Comics I Bought This Week: November 6, 2010

Nov06
on November 6, 2010 at 6:00 am
Posted In: Comics I Bought This Week

I’m back from the comic shop this week and I got two new comics:

  • Berlin – 17

  • Buffy Season 8 – 38

    • And now for a review of something I’ve read recently.

    “Punisher: Waz Zone – The Resurrection of Ma Gnucci” by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillion

    Here is another of the book I was gifted by a friend. It’s a Punisher story that originally ran back in 2008 and 2009. I read a Rick Remender Punisher volume a little while ago but the Punisher usually isn’t on my radar too often. I do remember reading and enjoying the Ennis/Dillon “Welcome Back, Frank” Punisher story from back in 2001 so I had hopes that this volume would be good too. And it was pretty good.

    I really don’t recognize the Punisher anymore. All the super hero aspects of him have been stripped away. He’s a well trained guy with a gun killing mobsters and criminals with no thought of being caught by a super hero. This isn’t a new turn of events in Punisher comics but sometimes I forget.

    This particular story is about the son of some old enemy setting his sights on making the Punisher suffer in the name of his slain father. And the Punisher kills a bunch of mobsters and criminals. Nothing new plot-wise but it’s well done. There is some mystery to things that the Punisher has to put together as events unfold.

    The characters generally act like you’d expect people to act throughout the book except the for the fact that the main villain wants to capture the Punisher and not kill him. That never works out for villains. One henchman points out that no one has been successful in capturing or killing the Punisher so what does it matter which the villain wants. That made me smile.

    I like Steve Dillon’s work in general. His art has a straightforward clarity to it that I appreciate. His characters don’t have a lot of expression to them but a lot of that has to do with the story. Garth Ennis Punisher stories are filled with bleakness and human beings who are less than happy and ideal. Dillon sure draws a wide variety of smirks, grimaces, frowns, pouts, and gritted teeth throughout.

    Overall I enjoyed this Punisher story. It was kind of the same as other Punisher stories but it was well done. Plus I’m not a regular Punisher reader so it was a change of pace for me.