And in more anticipation

Found another Punisher serise appreciation: http://thepullbox.com/2012/01/03/series-review-the-punisher-vol-8/

Issue 8 is out tomorrow.

Blue on Blue.

The shadow of the past

So, before this blog becomes merely a vehicle for me to trumpet each issue of the Punisher as it comes out (next issue on Wednesday, Feb 1!), I want to do a bit more on my genealogical revelations of late.

I have been working off and on, rather obsessively, on learning about all I can of my family history since the Fall. I have been blessed with receiving a great deal of help from people who have worked on this before me and continue to work it, like my wife, my dad, and my wife's parents. Also, I stand on the shoulders of generations before me who have collected information before they passed on, notably my great uncle and my grandmother. I have been aided too by incredibly generous distant relatives I never knew I had who have seen my work on Ancestry.com or whose work I have come across. The generosity of distant kin continues stagger me as I peel back the layers.

So, there is a lot of information that I have found or organized (lots more of "organization" of previous work than original work, actually). Making sense of it and coming to terms with it is a longer and harder process.

One of the things that solidly hits me is my ancestors' involvement in slavery.

Given the times and places where some of my ancestors ended up on the North American continent, contact with slavery as an institution was inevitable. I am far from being able to catalog the entire extent, but I have seen enough to know that not only did my relatives have contact; they were extremely enmeshed in it. The record is stark with wills, property documents, and even news items such as one ancestor serving as High Sheriff and working to capture runaways. It is a difficult realization that generations of African Americans began and lived their American story enslaved to members of my family. Further, from general information that is known about the practice of slavery in the U.S., it seems likely that some of the descendents of slaves are also descendents of my family, whether they have the family name or not. This is a hidden genealogy, and I don't know even how I might access it.

And I don't know how such possible truth might be received. Race in America is still an issue. Perhaps it is not THE issue as it was in my parents' generation and before, but it continues to be a very strong question about identity, justice, truth, history, fairness and honesty in our society. Somewhere out there, I think I must have distant relatives whose story I would like to know, but whose lives I may not even be able to fathom. It is something I think should be explored by me, on the list of many genealogical projects I want to take on. I just don't know where I will find the resources (time, patience, and perhaps courage).

But, I guess I am laying down a marker here to say I am putting it on the "to do" list.

My family, and all the historic, genetic, and cultural streams that run into it, deserves study, and revelation and truth. I may not get far, but then I have gotten farther than I ever imagined. Branches of the family helped at every stage o this country and have lived the goods and evils of our history. I want my children and their children to have as many stories as I can find to know where they come from, and learn the lessons from our past.

I think that is one way I can make the issues of our nation live and breath.

Because we are connected.

Someone's list

Punisher named as one of the top 5 comics of 2011. 

It's just an opinion, but seems like a good one to me.

http://stephenjhardman.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-top-5-comic-books-of-2011.html

Punisher Issue 7: The String

It was a busy week and so my only work on my ongoing Punisher obsession has been to aggregate the reviews.  Once again, the majority are positive, but there are definitely some dissenters out there.  I loved issue 7 and thought it brought more depth to the story and the characters.  I look forward to more from this series.

Here is what others thought.  [additional links will appear in the comments]

Weekly Comic Book Review (Grade B) http://weeklycomicbookreview.com/2012/01/05/the-punisher-7-review/

Comic Book Resources (4/5 stars) http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=user_review&id=4328

CraveOnline ( 8.6/10) http://www.craveonline.com/comics/reviews/180781-punisher-7-castle-doesnt-do-favors

iFanboy.com ("One of the 5-10 books at Marvel that I’m still enjoying is The Punisher") http://ifanboy.com/articles/light-week-try-witchblade-151-lil-depressed-boy-12-and-the-punisher-7/

iFanboy review by grassman (Story 5/5; Art 5/5) http://ifanboy.com/reviews/the-punisher-7/

Multiversity Comics (9.0/10.0) http://www.multiversitycomics.com/2012/01/review-punisher-7.html

Damn Good Comics ("Over the past six months, writer Greg Rucka has managed to make the Punisher interesting again . . .") http://charlesskaggs.blogspot.com/2012/01/damn-good-comics-punisher-7.html

Never Iron Anything (10/10) http://neverironanything.blogspot.com/?zx=1c475953644c0f5e

Henchmen 4-Hire (3/5: alright!) http://henchman4hire.com/2012/01/06/review-punisher-7/

Modern Myth Media (A) http://www.modern-myth-media.com/2012/01/review-punisher-7.html

IGN (9/10)  http://comics.ign.com/articles/121/1215715p1.html

CBR (4/5 stars) http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=user_review&id=4328

Comic Vine (5/5 stars) http://www.comicvine.com/the-punisher-the-string/37-309506/staff-review/

League of Comic Geeks [aggregator of reviews like Rotten Tomatoes for movies] (100% positive reviews) http://leagueofcomicgeeks.com/comic/2058787/the-punisher-7

Don't hate the Geek (List of Top Picks of the Week) http://donthatethegeek.com/2012/01/04/comic-book-fix-wed-the-end-of-the-world-is-udderly-comical/

Punisher: The War Room (C-) http://www.omegacen.com/punisher/pvol907.html

Vasegurt's Review of Comic Culture ("This issue follows two detectives trying to clean up the Punisher’s mess, and it may be the best chapter in the series so far") http://vrcc.vasegurt.com/2012/01/this-week-1-4-12/

Weedbeater's Comic Reviews (4/5) http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/Weedbeater/news/?a=52247

In anticipation

The new issue of Punisher is out today.  In anticipation, I post a link to this funny and insightful essay/review by Tyrel Kessinger:  How Greg Rucka has made The Punisher Cool (http://leagueofcomicgeeks.com/profile/tyrelk/blog/45/how-greg-rucka-has-made-the-punisher-cool)

Worth a read.