Fight, then work together. The hallmark of most superhero team-ups.
When you’re Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, and Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, you’re usually still fighting even during the “work together” part.
Tonight, there will be blood.
From Ma Gnucci, to Pa Gnucci
For weeks now, criminals who should be serving life sentences are getting early releases for good behavior. Rather than turn over a new leaf, however, they have been working together under a mysterious Boss to fill the vacuum left by the fall of the Gnucci crime family.
Imagine the surprise Daredevil and the Punisher feel when they learn that the Boss is actually Marco Giovanni Gnucci, the supposedly deceased husband of Ma Gnucci. Under the new identity of Judge Anthony Medichi, he has been building forces in order to take over the territory left behind by his late wife. Tonight is the night of the takeover.
Unless Daredevil and the Punisher have something to say about it.
While Daredevil goes high, the Punisher goes low. Each of them engages the enemy in their own way. Soon, most of the foot soldiers are down. Some will get up again. Many will not. As the lieutenants of Gnucci try to flee in a helicopter, Frank Castle prevents the escape in the own inimitable way. Fortunately for the would-be crime boss, he was not as fast as the younger underlings and took too long to make it to the roof. So he gets to escape the fate of the underlings, but not from justice.
Daredevil tries to convince Castle to let the system deal with Gnucci. That way, he can roll over on the other accomplices and the whole organization can be brought down. Is he able to get through to the Punisher? You will have to read the book to find out.
The Devil’s Trigger
This was a good ending to a very solid miniseries. The reveal of the identity of the Boss was a good one. It was surprising but still made sense in terms of the larger story being told. It tied things back to the Gnucci family from the Welcome Back, Frank story that this miniseries was a side story of, while giving the heroes a powerful villain who was not the Kingpin or Jigsaw.
Over the course of the previous four issues, the creative team built a compelling mystery that kept building with each new reveal, while also ramping up the tension until the powder keg was ready to explode. This issue finally lit the match. Much of the issue was taken up by the extended action sequences, which have the potential to be one-note or boring. These were not. Even while split up and fighting all sorts of bad guys, Daredevil and the Punisher were both still making the case for why the specific philosophy was better. It was not as if they just forgot about the differences in the moment. Rather, the differences informed the actions and how they approached the task at hand. Daredevil fought to incapacitate so that the criminals could face justice, while the Punisher could not empty the guns fast enough.
In the early issues of this miniseries, the Punisher was treated almost like a monster in a horror movie. He was looming in the background and spoken about in hushed and fearful tones, with chaos following in the wake. In this issue, the reader returned to that monster feeling for him. Only now, he was no longer looming and was fully unleashed.
In a lost tale story like this, the audience expects most of the villains not to make it out alive, since they were never seen in any stories that actually took place after this one. So it is surprising to me that some of the baddies do survive this tale. It is even more surprising that the love interest of Matt's neighbor is still around at the end. It makes the reviewer wonder if the creative team has an idea for a follow-up.
Legal Eagles
Jimmy Palmiotti is no stranger to either of the two leads, having been one of the architects of the Marvel Knights line twenty years ago. The writing here is so strong and self-assured that the reader would be forgiven for not remembering that he started his career as an inker. Over the years, and the course of many varied titles, he has honed the craft to the point where he is able to deliver what could be considered an evergreen tale for both of these characters. An evergreen book is one that anyone should be able to pick up, knowing nothing about the characters, and be able to read and enjoy it without any trouble.
As has been the norm for this miniseries, we have two artists sharing duties. Here, regular artist Tommaso Bianchi handles pages 1 through 3 and 14 through 20, which are basically the bookend portions. Mario Santoro draws pages 4 through 13, where the meat of the action is contained. The styles of the artists mesh well together. The look is kept consistent throughout the whole issue, even while it is easy to tell when the swap takes place. Both artists have a clean style, although Santoro is more creative with the angles and panel layout.
It is also nice to see Frank Castle drawn as a regular man and not a hulking brute like so many books have been depicting him recently. Daredevil is the same lithe, athletic figure he always is. If Castle was depicted like he was in Punisher Red Band, for example, it would just look ridiculous. Kudos are deserved for the consistency here.
Bryan Valenza is on colors, and Joe Sabino from VC takes care of lettering. The colors are strong. The majority of the issue takes place at night, so the tones are darker, but we still spend time on rooftops, in stairwells, in a panic room, and in Matt's apartment. Each location has its own look and feel. The lettering is clean and readable, using the now-standard red caption boxes for Daredevil and black for the Punisher.
Closing Arguments
I really do feel like the eventual collected edition of Daredevil & Punisher: Devil’s Trigger could be considered an evergreen title for both of the lead characters. It is wrapped in old continuity and takes place between the pages of a widely regarded Punisher story, but it is not dependent on that story. It uses Welcome Back, Frank as a springboard to tell its own tale, but does not treat it like a crutch.
The whole series has been presented as a Daredevil story first and a Punisher story second. This made the results all the stronger overall. Remember, the Punisher started out as a villain in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man, so sometimes it is hard to reconcile that character with the way he is presented today. I think the horror movie monster take, where the character is almost treated as a mythical force of nature, is a good one. The contrast to Daredevil and how he approaches the mission makes the dynamic even stronger.
In the end, Devil’s Trigger #5 concludes this miniseries in grand fashion. it brings the storylines to a satisfying close while still leaving enough loose ends for a possible sequel in the future. The Punisher has been going through a bit of a renaissance recently, and it looks like Daredevil is poised to do the same. They may never see eye to eye on the methods or the scope of the missions, but even Daredevil and the Punisher can agree that this book is where the specific revival started.
