Just when Punisher War Journal seemed as if it couldn’t get any better, Matt Fraction took it to a higher level in issue #13… he went old school.
Within the pages of issue #13 Rhino attempted to rob a bank, but killed a security guard by mistake. Thus, Frank Castle (the Punisher) deemed him worthy of death. As he was about to take the Rhino out permanently, Kraven’s son showed up and abducted Rhino. Later Rhino woke up in Kraven’s freakish zoo of animal-like super villains.
In Punisher War Journal #14, Frank hunts down Kraven, and Kraven shows us just how psychotic he really is.
Fraction is a really wonderful writer. He manages to blend humor seamlessly into the horrifically violent actions Kraven Jr. takes against his “pets”.
What’s funnier than Kraven wearing a chef’s hat along with his crazy-man outfit while he serves an exploded Pegasus horse to his unsuspecting prisoners… OK lots of things are funnier. But combine the thought with a visual and you can see what I mean.
I have loved every issue of Fraction’s run on War Journal, but this current arc takes the cake. It’s just fun, and the switch to artist Scott Wegener was an excellent choice. My one complaint with earlier issues was the odd art which included illustrations merged with photos. Thankfully Fraction’s writing was so good I could get past it. Now that Wegener has taken the reigns, War Journal looks more like a traditional comic book and seems to have hit a level of near perfection.
Take my advice, start reading Punisher War Journal. Start with issue #13 and go from there, you will not be disappointed.
4 responses to “Punisher War Journal #14: Hunter / Hunted Part 2 Review”
I read the earlier issue back when the title launched in Civil War and was really turned off by the artwork. Since they’ve switched things up and gone with a new artist, I’ll be picking this title up.
I think the zoo idea is pretty interesting.
Good call, I really think you’ll enjoy it. The art work is much improved, I just hope it stays this way for a while.
Let me know what you think about the comic after you’ve read it!
So I grabbed #13 and #14.
Great reads. Issue 15 came out today but I haven’t picked it up yet. After reading these two, I plan on getting the next issue.
Awesome, glad to hear you enjoyed it. I just picked up my comics for the past two weeks or so and Punisher War Journal #15 was among them… can’t wait to check it out.