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Here we are at Part Three of my dive into every issue of the black sheep of the three 90s Punisher ongoing series, War Zone.
Where the main Punisher title and Punisher: War Journal have some "Key" issues and are still collected and discussed, War Zone seems to pretty much live in the bargain bin. You can find even the first issue for a buck or two. That's a good thing for Longbox Junkers and bargain bin spelunkers like myself, but seems a bit strange, because Punisher was HUGE in the 90s. So I decided to check it out and see what gives.
If you want to take a look at the previous entries in this series review, here are the links:
PART TWO (Issues 11 - 20 + Annual 1)
So far, War Zone has been a pretty good read. Not great, but pretty good.
There's been a rotating roster of creative teams that I THINK might be one of the reasons this series never really gained a solid footing (and that creative team merry-go-round continues in this batch as well). There hasn't been a single vision or direction for this series so far. Not to say it's BAD, because it isn't. But that lack of direction leaves this series at being just pretty good. Pretty good isn't what makes a comic series memorable.
That said, we're only halfway through, so let's see what happens next in War Zone!
Ready? LET'S DO THIS!
PUNISHER: WAR ZONE
- Part Three -
Issues 21 - 30 + Annual 2
Marvel (1993 - 1994)
ISSUE TWENTY-ONE
2 Mean 2 Die!
COVER: Hoang Nguyen
THE COVER:
I see from Wikipedia that Mr. Nguyen eventually left comic books to work on video games. Looking at the cover for this issue, I'd say that was a solid career move.
THE STORY:
SCRIPT: Larry Hama
PENCILS: Hoang Nguyen
INKS: Hoang Nguyen
After narrowly escaping death while assaulting the Gambello compound, Frank and Micro go over security camera footage and Punisher's suspicions are confirmed. . . the gunman who massacred the Gambello Family is Frank's old buddy from Vietnam, Dennis (DX) Hanrahan.
Frank finishes his Vietnam story he was telling Micro, remembering that DX saved his life, but that was also the day Frank learned his friend was a bit of a homicidal maniac.
After the war, DX visited Frank and his family, offering Frank a job as a mercenary in Madripoor. Frank was happy with a quiet life with his wife and kids, so he declined. Conflict ensued and a fight broke out. Frank threw DX out of his house and told him to never come back.
Micro electronically follows a bloody trail lefty by DX, starting in Madripoor and ending up at the Gambello compound. He determines that the next target will be the Gambello money man, Tony The Banker. Punisher suits up and heads out.
As Punisher sets up an ambush for DX, we learn that DX had left the clues knowing Frank would follow them. The two former friends face off at Tony The Banker's hideout. DX blows Frank's ambush and a firefight ensues!
At the end, the only two Gambello's left are Trish, the Capo's enraged widow, and Tony. DX kills Tony, but is attacked by Trish. DX manages to escape Trish and Punisher. Trish vows revenge and Punisher tells her to stay out of the way. Next stop. . .Madripoor!
THE REVIEW:
While the story by Hama is solid. . .a ghost of Punisher's past returns to haunt him, leading him down a bloody trail of memories. . .the art on this story arc is really distracting, and I don't mean that in a good way. I'm not going to sugarcoat it, in my humble opinion, it's just bad.
Once again, I tried to scan some of the "better" pages, but here's a panel that should illustrate what I'm talking about a bit better:
The faces in these issues are just. . .awful. The art overshadows Hama's decent story in a terrible way. Thank God there's only one more issue left. Let's finish this up!
ISSUE TWENTY-TWO
Taking Tiger Mountain
COVER: Hoang Nguyen
THE COVER:
Oh. . .Oh, God. No.
THE STORY:
SCRIPT: Larry Hama
PENCILS: Hoang Nguyen
INKS: Hoang Nguyen & Han Nguyen
Punisher arrives in Madripoor and makes his way to the Princess Bar where he meets with the infamous Tyger Tyger. She gives him a lead to an arms dealer named Dog Meat Charlie. While dealing with Charlie, Frank meets a General Coy.
Coy informs Punisher that not only is DX working for him, but that Trish Gambello is also in country and gunning for DX. Coy wants them both gone and makes a deal with Punisher to equip him and point him in the right direction.
In the meantime, Trish Gambrello has gone on the attack after learning DX's location. She gets taken prisoner by the mercenary and he's in the process of torturing her when Frank arrives to confront his old war buddy.
Punisher challenges DX to a good old fashioned fist fight, man to man. DX accepts and they proceed to punching the daylights out of each other in a pretty evenly-matched brawl.
DX finally gets the upper hand, but what he doesn't know is that the Punisher found out that General Coy doesn't want ANY loose ends and is sending a plane to drop napalm on all three of the thorns in his side. . .Punisher, DX, and Trish Gambrello.
Punisher grabs a fire suit he had hidden, throws Gambrello over a cliff into the river, and dives in after her as the napalm sets the whole mountaintop ablaze. It looks like DX is done for, but Punisher and Trish make it out alive.
Instead of being grateful for the save, Trish swears revenge on Punisher for robbing her of revenge on DX. Punisher doesn't seem to be too worried about it.
The End.
THE REVIEW:
Thank God THAT one is done with! Like I said in the review of the previous issue, the story by Larry Hama is solid . .Punisher tracking down an old friend turned enemy that's caused him some problems, then getting involved in a double cross with an explosive finale. It's a pretty good story.
The only problem I have with the story is that it's a bit derivative of the second story arc a bit in that we have the widow of a murdered mob figure going after revenge. . .and ALSO like that arc (and pretty much every arc in this series so far), she's set up as a future antagonist and we never hear from Trish Gambrello again.
But the REAL problem with this arc was the terrible art. And as bad as it was in the first two issues of the story, the art in THIS issue is even worse. Some of the pages even look like they're only half-finished:
I mean, THAT'S some deep Longbox Junk. Nobody is wanting that, unless they're just trying to complete the run. Thank God there's some Buscema art on the way. It would be pretty hard for me to keep going if the art remained as bad as it was in this arc. But I'd do it. . .because I ain't a quitter, son!
NEXT!
ISSUE TWENTY-THREE
Suicide Run Part 2: Bringing Down The House
COVER: Michael Golden
THE COVER:
No more Nguyen, thank God. Back to Michael Golden and his strange Jim Lee-style phase. Actually, this one is pretty good. I like the classic falling backward shooting thing. Really cinematic. Like a freeze frame from a movie. The gold foil surrounding the dark focal point is a real eye catcher!
I think I'm getting better at capturing foil covers. At least you can tell it IS a foil cover, so there's that.
THE STORY:
*** IT'S CROSSOVER TIME!
What we have here for the next three issues is War Zone's three chapters of an 11 part crossover story called SUICIDE RUN going through the three ongoing Punisher titles (IN ORDER: Punisher #85, War Journal #61, War Zone #23, Punisher #86, War Journal #62, War Zone #24, Punisher #87, War Journal #63, War Zone #25, Punisher #88, and War Journal #64)
A basic sketch of the story is that Punisher blows up a building after setting a trap to lure a bunch of organized crime figures there and is presumed dead. Several other would-be vigilantes decide to continue his work (Including Lynn Michaels from the second War Zone story arc). But Frank isn't dead. He's hiding out and healing up in a small town in upstate New York. Eventually, the FBI, an anti-vigilante task force called V.I.G.I.L., and a bunch of mobsters learn where he's hiding. A massive amount of violence ensues and things go right back to the status quo when it's all done.
Let's see what's going on with War Zone's parts of the story!
SCRIPT: Larry Hama
PENCILS: John Buscema
INKS: Val Mayerik, Art Nichols, Jimmy Palmiotti
Punisher has managed to lure multiple crime families into a New York skyscraper using himself as bait. What they don't know is that Punisher and Micro have wired the building with over 2000 pounds of Semtex explosive!
Punisher begins his assault, shooting his way through the gathered criminals while holding a dead man switch connected to the explosives. Outside the building, the FBI, ATF, and NYPD are evacuating the area and hoping Punisher was bluffing. . .
In the meantime, Punisher is having the best day of his vigilante career, blasting his way through a target-rich environment while the NYPD and the feds begin to panic.
Guess what? The Punisher wasn't bluffing. The skyscraper is indeed wired to blow sky high. Micro has been monitoring communications, and when he hears evacuations are complete, he gives Punisher the signal. A massive explosion engulfs the building, shockwaves rattle the area, and the skyscraper comes down!
Micro makes his escape, but the Punisher's survival is in question.
To be continued. . .
THE REVIEW:
Reading these three issues of Suicide Run, I wish I had the other 8 issues in the crossover. I have War Journal #61, 62, and 63 but none of the rest. From the 6 issues I do have, it seems like a pretty cool story! I'm not normally a big fan of crossovers, but I like they contained this one to just the three ongoing Punisher series, so it's not TOO intrusive into the War Zone run.
On the art side of things, all I can say is. . .Thank God for John Buscema! I've never been so happy so see Buscema's name on something after grinding through three issues of Hoang Nguyen's "art".
THAT SAID. . .
This is 90s Buscema, so not peak Buscema. He's also not doing his own inks, which makes more of a difference than you'd think. Buscema starts doing his own inks after this crossover is done in issue #26, and you can definitely see the upgrade.
ANYWAY. . .
A pretty good story. I really liked the whole, "Is this guy crazy? Is he REALLY gonna do it?" theme running through it. and then. . . yep, he's crazy. He did it.
NEXT!
ISSUE TWENTY-FOUR
Suicide Run Part 5: Shhh!
COVER: Michael Golden
THE COVER:
This is Michael Golden's last cover for the series. I know there's a LOT of Golden fans out there (and I'm one. Not my favorite artist, but I like his stuff), but I have to say that these War Zone covers haven't been the best example of his work.
THE STORY:
SCRIPT: Larry Hama
PENCILS: John Buscema
INKS: Val Mayerik, Art Nichols
During an autopsy of "Punisher", two FBI agents assigned to the case get some bad news. The body isn't Punisher. Unfortunately, they've already take credit for bagging one of their most wanted, and they begin to plan a cover-up.
In the meantime, agents from the Federal anti-vigilante task force, V.I.G.I.L. have started their own investigation, and are also finding clues that point to the Punisher still being alive.
While the FBI and VIGIL are coming into conflict with their colliding investigations, we see that Frank has indeed survived his bit of mass destruction. Badly-wounded, he secretly hitches a ride on a van heading out of the city.
Delerious and having flashbacks of his family. Frank manages to gain the confidence of a young girl at the farm the van ends up at in upstate New York (in a town called Laastekist). He finds a temporary hideout in her tree house, but unknown to Frank, the girl he's befriended is the daughter of the local sheriff!
It's not long before the Sheriff starts to notice his daughter acting strangely, and he takes some deputies to yank the sketchy-looking guy hiding in his daughter's tree house out for a good old fashioned beating!
To Be Continued. . .
THE REVIEW:
Most of this issue is concerned with two things: The FBI and VIGIL coming into conflict as their investigations point toward Punisher still being alive, and Punisher getting out of New York City.
There's also some introduction to "Outlaw", a British Punisher wannabe coming on the scene. He joins Lynn Michaels and "Payback" (Both in War Journal and Punisher) as possible replacements for the "dead" Punisher in what seems to be a test run for another 90s Marvel character swap. . .one that didn't really stick.
Buscema's art looks a bit strange here. Not his best work, but I chalk it up to him not inking his own pencils.
Without the context of the Punisher and War Journal issues coming between this issue and number 23, this issue feels like exactly what it is. . .a piece of something else. It's okay, but it's disconnected. This is one of the reasons I don't like crossovers intruding into an ongoing series. At least this one just has two issues in between.
NEXT!
ISSUE TWENTY-FIVE
Suicide Run Part 8: Last Dance In Laastekist
COVER: Bob Larkin
THE COVER:
Now HERE'S a nice Punisher cover! Just a great character portrait with a classic realistic painted style that would be right at home on a good Gold Key/ Dell comic. One of the best covers of the whole series, in my humble opinion.
THE STORY:
SCRIPT: Larry Hama
PENCILS: John Buscema
INKS: Val Mayerik, Art Nichols
All hell starts breaking loose in the peaceful little town of Laastekist. Punisher is in custody and the news is out that he's alive and trapped in a jail cell. State Police, FBI, VIGIL, and multiple mobsters out for revenge begin to converge on the town.
The Sheriff learns that his daughter has been taken hostage and they're demanding Punisher in exchange. Frank manages to convince the Sheriff to let him out so he can take care of the problem and save the girl. The Sheriff reluctantly agrees and Punisher arms up.
In the meantime, Lynn Michaels and the vigilante, "Payback" have teamed up and they arrive in Laastekist to provide Frank with some backup.
Punisher begins blasting his way through town, fighting multiple gangsters out for his blood. As he gets closer to the Sheriff's house where the girl is held hostage, he discovers that the people who have taken her are actually VIGIL agents!
Lynn and Payback are following the sounds of gunfire to find out where Punisher is at, fighting their way through what's left of the mobsters. Meanwhile, the head VIGIL agent, Blackwell, thinks he has Frank trapped, but Punisher turns the tables and confronts the dirty agent.
A tense standoff between Blackwell and Punisher ensues. Punisher finally gives in and drops his weapon, not wanting the girl to be harmed. It looks like the end for Frank, but the Sheriff pops in and takes Blackwell down!
Grateful for the help getting his daughter back alive, the Sheriff looks the other way and tells Punisher to get out of town before the place starts crawling with every cop, fed, and hit man in the state of New York. Frank takes the chance he's given and makes a quick exit. He's got loose ends to tie up elsewhere.
To be continued (but not here).
THE REVIEW:
Unlike War Zone's previous chapter of Suicide Run, this issue reads a little better as a standalone story. Basically it's Frank rescuing the girl he befriended while mayhem ensues around the little town he's taken refuge in. There are a lot of loose ends dangling, but the meat of the story is pretty tight, for a crossover issue.
Once again, the art looks a little strange to me, but as a Buscema fan, I can tell it's just because he's got someone else doing the inks, so I can give it a pass. It's not BAD, just not what I would expect from one of my favorite artists.
Overall, the three parts of Suicide Run found in War Zone were pretty good. The first and last part were the best because they just focused on action, and were fairly standalone. The second part was more heavily-connected with the crossover in general, and really needed context to enjoy.
Crossover time is over for now. . .let's see what happens next!
ISSUE TWENTY-SIX
Pirates
COVER: Rafael Kayanan
THE COVER:
What the hell is going on with Punisher's face? This cover is trying a bit TOO hard. It ain't working. John Buscema is the artist inside, couldn't he be bothered for some covers? I feel like we DESERVE a Buscema Punisher cover at this point.
THE STORY:
SCRIPT: Chuck Dixon
PENCILS: John Buscema
INKS: John Buscema
We find the Punisher in the Florida Keys, trying to find some leads on an arms dealer that's been supplying drug runners in the Caribbean with weapons from former Soviet republics. He finally finds a bartender willing to talk (for a wad of cash, of course) and learns the name of a middleman named Cliff Callador. . .
With Micro's help, Punisher tracks Callidor to a local hotel. Frank takes out Callador. After a short interrogation of Callidor's girlfriend and a search of the room, Frank comes away with a jackpot. . .a briefcase full of information and a bag full of cash.
Going over the information, Micro discovers a connection between the Middle-Eastern country of Quadid and the Venezuelan town of Puerto Dulce. With the closer end of the trail pointing to Venezuala, Frank decides on a bold plan. . .contact the supplier in Puerto Dulce and set up a meeting with Punisher in disguise as Cliff Callidor.
When Frank arrives in Puerto Dulce, he immediately learns the political situation is fragile when he witnesses a firefight in the streets between government troops and rebels.
He makes his way to the mansion of the supplier, Ernesto Villamos, an extremely-wealthy man. Punisher tries to cut to the chase and gain some information about the Eastern Europe to Middle East to Venezuela weapon pipeline, but Ernesto tells him business can wait. His sister has been very interested in meeting "Cliff" ever since he contacted them.
Punisher is a bit surprised to discover that Ernesto's sister is the girlfriend of the real Cliff Callidos. . .the same woman he interrogated in a Florida hotel room after shooting Callidos dead in front of her not so long ago.
Uh-Oh.
To Be Continued. . .
THE REVIEW:
Chuck Dixon and John Buscema? Oh, HELL yes! Dixon returns to the pages of War Zone with another gritty, grounded, slow burn crime noir story, and it's the best this series has been since the first two story arcs.
Buscema has been on art for a few issues, but now we get something more like the Buscema art I'm used to, with him doing his own inks. You can really see the difference between this issue and the previous three he did for War Zone. It's a definite upgrade and this series hasn't looked so good since Romita Jr. left.
It felt like this series was really starting to drag for the past six or eight issues, getting into that Longbox Junk middle slump. But this Dixon/Buscema story is hitting it hard and reviving my interest.
NEXT!
ISSUE TWENTY-SEVEN
Boss Sugar
COVER: Rafael Kayanan
THE COVER:
I'm no physiologist, but I THINK Punisher might have a few too many muscles here. Like the previous issue, this cover seems to be trying a bit TOO hard to be 90s Xtreme.
THE STORY:
SCRIPT: Chuck Dixon
PENCILS: John Buscema
INKS: John Buscema
Frank's mission in Puerto Dulce is not going well. Immediately upon meeting the middleman for the gun-running operation he's investigating, Ernesto Villamos, he learns Villamos' sister is the same woman he interrogated in a Florida hotel room after shooting her boyfriend dead. . .the same boyfriend Frank is trying to impersonate.
Frank thinks maybe Carmelita has an angle of her own because she doesn't finger him right away, but he quickly learns she was just toying with him. She reveals his ruse and Frank has to fight for his life. He gets knocked out and wakes up as a prisoner in a slave labor sugar cane plantation.
In the meantime, Micro is getting worried because Frank hasn't checked in as arranged. He puts in a call to Mike "Ice" Phillips. . .a friend of Frank's from Vietnam, now operating as a mercenary, who teamed up with him not long before to take down a domestic terrorist organization (In War Journal #52 - 53).
Ice owes Frank a favor, and Micro sweetens the deal with two hundred thousand cash. Ice agrees to help and heads out to meet Micro. . .
Back in Puerto Dulce, Frank is being worked as a slave, cutting sugar cane. He realizes he needs to make his escape before he's too weak to try. He befriends a fellow slave, and while rescuing him from a bully, Frank catches the eye of the head guard, who decides the gringo is perfect for his little underground fight club.
Meanwhile, Ice and Micro arrive in Puerto Dulce and start trying to find out what happened to Frank. As they follow the few clues they can find, the political situation goes from tense to volatile, with bands of rebels openly fighting government troops and police in the streets.
To be continued. . .
THE REVIEW:
I really like Dixon's slow burn storytelling here, with Punisher captured and steadily weakening. . .looking for any chance to escape, and with Micro and Ice arriving and realizing the whole country is about to explode. It's great setup for the carnage that's sure to come.
Speaking of Ice Phillips. . .I'm a big fan of "The 'Nam". Ice Phillips was pretty much one of the main characters of the series for most of the back half of the run (32 issues, according to Wikipedia), so I was already familiar with the character and was REALLY surprised to see him popping up in War Zone!
It's really cool that Dixon decided to use Ice here. It's a crossover that I think maybe a lot of people didn't even realize was a crossover, unless they were also reading The 'Nam.
NEXT!
ISSUE TWENTY-EIGHT
Sweet Revenge
COVER: Rafael Kayanan
THE COVER:
Okay, so the manga-style lines and bright colors with Punisher as a dark focal point IS a pretty cool and eye-catching effect. But then I look at the face and weird muscles and sadly shake my head.
Kayanan was THIS close.
THE STORY:
SCRIPT: Chuck Dixon
PENCILS: John Buscema
INKS: John Buscema
We begin with Frank facing off with three bruisers in the head guard's private fight club. Even weakened by being worked as a slave in the sugar cane fields, Frank manages to take all three of them down. . .but he knows his luck won't last forever.
In the meantime, as the political situation turns violent, Ice and Micro finally learn where Frank is being held. They know they don't have much time to rescue him because the rebels have taken control of the main roads into the capital, they've blown the rail lines, and are getting ready to capture the airport.
Ice infiltrates the camp and finds Frank, but his absence is quickly discovered and the two of them have to make a harrowing escape from the camp through the surrounding swamp, where Micro is waiting for them with a boat. The three of them finally manage to shake off the pursuing soldiers, but the boat is destroyed in the battle. . .forcing them to slog on foot through the alligator-infested marsh.
In the meantime, Ernesto and Carmelita Villamos have abandoned their mansion and are heading for the airport to escape the country before everything completely collapses. Unfortunately for them, the rebels begin their attack on the airport just as they arrive, destroying their jet and forcing them to try and find another way to escape Puerto Dulce.
To Be Continued. . .
THE REVIEW:
Things are heating up! Dixon starts ramping up the action in this issue as Frank escapes the prison camp, the country begins collapsing during a revolt, and the gun runner Frank is after tries to make his escape. Three action-packed story threads moving forward toward a convergence. All backed up with some great art from John Buscema!
THIS is the kind of cool Punisher story I've been wanting. It's the first time in quite a while that I'm actually looking forward to the next issue.
NEXT!
ISSUE TWENTY-NINE
The Swine
COVER: Rafael Kayanan
THE COVER:
This one reminds me of the cover to 1995's "Punisher Kills The Marvel Universe" one shot. Compared to the other two covers by Kayanan so far, it's actually pretty good, though. And when I say "pretty good" I mean it doesn't make me grit my teeth, 90s style, when I look at it.
THE STORY:
SCRIPT: Chuck Dixon
PENCILS: John Buscema
INKS: John Buscema
Ernesto and Carmelita Villamos are desperately trying to flee the collapsing nation of Puerto Dulce. After the airport comes under attack by rebels, they make their way to the docks, hoping to take their yacht to safety. Government troops attack, and the yacht is also destroyed, leaving Ernesto and Carmelita scrambling to find another alternative.
In the meantime, Punisher, Micro, and Ice are slogging through the swamps, fighting off alligators and arguing about what to do next. Micro and Ice want to get out of Puerto Dulce before it's too late. Punisher is determined to. . .punish. He came here for Villamos, he wants Villamos.
They eventually come across a unit of government troops. They gain information that there's a gringo with a private airfield not far away that's flying people out for a price. Micro and Ice manage to get Frank to reluctantly abandon his mission and get to the airfield before it's too late.
As Punisher, Micro, and Ice begin making their way toward the hidden airfield, we follow Ernesto and Carmelita as they also learn about the airfield and decide that's their best chance to get out of Puerto Dulce.
The reader THEN sees that at the airfield, the gringo, a man named Carson, is actually luring desperate people into a trap. . .taking their money and killing them. Dun-Dun-DUNNNNN!
To Be Concluded. . .
THE REVIEW:
This issue takes a bit of a breather to show Punisher's little band and the Villamos' both making their way toward what might be the only way left out of the country. There's some good tension building here because you just KNOW that it's going to end in some mayhem at the airfield.
A good, tight story by Dixon backed up with some very nice Buscema artwork. This is the sort of thing I wanted out of this series. Let's see how it ends!
ISSUE THIRTY
Ring Of Fire
COVER: Rafael Kayanan
The End.
The End.
THE COVER:
I STILL don't understand why we're getting these covers by Rafael Kayanan when we've got the legendary John Buscema doing art inside. I'm sure Kayanan has his fans, but I'm not really one of them. Punisher's face is just weird here. . .and on every other Punisher cover Kayanan has done so far.
THE STORY:
SCRIPT: Chuck Dixon
PENCILS: John Buscema
INKS: Tom Palmer, Klaus Janson, Art Nichols
Micro, Punisher, and Ice fight their way through rebel patrols and roadblocks as they desperately speed toward the hidden airfield that seems to be the last good way out of Puerto Dulce. In the meantime, Ernesto and Carmelita Villamos also draw closer to the airfield, making their way on foot through the cane fields in disguise.
Ernesto and Carmelita arrive at the hidden airfield first, where they are greeted by Carson. Ernesto becomes suspicious and realizes they've been led into a trap. Carmelita takes Carson at gunpoint while Ernesto kills Carson's thugs, then demands Carson fly them to safety.
Unfortunately for Ernesto and Carmelita, while they were dealing with Carson and his thugs, Punisher and his crew arrived at the airfield. Instead of trying to negotiate their way out of the country, Punisher decides to take the easy way out and just steal the plane!
Ernesto, Carmelita, and Carson watch in shock as their way out of Puerto Dulce rolls down the runway and takes off. As mortars explode around the airfield and the rebels move in to capture it, Ernesto kills Carson and tries to quickly think of a way out of the situation.
As Punisher, Micro, and Ice fly toward Florida, Ernesto and Carmelita decide that they won't allow themselves to be captured by the rebels. They both kill themselves.
Aboard the escaping plane, Punisher isn't aware of the Villamos' fate. . .he believes they already escaped. He's determined to hunt them down once they return to the States.
The End.
THE REVIEW:
A great ending for a good story! Dixon goes dark and dirty at the end of this one, with Punisher thinking his prey got away, not realizing they're laying dead at the airfield he just escaped from.
I actually think I like this story better than the first two arcs that were the high point of this series, and the issues most people remember as being the best. It's a gritty, nasty tale of corruption and desperation in the sweaty Caribbean.
Unfortunately, on the art side, Buscema still does pencils here, but once again he's not doing his own inks and you can definitely see the difference. A bit of a shame to have the legendary John Buscema doing art in this series, but on the eight issues he did (not including the story in the first annual), four of them are just okay because of the inking. Not saying they're BAD, but they could have been better.
Overall, this Dixon/ Buscema Punisher team-up was a really good read, and a very nice little hidden nugget of Longbox Junk gold.
AND FINALLY. . .
ANNUAL 2
1994
COVER: Dale Eaglesham
THE COVER:
This one's a little hard to even tell what's going on. I DO like how they have the Punisher skull as the ice Thorn (Remember him? From the very first story arc?) is breaking through, but it took me a minute to get that. It's not bad, but it's not Eaglesham's best work by a long shot.
THE STORIES:
A little bit slimmer than the first annual, with 3 full stories, but no pinups.
Let's give each of them their own turn, shall we? WE SHALL!
Hurt So Good
SCRIPT: Chuck Dixon
PENCILS: Dale Eaglesham
INKS: Al Williamson
Sal Carbone (AKA Thorn) is still alive, despite crossing paths with The Punisher twice (in the first two story arcs of War Zone). But he's less of a man and almost a zombie-like being at this point. He's emotionless, with almost no memory of his past, and feels almost no pain. . .somehow due to being left for dead in a frozen lake.
The one thing Thorn DOES remember clearly are the two men who "killed" him. He makes his way to New York City to find Mickey Fondozzi and "Johnny Tower" AKA Frank Castle. He finds Mickey first. Fondozzi recognizes the "dead" man and barely survives the attack. He calls the Punisher.
Punisher doesn't believe Fondozzi was attacked by a "dead" man, but learns it's true when Thorn attacks them both at the bar where they're meeting. A brutal gun battle running through the streets of New York City ensues, with a gang chasing Thorn, trying to get back the stolen car filled with illegal guns Thorn used to get to New York.
Punisher and Thorn fight off the gang, and then return to trying to kill each other. Punisher finally gets the upper hand and shoves Thorn off of a highway overpass into traffic, killing him for SURE this time.
Except we learn at the end of the story that Thorn isn't dead. He's living among the homeless on the streets of New York, waiting for his next chance to kill the two men who "killed" him.
The End.
THE REVIEW:
I like that we get a return of one of Punisher's foes from earlier in the War Zone run. Thorn is a pretty interesting character and COULD have been a good recurring enemy for Punisher. Unfortunately, this is the last time he ever appears.
Overall, this is a good, action-packed story that's long enough to have been a full issue of its own. Eaglesham's art has a nice feeling of motion to it that lends itself well to a story that's mostly a running gun battle through New York City.
NEXT!
Second Chance
SCRIPT: Ralph Macchio
PENCILS: David Ross
INKS: Tim Dzon
When a hit on a gun running operation goes wrong, Punisher learns he's been lured into a trap by a bruiser named Roc. . .last seen in War Zone #11 as one of the hitmen hired by Rosalie Carbone to take down Punisher. He's been waiting for a second chance, and now's the time!
A brutal hand to hand battle ensues. Punisher breaks Roc's knee and neck, but the giant hitman keeps coming. Punisher tries to drown him. . .almost drowning himself in the process. . .but even that doesn't stop the almost inhuman enemy.
Finally, Punisher manages to crush Roc's windpipe. He straps explosives to the giant brawler and sends him out on a barge into the river for a fiery Viking funeral.
THE REVIEW:
This one was less of a story and more of an extended fight scene. Interesting to see another callback to the second War Zone story arc with the return of Roc coming back for revenge, but other than that, there's just not much to this.
MOVING ALONG!
Domino Theory
SCRIPT: Steven Grant
PENCILS: Alberto Saichann
INKS: Alberto Saichan
We follow a ruthless woman as she sets the pieces in place to kill her mob boss husband and take over in his place. A sniper is ready on the rooftop, her men are ready to take out her husband's bodyguards. All that remains is for her to lure him to the kill zone at their bedroom window.
The sniper's bullets take out her husband, and the overjoyed widow starts cleaning up loose ends, beginning with killing her co-conspirators. But moments later, another bullet from the sniper takes her down as well.
We see that the Punisher is on the rooftop, and he's taken out her sniper before killing two easy birds with one stone. Just another Tuesday night for the Punisher. . .
THE REVIEW:
A very nice little short story! A bit of "Pride goes before the fall", Punisher style. Probably the best story in this Annual, in my humble opinion. It just goes to show that you don't need a lot of pages to tell a decent story.
Overall, this Annual was a pretty darn good read. The middle story was the weakest, but it wasn't bad, it just wasn't really much of a story. I like that two out of three of the stories in here were callbacks to the second story arc of War Zone. One of the negatives of this series so far is the wasted potential of possible returning enemies left dangling as new creative teams come on board. This Annual was an interesting nod in that direction.
So that's it for Part 3 of my Longbox Junk look at Punisher: War Zone. Let's break it on down!
CONCLUSION
I mentioned in my introduction above that one of the things I thought was holding War Zone back was the rotating roster of creative teams not allowing the series to get a strong foothold, with dangling plot threads left behind in basically every story arc.
I did a bit more research into the series (and there's really not TOO much information to be found) and discovered that they were actually going for an anthology-style format in War Zone. The stories are supposed to be disconnected from any sort of ongoing continuity (except for the crossover issues), not supposed to be in any particular order, and are from various periods of Punisher's "career". Sort of like Legends of The Dark Knight with Batman over at DC (one of my all-time favorite comic series, by the way).
Now that I know that, I see War Zone a bit differently than I did before. They weren't completely successful in what they were trying to do, but at least I have more of an understanding of why everything seems completely disconnected every time a new creative team steps in, and why they were rotating different writers and artists with each new story arc.
Marvel didn't make the anthology concept clear for readers at the time, and I had to dig a little to find out what they were trying to do. In 1994, that digging wouldn't have been so easy, with the internet just beginning to become the information highway it is now. So I also have a bit more understanding of why this series wasn't as popular as the other two ongoing Punisher titles. It had a concept behind it that Marvel wasn't exactly advertising.
THAT ASIDE. . .
This third batch of Punisher: War Zone issues was a bit of a roller coaster ride. It has some of the best art (Buscema), and some of the worst art (Nguyen). It has what I consider the best story of the series so far (The Dixon/Buscema Caribbean five parter), but also some pretty mediocre stuff signaling a mid-series slump (All the Larry Hama issues, including the Suicide Run crossover).
Overall, except for Nguyen's art, there's nothing in this batch of issues that's bad. I think I can mostly chalk that up to Chuck Dixon and John Buscema coming in to save the series from sagging in the middle. I've reviewed comic runs that have gone completely off the rails LONG before issue #30, so the fact that War Zone is still hitting some high points even this far into it says something good about the series.
But now the question becomes. . .Can War Zone stay the course? There's only ten more issues to go. This batch was saved by Dixon and Buscema, but what happens next?
Find out when I wrap this Longbox Junk series review up with Part Four! Be there or be square!
