by Jason Aaron (writer), Steve Dillon (art), Matt Hollingsworth (colors), and Cory Petit (letters)
The Story: Bullseye tries to become the man he’s hunting as he tightens the noose on Frank.
What’s Good: Jason Aaron really dives in head first this month in creating his own unique, MAX version of Bullseye and the character truly sings. He’s completely manic and gleeful in his sadism. There’s this childish joy that Bullseye takes in his grisly work that’s a lot of fun to read. Yet, beneath it all lurks a cold, calculating animal. Bullseye is a character who is mostly smiles, but that smile can disappear very quickly. It’s hard to determine which side of Bullseye is more terrifying: the wacky psychopath or the ice cold, brutal murderer beneath. Either way, he’s delightfully creepy.
One of the problems that I’ve had with this series is Aaron’s occasional fumbling with comedy. This month, Aaron’s character work with Bullseye proves to be the perfect vehicle for the Punisher’s brand of black comedy without disrupting the books tone. Instead of overly long gross-out sequences, it’s Bullseye’s dialogue that brings the laughs. From the absurdity of his interrogation questions to his eccentric methods, Bullseye definitely elicits laughs. Better still, it’s comedy that feels organic and spontaneous.
Though our time spent with Frank is more limited, Aaron again makes the most out of the character’s time with Dr. William Bayer. The scene is rife with a sense of heavy tragedy which brings a clear focus on Frank’s deterioration. Aaron also continues to intrigue with the suggestion that Frank’s original motivation for donning the infamous t-shirt has long since eroded into what is now an existential void.
Steve Dillon does really well with Bullseye. Dillon makes the character look intimidating, despite his small stature. Dillon also does a great job on Bullseye’s facial expressions. Most of the time, Bullseye carries an expression of madcap good humor completely incongruous with his surroundings, but is able to turn on a dime to a more serious expression of violence and menace. The quick shifts to this latter look make for a scary character.
What’s Not So Good: Bullseye may be awesome, but it’s getting a little bizarre how we’re getting yet another arc where Frank plays the clear second fiddle to a new antagonist.
That’s all well and good, but the scenes we do get with Frank are in danger of being a little limited in scope. If Aaron keeps this up, he’ll be verging on broken record syndrome. All of Aaron’s major scenes with Frank have revolved around him dealing with injuries and discussing his deterioration, mentally and physically. Due to lack of space, it never gets any further explored and remains on this foundational level. Aaron needs to dig a little deeper into Frank’s mind. He’s done enough showing of Frank’s forgetting who he was, it’s time to explore the causes and consequences of this. Otherwise, it’ll be the same thing again and again, month after month. Already, we’re veering in that direction.
I also found the character death ridiculously predictable this month. I can’t imagine a single reader not seeing this coming from a mile away. Maybe it’s the Scooby Doo difficulty of having too few supporting characters, but this was painfully obvious.
Conclusion: Aaron brings strong character work while leaving the gross-out gags at home. We are all the better for it.
Grade: B
-Alex Evans
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Conclusion