30 COMICS IN 30 DAYS (8): PUNISHER: SOVIET #1

Released on November 13th, 2019

     Garth Ennis has been having something like a renaissance lately. Preacher just ended after four seasons on AMC and The Boys had its first season last summer on Amazon Prime. And for whatever reason, I just found out that he wrote a DC book called Hitman in the late 90's that I didn't remember. Ennis hasn't written anything noteworthy in forever, although since he wrote Preacher he'll probably just always be famous in the comic book realm. He did write a long run on The Punisher years ago that people still rave about but I thought was way too dark, serious, and depressing (granted, the book is about a murderer). Since then Ennis has written a few Punisher mini-series here and there, and this is his latest, a typical, Punisher, blood-and-guts MAX series. The plot isn't really anything new, although I'm not sure there's much to do that's really new with the character unless you do something completely ridiculous like Remender did (he turned him into FrankenCastle...in case you forgot). Punisher: Soviet starts with Frank Castle trying to take down some organized crime goons but someone has beaten him to the punch. Finally on the last page he finds who is, technically, doing his job for him. From the cover to this issue I'm guessing that these two team up and either go to Russia or just kill some Russians. It's not even called the Soviet Union, anymore, so...what? Punisher: Russia isn't as good a title? And this isn't a story told years ago because a cell phone is used. Who knows? It's pretty much just more of the same. The one good thing about this is that Jacen Burrows is doing the art. He used to draw Crossed for Avatar Press (which I think doesn't exist anymore) and he penciled that interesting H.P. Lovecraft book that Alan Moore wrote, Neonomicon. Since then he came to Marvel but for unknown reasons he's gotten the shaft, working on lame, low-selling titles like Moon Knight and now this throwaway mini-series. I suppose he's a better artist doing realistic people, so he might not be great at kinetic, fluid action that a book like Spider-Man might need, but who really knows? Dude's a star. More than Ennis these days, anyway. *1/2