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ULTIMATE MARVEL TEAM UP #8 (Best of the Week!)
Highly Recommended (10/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils: Bill Sienkiewicz
Colors: Transparency Digital
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Price: $2.25 US/$3.50 CAN |
The three-part Punisher, Daredevil and Spider-Man story has been easily the best story that Bendis has done on Ultimate Marvel Team Up, and honestly one of my favorite stories this year. With atmospheric and moody artwork by Sienkiewicz that nevertheless has perfect storytelling and one of the most impressive portrayals of Punisher and Daredevil done to date, this has been the kind of noir crime book that Bendis specialized in early in his career. This issue features the dramatic first meeting of the Ultimate versions of Punisher and Daredevil, the conclusion of the Ultimate Punisher's origin and an ending that gave me chills. Early on, I was disappointed in Ultimate Marvel Team Up, but with the Iron Man issues
and this three-parter, it has now become one of my favorites along with the
other two Ultimate titles.
One of the big selling points
of last issues was the depiction of Daredevil's senses, both visually and
through his narration. This issue opens with the same sort of thing, a lot of
narration that shows us Matt Murdock's inner monologue and how he reacts to a
gun to his temple. And the interaction between Daredevil and Punisher speaks
volumes about their characters. While Daredevil talks and thinks a mile a
minute, Punisher speaks only a few words, and the calculations he is doing in
his head are left unseen to the reader. Instead we see how Daredevil reacts and
get his interpretation. The result is that Punisher seems more of a stoic and
dangerous character, someone unknowable.
The driving force of the
story, however, has been the origin of the Punisher, and the revenge he is
taking on those who killed his family. The effect that being hunted by the
Punisher has is shown in vivid detail with Jillette, and I appreciate that
Jillette is shown as human rather than some kind of monster. However, Bendis
doesn't hesitate to show us how rotten he is, from the reaction the other cops
have to him to the way he uses his own children as human shields. Bendis knows,
as Garth Ennis does, that the trick to making Punisher a sympathetic character
is making sure that his victims deserve their fates.
The artwork here is more than
a little important in maintaining the atmosphere. Spider-Man is in this issue
for only a few pages, and he's the interloper, the screw-up. That is brought
about through dialogue, but a lot of it is due to the artwork. Sienkiewicz gives
us a grainy and dirty view of the city, shadows and rooftops and old rotten
buildings. There is never a doubt that this is the realm of vigilantes like
Punisher and Daredevil, not the home of super-powered kids like Spider-Man.
I don't want to give the ending to this one away, but suffice to say that it was a powerful moment, at once inspiring and chilling, and it fit in very nicely with the grim reality that the three-part series has maintained. I'm surprised to be saying this, but Ultimate Marvel Team Up may represent some of Bendis's best work, better than even some of his work on Ultimate Spider-Man and Powers.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
