The Defenders #3

[cyberghostface]

Comments

[spider_man6]

You know, I've not been a fan of some of Bendis' books of late - Spider-Man, Jessica Jones - but both his Iron Man books are killing it, and this is SO Good! The ending of this issue was such a shocker!

[cyberghostface]

This title is really perfect for him. I mean its obvious MCU synergy but Matt, Luke and Jessica have always been some of his best-written characters and they work great together.

[reveen]

I really like how Cage is completely manhandling Frank like he's a child.

[mizerous]

Frank can't hurt the power of Christmas.

[bruinsfan]

Well, given that Luke was initially conceived as a bulletproof man, the Punisher is kind of left out in the cold. (I imagine someone better trained at hand-to-hand like Daredevil could give Luke a lot more trouble with throws and evasions even if hurting him is out of the question, but about all Frank could do is hope the hail of bullets and muzzle flashes allows him to run away without being seen.)

[tigerkaya]

Punisher: you guys wouldn't be so tough if Garth Ennis was writing the title.

[goattoucher]

Snrk!

[joetuss]

Ennis would have you think, Frank could beat up the Living Tribunal.

[glprime]

Pretty much.

[q99]

The cover:

"Oh no, Luke Cage has been... shot?"

Inside got it bang on ^^

[silicondream]

The cover just makes me feel really bad for Frank, because if Danny's throwing a serious Iron Fist at him, he's about to become a puddle.

[nyadnar17]

If you don't like the Punisher, if you don't think he is either cool, scary, or freaken hilarious why use him?

Don't really see the point of tearing characters down.

[tigerkaya]

Because Heroes in Punisher's titles were treated with very little respect seems only fair to give him the same treatment. Let him be reminded he's in a shared universe.

[cyberghostface]

As tigerkaya already said the Punisher's title has been far worse to other heroes. Garth Ennis depicted Spidey, Daredevil and Wolverine as a bunch of incompetent boobs. (There was one scene where Punisher tricked Spidey into thinking his foot was on a grenade to keep him put. It's a good thing Spidey doesn't have any special abilities that would have alerted him that there was no actual danger, right?)

[locuatico]

Eh, Luke Cage basic powerset completely nullify anything Punisher could realistically have on him without prep time.

[thehood]

Considering that Luke Cage is bullet proof and has super strength, i don't understand the issue here. There's no way Castle could harm Cage.

And considering Frank shot at Jessica, he's lucky a sleeper hold is all Luke did.

[silicondream]

Don't you think the Punisher is both funny and scary in this scene? He's jumped by two very competent superheroes, including a guy who can tear a tank in half with his bare hands. Does Frank surrender? Nope, he whips out a bottle of acid and dumps it on Luke Cage while they're wrestling. That's pretty dang hardcore. Does it work? Of course not, but it's hardcore nonetheless.

I don't see anything here as tearing the character down; this is exactly the level he's supposed to operate at in mainstream continuity. When you're an obsessed, murderous vigilante with no superpowers who operates in Marvel NYC, you get in fights with superheroes a lot and you usually end up getting your butt kicked in the end. Remember, the Punisher was working with the Jackal and trying to kill Spider-Man in his very first appearance!

[philippos42]

This is kinder than I'd be to Frank.

[remial]

Luke should just take the shirts of all the people he beats up. Save him a lot of dough.

[mesmiranda]

Or he could go shirtless.

I mean, for practical reasons.

Totally practical.

*cough*

[thanekos]

It's possible, in a fight between the superpowered and the nonpowered badass, to depict the former as doing things beyond windmilling and charging head-on into setups?

Who knew.

(It's their book, but still.)

[starwolf_oakley]

As I said on this board a few months ago, "sending the Punisher to prison is like sending a metaphor to another metaphor and lots of metaphors getting killed by the Punisher."

[ovaltinepatrol]

I like Punisher stories that play out like an 80s popcorn flick, one badass against an army of gun toting baddies. This is a pretty good scene, Punisher should have his butt handed to him by super powered people. I'm glad he didn't have any bizarre gizmos or adamantium bullets or whatever.

[bradygirl_12]

I'd like to see Batman in a story like this, with Superman or some other superpowered hero get the drop on him. Yeah, Batman always has plans, but let's say he's having an off day. Superman should be able to just tap him unconscious or look bored with the whole 'fight'. It'd be a nice antidote to all the stories where Batman 'defeats' Superman with Green K or other tricks. Give Bruce a little reminder not to tick Clark off!

[joetuss]

Batman isn't a lunatic, the way Frank is, he'd never pull this nonsense.

[featheredserpent]

Bonus points to anyone who refers to "Garydevil" at any future team-ups.

[zachbeacon]

This is how every Punisher / superhero fight should go.