blogging by Andrew Wickliffe
Goran Parlov
The Punisher #34, Barracuda, Part 4 (of 6)
This issue makes two things very clear. First, Punisher MAX would’ve been an even more successful book if Goran Parlov had been handling the art chores throughout. His expressions—for the talking heads scenes—are phenomenal. There’s one scene where the big boss is monologuing to his flunkies and it’s just these three guys sitting around an […]
MoreThe Punisher #33, Barracuda, Part 3 (of 6)
Ennis wastes no time getting Frank and Barracuda together this issue. He even goes so far to use coincidence to speed things up—Barracuda’s on his way to New York to take out The Punisher and just happens to see Frank walking off his flight. Dumb luck. And bad luck for Frank, who’s almost completely unprepared […]
MoreThe Punisher #32, Barracuda, Part 2 (of 6)
There’s a lot of action this issue, but it’s all Barracuda doing it. Meanwhile Frank is getting information about why a dirty cop risked it all to take out Wall Street guy Stephens. Frank and Stephens have breakfast in a diner. The diner’s called “Frank’s Favorite Diner.” Not sure if that one is an Ennis […]
MoreThe Punisher #31, Barracuda, Part 1 (of 6)
Punisher #31 starts off with a couple surprises. First is Goran Parlov on the art. Parlov’s excellent. He’s the best artist the book’s had in a long time. Second is Ennis using a flashback device. The issue starts with sharks chowing down on a bunch of fresh bodies and Frank watching from a boat. The […]
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Fury: My War Gone By 13 (August 2013)
I hate to use the phrase, but it’s appropriate here. No way did Ennis earn the ending to My War Gone By. The final issue has nothing to do with Nick Fury; not the character in this series or the brand. It has to do with all Ennis’s little characters who played in the series–not […]
MoreFury: My War Gone By 12 (July 2013)
Ennis gives Nick his big chance and he blows it. Parlov’s expression on his face is just amazing. The wrap up with Barracuda isn’t bad at all. Ennis comes up with a more interesting solution to the Nicaragua question than I was expecting; there’s even a good moment for the sidekick, who’s been superfluous for […]
MoreFury: My War Gone By 11 (June 2013)
And here Nick figures out what Barracuda’s been doing. The senator and Nick’s girlfriend have a big blow out too–lots about all the years gone by, which feels somewhat forced. Ennis writes all his scenes quite well, but his timing of them is questionable. Why the senator and the girlfriend are having the fight now, […]
MoreFury: My War Gone By 10 (May 2013)
Oh, Nick’s bald friend is his sidekick. I read through the text introduction too fast, I guess. For this arc, Ennis puts Fury in the middle of some more great U.S. foreign policy–Nicaragua in 1984. Nick is old, grey and still a colonel working for the CIA. I guess Ennis decided to skip over why […]
MoreFury: My War Gone By 9 (April 2013)
And here’s the great conclusion Ennis promised. It’s an action issue, mostly, with Frank and Nick taking on impossible odds. Besides the prison break and Nick and his nemesis, Parlov draws it all very calm. The hill is idyllic. Frank’s a sniper in peaceful tall grass. Ennis gets his little Frank Castle moment, with Nick […]
MoreFury: My War Gone By 8 (March 2013)
Ennis sure does like writing Nick captured issues. He and Castle get caught on their assassination mission in Vietnam. Their target, it turns out, doesn’t like the CIA running heroin through Vietnam and wants to make an example. There’s a lot of talking. It’s mostly an expository history lesson. There’s only one real scene–Nick’s sidekick […]
MoreFury: My War Gone By 7 (February 2013)
Ennis jumps ahead nine years to Vietnam. Nick’s sidekick is all of a sudden out of joint about the events in the last issue–a rare misstep from Ennis in this series–so Frank Castle comes in. Much like Nick, Ennis is just using Frank to exploit a brand. He hasn’t done anything Punisher-like to make his […]
MoreFury: My War Gone By 6 (November 2012)
The senator has a long monologue where he talks about the fallout from the Bay of Pigs. The whole issue is fallout, starting with Nick and his team, then with his lady friend and the senator. Ennis approaches the ideology of the whole invasion. One of Nick’s team is very jingoistic, anti-Red; Ennis–and Nick–just lets […]
MoreFury: My War Gone By 5 (October 2012)
Ennis tells a story set during the Bay of Pigs invasion. It’s not really a history lesson–there’s some details in the dialogue, but not enough to inform the reader. There’s a little more with the exiled Cubans in the States, but those guys aren’t real people, just stand-ins for them. Instead, Ennis concentrates on Fury […]
MoreFury: My War Gone By 4 (September 2012)
It’s an unhappy issue. From the start, with modern Nick narrating his life story–and explaining why it’s all been wrong-headed–to the flashback with Nick’s love life taking a turn for the worse… it’s unhappy. There’s no action, just conversation. It’s sort of a talking heads issue, but spread over a few days. Nick and his […]
MoreFury: My War Gone By 3 (August 2012)
It’s a disquieting issue. Disquieting is about the only word for it. Ennis opens with a talking heads scene between Nick and his sidekick. They talk about the modern world, the Nazi, patriotism. Ennis does well with the sidekick. Nick needs someone to argue with over ideology. Makes for good dialogue too. Then there’s the […]
MoreFury: My War Gone By 2 (July 2012)
Garth Ennis probably missed his calling as a history professor or at least the writer of history books. He has an amazing small section where Fury explains what’s wrong with the French military approach to fighting in Vietnam. It’s short, concise and completely digestible. He also has a great device–the visiting senator–for allowing Nick to […]
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