Unusual ideas
The Punisher ‘s first volume, created by Garth Ennis, consisted of two stories about the adventures of Frank Castle. The sequel is a collection of several independent stories in which the Punisher does what it does best – killing in a particularly cruel and sophisticated way. The author also plays and experiments with new unconventional ideas. The antihero has the opportunity to go to the jungle to rescue a hostage, save an old friend or show a journalist what his “working day” looks like. He also meets a man who sees ghosts, a cannibal and even Wolverine himself! There is also a silent history. However, what is probably the most memorable is the story presented from the inside of the mouth of the patient in the dentist’s chair. Unfortunately for him, he is a mafia boss and the Punisher himself becomes his dentist!
At first glance, you can see that Ennis had a great time, and Marvel’s bosses gave him a free hand. Perhaps because most of the ideas presented do not fit into the main canon of the universe, so almost everything can happen in them. So the screenwriter gives vent to his crazy and grotesque ideas, and the viewer can have a great time at the same time. Most of the time, we observe scenes of a massacre in which the corpse can be found on almost every page. In addition, at some points it gets really dark, and the author stops playing with any restrictions. It is a pity that among these twisted stories we will also find those that offer us nothing else but bloodshed. Frank passes through successive throngs of bandits like butter, leaving no one alive, not even scratching himself. It could use a bit more drama to draw us even more into his world. Nevertheless, if someone is looking for a comic book full of cruelty and black humor, this is the right place!
Capture the madness
Several cartoonists worked on the second volume of The Punisher . Most of the frames were created by Steve Dillon – the graphic designer we could meet during the previous part. Fans know very well that the artist has been associated with Ennis for years and the gentlemen worked together on, for example, Preacher or Hellblazer. You can see the chemistry between them. They both knew exactly what they wanted to achieve and gave us a great, bloody and exaggerated carnage. In addition, in the notebook we can see a grotesque story about a cannibal performed by Tom Mandrake or a crazy story about dwarfs and Wolverine from Darick Robertson. The already mentioned adventure with the dentist’s chair is the work of Joe Quesada, who fulfilled his difficult task perfectly, giving us a notebook that is at the same time disgusting, but it is impossible to take your eyes off it! At times you can feel the pain that Frank’s unlucky patient must have felt.
Bonuses
The latest volume of The Punisher was published in Poland in a hardcover. Again, you can complain a bit that the black cover, which initially looks nice, does not really work. No matter how you try, it still has fingerprints on it. If you want to avoid this effect, you must have gloves on this comic. As for the content, you can not complain here. Besides the Egmont story itselfas usual, he adds a few covers, but this time there are two more additions waiting for us. There are a few words from the screenwriter and one of the editors who oversee the notebook. In addition, we can find out how the process of creating a comic works. There is a complete script list and notes from Steve Dillon. So if you ever want to create something yourself, you have an example of how the best people in the industry work!
Frank is still in shape
For a few less interesting and hackneyed threads, the second volume of The Punisher from the Marvel Knights series falls a bit weaker than its predecessor. This lacks, above all, the threats hanging over the title character. Apart from the fight with Wolverin, he doesn’t have much trouble and eliminates enemies without any problems. After all, there are also new, crazy ideas that the scriptwriter can surprise us with. The notebook looks good from the graphic side. Dillon’s specific line is joined by grotesque, dark and intriguing works by several other well-known cartoonists. On the other hand, when it comes to release, you can pick on a dirty frame that gets dirty, but you should praise some very nice additions that fans will surely appreciate.
