Hey look, another Wolverine-related limited series. It's getting so one can set his watch to these things. To be fair, though, this first issue reads more like a solo Punisher story. The premise is somewhat interesting, but the overall tone of the script and the action fails to capture the supposed maturity and edge that are inherent in the title characters and, in theory, the Marvel Knights brand. The same can be said of the artwork. The storytelling here is clear, though, and it's not bad, per se. It just strikes me as remarkably generic and even cliched. Those looking for the inventiveness for which writer Peter Milligan is known won't find it here.
A decade ago, a criminal mastermind known in the underworld as Napoleon was on cloud nine. Without ever exposing himself to risk of prosecution, he planned and co-ordinated bank robberies across the United States, caring little of the little people who got in the way of his efforts to amass wealth. It didn't take long for the Punisher to notice him, but Napoleon managed to do what few have done before him: he escapes the Punisher's wrath. Today, tired of hiding, he has engineered a scenario that will bring the Punisher to him... and into the path of one of the world's best killers.
Seemingly, Lee Weeks is an excellent choice for bringing these two dark characters to life. Weeks's past work has demonstrated he handles such potentially noir characters quite well. That's what leads me to believe that he and inker Tom Palmer just aren't a good match. Both are accomplished artists, but Palmer's inks seem to eliminate the darker leanings in Weeks's style. At best, the art here could be described as rather conventional. I'm also puzzled as to why Napoleon is drawn to look so similar to the Punisher. It makes for some confusing moments earlier in the book.
Look at the cover. The Punisher is doing something, apparently firing away at an unseen enemy. What's Wolverine doing? Well, he's looking Kewl, but that's about it. He's not about to leap into battle. It almost seems like he's waiting for a foe to approach, but with the Punisher's hail of bullets overhead, getting close to them seems unlikely at best. Is this a major problem with the book? No, but the implausibility of the pin-up art struck me as amusing.
The most interesting thing about the plotting is Milligan's effort to misdirect. At first, it seems as though the two title characters will be going up against the bank-robbing Napoleon, but the story proceeds incredibly quickly. In the process, Milligan establishes what a badass the Punisher is. I like the premise of Erewhon, a haven for criminals on the run, though the obvious nature of its name elicited a bit of a groan from this reader.
In order for this story to work, the reader has to believe that Wolverine is at the beck and call of law-enforcement agencies the world over, that he's a straight-laced, by-the-book kinda guy as compared to the Punisher's loose cannon. It's too much to swallow, and I'm not hopeful about the forthcoming plot direction. I just hope Milligan has some more misdirection up his sleeve.
