This week, Chad recorded the podcast on his end, which made for a far better episode -- actually several episodes, delivered a few times this week in bite-size chunks of 30-45 minutes each -- and superior sound quality. My mic is too loud, but at least you can hear everything this time, as we talk about Greg Rucka's Batwoman, and a whole bunch of other stuff like, um, the Punisher? And more!
So.
Recently reviewed by me at CBR: Punisher: Frank Castle #68, about which I write the following sentences: "Duane Swierczynski doesn't seem particularly interested in building the tension within this scenario. In this issue, he shifts the focus away from Frank Castle to give us a glimpse of the past and present of a few of the key bad-guy players. The problem here -- and it's a problem that Swierczynski tends to have in his comic book work -- is that the pacing is too lethargic. The best thing Swierczynski's written for Marvel so far has been a single-issue 'Immortal Iron Fist' story, set in the future. That story was crisp, and fast-moving, and packed with detail. In his Punisher work, and in his 'Cable; series, Swierczynski plods along, and while some of the details may be interesting, they just drift in front of our eyes like a sad parade."
Recently reviewed by me at CBR: Punisher #2, about which I write the following sentences: "But that’s not what Rick Remender and Jerome Opena are doing here, anyway. What they’re doing is answering the question: What would the Punisher do in a world run by Norman Osborn? It’s a fundamentally different scenario for the Punisher to be in -- he isn’t a rogue vigilante in a world populated with mobsters and drug-runners and slave traders. He's a vicious hero in a world that has been taken over by the supervillain military-industrial complex. It opens narrative possibilities that Matt Fraction didn't have in 'Punisher War Journal.' It allows the Punisher to play a more important role in the Marvel Universe proper, instead of being relegated to the back-alleys and blackened rooftops. "
Recently reviewed by me at CBR: Punisher War Zone #6, about which I write the following sentences: "Ennis also wraps up the Ma Gnucci/Elite plotline with a vicious climax, but rather than give away those particular grisly details, I'd just like to commend Steve Dillon for another job well done. A cursory glance at his work might not allow you to fully appreciate the depths of his talent, and it may even seem like he's drawing comics the same was he has for the past couple of decades. But his work in recent years has gained a greater sense of dimensionality, moving beyond the flat planes he emphasized for so long, and giving his comic book worlds a visual depth. He also tells a story with perfect clarity and grace, and his art on this comic -- as bloody as the subject matter can be -- is a wonderful cure for the chaotic muddiness that taints so many mainstream comics these days."
Recently reviewed by me at CBR: Punisher Max X-Mas Special #1, about which I write the following sentences: "Aaron's surprisingly layered story -- it's not surprising for anyone who's been reading his work regularly, but might surprise those that picked up the comic based purely on the title and cover art -- works because the resonant subtext does not overwhelm the surface narrative. It reads as a great Frank Castle blood-and-guts tale, but it also has a meaningful connection to Christmas that goes beyond the tree trimmings and the red fluffy suit."
I guess it's Punisher Week over at CBR, what with all the ads and the press for the "War Zone" film. I didn't know that was going to happen, but I knew the Punisher was in my brain this week, after spending the Thanksgiving weekend cuddling up with the new Omnibus edition.
Recently reviewed by me at CBR: Punisher War Journal #24 about which I write the following sentences: "Here's a strange beast: a 'Secret Invasion' crossover that has neither the word 'secret' nor the word 'invasion' anywhere on the cover. Instead, we get Alex Maleev's haunting image of Frank Castle behind bars and not even the slightest indication that a Skrull might rear its freakishly green head. Yet, this issue is absolutely full of Skrulls, and as much as I'm ready to take a break from the shape-shifting aliens after reading about them in every Marvel comic since the Spring, 'Punisher War Journal' #24 teaches an important life lesson: Skrulls are okay, folks. Especially when they're in the line of fire and Frank Castle is holding the arsenal."KEITH DALLAS: The late 1980s were a particular heyday for you. At the time you started writing Flash in 1987, you were also writing Nexus, Badger, Robotech Masters, and Marvel had you on The Punisher.
MIKE BARON: I was a busy boy.
DALLAS: [chuckles] Can you describe your career at that point? What was it like writing all those titles?
BARON: Well, there was a lot of confusion.
DALLAS: How so?
BARON: [pauses] Keith, at the time I was making a lot of money, and I was doing a lot of cocaine.
DALLAS: Really?
BARON: As a result, my work was not the best that I could have done. I have gone through a lot of changes since then and I look back at that period with mixed feelings.
The cocaine definitely contributed to my "over-writing." I don't think I was taking my writing subjects as seriously as I do now. However, I took Flash very seriously and that's the reason I stopped writing the series [after issue #14] because I just ran out of ideas and I couldn't vamp it.
DALLAS: It was around this time that you were nominated three years in a row for an Eisner Award for your writing on Nexus.
BARON: My work on Nexus has never suffered.
When you do cocaine, you think you can do any damn thing. Often, I just would grab a sheet of paper and start telling a story and make it up as I went along, panel by panel. But you can't do that really. You need a real solid idea and solid characters to build a story around.
Recently reviewed by me at CBR: Punisher War Journal #21, about which I write the following sentences: "Under the guidance of Matt Fraction, 'Punisher War Journal' has alternated between clever, witty looks at the Marvel Universe and serious and severe looks at the screwed-up world in which Frank Castle lives. The tone hasn't been exactly consistent from arc to arc, but I don't see that as a drawback at all, because the Punisher in straight-up vigilante mode has never been all that interesting in the long term. The Punisher is an inconsistent character, really, if you take into account all of his in-Universe portrayals over the years. He's been a buffoonish killer, a monster, a hero, a lunatic, a patriot, and almost anything you can imagine. Fraction has written him as a strange combination of all of those things, and if he isn't heroic in a traditional sense, at least he has a code he follows. He's a psychopath headlining a book set in the Marvel Universe, and Fraction has made him compelling and somewhat noble, while never going so far as to make Frank Castle admirable."
Once in a generation, a comic arrives to change the face of the industry. That comic is probably not Punisher War Journal but, you know what, two smart guys talking about Punisher comics can lead to some pretty insightful observations about graphic narrative. None of which necessarily occurs in this week's installment of THE SPLASH PAGE, but it might. You'll never know until you read it.