Marvel Universe vs. The Punisher

[proteus_lives]

Greetings True Believers!

It's time for another zom-Marvel-mini! I'm pretty Marvel Zombied out but this issue and plot wasn't that bad.

It's more "28 Days Laterish" this time around. Plus I think Frank really works in a "Last Man" story.

4 pages, enjoy!



So the world has been taken over by tribal, cannibalistic predators. It was a virus. Frank Castle is one of the few unaffected humans left. This virus spread quickly to humans and super-humans. Spider-Man was patient zero. The affected aren't zombies in the traditional senses, more like Hills Have Eyes/Crossed maniacs.

Oh and this is all Frank's fault.

He attacks a Russian Mafia gathering where he thinks they're dealing in WMDs.



That is how the virus begins to spread.

It consumes the world and Frank is still in NY hunting down the Super-Maniacs. Spidey has taken over a section of NY with his "harem". (Tarantula, Black Widow, Spider-Woman) He puts out the body of an uninfected person.





I like it. I'll be picking up the series.

Cover for the next issue. Oh Frank, you do get in over your head.

Comments

[dorksidefiker]

Didn't we already SEE this story?

[espanolbot]

Nope, that was Punisher vs. the Marvel Universe. That's the one by Garth Ennis where Frank is a childhood friend of Daredevil, and after his wife and kids are squashed by falling debris in an Avengers/X-Men fight in central New York, Frank goes nuts and starts hunting down every superhero and supervillain one by one for revenge.

It wasn't though, as you'd expect people to say regarding Ennis' work, a case of "superheroes are dumb and Frank is awesome!", more when Frank goes insane(r) he's incredibly dangerous. Plus his actions weren't shown to be entirely good, as he even hunted down and murdered the likes of Spider-Man, and after getting to his last victim he realises what a horrible thing he did and shoots himself.

[proteus_lives]

I have that one-shot. Enjoyed it!

Frank is incredibly dangerous. I remember a filebook from Nick Fury's Secret War and it said that Frank would be on an omega team if the heroes failed and this line was cool,

"I'd drop the Hulk on one side of the country and Frank on the other. We'll see who gets to the center first."

[crinos]

I remember an What if where Frank did manage to kill Spidey in his first encounter, and spent the next few weeks being pursued and barely surviving encounters with New Yorks Vengeful hero community.

I think that's a more accurate portrayal.

[crinos]

And here it is: Courtesy of the 4th letter:

http://www.4thletter.net/whatif/marveluniversekillsthepunisher.jpg

[proteus_lives]

Issue number? I think I remember that one.

Well Frank is one of the best SF operators in the MU. I think he'd get by for awhile because supers always under-value the non-powered.

[crinos]

Volume 2, #58.

And to be fair, he does survive long enough to get himself gunned down by the cops with the Jackal.

[stolisomancer]

It's also important to realize that a good chunk of the MU A-list are also either normal human beings or are just one or two notches up from one. While a lot of the older heroes have been dramatically powered up since their first appearances, non-powered operatives in the MU are on a far more even keel than they are in, say, the DCU.

[schala_kid]

Oh yeah the part with Matt made me wibble.

[seriousfic]

Spidey has taken over a section of NY with his "harem". (Tarantula, Black Widow, Spider-Woman)

I think I read that on adultfanfiction.net.

[majingojira]

Pretty much, yeah.

[shadowpsykie]

no MJ to rub in our wounds....
also isn't tarantual a man....? so spidey SWINGS bothways? :) *rimshot*

[stolisomancer]

The current Tarantula is Maria Vasquez, who worked for Misty and Colleen in the recent Heroes for Hire series. She hasn't been seen since that book was canceled, presumably because Victoria Hand stole her hairstyle.

The old 1970s Tarantula, that Mexican dude in the red bodysuit, has been dead for quite some time.

[halloweenjack]

I remember that issue--turned into a real (human-sized) tarantula, fell several stories, splatto! Good times.

[cainofdreaming]

They seemed to give the name to Kaine, when he rose from the dead. Poor Maria, what will she lose next?

[stolisomancer]

Goran Parlov was an inspired choice of artists for this project. He's easily one of the best Punisher artists of all time, and it's good to see him getting some higher-profile work.

[v_various]

Yeay! This is great and I'm totally picking it up. I skipped everything marvel-zombie, at first I just waited to see if it was good or not but then they kept crankin' em out like fords; no thanks. So I can be excited about this.

[golden_orange]

This was going to be the original Marvel Zombies concept, wasn't it? Basically, the Punisher running around hunting zombie superheroes?

[stolisomancer]

There's a good interview that ran a while ago on CBR with the writer, Jonathan Maberry. Apparently, he's a huge Richard Matheson fan, and this was one of the first stories he ever pitched to Marvel.

[mola_ram]

Damn, This looks good!
There's something about Goran Parlov's art that just works with the Punisher.

Also, I don't kjnow why it astruck me, but I wouldn't mind seeing the same kind of story with Doctor Doom as the uninfected, and Reed as the insanely evil (but still intelligent) zombie.

[auggie18]

Murgh. I'm not enamored with this concept. Feels too much like a rehash of Punisher kills the Marvel Universe, which I wasn't too thrilled with the first time around. Feels a bit too "my favorite character can kill your favorite character, nah nah nah nah."

[capnduckman]

So, he keeps their heads for company? I mean, wasn't it already established (through Jan) that the zombies can keep going as only heads?