Comic Proportions

Dark Reign — The List: Punisher No. 1
Published by Marvel Comics. Written by Rick Remender. Pencils by John Romita Jr. Inks by Klaus Janson.

The Deal: Legendary artist John Romita Jr. teams with regular Punisher writer Rick Remender to tell this one-shot tale about Frank Castle’s final battle against the forces of Norman Osborn.

The Verdict: Rick Remender proves once again that he knows how to make the Punisher work in the Marvel Universe. Many writers have tried to pen Frank Castle adventures alongside the company’s spandex-clad characters, and most have failed. But Remender gets it; above anything, the writer always keeps things gritty and grimy, even in a world that’s populated with folks who can fly and shrink to the size of an ant. Combine that with equally gritty — and amazing — art by Romita, and you can’t lose with this book. PLUS: The ending of this comic (which is, by the way, the best of the Dark Reign: The List one-shots) is a shocker. Buy it for the last few pages alone.

Reviewed materials provided by Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find: www.heroesonline.com.

Had a chance to check out Marvel Comics’ Dark Reign panel, which — as the title suggests — was all about the Dark Reign story line running through a ton of Marvell books these days. At the panel, which featured writers Bendis, Fraction and Hickman, a few announcements were made about new stuff coming this fall. Stuff like:

• A series of one-shots called “Dark Reign: The List.” These one-shots deal with Norman Osborn (the villain sometimes known as the Green Goblin who now effectively runs the Marvel Universe) wanting to finally deal with a number of “problems” floating about the Marvel Universe (like, as Bendis said, “Why has no one killed the Hulk?”). The one-shots will apparently team writers like Bendis, Fraction and Hickman with big-time artists who aren’t doing monthly books right now. For example, Fraction is writing an Uncanny X-Men one-shot drawn by Alan Davis. And there’s a Punisher one-shot drawn by John Romita Jr.

• Ares is getting a new limited series in October.

• Echo, last seen in New Avengers, is coming back in the Spider-Woman series, which has been delayed because of the motion comic currently in production.

For waaaaaaaayyyyyy more on this panel, visit check out the story on Newsarama.