by Russell Burlingame
Punisher #61
After this, I'm going to be making a concerted effort to concentrate on smaller press books for a while in the Hot Shot selection...but I thought it was important to acknowledge possibly the most relevant superhero-comics changing of the guard since Grant Morrison left JLA. After the Punisher overdose that the comics community at large had in the '90s, and the backlash from the shabby "Marvel Knights" relaunch, it was Garth Ennis who put the character back on the map (see the Welcome Back Frank premiere hardcover Marvel's coming out with) in 2000. Gregg Hurwitz is one of the guys that Marvel is leaning on to provide them with edgy, different material and to give them mainstream media "street cred," and so his handling the first arc on the title in the absence of Ennis is a sign that the House of Ideas hasn't given up on this title yet. The relative success of the next three arcs--each to be written by a different author whose principal success has beeen from outside comics--will to a large extent determine the long-term viability of the Punisher franchise. Sprinkle in the fact that there'll be another movie coming up soon, and the loss of a major talent like Ennis can be a real danger. This is where the path of the series will really get interesting.
Hot Shot of the Week Feature
10 Questions with Gregg Hurwitz About Punisher #61
Preview the issue!
All the details on this month's issue
Cover By: Dave Johnson, Writer: Gregg Hurwitz, Pencils: Laurence Campbell
Inks: Laurence Campbell, Colored By: Lee Loughridge, Lettered By: VC - Cor Petit
"GIRLS IN WHITE DRESSES," PART 1
The first of three story arcs written by three of the hottest writers in crime fictions starts here! Best-selling crime novelist Gregg Hurwitz (The Kill Clause, The Crime Writer) and Laurence Campbell (PUNISHER ANNUAL: THE HUNTED) bring you a tale of death, depravity and revenge south of the border. In black vans and under cover of night, they descend on the little Mexican town of Tierra Rota, abducting its women and returning them days later like broken dolls. And no one can stop them. That is, until one brave soul approaches Frank Castle with his heart in one hand and a bag full of money in the other. Now Frank's no bounty hunter, and definitely no hero, but there are some things the Punisher just can't abide.
Explicit Content …$2.99
Page last updated on October 12, 2008