Punisher #6
"The Long Bullet"
Writer: Benjamin Percy
Artist: Farid Karami
Colorist: Frank D'Armata
Cover Artist: David Marquez and Guru-eFx
For the first time since his return, Frank Castle is completely whole. The Punisher has resumed his one-man war on crime, with the added complication of being wanted by the police for a series of grisly murders that were actually committed by Jigsaw.
Except that particular plot point, which was literally introduced at the end of last issue, isn't brought up in Punisher #6 at all.
Magic Bullets
Now that all the heavy lifting of Punisher's return to the mainline Marvel universe is completed, I was looking forward to seeing what the creative team had in store for him.
This wasn't what I was expecting.
Detective Pluto, last seen at the climax of Punisher Red Band #5, is in pursuit of a gray sedan filled with gun-toting hoods. They force her vehicle to crash, and she continues the chase on foot. As she rounds the corner, she finds their car flipped over and ablaze, most of the passengers dead. Wait, make that all of them, as the one survivor is shot in the back while asking her for help. She knows it's the Punisher, and right now she's really regretting how she let him go before.
Back at the Punisher's compound, Microchip is using an old interrogation device to try and breathe some life back into his atrophied muscles. Meanwhile, all over New York, a mysterious figure covered in cybernetics is killing multiple random individuals with what appears to be very long, very high-tech bullets.
A brief interlude at police headquarters, where Detective Pluto is asked if the Punisher could be responsible for this new wave of public executions that apparently have no gunshot sounds. Apparently the police have completely forgotten about the slaughterhouse he was blamed for on the news literally just last issue?
Punisher starts his own investigation, learning that all the victims were killed with the same bullet...
One-Man War On Dialogue
If you think modern Batman talks too much, have I got a Punisher for you...
Frank Castle literally does not utter one word this issue. Not one. He has multiple scenes with Microchip, and observes the autopsies of the execution victims by a friendly coroner. These individuals speak to him. But he does not utter one word, not even a grunt or "Hh" in reply.
We don't get any internal monologue from him, either. No "Punisher War Journal" entries. The small bit of narration we get is third-person, explaining what Frank had Microchip do.
It's a little bit ridiculous.
I'm not saying I need the Punisher to be a sympathetic character, but is it too much to ask for him to be an interesting one?
We spent a total of ten issues, between Punisher Red Band # 1-5 and Punisher # 1-5, showing how he returned and how he was restored to his whole self. I got him not saying a lot then—either he was mind-controlled, or he was fighting off the effects of the programming. But he's back now, the setup is over, it's time to see what this series is going to be all about going forward.
Even if I could get past the completely inaccessible protagonist, the fact that this story doesn't even follow the last issue's cliffhanger—from the same creative team—is a bridge too far. How am I supposed to get invested in what's going on in this series, if I'm given no reason to invest in the lead and the storytelling doesn't even stay consistent?
Now, it's not all bad. The actual story being told here is interesting. The idea of a technologically-advanced "magic bullet" that can kill multiple targets in different places at the same time is unique, and the kind of thing you expect to see in the Marvel universe. It's fantastical, yet still in the Punisher's wheelhouse. I'm assuming the cyborg figure we see at the end of the issue is the "Collateral Damage" that was promised at the end of the issue. So is he someone that Frank Castle directly impacted sometime previously, or was he truly collateral damage that got caught up in one of the Punisher's sprees? If we don't get to really understand how Castle reacts to whatever the answer is, will it truly even matter?
Autopsy Assistance
Helping Frank piece together his "magic bullet" theory this issue is regular writer Benjamin Percy, and guest artist Farid Karami.
Percy has been steering the good ship Punisher for the last ten issues, so we know what his style is like at this point. The pacing is consistent, neither too slow nor too fast. Scenes are utilitarian and don't wear out their welcome. His mute version of Frank is starting to grate on me, as I mentioned earlier. I'm not saying he needs to give long speeches or soliloquies, but good grief, give me some characterization. At least bring back the "Punisher War Journal" entries.
The art by Karami is stylistically similar to regular artist José Luis Soares, although it's a little less "glossy" looking. Karami's figures and action are good, but his faces are a little rough. Many of them come across as almost cartoony in contrast to the more realistic figures seen throughout the issue. He does a good job keeping the panels interesting, as the issue is largely shots of executions and people investigating them. The only action scene is the opening chase, and even that ends rather abruptly.
The art is aided by regular colorist Frank D'Armata, who keeps everything looking consistent with the tone the series has had so far. Everything is kept on the darker side, with plenty of shadows for evil to hide in. In certain parts of the city, there are plenty of neon lights that give the scenes there a brighter look that still maintains the darkness seen throughout the series.
A Tale of Two Castles
Punisher #6 is a study in contradictions—the story it's telling, with techno-bullets and a cybernetic sniper, is interesting—but the main character is a total cipher with no dialogue or narration whatsoever, and the cliffhanger from last issue is apparently completely ignored, despite it promising a major change in how much freedom Frank Castle has to fight his war. If this is the direction that the series is heading in, it's going to have a hard time keeping my interest for long. Hopefully this is just a blip, and things will get back on track soon.