Deron Generally
Deron Generally
The Punisher #219
Marvel Comics
Written by Matthew Rosenberg
Art by Guiu Vilanova
Colors by Lee Loughridge
At a farm in the People’s Republic of Chernaya, an old man stands to defend his home from soldiers trying to take his land. As they decide to make an example of the man, something crashes into the ground nearby. Something that none of these soldiers was expecting. Frank Castle is sporting a set of War Machine armor which he’s modified but hasn’t mastered yet. Frank takes out the rest of the soldiers and stays long enough to help the old man get rid of the bodies.
After finishing his work, the old man helps Frank remove the final obstacle to unlocking the armor and the two of them get to work. As the pair prep for the incoming soldiers, Frank takes point. After taking out the small group of soldiers coming for the farmer, Frank goes further and takes a direct hit from an advancing tank.
Frank decides that in order to get to the target he was sent to Chernaya to find, he’s going to make his presence felt locally. A prospect that the old man he’s staying with finds interesting as the two share old war stories. Frank continues to learn how to use the new suit as the local forces move in and his new friend decides to jump back into the fight.
When this storyline was introduced, there was a danger that The Punisher would lose a core aspect of his being and be reduced to just another guy in a suit, but the growing pains Frank is dealing with while trying to navigate the armor itself is worthwhile and enjoyable to see. Taking the next part of the story and grounding it this way also gives the reader a real sense of the humanity that gets lost when heroes are always above it all. What I really want to continue to see in this story is how Frank continues to use both tactics and the armor to meet objectives rather than relying on the armor alone to get the job done.
Pics courtesy of comixology
