Punisher: Red Band #4 – Is This Insane New Threat Worse Than Weirdworld?

Punisher: Red Band #4 Creative Team:

Writer: Benjamin Perry
Artist: Julius Ohta
Colorist: Yen Nitro
Letterer: Cory Petit
Editor: Devin Lewis
Cover Artist: Marco Checchetto
Cover Colorist: Matt Wilson

Frank’s Back Baby … Well Sorta

Frank is back from Weirdworld, but at a cost. Using Frank’s old friend Microchip, Frank is now at the beckon call of Kingpin Wilson Fisk. As Fisk’s personal weapon, The Punisher is helping Fisk take out his rivals while simultaneously putting a bigger target on Frank’s back.

Writing

Shawn: Percy continues the gritty writing in this issue of Punisher: Red Band. This issue gives a little fan service by giving us some familiar faces with Spider-Man and Jessica Jones, but Percy makes sure the story focuses on Frank.

What Frank has done on behalf of Kingpin is finally starting to come back around and Frank is trying to get ready for it. Percy’s words and Ohta’s art combine on page 6 for what is easily the best page of the whole issue as we get a glimpse inside of Frank’s mind.

Michael: It really is amazing and intense with how the storylines of this series and the Marvel Knights series are so similar in what’s happening to Frank. But much like MK, Frank might be out of the woods with the control he’s been under.

But if i know Frank, the Kingpin has another thing coming his way and it’s not gonna be pretty. Towards the end of the issue, he’s already making his presence known and it not pulling any punches. It’s going to be a glorious few issues to come and vengeance is now on the menu!

Art

Shawn: Julius Ohta does a great job on this issue. As I mentioned in the writing section, page 6 is magnificent and really shows off Ohta’s work. I’ve always felt the Punisher would be a difficult comic to draw because even when it’s not the red band version, it’s still a very dark and gritty comic.

Ohta does a great job of using his palette to inject some color into the comic to offset the black and grays so common in Punisher comics. From raindrops to blood drops, Ohta gives real attention to detail that is enjoyable. The lines are clean with the penciling done so well.

Michael: Can we touch on that cover first! My lord, what a work of art. It depicts the issue and the themes so well as Frank is struggling, while the Kindpin watches in the background.

Ohta makes sure that all the “reds” really pop in this issue as Spider-Man enters the scene. It’s done on purpose, to really bring home the aspect of violence and death.

The pencils are astonishing and beautiful, from the looks on the faces of the main protagonists to the flashbacks Frank has during some of the most pivotal panels.

Shawn: 9/10
I thought this was a great entry into the Punisher: Red Band series. As. long-time Punisher fan, I really enjoyed it. I would recommend it to anyone, but it probably wouldn’t be on everyone’s buy list. I’m excited to see how this storyline wraps up in Issue 5 as we get ready for the confrontation between Punisher, Tombstone, and Kingpin.

Michael: 10/10

Boy oh boy WHAT … A … BOOK!! That ending is about as heart-pumping as it gets, and even after a bad a$$ issue, I’m even more hyped for the next one. War is coming, and it’s going to be between some of the biggest players in the Marvel Universe!

Overall Grade: 9.5/10