With a swift biweekly run, last week saw the ending of the miniseries Marvel Universe vs. the Punisher by writer Jonathan Maberry and veteran Punisher artist Goran Parlov. I was a bit wary on this mini when it came out, since Maberry’s Doomwar just wrapped up and I didn’t enjoy it like I hoped I would. I gave the first issue a try and it certainly paid off. I’ve seen multiple people agree with my sentiment: this comic is surprisingly pretty good!

The comic appears to be based on Mark Millar’s intentions for the original Marvel Zombies miniseries. The idea being that Frank Castle is the last man alive and plays the I Am Legend role by hunting down superhero zombies and trying to survive day-to-day. Robert Kirkman decided to go a similar route, only using Hawkeye, until he realized that it had already been established that Hawkeye was a zombie too. Then he went with the Black Panther/Silver Surfer plotline and the rest is history.

So what is it about this second attempt at this idea that makes it so enjoyable to me? Well, there are four elements. This is ignoring the obvious one of “a Mark Millar idea that isn’t actually written by Mark Millar.”

The series takes three existing Marvel stories with promising concepts, improves them separately and mixes them together. The first one is obvious in Marvel Zombies, where the infected Marvel superheroes and villains go tear apart and feed on the populace. The second is Punisher: The End, where Frank kills what’s left of the post-apocalypse. Then there’s Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe. I’ll get to the former two in the other elements.

Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe is pretty cool in concept and indeed has its moments. Frank Castle systematically goes out and kills every spandex jockey there is over the course of one issue, usually in neat ways. It’s just that when you look at it years later after having seen Ennis’ usual “powerless badass deals with superheroes” story that isn’t the Superman issue of Hitman, it completely loses its luster. It really is nothing but Punisher masturbation with a Daredevil retcon subplot shoved in there for the sake of giving it something resembling an ending.

I think the big problem with it is that for a protagonist going up against the worst odds in the world, Frank has his shit together a little too much. Sure, Dr. Doom and Captain America give him a little trouble, but then Frank shows that he had planned it out that way from the beginning. The closest real threat he faces is Wilson Fisk falling on him. While he does have his shit together in Marvel Universe vs. the Punisher, there’s a lot more menace in what he’s up against. The fact that he’s up against something that’s portrayed as having brought down civilization makes Frank an honest to God underdog. Here, you want him to survive and kill with hopes that he won’t get caught or infected. With Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe, you kind of start wishing Wolverine or Daredevil would hand him his ass at some point.

The story actually makes sense to me. This is where it really differs from the Marvel Zombies lore. At first I was wondering why this had to be its own continuity anyway. Why not just put Frank Castle in one of the various Marvel Zombies universes? Then I read more and felt that it’s better this way. You see, there were a lot of great things to come out of the Marvel Zombies franchise, mostly involving Fred Van Lente as writer. It’s just that much of it came off as stuff being pulled out of the writer’s ass or things just plain not making sense and being left unanswered.

What happened to Zombie Sentry? How did Magneto bargain with the zombie outbreak itself? How come their teeth never chip or rot off? How the hell did Vision of all people get infected? How did Colossus get infected? If the zombie superheroes get their bearings after sustenance and feel tremendous guilt for what they’ve done, how come not a single one tries suicide? How do you keep chomping down on Galactus without infecting him? When Nightcrawler and Dr. Strange know that they’re moments away from being cornered by zombies, how come they don’t just teleport? How come the Venom symbiote is the only living thing in the universe that is immune to both infection and the zombie’s appetite? How come nobody knows that a destroyed brain will kill a zombie in the first story when the prequel story Dead Days is 65% Thor shattering skulls with Mjolnir?

Even Van Lente’s anticlimactic final issue of Marvel Zombies 5 basically had Machine Man go down the list of holes in the story. A lot about the virus was never explained, but instead became a plot point to give us rampant gore that soon became more and more shallow.

The first issue of Marvel Universe vs. the Punisher explains the viral outbreak in two ways. First, it’s the way that the public perceives it. What seems like a regular hero vs. villain fight between Spider-Man vs. Rhino is really a crazed and infected Spider-Man chowing down on the poor goon (as an aside, I like that Rhino is the first victim, since he and Frank were sort of buds for a little while. Not intentional, I’m sure, but I thought it was worth mentioning). Then Blob goes on a feeding rampage. Then schoolchildren. Then it gets completely out of control on a global scale and everything goes to Hell.

The other flashback shows the actual events that lead to the outbreak. We understand what the Punisher did to cause the dominos to fall. The narration gives us understanding on what the virus has done to the biology of the infected and how the entire world would come to reach such a dire point. How after the Punisher screwed up, there was nothing that could have been done to stop it. We also discover how it is that the Punisher is able to refrain from infection and the fatigue that would come from living on the run in such a reality.

The first flashback gives us the idea of terror in the unexplained, but once it’s time to move the plot forward, it’s very nice to have an understanding on what’s what. The Punisher and his enemies have been defined. We understand what he’s up against. Now the story can move on its own logic.

And you know what one of the best things is about that? Despite the notable lack of gore in comparison to the Marvel Zombies stories, Marvel Universe vs. the Punisher is genuinely more frightening. There are panels involving Iron Man and even Stilt-Man (yes, STILT-MAN!) that I find authentically creepy.

I also dig how the infected have become like a breeding ground for the alien symbiotes. That’s a nice touch.

Deadpool’s inclusion works! Hey, I like a good Deadpool appearance as much as the next guy, but I’d like a legit reason for him to show up other than how it might sell a couple dozen more issues. Despite Doomwar‘s problems, I enjoyed the reasoning for why Deadpool was there. There was a legit explanation for why he would be given his specific role instead of any other Marvel hero. Same goes here, where Infected Deadpool is a supporting character based on his ability to come back from near anything. Mostly because of his own healing factor, but occasionally he’s helped out by the rest of Spider-Man’s tribe and put back together.

Deadpool is one of those infected who hasn’t fully devolved into a tribal creature of savage desires. Like Spider-Man, he’s able to speak and does so as much as he did when he wasn’t a cannibal. The bullet points of speech and resurrection are what allow him to thrive here and last the entire four issues. Plus Deadpool has an interesting little moment where he makes an attempt to come to terms with his former self, as he tries to grasp fairly simple human strategy.

“What to do? What to…? I know I remember that I used to know how to think, but I don’t remember what I knew about knowing how to do it. I think.”

It goes back to the Marvel Zombies comparison. Those zombies felt shame for their actions, but didn’t act on them. Here, the infected don’t have to deal with that because they’re so far gone that they can’t even remember such ideas as shame. Amidst a giant cast of superpowered monsters, Deadpool is the perfect choice to be our guide into their world.

Frank Castle is never gonna give you up, but he is gonna let you down. Matt Fraction and to a far lesser extent Rick Remender have made Frank very likeable. Perhaps a little too likeable. At his most compelling, Frank Castle is an unlikeable asshole who has a couple moments here and there of humanity for those who he thinks deserve it. He’s like an even worse version of what Batman was like five years ago.

Though a protagonist, Frank is essentially a villain. I think of him the same way I think of the likes of Dr. Doom, Lex Luthor and pre-total breakdown Norman Osborn. They’re all horrible people who have some likeable qualities and the occasional redeeming moment. You read into their actions and they lead you around until – BAM! – they remind you who they truly are. It happens again and again and I’m happy to fall for it every time. I think it’s good storytelling.

Punisher: The End played with this concept in how Frank would rather punish those he feels are guilty than give the human race a chance to exist. It’s one of the more dire comics I’ve read and it’s a bit too cynical for me. The two characters who come off as anything close to likeable are murdered by Frank based on his crazed judgment. Marvel Universe vs. the Punisher at least adds juxtaposition of actual innocent people being there. Or at least those that Frank would consider innocent in his eyes. It leads to better conflict when he does pull his usual “what I say goes” bullshit. The first issue even gives us hope in Frank by having him note that for causing all of this, it’s up to him to save the world.

In the end, there’s a little bit of right to shield the whole lot of wrong. Much like in The End, Frank is stubborn to the point of being the world’s biggest asshole. Never compromise, even after the face of Armageddon. The story started off with an easy black and white dichotomy, but by the end, it’s debatable. Frank really might be the worst of the worst.

I think the best example of how broken Frank’s head is takes place in the first issue. There’s a moment in one of his flashbacks where he explains that every day was filled with horrible decisions. This is portrayed through Frank hesitantly about to shoot Captain America in the back of the head as Cap kneels and foams at the mouth, finally succumbing to the infection. Despite having to reenact Old Yeller, we notice that among the trophy heads shoved onto pikes on the last page, Cap’s head is there. That’s wrong. It’s one thing to decorate your home with the heads of Daredevil, Red Hulk and Thing because they certainly deserved it, but Cap didn’t do a damn thing wrong. He was Frank’s personal hero and, days before his death, comrade. Now he’s tossed in with the other infected because everything is black and white to Frank. Even though he never had a chance to do anything, Captain America is just as bad as the other cannibals.

In a strange way, the end of Marvel Universe vs. the Punisher shows that this is the closest thing Frank can ever have to a happy ending outside of that weird afterlife stuff from Paradise X. He can claim that he’s there to punish the guilty or save the world or be the hero for a handful of human survivors, but it’s all a load of bunk. He’s doing this for himself because a reality where he can’t kill who he feels needs killing is something he can’t deal with. Manhattan has become Valhalla to him. In a place that’s turned into Hell, Frank Castle is in his own personal Heaven.

By the way, with Parlov on art, was anyone else distracted by how much Mary Jane looked like that kinky cheating wife from the Barracuda arc of Punisher MAX? Maybe it’s just me.

Similar Posts:

• I Know My Word Doesn’t Mean Much…
• Marvel Universe vs. The No-Prize
• First there was “Marvel Zombies…”
• The Punisher: …and those for whom there are no words
• Frank Castle and the Marvel Universe

Posted in 4 elements, comic books, reviews by Gavok |