Punisher # 61 Reviewed
Punisher #61
By Gregg Hurwitz & Laurence Campbell
It’s the end of the seminal run by Garth Ennis on this title, and it’s going to be a tough act to follow.
Writer Gregg Hurwitz was Shortlisted for the 2008 CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award for Best Thriller and Nominated for Best Novel of the year by ITW, International Thriller Writers. His Book The Crime Writer has met with much critical acclaim.
So good start here then,
Art is by Laurence Campbell whose past work includes Judge Dredd, 2000ad, Wolverine and the Punisher. His gritty style suit’s a book like the Punisher, so that’s ok then, Punisher fans should be able to breathe a sigh of relief,
And if you are anything like me and have become a bit bored with Ennis on The Punisher then this could be the welcome change you were waiting for, and as they say, a change can be as good as rest.
So lets take a look at the book, the first thing that I noted was the translation word balloons, its obvious that this the dialogue is translated from South American border town,
One. Because the writer mixes both American and Spanish in the dialogue which I found irritating, I really dislike this I feel that if you are going to translate the dialogue, then do so and put a little box at the bottom saying translated from said language, or write the entire speech bubble in said language and repeat it in a translation caption, don’t mix the two together, as not every one is going to get it
And two because later in the book we are told that this town exists purely because the Americans can wring more profit from the peso than a dollar.
The plot is quite simple, with the Punisher passing through a small town which is being terrorised by bad men who kidnap the locals daughters for there own fowl needs, enter The Punisher is approached by a concerned citizen to purge the town on a contract basis, but as we know The Punisher doesn’t do what he does for Money, so he rejects the offer, and from this point on the book becomes even more brutal although I do feel that the overuse of strong primary colours spoils the grit, had the colourist toned these down to pastel shades and darkened them up a bit I am sure that this would have enhanced the overall look of the book immensely , and having had the privilege to have viewed the pages before colour was added, it has to be said that it looked really nice in black and white, so I do have some authority to knock the colouring, that and the fact that I am partially colour blind tells me that if the strong yellows, reds, and blues jump out and poke me in the eye, then they must be well over the top.
This first issue ends with the spectacle of a shot to the head and The Punisher returning to ask, “Alright, Lets see what the Fucks going on here”
This is without doubt a good Punisher Story, and has at last given me a Punisher comic that I want to read (Punisher War Journal failed in this department) but the one or three gripes leave me only being able to give it an over all 8.5/10.
Perhaps when I have read the entire arc I may change my mind, but one thing for sure is,
No one should drop this book just because Garth Ennis has left. It’s a bloody good comic book, and a bloody good Punisher Comic Book, which stays true to both the MAX concept as well as The Punisher Concept.
And that's it folks, a well mannered review by a well mannered boy :)
