Okay, it’s official: The Punisher is my favorite character in comics, and if he weren’t there already, then PUNISHER: FRANK CASTLE — SIX HOURS TO KILL would’ve pushed him there.
Written by novelist Duane Swierczynski, SIX HOURS TO KILL gives Frank Castle exactly six hours to live when he’s injected with a time-release toxin, D.O.A.-style, by bad guys who want him to off another bad guy for them. If he does, they’ll give him the antidote. But The Punisher is someone who works on his own terms, so he figures, “fuck it,” and decides to use his last minutes on Earth to get rid of the people he wants.
Since he’s in Philadelphia, he pulls his Philly file, and begins to lay waste on a Russian mobster, an arsonist, an adult filmmaker — anyone who’s been on his to-do list in the City of Brotherly Love. Meanwhile, the political machine who wanted to hire him in the first place works the gears to get rid of him sooner than later, calling in a well-armed neighborhood gang. There’s also a beefy military hero who still thinks he’s in Vietnam, making Frank’s final hours more unpleasant than need be.
It’s an all-out, hard-R crime tale that’s dripping in black humor and red blood, illustrated by Michel Lacombe, who does not hold back. Following the five-issue story, the book kindly offers a parting one-shot in “Force of Nature,” a sea-stranded story involving a drug pusher, a pimp, a mob moneyman … and one very big whale. Covers for all but “Force” are provided by the mighty Dave Johnson, who does the best graphic work outside of FABLES‘ James Jean.
My enthusiasm extends to PUNISHER: FRANK CASTLE — WELCOME TO THE BAYOU, a Southern-fried adventure from novelist Victor Gischler and artist Goran Parlov, who draws humans getting chomped in half by alligators like no other. In this darkly comic tale, Castle is on his way to deliver a no-good gangsta when he believes a group of good-looking young people he saw at the redneck gas station has gone missing, possibly at the hands of said rednecks.
For whatever reason, Frank checks it out, and sure enough, the hillbilly family that runs the place has the girls in a cage and the guys strung up over the swamp, where hungry gators wait below. Forgetting about the guy in his trunk, Frank tries to save them, but keeps running afoul of the spookiest, scariest, sleaziest and scuzziest backwater dregs this side of DELIVERANCE. The climax comes in the form of a hulking, hooded giant who would be right at home in a Rob Zombie film.
BAYOU is both horrifying and hilarious, as Gischler doesn’t dare pull back on the reins. Same goes for the collection’s one-off tale, also from his savage pen, “Little Black Book,” in which Castle poses as a high-class hooker’s chauffeur/bodyguard in order to get his hands on a drug-addled, high-living record exec whose murder squads killed a New Jersey police captain and his family — something that hits a little too close to home for our antihero.
Members of the Frank Castle faithful also should think about picking up the inferior, but still all kinds of kick-ass PUNISHER: DARK REIGN, a five-issue story arc from writer Rick Remender and artist Jerome Opeña in which The Punisher sets out to kill evil politician Norman Osborn — aka the former Green Goblin — but is immediately thwarted by superhero The Sentry.
A battle later, Frank is saved by a guardian angel — a high-tech helper named Henry, who comes to serve as Frank’s surrogate Microchip, his late pal. More foes are in store for Frank, including the Shaolin Scientist Squad and a supernatural enemy known as The Hood.
At one chapter break, Remender cheats. We see Frank facing certain death by gunmen who begin firing at him, at point-blank range. It ends there on a cliffhanger. Next chapter opens, and the guys are all dead, but not Frank. Huh? Wha’ happened?
Oh, well, at least there’s two-fisted action, from jumping down elevator shafts to harpooning bad dudes in the chest with bombs. It’s a fun story, even though I’m not totally onboard with adding mystical elements to the tale. But, ah, the sweet, sweet sound of “BUDDA BUDDA BUDDA …” —Rod Lott
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• GO-GO GIRLS OF THE APOCALYPSE by Victor Gischler
• SHOTGUN OPERA by Victor Gischler
• VAMPIRE A GO-GO by Victor Gischler
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF DUANE SWIERCZYNSKI:
• THE BLONDE by Duane Swierczynski
• LEVEL 26: DARK ORIGINS by Anthony E. Zuiker with Duane Swierczynski
• SEVERANCE PACKAGE by Duane Swierczynski
• THE WHEELMAN by Duane Swierczynski
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Just wait until you get to the Frankencastle storyline…