includes Reed Richards and the government, other than that, no one really knows. The con team is being led by Captain America. This team has all of my flavour favorites. It's got Wolverine, Luke Cage, Daredevil, Falcon, Black Panther, and the recent addition of Invisible Girl and the Human Torch, the list goes on. Those who don't register and are caught are put in a special prison and kept there until they agree to register. There are battles left and right, leading to the death of some superheroes.

Back to the Punisher, the first thing you have to notice is the cover. And it's flawless. He's holding big guns, he looks pissed, and he's wearing the skull shirt. It's everything you want from Frank Castle.

Now, I've never read any other Punisher comics, so I'm nowhere near an expert. I saw the movie, John Travolta was good. To be honest the only reason I even read this was because Deryk put it in my hand.

The story was a bit confusing, it start out with some guy that I'm sure I'm supposed to know who he is - I don't. And the government asking him to hunt down the Punisher. Flip the page to the Punisher sitting in a van doing recon on a pedophile because he's bored. Then some idiot calling himself Stiltman shows up, Castle kills him, and then the pedophile. The guy I'm supposed to know shows up and sends some S.H.E.I.L.D agents after Castle in the tunnel ( like the Moosejaw tunnels...only presumably authentic). He kicks their asses and takes their guns and goes hunting for the Terrible Tinkerer (Okay seriously who comes up with these names?), he finds him, gets some information and heads out to find Rampage. Rampage is a grown man who makes toys to play with while he pretends he's taking over the world. Nice guy. Rampage gives Castle some gadgetry and he goes all stealthy, waiting for Iron Man to make a move so that he can kick his ass. The gadgetry goes off and he follows the blinking light into the sewers where he finds Spidey getting his ass kicked by two of his former enemies, who are now working for Iron Man. He saves Spidey and takes him to the super secret hiding place of Captain America and the 'resistance'.

A lot happens. A lot happens quickly. And while I was a little intimidated by the plethora (word of the day) of information being thrown at me, I get it. Issue one has to rock so people will buy issue two. On the upside, there were some awesome points about the writing. The majority of the script is in captions. Castle's a quiet guy, so it's nice to have some insight into what he's thinking, even if it's just obscure Gilligan's Island references.

Now onto the art. This isn't classic coloring by any means. There aren't bold colors, everything seems a bit muted (I'm sure there's a word for this somewhere). The art makes everything look more real at times, and other times makes everything look ridiculous, like the size of Castle's arms for example. The facial expressions are dead on, but everything looks shiny. If i have to take issue with anything it would be the sheer size of Frank Castle. I mean, he's HUGE! For a guy that sits in a van all day he's certainly cut. and his arms are roughly the size of Spiderman's entire body.

My verdict. It's a good read. Even if you know nothing about the Punisher other than he likes to shoot things, it's a good read. I had to read it a couple times to take everything in, but I'm weird like that. It left me excited for the next War Journal, which is always a good thing.

The best art: it's a tie. On page twelve, the 5th panel, where Castle is holding his newly acquired guns (and probably flexing), and on page eighteen, the fifth panel, the look on the Terrible Tinkerer's face...priceless.
The worst art: the last page, Captain America....he looks like he's trying to dance to Ludacris or something, it's just not working.
The best line: page 30, when Punisher is carrying Spiderman over his shoulder:
Spidey: Hey, can we stop by an A.T.M.? I don't have any cash on me, so
I can't pay your fare.
Punisher: You don't have to pay me jackass
Spidey: Oh, awesome. Action is MY reward, too.
The Worst Line: There's a lot of bad lines....

end.