Nothing Worth Saying
"You Talkin' To Me?" is the third issue in a largely forgotten six month run of fill-in writers that fell in the middle of Garth Ennis' incredible (and otherwise uninterrupted) eight page run on "The Punisher". At a time when Ennis was breathing new life into the character, Tom Peyer's story falls rather flat. This issue (and the entire Medallion story arc) is simply bizarre, and much as that's due to a genuine attempt at tongue-in-cheek humor, a knowing wink to the reader isn't enough to cover for the fact that the story just isn't very good. The silliness of the story stands in stark contrast to Manuel Gutierrez's moody artwork (under Steve Oliff's deliberately muted coloring). It's a nice look, and one that contrasts well with the style of the series' regular artist, Steve Dillon.
To be fair, there are certainly worse Punisher stories out there; The Medallion and Mister Badwrench fit into the Punisher's notoriously lousy perfectly, joining the likes of Rapido, The Rev and John Travolta. When held up to the other Punisher comics of the time though (including the amazing "Welcome Back Frank", and the Russian's hilarious return at the start of this volume), Peyer's Punisher is simply underwhelming.