World Famous Comics: Punisher MAX Vol. 10: Valley Forge, Valley Forge (v. 10)
Punisher MAX Vol. 10: Valley Forge, Valley Forge (v. 10)
By: Garth Ennis Publisher: Marvel Comics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Marvel Comics Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 144 Publication Date: November 05, 2008
Product Description: Garth Ennis concludes his seminal run on Punisher - in style! Thirty-five years ago, the Fifth Cavalry disgorged their troops on an isolated Vietnamese hilltop and was met by a scene of utter devastation. The final body count ran to well over seven-hundred - almost 200 hundred of them American soldiers. Standing alone amidst the carnage, a sole survivor: Captain Frank Castle, who years later would be known as the most fearsome vigilante to walk the Earth - the Punisher. Now, the Punisher is about to face his stiffest test: He's hunted big game in his day, but none as big as this. Five men with unlimited resources. Men who'd put anything between themselves and the Punisher's bullet. Men who know exactly who he is - and how to fight him. Collects Punisher MAX #55-60.
Ennis ends his Masterpiece Magnificent. As another reviewer said, the greatest story arc in the history of the Punisher. If you are at all interested, please start from the beginning and appreciate the full genius of Ennis's storytelling. I am sorry to see this end.
A great read. Valley Forge, Valley Forge offers an intimate look at Frank Castle's relationship with the military. Corrupt generals who sent Barracuda after the Punisher in a previous story line now seek to hunt him with special ops soldiers, who they know Castle won't kill, having been a soldier and followed orders. The generals mistakenly think this will give the soldiers an advantage over Castle.
At the heart of the story is an investigation of the way that various aspects of the military interact with each other. The corrupt generals are at the top, the competent commanders are the ones taking orders and not giving them, and the soldiers are pawns in a game of greed and power. We get a close look at Colonel Howe, a Vietnam vet who leads the Delta unit that is sent after Castle. Howe is sober, competent and motivated through his ideals. But he learns some important lessons as to just where he stands in the military and what his superiors think of him. I would've been interested to get more insight into the soldiers who actually go after Castle. They are most like the Punisher in that they are experienced soldiers, who take orders and know their job better than anyone else. They may be a few experiences short of becoming Punisher's themselves.
The dynamics of the command structure are highlighted by the insertion of excerpts from a fictitious Vietnam book called "Valley Forge, Valley Forge: The Slaughter of A Marine Garrison and the Birth of the Punisher." These text based portions of the graphic novel tell the story of a catastrophic battle only Frank Castle survived. A story Ennis himself covered in the Punisher Born title:Punisher MAX: Born The book is written by a brother of a soldier that died at Valley Forge and as the title suggests investigates the roots of Punisher's actions. The story of the battle is told through a series of interviews with witnesses and family members of those who died in the battle.
The illustration by Goran Parlov is of the same spare, no-nonsense drawing that has been used in previous issues of Punisher. Parlov gets the details across with an accuracy and competence that is laudable in it's near transparency. One doesn't notice the drawings, but they convey the action in frame after frame in a style that owes more to film noir than Jack Kirby. It is unflinching in its depictions of violent battles and therefore often very graphic. Not for the faint of heart.
In the final story line of his run on the Punisher, Ennis restates the case that he has been making throughout. Frank Castle is the both the foot soldier and general of his very own war on crime. He is motivated by a dark force, one born in Vietnam. The Punisher is the fallout of a war that never should have happened, a war that was a crime against humanity, brought on by power hungry warmongers who care nothing for human life. And with out really mentioning recent wars and leaders, Ennis makes it clear that corruption is ubiquitous in the Punisher's world, from the lowest street gang, to the highest offices of the land. Though he is an unrepentant murderer, the Punisher remains uncorrupted, uncompromising and unstoppable. Does that make him a hero?
the end of the "REAL" punisher I've followed the max print since Born, and now it has all rapped together to complete the greatest punisher arc ever created. I feel that ennis really entices the story line and makes an awesome portrayal of the marvel vigilante. In this issue, Frank Castle is being hunted by some crooked top government officials. They're convinced that he has information that could incriminate them all for things that happened in previous issues. So first they sent Barracuda, well that didnt work, so now they sent a squad of special forces to take him down, "alive". Theres alot of vietnam references dating back to the Born issue, which helps to manifest the ending of this issue. The artwork of Parlov is not my favorite of the series, i woulda much rathered fernandez or larosa, but i guess beggers cant be choosers, its still a good read. Its a shame that ennis is ending his run on the series, the punisher will never be the same. He has resurrected the punisher from the dead, I only hope that this portrayal of the punisher will continue on. The Max series is not technically finished but for me it is, ennis paints the picture and i dont think there will be better.
The end No other writer has gotten The Punisher like Garth Ennis. Since making the move from Marvel Knights to Marvel's adult-themed MAX imprint, Ennis has had a nearly flawless run on a series that took Marvel's criminal killing vigilante in an ultra-gritty, realistic direction that pulled no punches. With Valley Forge, Valley Forge; Ennis' long run writing The Punisher comes to a close, a run that I for one had wished would never end. Well, you know what they say about "all good things" and such, and while Valley Forge, Valley Forge isn't as perfect a read as many of Ennis' previous Punisher MAX storyarcs, it ties everything together that Ennis has set up over the years, as Frank Castle learns just who was behind tipping off Barracuda in Long Cold Dark, and it is an enemy that this time around Frank may not be able to take down. With ties to his pre-Punisher days in Vietnam, this promises an outcome that will definitely not be pretty. While Valley Forge, Valley Forge is certainly engaging and page-turning, its one big flaw happens to be in the pacing. During the chapters of this TPB pop up segments of a book written by the brother of one of the main characters of Ennis' Punisher: Born mini-series. While this does end up playing a semi-important role in the proceedings here, this breaks up the pacing, and simply takes too much away from what's going on. This may not be such a big flaw for others, but for a die-hard fan of Ennis' Punisher run, this hurts the book more than helps it. Goran Parlov is on board once again as the artist, and his work seems more tighter here than on Long Cold Dark. All in all, it's sad to see Ennis leave The Punisher, but he goes out firing, and leaves a legacy as being the sole writer to really get what the character and the world Frank Castle lives in is truly all about.
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