| Comic Review | Paul Milligan |
Punisher vs. Bullseye #1 (of 5)
Writer: Daniel Way
Artist: Steve Dillon
Colorist: Dan Kemp
Letterer: Rus Wooton
Alphonso
Patrillo, a mob boss with a strange secret, orders a hit on
the murdering vigilante known as the Punisher. Patrillo
doesn’t actually expect anyone to pull of, or even accept
the hit, he’s just trying to buy time for his crippled
family, which is in danger of being taken over by stronger
families. He knows that once word gets out that he’s put a
hit on the Punisher, the other families will sit back and
watch things play out. But someone does accept the hit, the
insane assassin with perfect aim, Bullseye.
This comic, with its dark humor, weirdo villains and bizarre
deaths, almost reads like a lost chapter of the previous
Marvel Knights Punisher series by Garth Ennis and Steve
Dillon. That series started out very strong, but after a
while it got a little old. The longer it went on, the more
outrageous and silly it became. Thankfully Marvel let Ennis
loose with a mature-readers Punisher title that is much
darker and more serious, and infinitely more enjoyable. But
that’s not to say this is a bad comic. It reminds me of the
old Marvel Knights Punisher in a good way, before that book
became kind of a joke.
This issue is more set up than anything else, introducing
the players, moving all the pieces into place before the
real action begins. Considering the book is called Punisher
vs. Bullseye I would like to have seen more of the Punisher
and Bullseye, but the pair only get a handful of
appearances. Though now that the story is set up I’m sure
we’ll be seeing a lot more of both title characters beating
each other’s brains out. I think it’s a fair assumption that
Bullseye will not complete the contract and kill the
Punisher, nor will the Punisher be able to add Bullseye to
his list of victims, but it ought to be fun watching them
both try.
Special thanks go out to Jeremy Shorr, owner of
Titan Comics for allowing us to use his advance
preview books for review purposes.
