Punisher MAX Annual #1 Review

I am not ashamed to admit that I was a late-comer to Garth Ennis' Punisher run on the Max imprint from Marvel Comics. But let me tell you something, once I read the first issue I went out and bought both Punisher Max hardcovers and bought the TPBs and singles to catch up. This title is on my regular pull-list. While I was gluttonously devouring these comics, I read on the web that Ennis will soon be leaving this title. I stared at the screen in disbelief and then proceeded to curse out Marvel and Quesada for their motherlovin' wisdom for ruining one of the few things I like coming from Marvel Comics. I was all ready to hate the new author coming on board since there is no possible way that he can measure up to Ennis. That brings me to this book.

The annual is written by Mike Benson, who is rumored to be taking over the title from Ennis. I was ready to hate this book. Before I even opened the book, I noticed the lack of presence of Tim Bradstreet from the cover chores. I started reading and to my surprise before I knew it...I finished reading it and moreover, I didn't hate it.

Benson crafts a simple yet dark story about a crew being hunted down by the Punisher. Frank has already taken out the entire crew save for one member who is doing anything to stay alive, even flagging down the cops and confessing to murder. The story is told entirely from his perspective and the Punisher plays more or less a phantom in the story. He's there and then he's gone. Benson's execution is flawless and he really fleshes out the terror that the criminal feels knowing he is to meet certain doom. This is helped greatly along by the art provided by Laurence Campbell. Campbell paints a gritty, dark and ugly world filled with toothless strippers and pavements filled with blood. His art has a scratchy style and reminds me somewhat of Bill Sienkiewicz's work...except it's not as abstract. I enjoyed this story more than I thought I would.
I felt that Benson had crafted a decent enough story which many had been unable to do (i.e. Daniel Way, all of 90's Punisher stories) but he still has Garth Ennis' rather big shoes to fill as far as the Punisher is concerned. But I am not going to write this guy off and I will give his first story arc or so a fair chance. Make me proud :).

Final grade: 3.5/5.

JLA/Hitman #1 (of 2) Review

I love Garth Ennis' work. I enjoyed Preacher, Unknown Soldier, his Avatar works such as 303, Chronicles of Wormwood and his Marvel MAX Punisher is one of the best books in the market. So, it should come as no surprise that I rushed to pick up his latest tale involving everyone's favorite Hitman, Tommy Monaghan.

To those not in the know, Garth Ennis scripted an on-going series which took place in the DCU proper titled "Hitman". The main setting of the story was in Gotham City and involved a wacky cast of characters, ranging from a drunk who thought he was a superhero to a demon from hell. The earlier issues featured memorable appearances by the Big-guns of DCU such as Batman, Green Lantern and even had a stand alone story featuring Superman. It was dark humor as Ennis does best. Of course by the end of his run, Ennis killed off all of the cast.

JLA/Hitman is a two part story that features what else but JLA and Hitman in an unlikely alliance. The parasites from one of the many cross-overs in the 90's entitled Bloodlines are planning or returning to Earth. In order to combat this old threat, the JLA looks for a survivor of the original Bloodlines invasion, who happens to be Tommy Monaghan. The JLA reluctantly brings Monaghan abroad the Satelite and hilarity and mayhem ensues.

There are a lot of hilarious moments in this story, ranging from Nat the Hat dating a woman with the head of an elephant to indications of Green Lantern have been assaulted by resident pervert, Bueno Excellente. There are too many to go into. The story is both old and new reader-friendly. Old readers can go "oh I remember that" and the new readers won't be lost either. There are also shameless plugs all over the issue which if they do their jobs, should encourage new readers to pick up back issues or TPBs of the old Hitman series. I hope these plugs succeed and get enough readers interested so that DC collects the remainder of this criminally overlooked series. As for the art, McCrea does his usual solid job. It's nice to see him back on Hitman.

In the midst of crossovers (Countdown, World War Hulk, Final Crisis, Secret Invasion etc.) that require you to buy 10+ titles to figure out what the heck is going on, Hitman is a welcomed breath of fresh air. I highly recommend old and new comic fans to pick it up.

Final Grade: 5/5