Garth Ennis | the m0vie blog

Marvel Knights: Punisher by Garth Ennis Omnibus

Posted on March 16, 2012 by Darren

To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, this month we’re going to take a look at Northern Irish writer Garth Ennis’ run on that iconic Marvel anti-hero, The Punisher. Check back every Friday and Wednesday for a review of a particular section.

Solo act again. No Micro. No gimmicks: no fancy ammo, no battle-vans, no high-tech surveillance. Just the basics. Been gone a while. Distracted. The scum in this city need a wake-up call. And here it comes.

– Frank Castle gives us a mission statement

Looking back, it’s hard to imagine how big a mess the Punisher was in before Garth Ennis got his hands on the character. The fascination with “darker and edgier” in the nineties had given the character a huge boost, but it was quickly wasted. From a character who had supported multiple books during the “boom” years, he was reduced to one core title with a radical new direction. Imagining the Punisher as some sort of avenging angel figure hadn’t worked out, so it seemed like that character was truly struggling to keep his head above water. Then Garth Ennis arrived, writing a twelve-part maxi-series that would be the first step in a long and fruitful relationship with the character. He didn’t try to radically revamp the character, opting for a back-to-basics approach with a healthy dash of black humour, realising that there was something inherently absurdist about a gun-carrying psychopathic killing machine with a skull on his chest, sharing a universe with angels and demons and superheroes.

Welcome back, Frank...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: batman, dc universe, ennis, Frank, Garth Ennis, marvel knights, marvel universe, punisher | 13 Comments »

Garth Ennis’ Run on Punisher MAX – Hardcover, Vol. II (Review)

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Darren

There’s a dream I have from time to time. And in the dream I don’t stop. I kill the soldiers and the hitmen, the extortioners and racketeers, the dark old &%^@s who send them out to fight– I hold the trigger down until they’re all gone–

But I don’t stop.

The innocents are just watching, like always. The slack jawed thousands, gazing at the beast. My family lie red and shredded in the grass. I face the crowd and bring the weapon to my shoulder. If my world ends, I tell them, so does yours.

The recoil starts and I wake up.

It’s just a dream, I always tell myself. It’s just a dream.

It’s just a dream.

– Frank Castle, Up is Down and Black is White

You know, I’m not entirely sold on the format of Garth Ennis’ Punisher MAX. It seems a strange thing to say, given how I’m slowly starting to appreciate what the writer is doing with the character, but I’m not convinced that the rigid six-issue structure that Ennis is adopting fits the character particularly well. Don’t worry, I know it’s a very strange and irrational complaint to have – partially because there’s so much else going on that merits discussion, and also because six-issue arcs have become the industry norm (because they fit the size of a trade paperback). That said, I think may have figured out why it bothers me so.

Gun play...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: brian michael bendis, comic book review, comic books, Frank Castle, fury max, Garth Ennis, geoff johns, james bond, MacGuffin, marvel comics, marvel max, mother russia, new avengers, nick fury, punisher, punisher max, review, Russia, the punisher, the punisher max, up is down and black is white | 2 Comments »

Garth Ennis’ Run on Punisher MAX – From First to Last (Tyger, The Cell, The End) Review

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Darren

It’s interesting. Collecting three one-shots from writer Garth Ennis involving the Punisher, this collection manages to skilfully capture everything I love and loathe about the Northern Irish writer’s take on the Marvel character. The three stories collected here – The Tyger, The Cell, The End – run the full range from the early years of Frank’s life, to his early career as the Punisher, through to the end of humanity itself. That’s a pretty huge scope for a writer, and it’s telling that Ennis can cover all that range in so few pages, so smoothly. There’s a lot of good clever stuff here, but there’s also the insanely juvenile stuff that so often seems to knock me out of Ennis’ Punisher just when it looks like I might start enjoying it.

To the ends of the Earth...

Note: This review is going to contain spoilers. In each case, it’s probably best you know as little as possible about these three stories heading into them. So, if I had to offer a quick recommendation, I’d suggest that they are essential for fans of Ennis’ take on the character, and capture and expand on his core ideas well. However, if you aren’t familiar with the character, there are better places to start (ironic, given two of these three are origins, after a fashion). If you can’t stand the Punisher… well, this won’t convince you.

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: ant-villain, Anti-hero, arts, comic books, Comics, Edward Blake, Garth Ennis, lamb, marvel comics, marvel: the end, Online Writing, punisher, punisher max, punisher max: the cell, punisher max: the end, punisher: the cell, punisher: the end, punisher: the tyger, PunisherMAX, review, the cell, the end, the tyger, Tyger, United States, villain | 2 Comments »

Garth Ennis’ Run on Punisher MAX – Hardcover, Vol. I (Review)

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Darren

“It’s Omaha Beach. Wounded Knee. Rorke’s Drift, The Killing Fields, the first day on The Somme. World War Three in North Jersey. And only now, pouring automatic fire into a human wall — do I feel something like peace.”

– Frank Castle, In the Beginning

I don’t like The Punisher as a concept. It’s not some out-dated “heroes don’t kill” or “I need a good guy to be morally straightforward”, it’s more that the character is extraordinarily childish. This is the very embodiment of the nineties anti-hero explosion, the bubble in the mid-nineties which say Wolverine become even more outrageously (and inexplicably) popular, turned Ghost Rider into a major player in the Marvel Universe, and saw The Punisher hold down three (yes, three) monthly comic books. This is a guy who wears a skull on his T-shirt and kills criminals… that’s his schtick. And somehow, he became “uber-kewl”.

Armed and dangerous...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Boys, Comics, danny mcbride, Garth Ennis, history, in the beginning, kitchen irish, marvel comics, marvel knights, marvel knights: punisher, marvel universe, Northern Ireland, Omaha Beach, punisher, punisher max, PunisherMAX, review, the punisher, World War Three | 2 Comments »

Garth Ennis’ Run on Punisher MAX – Born (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Darren

There are comic book characters that are so closely tied to one particular writer that you pity anybody trying to write them. The X-Men have Chris Claremont (although I do love Grant Morrison’s New X-Men run), Daredevil has Frank Miller (although he also has Brian Michael Bendis and Ed Brubaker), Hulk has Peter David and (I firmly believe) Green Lantern has Geoff Johns. Somehow, through some fluke, occasionally comic book characters manage to stumble across a writer who fundamentally understands them. I’d argue that this is the benefit of having these characters survive in print – none of these runs were by the original authors. Anyway, to get to the point, the Punisher has Garth Ennis.

The last Castle...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: america, brian michael bendis, captain america, Comics, ed brubaker, Frank Castle, frank miller, Garth Ennis, mark millar, marvel, marvel max, max, punisher, punisher max, punisher max: born, punisher: born, retrospective, review, Vietnam War, war | 4 Comments »

Absolute Planetary, Vol. 2 (Review)

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Darren

With Wildstorm being officially folded into the relaunched DCU (the “DCnU”), I thought I might take a look at some of the more successful and popular Wildstorm titles that the company produced. In particular, Planetary, the which will apparently inspire Paul Cornell’s Stormwatch – easily one of my more anticipated titles of the relaunch.

“We keep the world strange because that’s the way it’s suppose to be.”

– Elijah Snow outlines Planetary‘s mission

I really do love Warren Ellis’ Planetary, a love letter to pulp fiction in all its forms, about a team of crack pop culture archeologists, tracking down and preserving many of the weird and wonderful fictional specimens that we see all too rarely these days, from cowboy vigilantes to kung-fu epics. There’s a genuine love poured into the series by Ellis and his artistic collaborator, John Cassaday, as the pair celebrate some of the truly wonderful fiction of the twentieth century, as we brace ourselves for the twenty-first.

Little drummer boy...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Absolute Planetary, alan moore, arts, comic book reviews, comic books, dc comics, Elijah Snow, Ellis, Garth Ennis, grant morrison, IPad, john cassaday, Paul Cornell, Planetary, randall dowling, review, the four, warren ellis, wildstorm | Leave a comment »

Ultimate Comics: Captain America (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Darren

In celebration of the 4th of July and the release of Captain America: The First Avenger later this month, we’re jumping into Marvel’s comic book alternate history and taking a look at the star-spangled avenger every Wednesday this month.

I have a certain fondness for Jason Aaron. He’s a writer who has fantastic success in taking the more hardcore elements of the Marvel Universe and making them work. His Ghost Rider is acclaimed as one of the best runs ever on the character, while his Wolverine is considered some of the greatest work on the title in quite some time. Even his Punisher MAX run has enjoyed considerable success, despite following in the footsteps of the defining Garth Ennis run. So I was initially extremely excited when Aaron was given the job of writing the Ultimate Comics: Captain America miniseries. Unfortunately, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed with his work here. It’s still competent and engaging, but it lacks to sort of energy and focus that one associates with the writer.

Apocalypse... Now?

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: captain america, captain america first avenger, frank simpson, Garth Ennis, Jason Aaron, mark millar, marvel comics, marvel universe, nuke, ron garney, steve rogers, ultimate comics, ultimate comics: captain america, Ultimate Galactus Trilogy, Vietnam War | Leave a comment »

Ex Machina: The Deluxe Edition – Volume III (Review)

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Darren

In an effort to prove that comic books aren’t just about men in spandex hitting each other really hard, this month I’m reviewing all of Brian K. Vaughan’s superb Ex Machina. And in June, I’ll be reviewing his Y: The Last Man.

We’re at the half-way point in this saga of the superhero mayor of New York City, so that means that Vaughan and Harris are turning things up a few notches. The three central threads of the series – Mayor Hundred’s time in office, his history as a superhero and the conspiracy surrounding his origin – are beginning to intertwine and collide in a variety of interesting ways. Being entirely honest, I’ve always been a bit skeptical about how the series hopes to balance all these different elements, particularly with a relatively short run of fifty issues. As things begin to move to a head, it becomes clear which of these particular threads that Vaughan is going to focus on.

Talk about catching the bus...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: brian k. vaughan, Brooklyn Bridge, Cold War, comic books, Comics, ex machina, Exmachina, Garth Ennis, Kurt Cobain, mayor hundred, mitchell hundred, New York City, power down, smoke smoke, the stars are down, tony harris, wildstorm | 1 Comment »

My Knight With Danny McBride

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Darren

After attending the premiere of Your Highness, I got a chance to grab a drink with actor and writer Danny McBride in The Brazen Head, the oldest pub in Dublin. “This place is older than my country,” Danny jokingly observes we take our seats. He promptly explains why we’re gathered in this rather casual faction. “We thought about doing the standard thing, the interview in the hotel room, but we figured it would be a bit awkward with the lights and everything, so we thought we’d just go out and have a drink instead.” And, if there’s one thing about Danny McBride, it’s that the comedian is never awkward. He seems surprisingly at home in this establishment, no sign that he’s been out touring the world promoting his new movie – this could just be a nice after work pint.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: danny mcbride, Eastbound & Down, Fawlty Towers, Garth Ennis, george clooney, Independent Film Channel, iphone, James Franco, marvel knights, Northern Ireland, United States, Your Highness | 7 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Punisher – WarZone

Posted on October 15, 2010 by Darren

Punisher: WarZone is not a good film. But it’s not necessarily a poorly-made film, either. There’s a fair amount of skill on display here, but the problem is that the movie never seems to be sure how seriously it wants to be taken. Perhaps the closest point of reference is one of the well-made Steven Seagal films: it spends a great deal of its time delivering what amounts to ridiculousness while offering itself to the audience with a stoic face. It’s a fairly entertaining piece of disposable action fare, but it’s nothing to write home about.