Panelology - Poor Frank

by Brandon
As the year comes to a close, most fans start to look back on all the things that made 2008 great for our beloved hobby. Comic books and comic book characters seem to be more in the forefront of popular culture consciousness now, thanks in large part to huge performances from blockbuster films based on comic book properties. In a year where theaters have already been graced with arguably three of the best comic book films thus far (Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and The Dark Knight), The Punisher, the relentless Marvel Comics’ vigilante, returned to theaters for a third round of punishment with Punisher: War Zone. Though the film was heavy on fertile action movie territory like violence, blood, guts, shooting, and brutality, Frank Castle struck out with moviegoers yet again. The Punisher has definitely set out an impressive stake on an unwanted claim as Marvel’s unluckiest movie star. According to Hollywood.com, Punisher: War Zone has thus far only been able to shoot up $7.9 million dollars worth of damage at the box office. Compare that sum to the other Marvel starlets of 2008 and Punisher comes off look pathetically weak. Iron Man was invincible for Marvel, hauling a whopping $318.2 million in theaters, while The Incredible Hulk smashed up $134.5 million. Punisher is a guy who has gone toe to toe with the likes of Wolverine, Batman, and even Dr. Doom in the past. He should be able to make more than $8 million, right?

So what went wrong? What happened with this mighty Marvel movie that did not happen with Hulk or Iron Man? I am a huge Punisher fan and always will be a fan. While I actually did enjoy Punisher: War Zone on a “guilty pleasure” level, I understand how it would not click with a larger audience outside of the Frank Castle faithful. Some things worked, but much of it did not.

Both Iron Man and Incredible Hulk feature some stellar acting on the part of the primary characters. Robert Downy, Jr.’s Tony Stark and Ed Norton’s Bruce Banner were both compelling actors turning in solid portrayals of these larger than life comic characters. The same roughly holds true for Punisher: War Zone. By and large, Ray Stevenson does a bang-up job as Punisher. He was cold, ruthless, and domineering. He nailed the essence of the Punisher by embodying an unfeeling character well. Was it as good a job as what Ed Norton or Robert Downy brought to the screen this past summer? Definitely not, but Ray Stevenson deserves more kudos for doing a great job playing Frank Castle. He walked into a hard position here by walking into a role that has garnered little esteem in the past and managed to do a pretty decent job.

Does Frank Castle need a hug? Punisher: War Zone, just like the previous 2003 film, tried to humanize Punisher too much. In War Zone, we find Frank Castle accidentally killing an undercover agent, causing Punisher to rethink his war on crime. Frank decides to apologize to agent’s widow, leading to some very “touching” scenes between the slain man’s daughter and Frank. That was sarcasm. That type of civilizing just does not work for me, and I do not think it works for the big screen. I do not think the Punisher needs to be humanized. He is a cold, blunt instrument. He shoots criminals. That is as simple and complex as it needs to be. I do not think it is necessary to make Punisher a likable guy. Frank Castle is not a likable guy. At his root, he is basically a crazed murderer. His reason for being is taking out criminals. Period. Viewers do not desire or need to see Frank hand a teddy bear over to a little girl. Tony Stark and Bruce Banner can be humanized. They are moral tales with flawed, yet essentially good-natured heroes, where right triumphs over wrong. Punisher is not that kind of story. The area between right and wrong should be blurry with regards to Frank Castle. He cannot be saved, no matter how many little girls want to hug his neck at the end of the film.

The Punisher is only as good as his villain(s). This is true in both comic books and in film. One of the most compelling aspects of Garth Ennis’ long run on Punisher was his ability to bring in villains that did not seem to be caricatures or farcically deranged men in brightly colored tights. However, Jigsaw just did not cut it in this film. He was laughable at best and completely ignorable at worst. Jigsaw was so blatantly over the top and outrageous that it was hard to even believe you were watching the same movie when he came onscreen. The scenes featuring both Jigsaw and his brother were excruciating to watch. Jigsaw just never fit in with the rhythm of the rest of the film. He was an outlier occupying screen time that could have been better spent. I think I would have rather seen a movie where Punisher killed low level crack addicts for ninety-minutes than to have ever seen Dominic West’s Jigsaw for even a single frame. Dominic West is a solid actor, but this role was just brainless, especially in the face of such great villainy in Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and especially The Dark Knight. The villain should compliment the hero, not overshadow him with ineffective goofiness.

Will Punisher ever make it as a hit comic-to-film character? Maybe, but he probably will not get another chance for a long time. The Punisher’s star has faded for now, with War Zone effectively killing off the brand for the foreseeable future. It will practically take a miracle to bring Frank Castle back to life on the big screen, but it is not impossible. Many people thought batman and Robin would kill the dynamic duo for years to come, but Batman Begins helped reinvent the franchise and energize excitement in the character of Batman. Could a Punisher Begins be too far down the pike? The possibility, though unlikely, is still there and that is all we Punisher fans have to hold onto for now
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BG Roundtable: Trading Up

by Chris

Welcome to the second installment of Trading Up, where the expert dorks at the Bad Genious tell you what comic series are good enough to be put into trade paperback, but that publishers, in their ignorance, haven't gotten around to. We've changed the format a bit this time around to a more discussion oriented approach. Read on and be enlightened!



Let's start off with my recommendation this time around:

Chris: I'm actually going to combine two series for my entry this month since they're tied pretty closely together. I am recommending All-Star Squadron and Infinity, Inc.. With the popularity of Geoff Johns' JSA and Justice Society of America series these days, this would be the perfect time to trade both of these series. Johns' books, while new reader friendly, are, at the same time, very continuity heavy. They reference things that happened in both of these books, or I assume they do anyway...I've never read a single issue of either one. All-Star Squadron tells the stories of the JSA while Infinity, Inc. tells of the adventures of the JSA members' children. Many of the characters in these books are in the Justice Society today. Knowing the history of these characters would give me a much greater appreciation for the stories that Johns is telling.

I also have an ulterior motive for wanting reprints of Infinity, Inc.: I am a huge Todd McFarlane fan and he drew about 20 issues of that title early on in his career.

After Crisis on Infinite Earths, All-Star Squadron was canceled and replaced with Young All Stars, so I'd probably be interested in trades of this as well.

Doug: Actually, All Star Squadron is more than just the Golden Age Justice Society...it's pretty much EVERY Golden Age DC hero. The JSA members pretty quickly take a backseat to more obscure characters like Johnny Quick, Liberty Belle, and Robotman. Characters like the Freedom Fighters also show up briefly. But that actually makes it an even better idea for the trade treatment, since so many of those characters did start to show up in modern DC books post-ASS. You had Johnny Quick in Flash, the Freedom Fighters have been rebooted and had a couple of recent minis, and of course Liberty Belle and Johnny Quick have a daughter in the current Justice Society. The Shining Knight was also an ASS member and he was given the Grant Morrison treatment in 7 Soldiers.

Young All-Stars isn't nearly as essential...I think the only character from that book who shows up now is Iron Monroe, who is in Manhunter these days.

Chris: I'd never even heard of it before, but I came across it reading the Wikipedia page on ASS and figured I'd mention it since Roy Thomas wrote it and it was essentially a continuation.

Tyler: I have to admit I'd have a passing interest in Infinity Inc., since I had a friend growing up who collected it. I'd never read his issues, because they didn't have an "X" on the cover, but he maintained they were really good.

Then Devin popped in and gave us his $0.02.

Devin: Hitman needs to be finished. I think they only got about half of the series collected in trade and that was a while ago. It's a solid series, back from Ennis' glory days (i.e., when Preacher was coming out) and was about a superpowered (though he, like most of Ennis' super powered characters, rarely used them) hitman working in Gotham City. Some really great characters, hilarious plays on DC superheroes, and also quite possibly one of the top ten Superman stories. Where's the love for Tommy Monaghan (no, not the Dominos Guy)?

Doug: And Nat the Hat! And Baytor!

Chris: I'm not a huge Ennis fan. I loved his Punisher run, but his other stuff seems so over the top (I have pretty much zero interest in Preacher). Hitman, however, intrigues me.

Doug: Well, Hitman was a DC Universe book, so it does have to stay within the limits of good taste for that line of books. Which it does. Even if just barely.

Matt: I am not a huge fan of Ennis, but I would buy Hitman.

Doug: Hitman really is a great book. Sure, some of it is over-the-top, but a lot of it is really heartfelt and excellent.

Matt, our resident Alan Davis whore, proceeded to shock us by recommending a series that Davis didn't draw!

Matt: A series that I would love to see collected is the first volume of the Marvel UK Knights of the Pendragon series.

Marvel's description of the series: Since the days of King Arthur, and possibly earlier, the mystical Green Knight has granted Pendragon spirit-power to certain individuals in times of great need. In recent times, the Pendragon of Sir Gawain possessed policeman Dai Thomas. Dai, Captain Britain (Brian Braddock) and journalist Kate McClellan encountered the Green Knight, who was weakening due to mankind's environmental abuse. Dai sacrificed his power to bolster the Knight's failing strength. Shortly after, a Pendragon possessed Kate McClellan's son Cam, who fell into the clutches of the Bane, the Pendragons' arch foes led by Grace. Cam's teacher, Peter Hunter, formerly the Merlin Pendragon-powered hero Albion, gathered several Pendragons to fight the Bane: Union Jack (Lancelot), Kate McClellan (Guinevere), and author Ben Gallagher (Percival). Aided by Captain Britain, Iron Man (Tony Stark), and the Green Knight, the Pendragons prevented an attempted resurrection of Bane demi-god, the Red Lord (Bodb Derg), saved the Spanish town of Joselito from toxic devastation, and seemingly defeated Grace. Peter took the spirit from Cam, regaining his former powers.

The Knights of Pendragon set up a base of operations at Camelaird farm in Wiltshire with assistance from Tony Stark. Union Jack, Kate, and Ben fought Bane ivory poachers in Wakanda with help from the Black Panther, Mister Fantastic, and the Invisible Woman. The Bane conspired to separate the team, and picked the Pendragons off one by one. With Ben and Union Jack dead, and the Black Panther hospitalized, Albion was then executed as part of a ceremony to resurrect the Red Lord. Adam Crown (King Arthur) sensed their deaths and traveled to Avalon. The Green Knight resurrected all the dead Pendragons, as Adam summoned every Pendragon past or present, including the Black Panther, Captain Britain, Dai Thomas, and Iron Man, in order to fight the Bane's army. Adam drove the Bane spirit out of Grace, forcing the enemy to withdraw. Ben Gallagher died in combat, prompting Kate to leave the team and finish Ben's book.

This series was written by Dan Abnett and John Tomlinson with early art by Gary Erskine. Erskine's art is rough in some places but the writing is sharp throughout. There have been many King Arthur-type stories in comics but this one is tops.

Chris: This series, in fact, is on my list of stuff I'd like to see traded. I love fantasy and I love superheroes. This sounds like a perfect combination. Of course, since you picked it, Matt, I was expecting to see that Alan Davis had handled some of the art chores!

Matt: Most of Alan's stuff has been traded. He did do some of the covers however!

Once Matt had saved his reputation in the eyes of the BG, Patrick stopped by

Patrick: One run I would like to see is some more of Busiek's run on Thunderbolts. There has only been a collection of the first 6 issues or so. This was a good run, that would read good in trade. So why haven't they done it?

Matt: I agree. I would pick up those Thunderbolts trades.

Chris: There was such a smooth transition from Busiek to Nicieza on the first run that those should be collected as well. Plus, the series had some great artwork by Mark Bagley and Patrick Zircher (who is highly underrated).

Mr. O: That's a great series, and really does need trading. I think there are two Busiek trades out there, Justice like Lightning and then one other.

Patrick: I think the other trade is just the first 3 issues, which are also in Justice Like Lightning.

Mr. O: Ah ok, so not worth tracking down then.

We were then graced with the sage wisdom of Old Man Doug...

Doug: I'd like to see an Essential Inhumans trade paperback. With the Inhumans having such a high profile in the Marvel events of the past few years, it seems like a great time to catch people up on their Silver Age adventures, all of which could be collected in one Essential volume. You could include their key early appearances from Fantastic Four, their nine issues of Amazing Adventures, and the 12-issue Inhumans series from the mid-1970s. Maybe even include the pair of one-shots they had in the early '90s (pre-Marvel Knights Jenkins/Lee).

Chris: Personally, I don't have much interest in the Inhumans and I really don't like the Essential format (they were drawn with being colored in mind and, dammit, I want to see it colored!). However, I'm sure there are a number of fans out there that would snatch this up in a heartbeat.

The it was time to hear from our British contingent:

Yassir: Shade, the Changing Man really deserves to be traded. It was such a wacky, surreal series that also spoke about America. I think it would read great in trades as there were things set up early on that had a pay off much later.

Doug: Plus, the original artist on the book was Chris Bachalo, who has a pretty high profile now.

Yassir: Yup, although his art then is miles apart from how it is now.

Chris: There's one trade out already, The American Scream, that collects the first six issues, but yeah, this is another series I'd love to read.


Last, but not least, the other half of our British pair:

Mr. O: Deathlok, which was part of the Marvel Tech line that lasted less than a year, was a stand out book, with gritty art by Leonardo Manco and a great writing by Joe Casey. This was while Joe was still on the rise, and hadn't quite made the "A" list. He was an up and coming writer, writing with passion and mixing classic storytelling with new and interesting ideas.

The series only lasted 11 issues, but all where brilliant, well crafted, and beautifully drawn. It was the stand out book in this awful line. The story was grounded in the family of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who worked on the Deathlok project and his son who's body was telepathically possessed by the Deathlok cyborg "essence". I don't really remember the whole story and for this reason alone I'd love there to be a trade of this series out there.

He isn't the greatest character out there, he doesn't have a huge following, but books like this, little gems in the rough, always need to be brought to greater attention and more people should experience a job well done. Even Kurt Busiek at the time said he loved it, and couldn't wait to get the next issue, as it was such a well crafted tale.

Chris: Yup, I remember reading this when it came out and thinking it was intelligently written with gorgeous artwork. It was head and shoulders above the rest of the M Tech line. As I still have the singles, I might not buy the trade, but I'd recommend it highly to others.

Doug: Have they ever collected the original Deathlok stories from the 1970's? As many times as they've tried the revive the concept, you would think they'd reprint those stories.

Mr. O: I think there was a Deathlok Essential, at some point, but I'm not sure. This Casey run was really my introduction to the character.

After some investigation, Mr. O came back: Nope I must have been imagining it.

Well, that takes care of this installment of Trading Up. Check us out next time when we tell publishers what they should be putting into trade!
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From Top to Bottom #19: The End?

by Matt

Welcome to the return (or is it the end?) of the long running and Tony award winning "From Top to Bottom" column! Every column, I will look at something within the comics industry and give you my opinion on what I think is the best and what I think ranks amongst the bottom-feeders.

I was in the middle of writing my new Shout Outs! and Scream Ats! column and I was looking at my set of Premiere hardcovers and I noticed that I have two of Marvel's The End series in that format. I was thinking of some of the other ones that Marvel published and thought about making a new Top/Bottom column based on Marvel's The End series. Especially since Iron Man: The End should be hitting shelves next month and we still have Daredevil: End of Days on the horizon. Hopefully these new End series will be more like my Top 3 picks than the Bottom 3.


3) Fantastic Four: The End
There are a couple of reasons why I really liked this series. The biggest reason was the art by my favorite artist, Alan Davis. The second reason why I liked this series was because it actually had a happy ending. The third reason is that this felt like the Fantastic Four, this is what I would imagine them doing in the future. It begins with the FF battling Dr. Doom which results in the death of Franklin Richards and Valeria Richards. The FF 'disband', Reed loses himself in his work, Susan leaves for an archaeological expedition underwater and eventually runs into Namor. Johnny, is leader of the Avengers, who now police much of the universe and Ben lives with his wife Alicia on Mars with their three children. The Fantastic Four, Reed in particular has helped Earth become a force in the Universe and has invented many things to improve life on Earth especially after the "Mutant Wars". Eventually they reunite when Sue contacts the team and they battle Dr. Doom again and we find out that Franklin and Valeria are alive and they are reunited with their family. A lot more happens than this. The only thing I didn't like was the last page, where basically it tells us that this wasn't really the end but just the beginning. The premise of these types of series was that this was the "End" or final story of the Fantastic Four. I don't mind the happy ending at all but it should just have ended there.



2) Hulk: The End
This is the first 'The End' that Marvel published and I feel that it was one of the best ones. Peter David and Dale Keown crafted a tale where hundreds of years later, the Hulk and Bruce Banner are still fighting for control. The world has ended with a nuclear war and the Hulk is the only survivor. Banner is devastated and tries to end his life but the Hulk manages to keep him alive. Finally, the Hulk and Banner reach a conclusion that results in both getting what they want. Not the happiest of endings but one that did end happy.



1) Punisher: The End
When I first read this I hated it. But each time I read it, I started to really like it and I think it is the strongest "End". Nuclear war (must be a trend here) has ended all life and the Punisher is in prison. A year later, Frank and another survivor trek to New York City to find a bomb shelter, which is hidden deep beneath the former site of the World Trade Centers. There he finds other survivors but deems that these survivors are ones that he would not run the world. So he kills them and then he kills the other guy that came with him because he was a criminal. Then he gets out and walks towards Central Park where we all know is where his family was killed and where the Punisher was born. Then he is consumed by fire. Garth Ennis really nails the Punisher here in this MAX End.


Not all "The End" series were great. Some of them could have been good but either were too long, not creative, or felt familiar.


3) Marvel Universe: The End
This really was not a terrible series but it felt like I had read it before somewhere. There were a couple of things that I did like. I enjoyed Thanos retelling how the Marvel Universe ended and I also liked how heroes kept being resurrected to keep evil in check. And they all the heroes were resurrected during the course of the story as well. What I didn't like was that it felt like the Infinity Gauntlet all over again, or was that Infinity War? It might have been Infinity Crusade, which is my point. I had read this before, the heroes get slaughtered until the strongest ones are left and then they do battle. Can you name them all? Hulk? Check. Warlock? Check. Dr. Strange, Silver Surfer, Dr. Doom? Check. Out of all the Bottom Ends (pun totally intended) this was the most enjoyable and most accessible.



2) X-Men: The End
You would think that the Father of the X-Men would have been the best one to end that franchise but I was wrong. First, this series lasted WAY too long. Three 6-issue series was way too much for me. Claremont had some neat moments in the series but they were few and far between. The majority of the comics just pandered to Claremont's favorites (WarSkulls, Slavers, Brood, Vargas, etc). If you didn't enjoy Chris's second and third run on the X-Men I would stay far away from this series. Most of the X-Men were featured which was nice but this didn't really feel like an X-Men story. I was expecting something along the lines of God Loves, Man Kills but I got something more like New Excalibur.



1) Wolverine: The End
At least this one didn't go beyond 6 issues. This was supposed to tie into Origin but I had a hard time following what was going on. Why did this series take #1? Wolverine (whom was an old fart by this time) was being stalked by the White Ghost who claimed that he could have killed him 200 years ago. Then why he just didn't kill him then? The White Ghost turns out to be John Howlett III, his brother from Origin. The White Ghost has this grand plan to put mutants on top and Wolverine and him wrestle and they fall out of a window and the White Ghost is killed when he is impaled on Logan's claws. Then the White Ghost whispers that he is sorry. That makes little sense to me. Why would he apologize when he said he could have killed him anytime? This horrible story was not helped by the cluttered artwork as well. I expected something like Wolverine's first miniseries but I got something completely opposite. Ugh.

This concludes another "Top/Bottom" column. Is this the "End" of these columns as well? I might have another one in me, I did just recently re-read Secret Wars II (in anticipation of the Omnibus) and I could post my Top/Bottom moments if you readers would like more. Read more!