UNTIL YOUR HEART STOPS v28.6
by Brian Domingos

Only a Buck

March 25th, 2009

Ideally, Netflix seems like the perfect system – it’s like 10 bucks a month for unlimited rentals. But, ultimately, you need to find the time to watch them to get your money’s worth and that is the problem for me. I’ve got a nearly full DVR and not a whole lot of time to watch, so I’m not a subscriber.

What I do do, though, is get rentals from the Red Box. It’s a dollar a day and contains dozens of movies and you’re open to any movies that have not yet been rented. Often I hit up the local Red Box (located in supermarkets, Walmart, etc.) and I end up leaving with nothing. This is usually because it’s been poached for New Releases by the time I get there (still haven’t seen “Baby Momma” because of that) but this weekend, I spent the two bucks (plus tax) and saw RIGHTOUS KILL – which was decent – and, the main event, PUNISHER: WAR ZONE.

Holey crap.

Now, the Thomas Jane version had a certain charm to it, despite seeming to miss the point of the character altogether. PUNISHER: WAR ZONE ignores that version and gets right to the point. We first see Frank Castle infiltrating a gangland dinner party (much like BATMAN: YEAR ONE) except he beheads the mob boss and slaughters everyone at the table. It immediately shows the level of violence and brutality that is in-store for the viewer, and it doesn't really stop. Lots of killing – some hilarious, some just silly. The script gets a bit serious when Frank kills a mobster who's actually an undercover FBI agent. He's remorseful and is about to quit but he's dragged back into the war to finish one more battle.

I'm a huge Dominic West fan and it's strange to see him playing a villain in his second comic book movie. He plays the tuff-talking underboss Billy Russoti and, after Frank leaves him for dead in a glass recycling machine, Jigsaw. The origin of Jigsaw lacks the enamour of “being repeatedly through to unbreakable glass” like in the comic, but it still packs a punch, with gaudy blood smears and pulped facial features. He's also a lot more Joker-like than he should be, but, ah, who cares?

Ray Stevenson's Frank Castle is solemn and stoic. I don't think he had a line of dialogue for the first twenty minutes. He doesn't have much to say after that, expressing remorse yet, at the same time, he's doling out the death. It's an interesting juxtaposition. And the death is plentiful. And I said above, sometimes hilarious. There's this le parkour guy and he..., well, it's surprising and the funniest part of the movie.

So in the end, there's some Frank Castle justice, some nice little character moments (Det. Soap as Frank's comic relief) and it was honestly worth a dollar. And it would have probably been work a matinée, too. It's not going to win any awards, but it's pretty decent. I'd be up for seeing another one by (what's left of the) cast, the director and writers.

A ringing endorsement.

I don't know if it was a coincidence or not, but Marvel released the fourth volume of PUNISHER: WAR JOURNAL in tpb last week as well - “Jixsaw”. It's Matt Fraction, Rick Remender and Howard Chaykin. I read it last night and it didn't do much for me. The Punisher Jr./crazed doctor plot comes to a head and there's a lot of Jigsaw playing the looneytune. My favorite portrayal of him recently was in “The Widow”, volume ten of Bendis and Maleev's DAREDEVIL run. DD and Black Widow teamed up to kick Jigsaw's ass was pretty funny.

The month is wrapping with a good-sized week, while not actually featuring a PREVIEWS catalogue. It looks like I'll get another week of free time. Fair enough – I've got a lot to read anyway.

Upcoming…
Books and items shipping Wednesday, March 25th, 2009

FEB094254 A DRIFTING LIFE TP (MR) $29.95
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JAN090182 BATMAN: BATTLE FOR THE COWL - COMMISSIONER GORDON #1
DC Comics
$2.99

I'm not a big fan of writer Royal McGraw – I've read two of his stories. One was awful and the other was slightly better. The art's by Tom Mandrake, whom is actually growing on me. THE SAFEST PLACE was a solid OGN.

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JAN092503 DAREDEVIL #117 $2.99

JAN092604 DAREDEVIL: LADY BULLSEYE TPB
Marvel Comics
$16.99

Ed Brubaker's run continues. Michael Lark and Clayton Mann illustrate the new Bullseye story. I thought it was kind of a dumb idea, but it's gotten decent buzz.

JAN098097 DARK AVENGERS #2 2ND PTG DEODATO VAR (PP #857) $3.99
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JAN094320DESPERADOES: OMNIBUS TPB
IDW Publishing
$24.99

I'm a little bummed to see how cheap this tpb is. I've got all of the stories – purchased individually – and now it's all for 25. It's a great series, though, so it's worth it.

AUG084030 DF HULK VOL 01 RED HULK PREMIERE HC SGN $89.99
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AUG080260 JLA CLASSIFIED CLASSIC BATMAN ACTION FIGURE PI
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JAN090205 JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #31
DC Comics
$2.99

Dwayne McDuffie says there's another three issues after this – I'm hoping for some decent closure.

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JAN092464 NEW AVENGERS #51
Marvel Comics
$3.99

I love Chris Bachalo, so I'll check this out.

JAN092535 NOVA #23 $2.99
JAN092584 OFF HB MARVEL UNIV A TO Z PREM HC VOL 07 $24.99

JAN090185 ORACLE #1 (OF 3)
DC Comics
$2.99

I want to try this but the writer (Kevin Van Hook) and artist (Don Kramer) don't impress me much. Nice cover, though.

DEC080229 PENGUIN REVOLUTION VOL 07 $9.99
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DEC080186 SECRET HISTORY OF THE AUTHORITY: JACK HAWKSMOOR TPB
Wildstorm/DC Comics
$19.99

I love this friggin' book. Mike Costa writes an awesome script and Fiona Staples' art is fantastic. It's a great addition to the AUTHORITY core-background. I can't wait to reread this.

JAN092522 SECRET INVASION CHRONICLES #1 (OF 9) $5.99
JAN092595 SECRET INVASION TP AMAZING SPIDER-MAN $14.99

JAN092597 SECRET INVASION: THOR TPB
Marvel Comics
$14.99

I'm mildly interested in Matt Fraction's THOR, but at the same time – I don't really like Thor.

DEC080165 SHOWCASE PRESENTS: AMBUSH BUG, VOL. 1 TPB
DC Comics
$16.99

I preordered this in a moment of weakness. It's supposed to be “funny” but My Funny isn't always That Guy's Funny.

JAN094059 SIMPSONS COMICS TP VOL 17 HIT THE ROAD $15.95
JAN092525 SKAAR SON OF HULK #9 $2.99
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JAN092404 SPAWN #190
Image Comics
$2.95

SPAWN has been kind of cool. Whilce Portacio's art has been great.

DEC083894 SPOOKS TP VOL 02 OMEGA TEAM $18.99
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JAN090190 SUPERMAN #686
DC Comics
$2.99

I'm all into the new Guardian/Monel Superman book. The art looks awesome.

DEC080164 SUPERMAN BATMAN ENEMIES AMONG US TP $12.99
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JAN092476 THUNDERBOLTS #130
Marvel Comics
$2.99

The four part crossover with DEADPOOL continues with Part Two right here. The first part suffers from Daniel Way’s “funny” script. I'm excited to see what Andy Diggle does with the DP character, especially since he originally wanted him for the cast of Thunderbolts. I think Roberto de la Torre's back as well. It's been a great ride so far.

FEB094404 TICK THE COMPLETE EDLUND TP (O/A) $35.00

JAN090271 TOP 10 SPECIAL #1
America’s Best Comics/DC Comics
$2.99

Gene Ha is gone from TOP 10 for now, but Zander Cannon is back with a new art - Da Xiong, and they’ve moved their focus on the new Girl Two with a court room drama. I can’t wait. I love these characters.

JAN094273 TRANSFORMERS ALL HAIL MEGATRON #9 $3.99
JAN094283 TRANSFORMERS BEAST WARS OMNIBUS TP $24.99
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JAN090254 WILDCATS #9
Wildstorm/DC Comics
$2.99

The Wildcats head to Hawaii to find out just what Majestic is up to (by reading the back-up stories, we know that Tao is involved). Speaking of back-ups, Christos Gage and Ivan Reis begin their four part story about the abandoned STORMWATCH: Team Achilles characters. We’ve already seen the Masking Wall in the current STORMWATCH book, so I’m excited to see what’s left.

FEB094001 WIZARD MAG #211 GOLD ALEX MALEEVE SPIDER-WOMAN CVR $5.99
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DEC088110 WOLVERINE SAGA PI
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JAN092553 X-MEN SWORD OF BRADDOCKS $3.99
JAN092545 X-MEN TIMES AND LIFE OF LUCAS BISHOP #2 (OF 3) $3.99

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That's that. I've got some mini reviews for next week. See you then.

 

Brian Domingos is the Editor-in-Chief at Popimage.com. Questions? Comments? Love Notes? Email him via brian@popimage.com. To submit a comic for review, please email him at the email link. We're always interested to see what people have to offer.


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