Punisher #57

Ah ... I'm a retard, I thought this was the last Ennis issue (because of the blurb "Ennis concludes his run ...") but he still has two more issues after this one! I was actually sad opening this book thinking it was his last issue ... then it ends with "to be continued". For once in my life, being "almost as smart as the cat" (as my mum says) has helped me get an awesome surprise of two extra issues. Whoa ... sweet issue this one was too! Just like the other 56 issues of this run, there is a nice mix of action, good dialogue & smart villains. I love how alot of the time in this book, it has focused on the "bad guys" (like Frank is a "good guy" ha-ha) and shows things from thier point of view, what makes them tick, what makes them sick in the head etc. The bad guys in this particular story are the worst kind -- people in power who are abusing it. Even though they are U.S. Army Generals ... I hope Frank kills them all before this story concludes. No cop-outs please Mr Ennis. These guys deserve it as much (or more?) as the mob guys or drug dealers he usually kills. I'm not sure how the text pieces fit into the story yet, but they are awesome! Usually full pages of text would totally rip me out of a comic reading experience, but these are written so well, they blow my mind. The page about the racial issues & the woman's "conspiracy theory" were very thought provoking ... and sound very plausible (in my opinion). Like I said though, I'm not sure how these flashbacks to the "Born" mini (Stevie & Angel were both in Born) fit into this particular story ... hopefully we find out the connection soon. Goran Parlov's art is good, as usual -- it's not spectacular, but it's solid and doesn't have any major flaws, even if looks kinda cartoony, for some reason it really works on such hardcore material. And the cover is AWESOME, easily the best cover of the week -- but hey, it's a Tim Bradstreet Punisher cover, so I shouldn't be surprised ... like I was surprised when this wasn't the last issue for Garth Ennis. I'm so dumb, but this book rules. Go buy it. I'll go learn to tie my shoe laces then watch Blues Clues. Peace!