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PUNISHER #10
"This Makes it Personal!"
Recommended (8/10)
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Marvel Comics/Marvel Knights imprint
Writer: Tom Peyer
Artist: Manuel Gutierrez
Colors: Steve Oliff
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Stuart Moore
Price: $2.99 US/$4.75 CAN |
Punisher has become almost surreal in its humor since
Peyer took over, and that's a good thing, because while he's maintaining the
feel that Ennis and Dillon brought to the book, he's also clearly putting his
own stamp on it. The "Taxi Wars" is, unbelievably, as strange and funny as the
trans-sexual Russian that was probably the most extreme element of Ennis's run.
In addition, though I have some quibbles with how Gutierrez draws women, in
general his work does a great job of maintaining the gritty, street-level feel
of the book without losing the sense of humor required to make it work.
The idea of a mad taxi baron
trying to start a taxi war is completely over-the-top, and it's a perfect idea
for this book. The Medallion and his henchman, Mr. Badwrench, are very amusing
and disturbing villains in the Ennis mold, and there are great little details in
their behavior that make them entertaining. Little things, like Badwrench's
fanatical desire for cleanliness or Medallion's strange personal grooming
habits, make them work as much as their psychotic goals.
While Peyer is maintaining
the tone and style that Ennis set for this title, however, he's not strictly
imitating what went before. He's putting his own stamp on the book as well, most
notable in the sequence featuring criticism of famed cabbie racism. It's an
important point, one worth noting, and the dialogue that explains it is very
well done. In addition, the commentary doesn't feel out of place, because it is
used to set up an important story point about how The Medallion knows of the
Punisher's involvement.
In general, when I complain
about an artist drawing women, it's because they draw them over-sexualized, with
unbelievable anatomy. Gutierrez actually falls into the other category, as his
women all tend to look exactly like men. I had a hard time at first figuring out
Soap's mother, or that Radio Annie was a woman, until the script made it clear.
That aside, though, the artwork is pretty strong. Gutierrez has kept the models
for Detective Soap and Punisher that Dillon established, while giving them a
slightly rougher-edged look, and his design for the over-the-top Medallion and
his Humvee/limo/cab are terrific. His work reminds me of Alex Maleev, with a
very strong similarity to work by Tim Bradstreet and Richard Corben as well, and
with a little polish on weak elements, I can see Gutierrez becoming quite a star
artist.
I'll be honest, I didn't hold out a lot of hope of enjoying Punisher once Ennis
and Dillon left the book. However, I'm really enjoying the Peyer/Gutierrez "Taxi
Wars" story so far, as they seem to be maintaining the feel that Ennis and
Dillon brought while still taking the story off in new, interesting and (most
importantly) funny directions.
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