Written by: Nathan Edmondson
Art by: Mitch Gerads
Publisher: Marvel
If there’s one thing that the current run of The Punisher has illuminated about Frank Castle it’s that, while he may not be super human, man, the guy can take a beating. When we last left Frank, he’d just started a prison riot in a Costa Rican prison he’d been dropped into by Black Widow. It turns out that this wasn’t just a jerk thing for her to do because the Avengers and Frank don’t get along; Frank, as usual, has a plan. There’s information that Frank needs for his continuing war for the survival of Los Angeles against the Dos Soles gang. Speaking of L.A., while Frank is busting heads in Costa Rica, Officer Stone is beginning her own skirmish against the criminal forces that are flooding the city’s streets. Information in hand, Frank then makes his way back toward L.A., with some help from an old friend, as the Howling Commandos take another questionable step in their mission to bring The Punisher down.
There’s a point in this issue, in which Frank states that he’s “ready to call it quits.” This would normally be a very odd claim to hear from The Punisher, but it comes across as really out of place considering the fact that he has been going non-stop for this entire run. I’m going to avoid details, but, considering the context this revelation comes out in, it certainly feels as though the book is ready to shift gears a bit. Whereas Greg Rucka actually went out of his way to make Frank as a cipher an essential element to his run on the book, Nathan Edmondson’s characterization of Frank seems to be remaining minimal only to serve the sheer onslaught of action that’s been thrown his way. This volatile nature has served the book well so far, giving Frank’s move to L.A. the feeling that he truly is in a war zone, one that none of the Marvel superheroes seem to care about.
It’s a bit worrisome, however, that in the brief glimpses of characterization we do get, Frank continues to seem a bit off. He’s not quite the hell engine of endless battle that we’ve seen in most modern representation, but he’s also not exactly human. He feels a bit too “middle of the road” for the book’s own good. With this issue though, the book feels like it’s come to a bit of a tipping point; it feels as though we definitely need a lull in the excitement so that we can see an establishment of exactly what the status quo is for Frank right now. It didn’t need to come in the scene of his retirement claim; he is, after all, currently still at war, but it does feel like it needs to happen soon. For the time being, this feeling of constant tension is still making for a compelling story, but that tension can only stretch so much farther without a bit of catharsis. The weakest point continues to be the segments with the Howling Commandos. They’ve been doing whatever it is that they’re doing in the background since the very beginning of the first issue, and it’s honestly at the point where I’m ready for that plot to pay off so we can move on from it.
The art, by Mitch Gerads, is angular and uncluttered. This usually works in the book’s favor, allowing him to focus on finding new ways for Frank to hurt people and for people to hurt Frank. Gerads focuses his efforts on accurately representing the movement of the things he’s drawing. The downside of this is that there isn’t much continuity for anything from page to page. Even The Punisher himself goes from looking much like we normally see him represented to occasionally looking like Popeye. There is even one progression of panels in which Frank goes from having bruises all over his face to having a completely unblemished visage to looking beaten to a pulp again. So, much like the writing, when the focus is off of the action, things look off.
What it comes down to is that, much like Frank in this issue, the book feels like it’s on a precipice. Edmondson can’t go much longer without getting a grip on exactly what it is that he wants to accomplish with the character. Things have been entertaining in a hectic way so far, but, as happens with weaker representations of The Punisher, there’s just not much to really dig in to.
