THE PUNISHER #15
"The Exclusive"
Mildly Recommended (6/10)
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Marvel Comics/Marvel Knights imprint
Writer: Garth Ennis
Pencils: Darick Robertson
Inks: Nelson
Colors: Avalon Studios
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Stuart Moore
Price: $2.99 US/$4.75 CAN |
I'm a sucker for journalism in comics... as long as it's done right. Too often, we see Lois Lanes and Peter Parkers jetting off on adventures that are supposed to be newspaper assignments; it's just too big a pill to swallow. Here, Ennis pokes fun at such implausibly ambitious journalistic endeavors in his typical over-the-top fashion. But there's something unsettling about this story, as well as some surprisingly sketchy visuals.
Chuck Self is the best reporter The Daily Bugle has on staff. He's broken more world-changing stories than anyone, and he's set his sights on the Punisher. He arranges to accompany the reluctant vigilante on his nightly rounds of the New York underworld. Despite the carnage, danger and pain in which he finds himself, he's bound and determined to get the story, whereas the Punisher aims to kill a number of birds with a single stone.
Robertson boasts an extreme style (just check out Transmetropolitan) that suits the title character well, but his work here lacks the crispness and detail that's made him a sought-after talent in comics these days. Nelson's inks aren't tight enough for his work. The end result is artwork that comes off as rushed and sketchy at times. The action doesn't flow as smoothly as it could either.
The core plot concept is a clever one, and Ennis -- and Self -- pull the caper off convincingly. The script explains the ins and outs of the Punisher's bizarre choreography of violence nicely. There's also some witty little bits of dialogue from the journalist, funny commentaries on corporate and pop culture. The "Enron-Britney" connection. "Gatesgate." Funny stuff.
I suppose the reader is led to believe that the reporter here crosses the line and becomes the object of the Punisher's hatred as opposed to an observer, but I just don't buy into it. Chuck Self is a monumentally egotistical jackass, and sure, he breaks the law here and deserves some comeuppance. But does he really come off as a threat to innocents? The Punisher's definition of what constitutes his prey strikes me as far too loose, and as a result, the story is left without a protagonist.
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