Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics | Tagged: frank castle, Guiu Vilanova, james rhodes, Matthew Rosenberg, The Punisher, war machine

The Punisher #219 Review: Frank Takes a Test Drive

The Punisher/War Machine arrives in the People's Republic of Chernaya to find a group of soldiers hassling an older farmer. Frank takes exception to that, and you can probably guess how it goes.

Worrying that the farmer may be targeted by more of the military when these soldiers don't make it back, Frank stays a spell and prepares for reinforcements.

With the War Machine armor, it will take a lot to even stagger Frank Castle now, but, with rogue S.H.I.E.L.D agents on the prowl, they may find something to bring him down.

Firstly, yes, it is every bit as awesome seeing the Punisher rock the War Machine suit as you would hope. He is still brutal and relentless, but now he has super suit to back this up. He's not an expert with it immediately, which makes sense. However, he gets the hang of it eventually.

Matthew Rosenberg does a solid job of humanizing Frank Castle here too. He has something of a dry sense of humor, and he shows some uncharacteristic sympathy for the old Chernayan farmer. He gives more than two seconds thought to the old man's welfare.

That's not to say that Frank never cared about other people, but he shows a lot more concern than one might expect.

It also touches on the issue of soldiers dealing with peace time, which isn't new to Punisher thanks to more recent runs of the series and the Netflix show. The farmer is a vet who feels like he's just "pretending" to be a peaceful farmer. He even explains that the soldiers who were threatening him were just soldiers who were doing what soldiers do. They never stopped fighting; they only changed causes. This bit of sympathy may retroactively make Frank cutting them down a little less satisfying, but it's at least not backing down from the issue.

It's also a nice juxtaposition for the Punisher himself. You have the farmer, which is who Frank could have been had his family not been killed. Then you have the soldiers, which are more akin to Frank as the Punisher. He never stopped fighting either, but his cause generally puts bad people in his path.

As previously stated, the action scenes look great, and this is thanks to Guiu Vilanova and Lee Loughridge. Vilanova puts together a rough and gritty world for Frank to move too. Everything already looks a little like a battlefield, which makes a lot of sense for Frank's view of the world. The more washed-out color palette of Loughridge gives it all a cold and alienating feeling. Again, this really works for a Punisher comic.

Rosenberg, Vilanova, and Loughridge have put together quite the arc for Frank Castle. It's violent yet pondering. It kicks ass, but it also has some heart. With a strong story and great art, Punisher #219 earns itself a recommendation. Give this one a read.

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