by Jason Aaron (writer), Steve Dillon (art), Matt Hollingsworth (colors), and Cory Petit (letters)
The Story: The Punisher comes face to face with Bullseye, who wants to see Frank in action.
What’s Good: This issue only cemented the fact that Jason Aaron’s Bullseye is my favourite take on the character in recent memory. He’s simply hypnotic.
In his carefully orchestrated cat-and-mouse game with Frank Castle, the character comes across as brilliantly intelligent, in spite of his casual, off-the-cuff demeanor. His sheer ruthlessness and complete lack of consideration for human life is also highlighted this issue, as he happily sends a group of men to their deaths just so that he can see the Punisher in action.
What comes as a result is an utterly bizarre sort of romance. Bullseye is so connected to violence and murder that he seems to fall in love with Frank, and this only leads the issue down even more an even more disturbing track. Apparently bloodshed and murder are what arouse Bullseye, and the only way he can consummate a relationship, or express his love, is to kill the target of his affections, in this case, Frank. It’s a completely weird sort of love that suits the character to a tee and gives the Bullseye/Frank conflict a new layer.
Still, so much of what makes Bullseye so awesome this issue is how carefree he is and how completely comfortable he is with his own insanity. In an awesome conversation he has with Fisk’s ousted wife this month, Bullseye reveals more about his psychology than we’ve ever seen before. But what is most fascinating about the character is that he is shown to believe that his mindset, psychology, and development are completely natural, a set of logic and emotions that are shared by the rest of humanity. To Bullseye, he’s just an average person, easy to relate to and understand. It’s deftly played dialogue by Aaron that plays with your expectations and leaves you with a character that feels like he belongs to a different species.
I also cannot overstate how good Steve Dillon’s work is this month. On the one hand, this is just another Dillon book and he doesn’t deviate from his style. Where he excels this month, however, is in his work on Bullseye’s facial expressions, which is absolutely stunning. I had forgotten that Dillon was capable of such subtlety. Bullseye’s quick mood changes are amazing, but what most stuck with me were his dreamy expressions of glee and serenity.
What’s Not So Good: As you can tell, this issue was all about Bullseye. As a result, I do feel that Frank and the Kingpin suffered a little bit. Both of them seemed to be present purely to prop up and highlight Bullseye’s nuttiness.
The Kingpin, for instance, becomes little more than the typical pissed off superior. He spends most of the issue yelling and cursing over Bullseye’s methods and expressing his impatience over Bullseye’s lack of results. Really, it’s almost as though he’s playing the role of the grumpy police lieutenant dealing with his unconventional officers, bemoaning broken protocol and a lack of results. Granted, these are mobsters and criminals we’re talking about, but this is the closest analogue I can think. Regardless, after the last arc, it’s a shame to see the Kingpin reduced to this two-dimensionality.
Frank Castle doesn’t fare much better, despite his narration. It seems that he’s also there mostly just to say, “wow, Bullseye’s crazy and dangerous.”
Conclusion: Can one great character carry an entire issue? Apparently, yes.
Grade: B
-Alex Evans
Filed under: Marvel Comics, MAX, Reviews Tagged: | Alex Evans, Bullseye, Comic Book Reviews, comic reviews, Frank Castle, Jason Aaron, Kingpin, Marvel Comics, Marvel MAX, Matt Hollingsworth, Punisher, Punisher Max, Punishermax, PunisherMax #9, Punishermax #9 review, Steve Dillon, The Punisher, Weekly Comic Book Review, Wilson Fisk
