Written By: John Barber
Art By: Michael Walsh, Andrea Broccardo, Jason Muhr
Published By: Marvel
Dr. Strange Divided by Punisher #1 reminds me of the My Little Pony: Friends Forever comics. Let’s take two characters from a thing and throw them together to see what happens. If that sounds like a strange comparison, then consider this: Most MLP:FiM:FF (I scream internally at this acronym) comics aren’t great, and DR/PMB (holy wow, this acronym is just as bad) isn’t that great either!
Well, it’s okay.
See, I actually like the ideas present here. The Punisher is a violent, no-nonsense individual with a skull on his shirt, and Dr. Strange is a strange doctor who doesn’t like violence and is also magic. It’s the best of modern weaponry meets the best of magic, and that’s a dichotomy I can get behind. And hell, for the first few pages where Punisher blowing up a gang hideout, it works. The violence is nonchalant, which makes it both gruesome and fun. I like it! The Punisher is one of the few Shadow the Edgehog characters I actually like, though I couldn’t really tell you why. Maybe it’s that blood pools seem to erupt wherever he walks and that’s okay, or maybe it’s because I’m a revolting manchild at heart, but I can dig it.
It’s Dr. Strange that really brings this comic down. He’s so boring. He wasn’t all that interesting in the movie, nor was he interesting in the #1 comic I read about two months ago, and I’m thinking it’s a character flaw and not a writer flaw. So, he’s a mystical version of Tony Stark but with a bit less sass and more reverie for human life? Whatever the case may be, he’s introduced in a very nonsensical–very unnecessary–fight sequence with an invisible demon that does nothing but take up page space for what I do admit is a clever paring.
Five pages are wasted on this. That’s what, a 1/5 of the comic?
The comic also has this unnecessary habit of flipping over to the villains and whatever nonsense they’re doing. It’s just as unnecessary as the aforementioned fight sequence. I understand trying to build your villains, but this is a buddy cop story. The villains are unimportant. This is also the kind of tale that shouldn’t last more than two or three issues because by then the charm and wit will have worn off. It’s why the MLP:FiM:FF issues are one shots only. Is Discord x Luna awesome? Yes. Do I need that for more than 20 pages? No.
All of the above being said, I will give DR/PMB the benefit of the doubt. It is a charming idea, and the Punisher is at least fun to be around. Give him some demons to shoot and I’m game for more.
