I just wanted to gab a bit on ol' Punny after I posted that press release.
Punisher was huge back in The Day. In fact, as I've joked here many times, there was a good 2-3 year period when Punisher and Wolverine were in literally every Marvel comic on the market at least once every couple of months. They guest-starred or cameoed (sp?) in everyone else's books, and both of them had at least 2-3+ monthly titles of their own in the meantime, not to mention countless graphic novels, "prestige format" books, and mini-series.
But Punisher really rocked when he first came to the forefront, in no small part because of the artists that worked on him. Now Mike Zeck's Punisher is classic and he was the first to do Punny in his own series (the 5-issue limited that started it all), but the true Punisher artist -- the artist that captured the real essence of Frank Castle in all his vengeful, vindictive glory -- was Klaus Janson. In fact, I have the promo poster from that unlimited series hanging right here in my living room above the TV.
Janson's chunky style - the thick, heavy lines and angular brushwork - worked wonders over Frank Miller's pencils in Dark Knight Returns, but The Punisher is where he really came into his own. And whomever it was writing back then -- I'm pretty sure it was Mike Baron, but I can't be positive (and I'm not rooting around in that closet to find my old issues) -- was right on top of the whole thing.
Those were some good, truly classic comics in one of the true heydays of comic books. I'm really glad to see that comics have made such a resurgence in the last year or two. It's really nice that new blood, as well as returning masters, have come (back) to the form and reinvigorated it after nearly a decade of declining sales and just general crap.
Punisher was huge back in The Day. In fact, as I've joked here many times, there was a good 2-3 year period when Punisher and Wolverine were in literally every Marvel comic on the market at least once every couple of months. They guest-starred or cameoed (sp?) in everyone else's books, and both of them had at least 2-3+ monthly titles of their own in the meantime, not to mention countless graphic novels, "prestige format" books, and mini-series.
But Punisher really rocked when he first came to the forefront, in no small part because of the artists that worked on him. Now Mike Zeck's Punisher is classic and he was the first to do Punny in his own series (the 5-issue limited that started it all), but the true Punisher artist -- the artist that captured the real essence of Frank Castle in all his vengeful, vindictive glory -- was Klaus Janson. In fact, I have the promo poster from that unlimited series hanging right here in my living room above the TV.
Janson's chunky style - the thick, heavy lines and angular brushwork - worked wonders over Frank Miller's pencils in Dark Knight Returns, but The Punisher is where he really came into his own. And whomever it was writing back then -- I'm pretty sure it was Mike Baron, but I can't be positive (and I'm not rooting around in that closet to find my old issues) -- was right on top of the whole thing.
Those were some good, truly classic comics in one of the true heydays of comic books. I'm really glad to see that comics have made such a resurgence in the last year or two. It's really nice that new blood, as well as returning masters, have come (back) to the form and reinvigorated it after nearly a decade of declining sales and just general crap.
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