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
Read more!

Waited for the Trades: Planet Hulk & Warhammer 40k Damnation Crusade

Mr`Orange

I love comics, have done for years, but more and more of late I've been shifting across to trades, they look nicer, they read better, both in terms of story and in actually holding the book in your hands, and above all they are easier to store. There for making the stories easier to re-read. I'll be reviewing trades here at Bad Genious as well as throwing in my two pence into the round tables held here. So here come my first two reviews.Planet Hulk
I think that Planet Hulk is by far one of the best self contained, in continuity year long stories out there. A great mix of both the intelligent, emotional hulk stories and a good old school hulk punch up.

In the time of decompressed writing, and five minute reads, this book shows how to use decompression to your advantage. Yeah this could have been compressed to 6-8 issues, but it wouldn't have shown off the majesty of Pak's writing, or Pagulayna's art, as well as the rest of the guys. The story was amazing, a solid overall arc, or rather three arc in the one bigger picture, the back story was good, the motivation of the characters spot on, the new characters where introduced well, and fleshed out. This was just an over all brilliant read, you can't ask for more.

After reading Jones' Hulk this must have come as a breath of fresh air, it was “Hulk Smash” back to his roots, slam down beat up blood and guts Hulk all over again, but with intelligence. There was no negative consequences to his actions, the more he fought, the more people loved him, it was like he was on the bizzaro earth. As to how he got there, well that is a story unto itself.

The story is basic, it is the Hulk’s eternal struggle for freedom, where as before it was Bruce’s struggle to be free from the Hulk this time it is the slave’s struggle to be free from the overlords of the planet. Yes the over all story is rather basic, and it does play on all the classic archetypes you’d expect in this type of story, but it is just so well crafted that you cannot but enjoy it. You have the band of unlikely companions, the romance between very different people, the rise of the slave and then the fall of his nation. There wasn’t anything “new” here, but the book was lovingly crafted, and the passion the love for the characters and the world could be felt in every word in every brush stroke.

The art was just beautiful, the action was so well portrayed, and the colouring spot on, this book was just all around perfect. From the choice of artists the colouring team, the style of inking and the overall style of art, it fit the story perfectly. Along with beautiful interiors, there where some stunning covers by Jose Ladronn. Though there where a half dozen or so artists used to keep this book on schedule, you can't tell, the book just flows that well. If you haven't read it, go buy this, it will be well worth the money.

Another book I've read and enjoyed recently is the Warhammer 40,000 Damnation Crusade book by Boom Studios. A book that probably flew under the radar of most comic book readers was recently released as a mid sized trade, not the normal size, but a little bit bigger than a digest.

Warhammer 40,000: Damnation Crusade

For those that don’t know much about the Warhammer 40k universe, or those like me, have only a brief understanding of the place, this type of book is perfect. It gives you a broad introduction to the world, or rather many worlds that inhabit this universe, and the various races and cultures that are contained within it.

The human empire within this world is based on a very Christian/Roman model, just many many years in the future. Coupled with future technology that is grounded, for the most part in current tech, the book, and the world generally offers a relatable experience.

This trade is a good introduction into the world, as it touches bases with most the enemies, as well as the main adversaries, it also gives you an understanding of the way in which these armies of Humanity are set up, what they believe, how and why they fight. The Warhammer universe is a very intriguing one, I especially love the way they play the religious aspect of humanity, the xenophobic nature of man.

The book walks you through some major battles, as well as the life of one soldier from recruit to fully fledged brother, we learn about their devotion to the Emperor, and how he honours his most loyal and bravest of soldiers, and what constitutes the afterlife for these men. And they are all men, I don't think there was a single female character in the whole book, be that by design or chance it is something that you pick up on, how male dominated this society is.

The art was very good in places, in fact it was beautiful, but at times it was lackluster which was a shame, as something as epic as this book, really should have had art to match the scope of the story. But for me, above all else, it was the scripting, the dialogue that stood out, if was amazing, the power, the fantasism of these people really came through, you can feel their fervour through the words on the page, and it really made me smile.

Dan Abnett and Ian Edginton have really put together a solid book here, and one that is perfect for new comers to the universe, and I’m sure at the same time it has something therefor those that know the universe well.

I'd say this is a book well worth buying, and I can't wait for Boom to do some more work in this universe.
Read more!