by Dave Scrimgeour & Kevin McCluskey Cover Date- October 1988 Price- 50p Script- Gerry Conway Art- Sal Buscema Lettering- Rick Parker Colour- Bob Sharen Editor- Jim Salicrup Editor-In-Chief- Tom DeFalco Publisher- Marvel Comics synopsisSpider-Man goes in search of The Punisher, unaware that he is now under the control of The Persuader and The Arranger. The Punisher hunts down the Lobo Brothers and Gwen Stacy seeks out Peter Parker after, once again, narrowly escaping mysterious pursuing forces. Blood will be spilt. (K) Dave So, what're your initial thoughts on the cover of #143? Kev It's a nice cover. It's maybe not iconic, but the composition is excellent and the three figures are done well. Dave Yep, it was one of those covers, like #142, that sticks in my head even after all these years. Kev That's a good splash page from Mr. Buscema, once again, it's very dynamic. There's a real sense of movement in it. Also, it's an excellent depiction of the New York skyline and harbour, with a nice boat to boot. I really like Bob Sharen's dusky, colour palette for the sky too. Excellent use of violets, pinks & oranges. Dave Yeah, it’s a good blend of colours and these opening page spreads are a real enticement for reading on. Kev Yeh, they've been excellent, generally. Like you say, great at drawing you in to the story. Dave Again, this is clever use of narration by Conway to bring the reader up to speed as to what has happened in between the last issue and this one. Plus, the two burglars clearly choosing the wrong boat to rob. Kev Yeh, man. This second page is just stunning work by Buscema. The 1,3,2 panel layout makes for such fluid storytelling and each panel is perfectly drawn too. Dave It's a nice little set piece before the story moves into The Punisher’s disappearing act. Kev As you said, it performs the task of getting the reader up to speed in a timely fashion. Also, Conway gets some good humour in here too with the "Later Charlie....." and the "politician's promise" lines. Conway's skill at having these overlapping storylines is really apparent here. Rather than building the Tombstone, Punisher, Arranger and Persuader arc to a simultaneous crescendo, he's put a pin in Tombstone for the moment so he can carry on with the others, whilst at the same time, he's introduced the Lobo Brothers to add another element of intrigue. Excellent long form, ongoing storytelling. They say that comics are all middle afterall. Dave Yeah, there are so many different subplots going on and introductions of new characters like the Lobo Brothers. The opening panel of Punisher walking through Dallas international airport wearing that trench coat is a good tone setter for this story. Plus they three of them just look suspect. Kev Ha, ha! They definitely do. You could just picture that with a Tarantino-esque slow-mo and some obscure, deep cut, pop number playing over it. Dave The Lobo Brothers kind-of remind me of Xamot and Tomax from GI Joe’s Cobra. Or should we call it "Action Force" as we are not in the U S of A? Kev That's a really good comparison to Xamot and Tomax, man. It hadn't occurred to me before, but you're spot on. I like the Mel Zimmerman aside at the airport too. It's a nice little bit of detail to humanise a character that otherwise would have been completely inconsequential and forgettable. It allows the reader to form some sort of attachment to him in a very short period of time. Dave The first few scenes in this issue are quite brief, only covering about two pages; Spidey Vs the burglars, Punisher at airport, then Kingpin and Arranger. Good to see the Kingpin at last as well. Kev Good old Wilson Fisk. He's clearly somewhat distracted by Daredevil at this point though. Or maybe you could go as far as to say obsessed with "horn-head," depending on your point of view. The Arranger loves to play on his name, doesn't he? "It's all arranged, Mr. Fisk." Dave Yeah, he certainly does. Kingpin really has it in for Daredevil and we can see just a hint of The Arranger starting to plot his own rise, away from Fisk here. Kev Definitely. There are seeds of The Arranger turning on The Kingpin being sewn by this point. Conway weaving in yet more plot threads to be expanded upon further down the line. I don't know about you, but these Gwen Stacey clone interludes are just leaving me cold. Dave It's a bit out of place in this story I feel, but as you say, it's adding more threads. Kev Yeh, this one's just not intriguing to me though. I love how the last two panels on page 9 are giving the reader a quick run-down of what's been happening in the other Spidey titles. It makes Peter's life seem completely manic. Ah, the single continuity of the Spidey titles. A tangled web indeed. Dave "My life's so complicated I need a map to find my way to the bathroom.” That's classic Spidey, he is always running late for meeting MJ. Kev Totally. Always spinning more plates than webs. Dave I do find the Gwen Stacy sub-plot quite boring though, yeah. Kev It's not great, is it? Dave Luckily it's only been a couple of pages at most. Kev Yeh. Thankfully we don't really need to deal with it for what we're covering here. Dave I like the panel of MJ sitting at the bar with all these yuppies surrounding her. She's certainly is the centre of attention. The guy on the left with the blonde hair looks a bit like Barry Manilow. Kev Ha, ha! He does. Maybe he was about to bust out his rendition of 'Mandy' as a chat-up line for Mary Jane. Buscema draws a bar scene really well. I wonder if he spent a lot of time in bars himself. Dave MJ at the Copacabana. Interesting point there has been a frequent use of bars throughout this series. Maybe Buscema did spent a lot of time in bars, yeah. Kev It's definitely a cute scene in the bar. Conway gives us a bit of light relief again and it's always good to see a bit of MJ's character come through. I like the take-no-shit, MJ. Dave Peter looks a lot older these days and he looks ready to tackle her unwanted hecklers, "Those guys bother you?" Plus, he’s got his own book published. Kev Yeh. This is definitely Peter as a man here. He's not the high school kid, who was bullied by the jocks. He's not even the college kid who was sharing a room with Harry Osborn. He's a grown-up. An adult. A married man, with a wife and a home and proper adult responsibilities. And his own book, yeh, right enough. Dave Still he always seems a bit tense doesn't he? That reaction to seeing Punisher on TV, grabbing MJ like that, a wee bit extreme. Kev He certainly has a flair for the dramatic, does our Pete, yeh. Dave And I’m pretty sure the punters in the bar can hear what he's saying as he storms off. Kev Ha, ha! True. He's not exactly keeping his voice down either, is he? Dave Looks like Barry Manilow thinks he's in there with that cheesy grin and 80's mullet. Him and Alaric should be put together. Kev Maybe they should form a supergroup. 'Music and Passion.' Dave These guys quickly get the hint that she's in no mood to play. Kev Yeh. The withering put-down is enough for them to get the message that she's not messing around. These next two pages at the oil refinery in Dallas feature more stunning artwork by Buscema, particularly that last panel on page 15. It's absolutely superb. Dave It’s great, isn’t it? Good ole Punisher never fails when it comes to creating utter carnage. Again, this is another two page scene. This issue seems to be full of them. Kev Right enough. Conway has certainly used them to up the pace with this issue. Rayburn's admitting that he's beginning to enjoy his power, and his subsequent abuse of it, takes him from being a coerced, sympathetic character, to a complicit, guilty character. Making him a prime target for old Frank. Dave I love the orange background in those two pages. It creates such a great atmosphere and it’s stunning artwork too. Kev Totally. Bob Sharen killing it, once again, on the colours of the skies in this series. It really gives you a sense of that west coast of America, never-ending-horizon sunset, doesn't it? Dave It certainly does. The next couple of pages, with Peter arriving in Texas and the origin of The Lobo Brothers, again, exemplifies quick storytelling. Kev Conway is definitely keeping things moving at a nippy pace here alright. Dave Nothing ever goes smoothly for Peter and the hectic pace of the storytelling really reflects the life of Peter Parker. It’s too hectic for him to keep up with. Kev That's an excellent point. It really helps put the reader in Peter's shoes in that regard, doesn't it? Dave I like how Peter’s book isn't doing too well. Kev Ha, ha! Yeh, I love how blunt Andrea is with Peter about how poor his book sales are in Dallas. Dave Plus, the use of blue shading to highlight the flashbacks to the Lobos rise to power is clever. Kev The use of the bleached-out, almost monochromatic blues for the Lobo Brothers' backstory is excellent. It let's you know it's a flashback, without having to explicitly tell you so. Also, very nice use of a the panel with Peter looking at the newspaper as a transition between the two timelines. And once again, it’s another two page scene. Dave But it quickly rounds off many of the threads, to tie up this chapter in the saga, as it’s obviously building up to the climatic showdown. Kev True. That's an amusing bit of business with Peter and the kid at the bookstore signing, regarding the merits of the red and blue versus the black costume. Then he just waltzes past the kids in full costume. "Blastin' threads!" I'm bringing that one back. Dave Yeah, the book signing is another humourous scene. He's quite blunt with that kid. "G'way, kid, ya bother me." Kev Ha, ha! Yeh. I like that. I wonder if that was a little bit of Conway bleeding into Peter here, regarding his own experiences with fans at conventions. Dave Could be, plus it's a bit of an in-joke as to which costume fans like best. Kev I suppose that debate was probably still raging on at this point in time, yes. The black costume is clearly the superior costume though. Every sane person knows this. Dave That panel where he just walks out of the bookstore in his costume is great. What better way to escape unnoticed? Kev I suppose he might as well take advantage of the situation, eh? Dave That’s a funny comment to mini-Thor as well, "Not in this heat, Goldilocks." Kev Ha, ha! Conway's peppered some light-hearted touches throughout this issue. I also like that Peter's doing a bit of sleuthing with the accents outside the mansion. That's a nice touch. It's the sort of thing that shows him to be a capable crime fighter, which is something that you've pointed out before. Dave Yeah, he's certainly getting more on top of his game doing this stuff. Also, it’s another great page of Spidey’s swiftness and agility, showing how easily he gets into the mansion, and so gracefully as well. Kev Definitely. I love that last panel on page 20. Spidey actually looks quite menacing, leaping towards The Punisher like that. Lots of wolf talk with the Lobo Brothers as well, for reasons which will become all too apparent. Dave I like that aerial view from Spidey’s perspective, when he sees The Punisher, Arranger, the Lobos and the corpses. Kev It's a great establishing shot for the scene, isn't it? Dave It's a situation that goes south pretty quickly, with Kingpin’s name throwing everyone off, Carlos Lobo being shot and Spidey and Punisher battling it out. Kev That's a good point, man. It really does go to pot pronto, doesn't it? And that panel of The Punisher standing over Spidey, once they've been grappling in the pool, is amazing. Once again, the composition with The Persuader in the distance, is outstanding. Dave Yep, good little battle with Spidey and Punisher That’s some shoulder charge he gives Punisher. Kev Totally. The Punisher’s spine bounced right off the edge of the pool as well. The Punisher not killing innocent people worked in Spidey's favour here. We get to see the difference in moral compass between Peter and Frank. Great colours by Bob Sharen, once again, showing the difference between the elements above and those below the water in the pool in that panel. Dave Then, the final scene, where Persuader overestimates his powers and Punisher says after shooting the henchman, Andrew, "You never broke my will Persuader, you only bent it." That's another great panel with The Punisher shooting Persuader. It’s a very dramatic looking death scene. Kev Yeh, man. It's amazing. I love it. This is a really good climax to this chapter actually. Great artwork on page 29. The four landscape panels are very effective. Dave Yeah, like it’s been filmed in widescreen. It’s kind-of a Mexican stand-off scenario. Kev It is a bit, yeh. I love the little blood spatter of the exit wound on The Persuader's back. And with that, that's it, game over for Roland Rayburn. It's been short and sweet. Dave I forgot to mention a couple of good Spidey quips earlier when he spins his web at Punisher, "I can't let you kill anyone in cold blood! It's against union rules" and "Check your good guy handbook...page fifty-eight paragraph 2c." Always with the humour is ole Pete. Kev Yeh, there's been some great quips in this issue. Conway keeps that breezy tone to Spidey and the story with them. And we finish on the Lobo Brothers in the last two panels, once again, setting things up for the future. Dave Yeah, good villains, these guys. There is also a clear insight to The Punishers moral code and Spidey’s too. Kev "You live by your moral code, Spider-Man. I'll live by mine." It's laid pretty bare here, isn't it? Dave It certainly is. Kev I like how Spidey replies to The Punisher's plans for the Kingpin with a deflated and sarcastic, "Oh great." Dave Ha, ha! So far, this has been a great little series to review. I like the vast array of rogues and characters in this story. It’s certainly layered. Kev Yeh. It holds-up. It's well constructed, the pacing is spot-on, it has excellent characterisation and stellar artwork. What's not to like, really? It's immensely enjoyable. And this issue feels like the end of one chapter and the beginning of another, so it's constantly encouraging you to read on. (D) & (K) Next: 'Return To Sender.'
0 Comments
|
Back issues
November 2024
|