Punisher War Zone #5

Last review of the evening is the final issue of Greg Rucka's Punisher run.  So far this mini-series has been good...  Before the last issue I would have said great, but that last issue...  Anyway, let's see what happens when the Punisher goes up against the Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

Punisher War Zone #5(of 5)

Summary: Tony Stark escapes from the jam pantry(where Punisher locked him...) and begins tracking the suit of armor Punisher swiped from Stark Tower.  Iron Man finds the armor abandoned and moves in to check it out, against the advice of Black Widow and Captain America.  And yes, the armor is booby-trapped, pissing Tony off that much more.  Cap has had enough of this amateur hour nonsense(and really, who could blame him?!) and takes command, ordering the Avengers to begin a search for Punisher since he couldn't have gotten that far away from the armor.  As for Punisher, he meets up with Wolverine(who is working completely against the Avengers here), and says his good-byes to Sgt. Alves, who Wolvie smuggles up into Canada.  Punisher has set up shop at an abandoned amusement park and knows he has to face down the Avengers to buy time for Alves to make good her escape.  Punisher once again makes Iron Man look like a tool, and manages to web Thor's face with one of Spidey's web shooters.  Spidey is also taken out by a shotgun blast to the chest.  But don't cry for Spidey, Punisher was using rubber shells.  Black Widow manages to stalemate Punisher in hand to hand combat long enough for the Avengers to get their act together and defeat Punisher.  With that, the Avengers build a special prison to contain Punisher, while Sgt. Alves continues Punisher's crusade in Los Angeles.

Thoughts: This comic...  First things first.  What does Greg Rucka have against Tony Stark!?  Punisher has OWNED Tony for this entire mini!  I mean yeah, Tony is arrogant and all, but if this was your introduction to that character you'd wonder how he ever defeated the likes of Blizzard, let alone the Mandarin!  Sheesh!  So here's the thing...  I'm of two minds with this mini-series.  It was enjoyable.  It was a good read.  Action-packed, fun, all of that.  However, it was HORRIBLE at portraying the Avengers.  They were a bunch of clueless goofs!  So while the Avengers fan in me cringed at the way they looked in this mini, the comic fan in me enjoyed this mini...  Strange...

Score: 8 out of 10.

At least Cap wasn't written as a total clown...

Punisher War Zone #4(of 5)

We're nearing the end of the line with this mini-series, and honestly?  This series has been surprisingly good!  I never thought a mini-series where the Avengers go after the Punisher would be any good(or last 5 issues!), but here we are.  Let's see if Thor's pep-talk to Punisher has changed him up any.

Punisher War Zone #4

Summary: Captain America is positive that Punisher will be coming back to Manhattan to spring his former accomplice, Sgt. Alves.  Black Widow is sure Punisher is back in town by this point, so Cap sets up his team, leaving Wolverine out since he warned Punisher that the Avengers were coming.  Cap replaces Alves with Widow in the transport van, and follows the van himself, with Thor following by air.  As for Spidey, he's watching Alves, who was still in the courtroom.  However, Punisher has LITERALLY thought of everything. Punisher sets up a few goons to dress like him to attack Cap's van and the transport van, distracting them.  He also managed to break into Stark Tower(ponder that one for a while...  He broke IN to STARK TOWER!!!), incapacitate Stark AND steal a suit of Iron Man's armor, which he proceeds to use!!!  With no real trouble!!!  Iron Punisher enters the courtroom and blasts Spidey, leaving with Alves, ending this issue.

Thoughts: Okay, here's the thing, if Punisher really managed to take Tony Stark out, IN HIS TOWER, and then stole Iron Man armor and proceeded to use it(because it's apparently as easy to use as your basic computer), then this issue was horrible.  However, I'm holding out hope that the Iron Man in the courtroom was really Tony Stark, and that his taking Alves was some misdirection.  I mean, how else would Spidey get blasted by Iron Man that easily!?  Was his spider-sense on the fritz again or something?  So yeah, I guess Punisher has become as smart as Joker during the Death of the Family storyline.  And that's just plain annoying...

Score: 4 1/2 out of 10.

Jeez Cap, learn how to drive!!

Punisher War Zone #3

Last review for the night is gonna be the third issue of the Punisher War Zone mini-series.  This issue apparently has Punisher vs... Thor.  Yeah.  This should be... well, a complete and total slaughter!

Punisher War Zone #3(of 5)

Summary: Thor has tracked Punisher down to Indonesia, where Punisher has been hunting down a gun running operation taking place there.  While Thor is questioning one of the gun runners, Punisher fires a bazooka at Thor, killing the goon and taking Thor down. With that, it's on, as Punisher speeds towards the gun runner base, leading Thor into viper's nest.  Punisher ignores Thor and decides to have a shoot-out with the gun runners, so Thor decides to end this "battle" with a massive lightning strike.  Thor then approaches Punisher, who takes a swing at Thor(!?!), who simply bats Punisher's shots away, telling Punisher he only wanted to speak.  Since Punisher keeps swinging, Thor knocks him out.  Punisher wakes up later on where Thor offers him a beer(?!) and says he only wanted to talk.  Thor basically tells Punisher that if he had made his war into his life, then he was fighting for nothing since he had no life.  Punisher dismisses that and says he's fighting in a war, while Thor refutes that and tells Punisher that he had created a war so he could continue to fight and murder...  With that, Thor tells Punisher to hang up his weapons, end his war and help that Lady Punisher who was now set to be executed.  With that, Thor leaves Punisher's weapons and takes his leave.  This issue ends with Thor reporting back to Captain America that he had spoken to Punisher and feels Punisher has an honor in him, which Cap hopes is true since Punisher was the only thing that could save Lady Punisher from her scheduled death.

Thoughts: See, going into this comic I was dubious because, come on, it's THOR vs the Punisher!  THOR!!  The God of Thunder vs a guy with guns!  To me?  That's a first round knock out.  But since this is Punisher's book, I was afraid Punisher would somehow outsmart or outfight Thor.  Thankfully Greg Rucka didn't go that direction as he had Thor destroy Punisher.  And then they talked.  And I loved it!  Thor trying to talk sense into Punisher was fantastic!  I mean Thor is a guy who has been in Punisher's place when he was younger.  Just battling and fighting simply for the sake of the fight.  I really enjoyed this issue a lot, from the fighting, to the talking, to everything.  Now, the ball is in Punisher's court, does he continue to circle the world fighting, or does he head home and turn himself in to help Lady Punisher?  We'll find out with the next issue, I guess.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.