Freak Comics

Punisher War Journal is hands down one of my favorite comic books. Frank Castle (AKA The Punisher) is a sociopath and this comic does an excellent job showcasing his insanity. Of course you might call that insanity a mere skewed sense of justice… but when that skewed sense involves killing bad guys, that crosses the line in to the realm of psychosis. I love the fact that the other heroes hate the Punisher and consider him a villain even though he’s on their side.
It’s also fun to see just how obsessed Castle is with Captain America.

Currently the Punisher has trekked to the Mexican border in order to investigate and infiltrate a band of Neo-Nazis lead by Hate Monger, a vile white supremacist who believes the answer to illegal immigrants is death. He believes himself to be the protector of America… the protector of the “White Race”. Meanwhile this group has been using a costume similar to Captain America’s, and the Punisher is incredibly angry about it.

War Journal is very well written and was one of the more interesting Civil War tie-ins. I’m not all that thrilled with the art. Often times the backgrounds seem to be made with photographs. I’d rather a more traditional comic book art form, something along the lines of Jim Lee, however it really doesn’t take away from the sheer cool factor of the comic. If you’re not reading it, now is the time to pick it up. Try to start with issue #6. Don’t worry too much about not knowing the entire back story, Marvel does a great job catching their readers up to speed by printing a synopsis on the first page.