waruikumo's Punisher #11 - Franken-Castle Part One review

    Avatar image for waruikumo

    AHHH!!!! Real FrankenCastle!!??!?

    Well, here we are at the rebirth of The Punisher as something other than, well the Punisher.  If you picked up The List - The Punisher or have been tracking the teasers Marvel's been dropping for sometime, then you know Frank Castle has been crossed off Norman's list o' death.  
    Surprisingly the issue covers some good ground developing Frank's new lease on the (after) life. Which was pleasing honestly, after expecting the book to be one big extended teaser (which it's not, more than any on-going issue is). Remender shift's gears quite throughly, from a standard Frank Slay Gangsters Punisher story, to something more akin to the Zany classic Horror/Monster film Kitsch of Marvel Zombies. Personally I am digging this change, it was enjoyable to see how Frank paired with the "odds and ends" type characters that comprise the leadership of Monster Island.   
    On to the art now taken over by Tony Moore, which in conjunction with the coloring really reminds me of that Nickelodeon show "AHH!!!! Real Monsters!".  Which is really cool me being a child of the 90's and all, it also marks the departure from the down and dirty vigilante Frank to Frankencastle. Moore's style is especially in the first couple pages, similar to JRJR's, which i found nice and facilitated the above mentioned transition.  
    All in all, it was a very strong issue, IMO the best Punisher book in the current volume (excluding The List - The Punisher). Furthermore in combination with the The List book, this is an excellent jumping on point for new readers. So give it a try if your interested in classic film monsters or Remender demonstrating a new way to resurrect a super hero.

    3 Comments

    Avatar image for dr__detfink
    Dr. Detfink

    542

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 72

    User Lists: 1

    Edited By Dr. Detfink

    Great Review. You definitely made some good points.

    This issue lost me when Fing Fang Foom had a cast. All of these immensely powerful monsters acting like cowards was kind of kich but man, if this is the direction the Punisher is going...might as well bring back the zombie Punisher when Marvel Knights launched with "angel powered" weapons.

    Sure, it's a good direction for people who were sorta Punisher fans by way of Thomas Jane or even the 90s overexposure but count me as not impressed with Remender's run.

    A very forgettable 10 issues where Frank was forced to fight long dead B and C grade villains until his stand off with the Hood. That got old so fast. The same story could have been told in 3 issues.


     

    Avatar image for theredhood
    TheRedHood

    23

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 2

    Edited By TheRedHood

    TERRIBLE COLORING JOB!!! 
    But What A Great Idea!!!  
    Legion Of Monsters -Morbious & Manthing- & Now The PUNISHER!!!
    (see DrkRn. Punisher "The List")
    Avatar image for jamesewelch
    jamesewelch

    677

    Forum Posts

    19073

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 12

    User Lists: 3

    Edited By jamesewelch

    Nice review. I passed on this issue and probably will take a pass on the rest of Frankencastle. As a long time Punisher fan, I'm a bit disheartened about the story arc and it seems a bit too gimmicky and too far out there. The Punishermax series seems to be okay for my Punisher fix and it just happened to come out last week, so I'll be able to get my monthly fix of the Punisher via Max imprint.
     
    I agree with Dr. Detfink's suggestion that it's a good jumping on point for fans of the monster genre and those not overly fond of Frank/Punisher.
     
    Overall, I'd rather have seen a new monster based title and just allow Frank to rest in peace as dead via Draken. As a Punisher fan, I'd rather see Frank remain dead than turned into a Dr. Frankenstein-like monster.

    Other reviews for Punisher #11 - Franken-Castle Part One

      Punisher #11: Frank-ly-this-sucks 0

        Frank Castle has been killed and brought back to life before. Garth Ennis’ first gig on the Punisher was making him believe he had killed every one in the Marvel Universe right before he is electrocuted. He was brought back as an undead boogey man with the souls of angels to power his weapons. That was quickly scrapped in favor of Garth Ennis’ harder edged “Welcome Back Frank” story that re-energized interest in the Punisher. It doesn’t bother me that the Punisher was chopped up l...

      14 out of 20 found this review helpful.

    This edit will also create new pages on Comic Vine for:

    Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.

    Comment and Save

    Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Comic Vine users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.