I listened to a podcast about Deadwood once, where one of the hosts described it as going beyond what television was able to do, or portray, like a doI listened to a podcast about Deadwood once, where one of the hosts described it as going beyond what television was able to do, or portray, like a dog running into an electric fence and then having to shamble backwards and shake itself off.
This feels like the comic equivalent of that. Ennis is at the absolute height of his powers here, the action, the dialogue, the unbelievably vile antagonists. Sadly, jamming the Punisher (even this more realistic version of him) into this real-world storyline, and under the watchful eye of Marvel -even pre-Disneyfication- was just never going to work fully. The whole thing ends up feeling like a queasy mixture of rape-revenge fantasy and PSA that just leaves you feeling miserable. Somehow even more so today than in 2005, when we all thought there was a possibility of things getting better....more
Just sort of insanely and unremittingly unpleasant? Artwork is incredible and the world is kinda fun but it's like making the holocaust into a dark faJust sort of insanely and unremittingly unpleasant? Artwork is incredible and the world is kinda fun but it's like making the holocaust into a dark fantasy cosmic horror. Left a very bad taste in the mouth.
Merged review:
Just sort of insanely and unremittingly unpleasant? Artwork is incredible and the world is kinda fun but it's like making the holocaust into a dark fantasy cosmic horror. Left a very bad taste in the mouth....more
I mean yes the ending is a bit weak but, come on, man. It really doesn't get much better than this.I mean yes the ending is a bit weak but, come on, man. It really doesn't get much better than this....more
Stupid, unfunny and mean spirited, for the most part.
I don’t know, maybe it describes a type of living to which I am not privy but who cares, it’s unStupid, unfunny and mean spirited, for the most part.
I don’t know, maybe it describes a type of living to which I am not privy but who cares, it’s unedifying and if I want to feel bad about people I can read climate reports.
EDIT: Wait I've realised why it was a familiar annoyance when I was reading this! It's fundamentally the same thing as Ctrl Alt Delete (with much better art)! You get like 70% of them just Doing Whacky Hijinks (like, oh, sexually assaulting one another, cheese grating their genitals, you know, mild and normal whimsy) then there's an absolute spanner into the steering wheel every now and then where you're asked to treat them as though they're real people with lives and internality all of a sudden.
Buddy, I was sick of this schtick when I was a teenager and Bim Tuckley was doing it....more
Buddy, you are not nearly as surprised at that score as I am.
So after watching (and becoming fully obsessed with) the Amazon series over the last coupBuddy, you are not nearly as surprised at that score as I am.
So after watching (and becoming fully obsessed with) the Amazon series over the last couple of weeks (sorry to inform you but they are absolutely going to fuck it with season three, again, sorry) I had to get my hands on the source material. Six omnibus purchases and about five days later here we are.
On the comics front, this is actually an interesting companion piece to Hyperion (the good, MAX omnibus by Straczynski). Both of them try to look seriously at what an actual Superman would do to the world, but while Hyperion looks at him as the actual real McCoy alien who fell to earth and is better than us in all ways, this focuses on what one of us barely evolved apes would do if there were no possible repercussions for our actions.
That said, having come to this off the back of season 2 of The Boys I think it’s inarguable that the show is stronger and more consistent. While I really appreciate giving a roiling insane/genius/pure id creator like Ennis the space and control over his story that this series OBVIOUSLY has... it’s very much a relief that the tv show clipped off a few more self-indulgent corners and refined the plot devices.
The show has a lot more actual characters in it, as well, here pretty much everyone who isn’t Butcher, Hughie and possibly M.M are more or less just plot cyphers, characters you sum up in a sentence here to deliver exposition and maybe do some punching/sex having. Which is a real shame because the series deals with the sexual assault stuff/relationship impact on Starlight far better. Her audition and Hugh’s reaction feel legitimately stupid and offensive, here. But maybe that’s the point! You just cannot tell with yer man Garth. One minute you’ll have our protagonist using slurs as punchlines and saying stuff that I don’t want to read played as a joke and the next our deuteragonist is tearing a strip off him for it.
Anyway, it’s Very Ennis. If you’ve read Preacher or his Punisher run or Hitman you’ll feel quite at home, and to start with that’s to it’s detriment, but the longer it goes on the more that starts turning into a good thing. By the time we get to Butcher telling us about how he got like he did I was bought in enough to be genuinely moved, and I think the last two arcs were probably the most appropriate end I’ve read to a long running series.
Fine enough collection of victorian ghost stories, the last one really resonates and the art style is very unique and expressive. 3.5 stars on reflectFine enough collection of victorian ghost stories, the last one really resonates and the art style is very unique and expressive. 3.5 stars on reflection, would certainly be interested to read more....more
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