Ennis's abandonment of the humorous approach when it comes to Frank Castle's war on crime continues to stand out as a smart idea. Ennis taps into the most extreme scenarios to explore the human condition in the first half of this issue, and in the latter, he sets up a colorful and tense gang war in Manhattan's Irish community. The latter part of the book is full of the sort of weird and intense characters we've come to expect from Ennis, but it's balanced with the horror and emotion that dominates the opening sequence.
Fank Castle visits the section of Manhattan once known as Hell's Kitchen, now promoted as Clinton, a neighborhood full of cafes and yuppies. The new peace that envelops the area is shattered, though, by what seems to be an act of terrorism, and the Punisher decides to get to the bottom of it. What's really going on is a brewing feud between rival factions of Irish criminals. On the one side is Finn, ex-IRA and one-time bomb victim. On the other is Maginty, an Irishman who recruits a ghost from the underworld's past to strike fear into the hearts of his enemies.
It's a pleasure to see Leandro Fernandez make his mark on yet another Marvel title. He did great work on Incredible Hulk and Wolverine, but he gets to really strut his stuff here, on a MAX title with less visual restrictions. He matches the harsh and intense quality of Ennis's script perfectly, bringing the chaos and horror of a bombing to life. He doesn't hold back either. On the news, we see the smoldering aftermath of bombings all the time, the world over, but we never really see the effects on the victims. Fernandez provides an unflinching look at such violence, and in the process, he condemns it.
Ennis does the same with his script, and that's surprising, given the plentiful nature of violence in this series. The scene in which the Punisher connects with an emergency worker is a powerful one. It lets the reader know how a regular person can persevere in the most awful of circumstances, and it humanizes the title character a bit.
I think I finally get Garth Ennis's writing, and not just on this book. I've always loved his work, but he's not just writing stories. His over-the-top characters, intensity of emotion and extremist action merge to form mythologies, and that's the case here as well. The Punisher, Maginty and Finn hover above mortal men. They decide the fate of others, and only these larger than life figures can do harm to one another. Ennis isn't just writing about criminals and anti-heroes; in a fashion, he's writing about gods. These untouchable gods rule over a filthy, urban landscape. That's what draws the reader into the surreal worlds and people Ennis creates.
