Writer: Benjamin Percy
Artist: José Luis Soares
Inker: Jonas Trindade
Colorist: Frank D’Armata
Letterer: Cory Petit
Big Guns, Part 2
Percy’s Punisher is an interesting book. The visuals are all super good (because there are several artists), but Frank is more zombified as this run goes on. In Punisher #8, Frank catches up with Wade, who is testing S.H.I.E.L.D.'s security for a new weapon, and bloodshed occurs in more ways than one. The thing is that Frank doesn’t do anything to give the reader, or even Wade and Blind Al, a reason as to why he is doing this. We only know why he is hunting Wade because of the little summary on the credits page, because all Frank says is two words. He repeated “gun”, so I’m not counting it again. Even the narration is from Wade. I know it’s quite meta and comical to have Wade say “The Punisher isn’t the most forthcoming narrator”, but Percy could at least have him mutter under his breath or even let out a sigh here and there. But we get absolutely none of that. This is a Deadpool story in the pages of a Punisher comic, and this is not how I wanted the crossover to go.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Hard-Headed and Hard-Hitting
The major conflict of this issue is that Wade and Blind Al have their own mission they’re doing that Frank doesn’t know about, so they’re both impeding each other’s progress on said missions. Frank is getting in the middle of Wade’s S.H.I.E.L.D. training, and Wade and Blind Al are not going down without a fight. This is somewhat explained in the “sit-down” Blind Al has with Frank after she somehow gets the upper hand long enough to tie him up in a chair for what she hopes is an interrogation. Blind Al thinks she sees the full picture and assumes Frank is also there for the weapon. She even says, “If S.H.I.E.L.D. is really trying to test their security, why not reach out to multiple parties, send the wolves in?” Frank learns that there is a weapon important enough to warrant high security on location, so he gets another objective in the same mission: to get Wade.
Time Is Of The Essence
The most significant moment in this issue is the reveal of the time gun. The weapon S.H.I.E.L.D. was hiding is powerful enough to fire shots through history. Frank has no use for this. He isn’t the type to be sentimental or reminisce about the past. Wade could use this to be with his daughter again, since that has been put on the back burner as of late. Or maybe that creepy dude who met the Badpools in the sewer wants it for some nefarious reason, but we’re probably not seeing more of him until the final issue of this crossover. Regardless of who ends up getting their hands on it, Frank, because the crossover ends in HIS book, is not going to let anything catastrophic or fatal happen.
The Art
I am a fan of the art regardless of who is in this book. Everyone seems to understand how gritty Frank is. He is an absolute brickhouse, as someone with the name “Punisher” should be. In this particular issue, because I don’t know if the other artists are like this, I think Soares draws him like Romita Jr., but in a more three-dimensional way. I don’t know of any actual confirmation, but the art is too similar not to compare.
The scene I want to shout out involves the entire art team. Deadpool is realizing the security has real bullets for what is supposed to be a training exercise. I like that narration Percy wrote for Wade; it just sucks it’s in a Punisher book. Security rains down bullets. Wade fires back with a barrage of his own. And the Badpools come alive. The way Soares laid out the page is very dynamic. He does a really good job framing the panels. Trindade has such strong inks. He frames figures really well. Deadpool and his Badpools really sell it. That is matched beautifully with D’Armata’s colors. The colors (mostly reds) on this page bounce off the blacks of the shadows and dark colors nicely. You can easily tell what is happening. I am very happy with how well the art showed the Badpools sprouting. It is a nice way of storytelling that I love about comics.
Final Thoughts
Punisher #8 is a decent read. It has a clear beginning, middle, and end. The art is good, and the story progresses. It’s just a little disappointing that the Punisher doesn’t take up much space in a Punisher book. Percy does a fine job of making Wade a thorn in the side of Frank, but it sours my reading knowing that Wade took over Frank’s book without a fight. It would’ve been fun to keep Wade in the narration, but only to have him cut off Frank or mess with him in another meta way. I just need Frank to show life in his own book.