Published by Marvel Comics. Written by Rick Remender. Pencils by John Romita Jr. Inks by Klaus Janson.
The Deal: Legendary artist John Romita Jr. teams with regular Punisher writer Rick Remender to tell this one-shot tale about Frank Castle’s final battle against the forces of Norman Osborn.
The Verdict: Rick Remender proves once again that he knows how to make the Punisher work in the Marvel Universe. Many writers have tried to pen Frank Castle adventures alongside the company’s spandex-clad characters, and most have failed. But Remender gets it; above anything, the writer always keeps things gritty and grimy, even in a world that’s populated with folks who can fly and shrink to the size of an ant. Combine that with equally gritty — and amazing — art by Romita, and you can’t lose with this book. PLUS: The ending of this comic (which is, by the way, the best of the Dark Reign: The List one-shots) is a shocker. Buy it for the last few pages alone.
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This article appears in Oct 27 – Nov 2, 2009.
Remender proves that he can kill Frank with a less than second rate Wolverine “lite” and turn Frank in to a FrakenCastle for no good reason. Castle has stood against the best and managed to outsmart them time and time again, this was just disrespectful to fans and the character.
Well, to be fair, this story is the last chapter of a multi-part tale that had the Punisher fighting a number of villains back to back. By the time he fought Daken, he was probably exhausted. Hey, it happened to Batman a few times, and he’s tougher than Frank.