Punisher: War Zone #2

            If there’s one character in the Marvel Universe I don’t want to mess with, it’s The Punisher. Frank Castle is a cold, cold bastard, and there really isn’t another way to put it. But he’s also one of my favorite and generally most compelling characters that Marvel has.

            But his character also presents a very small margin for error. He’s complicated, and a wrong step or two can send a series spiraling downward. Two issues in, Punisher: War Zone, does not appear to be one of those series.

            This is shown most effectively in a conversation between Black Widow and Oleg Mihalovich, a Russian police officer. Their discussion boils down to the line between vigilante justice and criminal behavior, which is, ostensibly, what makes The Punisher endlessly intriguing.

            And within the pages of this book, when The Punisher is actively being discussed or is actually appearing on the page, it’s also incredibly intriguing. But therein lies the problem with this issues as well: most of it feels like Black Widow is playing a really high stakes game of “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” and we’re just along for the ride.

            This book is a solid concept. The Avengers once again at odds with Frank Castle, two people that disagree on the means, not the end. But the way the story is currently playing out, it leaves too little space for character and general depth. The plotline running currently is smart, but there’s a million different ways to tell the same story, and this doesn’t feel like it’s the most right option. It’s not wrong, but it’s not all the way there yet, either.

            Greg Rucka (The Punisher, Detective Comics, Action Comics) is not new to The Punisher and is certainly no slouch, but it feels, to me, like the goal of making this book different from other Punisher books is being put ahead of this book reaching it’s full potential.

            I still like it, and I’ll still read it, but it’s not what it could be.