Pencils: Bernie Wrightson
Inks: Jimmy Polmioth
Colors: Brian Haberlin
Letters: Richard Starhings and ComicraftEM
Review: Art Bee
This miniseries is titled, “Purgatory”. Frank Castle is back from the dead to find retribution for his many…many sins, a.k.a. vigilante justice. The Punisher finds himself in an earthly war with the forces of Hell. One of the fallen angels, Oliver, was banished from Hell for his crimes against the other fallen and has been killing angels. Killing them and feeding on their divine energy to attain more power and take over Hell. Castle has been given a chance to turn the tides against Oliver as a way to avoid damnation.
This issue is all about setting up the series plot and does a great job of it. We instantly find The Punisher hard at work with a new type of arsenal from page one. His coat seems to produce whatever weapon he needs when he needs it.
That is some vigilante mayhem in leather! The path Castle takes through the issue is one a person would expect to walk if one could return from the dead.
Confusion leads the way and we are along for the ride. This tactic is common in a story like this, and it works well. The part that had me sold was Oliver’s introduction and the part he plays. He is an easy villain to hate.
The art is about as great as Marvel produced in the late 90s. All of the lines are well done and inked and the use of color is what blew me away. This issue has a fabulous way of using black and red to enhance many of the panels. When drama is at a pinnacle, the red seems to be blasting out at you. This is accomplished by using black shading and deliberate hard black bordering. The artsy guys get an “atta boy”.
Why do Heaven vs. Hell story lines strike me like they do? The simple answer is they strike us to the core of our being. For many millennia, philosophers and theologians have been toiling to answer questions of the unknown. The only way we know for sure is after we die, and then it’s too late to do anything about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment