Punisher and His friends...
It's somewhat the third part of Charles soules Infinity ti-in, and while there are some improvements it's overall uninteresting and mediocre to me. I want to like this series, and i can see that Charles soul is a good writer, and he does his best at trying to get these characters together, but it just doesn't seem to work out the way i hoped it would.
before moving on the the more pressing matters, i'd like to discuss how i just simply hate the art. I've seen Jefte Palos art before, and it was much better back then than it is now. The colors and the structures don't mix at all, in fact it's hard to distinguish the lines in which the characters are supposed to be contained in, and the body proportions are just hilarious at times. I don't know if it's the color specifically that clashes with the details or just the artists style itself, but suffice the say, it's one of the weakest points in the issue.
As for the story. I can say that so far it's been pretty solid in terms of characterization, specifically this particular issue of course. Most of the characters have been well written in this issue, especially deadpool and Punisher, but now here is the thing, while i do enjoy these characters, the problem is that i don't get to see them a lot. This book could have been called the PUNISHER and his friends rather than thunderbolts. Now, i'm not faulting Soule because this idea that ross allowed them to pick their own missions is something i find very intriguing, but despite the fact that punisher is calling the shots now, i still think that there should be more interaction between the members aside from a few rage comments, but it's basically Punisher telling everyone what to do and it comes across that he's the main star of the show. Furthermore, the team member aren't together either, Deadpool is roaming NY, red hulk is smashing some aliens, and the others are getting the job done. It seems to me that the team isn't really a team after all which is reasonable for now because the characters have no Kemistry, but how can one develop them as a team if half of the members are missing? This is not really a "problem" as the issue is still a lot of fun, but i hope they do get to evolve since they are a group. Otherwise, what's the point of calling this the THUNDERBOLTS?
also I'm not sure what to think of the leader anymore because this isn't the amazing villain i've loved for so long, and the idea that DEATH SURROUNDS him really gives me a bad feeling because it could either him being a mass CAUSE of the death, or his desire to commit suicide, and i'm pretty sure you've guessed the decision i'm against. I'm also dissatisfied in the way Mercy is treated, it has been explained to Mercy By Both Rulk and some drunk old lady that when some people feel suicidal, they might not be thinking straight at the given time, so killing them off won't help anyone. Mercy initially thought she was helping people, but upon learning the truth she tried to change her ways. Here though, it seems that she enjoys killing, and she doesn't care who she does it too. She isn't an angle of death, she's an alien who wants to understand human emotions, in fact she is really kind, but it seems that THIS mercy is a completely different character.
However, this issue has it's moments, things like the mega crime boss does make for an interesting addition to the overall events, and i like how things convincingly settle themselves for the punisher. But this along with the things mentioned above are the few positive things i got from this issue.
