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First Time For Everything: Punisher #49
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Location: Blogs Atomic FalloutCritical Mass |
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| Posted by: Atomic Online |
Monday, July 09, 2007 2:29 PM |
 Every week, Greg Burgas, a regular contributor to Comics Should Be Good and the creator of Delenda Est Carthago, grabs a book from the new releases that he doesn't normally read to examine how "new reader-friendly" that issue is.
The Punisher #49 ("Widowmaker" conclusion)
By Garth Ennis, Lan Medina, and Bill Reinhold.
Published by Marvel
Marvel's recap page at the beginning sets the stage nicely for this comic, as it explains that five women have come up with a plan for revenge against the Punisher, who murdered their husbands. They found an Achilles' heel of the Punisher, but they themselves experienced a fly in the ointment - a sixth widow, whom they betrayed. She wants revenge on them. Okay. Sounds bloody, but simple to follow.
The first page shows the Punisher in bed with bandages on. He's watching television, and the news tells us that a police detective has killed a suspect who hurt his wife. This is a good way to introduce Budiansky, who will show up later. The Punisher narrates that "she" asked him to wait in bed while she gets her revenge. We switch to a full-page panel of a woman getting shot in the gut. The woman, who is obviously the sixth widow, is gunning down the other five. She dispatches them efficiently, except for one, whom she takes with her. As she pulls away, she almost crashes with Budiansky, who apparently is just driving by. If he had another reason for being there, we never learn it. The Punisher wakes up to find he's handcuffed to the bed. "Jenny," the sixth widow, is standing over the survivor (whose name is Annabella, we learn later). Jenny has had a mastectomy, and she tells Annabella that she knows they tried to kill her. Annabella tries to convince her that the Punisher is a psycho, but Jenny points out that the men they married were psychos as well. Annabella tells her the men fight each other and they should stay out of it, but Jenny indicts her because she and the other women know what's happening, but they still enjoy the lifestyle. Then things get bloodier. Jenny has an aluminum baseball bat, and she's not afraid to use it. Budiansky is trying to find the car that Jenny was driving, and when he does, he gets his gun and goes to find the Punisher. Jenny, finished with her work, can't stand the pain anymore, and does two things that aren't pleasant. Afterward, the Punisher leaves, only to be confronted by Budiansky. The cop wants Annabella, because she's the mastermind behind his wife's injuries, but even though he threatens to shoot the Punisher, he can't. He returns to his wife and tells her they'll get away from it all. The Punisher walks away, as usual.
This is a thoroughly unpleasant comic book, but Ennis does a pretty decent job making sure a first-time reader can understand. Obviously, the movie about the Punisher introduced a lot of people to the character, and there's nothing in here that's going to confuse someone trying to read more about him. It might contain just a bit more swearing, violence, and sex than we might expect if our only brush with the character was through the movie, but it's clearly labeled as having "explicit content," so people should realize what's in store for them. There are a couple of problems a newcomer might have. One is that we never learn the Punisher's name. It's a minor thing, of course, but it's a bit annoying. The second thing is not finding out what the widows discovered was the Punisher's Achilles' heel, which is presumably explained in an earlier issue. It's another minor point, but I wonder if Ennis could have worked it into the issue, or even put it in the recap page. A person might hate this comic because it's bloody and stomach-turning, but they certainly wouldn't be lost as they read it, despite those minor concerns. Ennis and the recap page clearly outline what has come before, and then Ennis proceeds to tell a tale. You might not like it, but you'll definitely know what's going on.
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