August Closeout: Reviews of Punisher #14 and Captain Marvel #2

Greg Rucka and Kelly Sue De Connick are two very different authors as far as tone, subject matter, and writing style.  But both are examples of excellence when it comes to focusing on character(s) as the motivation and origination of action.  Plot happens because of what the characters (large and small, on and off "camera") are doing.  Plot does not just happen to the characters.

I appreciate this kind of writing and that is why I buy these comic books.  I picked them up last night from my local shop (please go out and support your's wherever it is), Beyond Comics.

Both were good this month.

Punisher #14

Greg Rucka is winding up his run on Punisher.  With only three more issues to go, including issue 14, he is wrapping up his story of the Punisher against The Exchange.  The Exchange was a new type of organized super-crimial group for the Marvel Universe.  The focus was staying under the radar and organizing along corporate lines.  It was the internet startup of criminal groups, peeling off talent from AIM, Hydra, even SHIELD.  However, it got sloppy as it got successful, and some of its more freewheeling employees ended up having a gunfight with a rival organization in the middle of a marine sergeant's wedding.  Sergeant Rachel Cole-Alves survives the massacre, but her new husband, her friends, and her family, do not.

Her quest for vengeance, mirroring the origin of The Punisher, brings her into alignment with The Punisher, Frank Castle.  For issue after issue, Castle has be methodically hunting down leads and leaving a trail of bodies to get to the heart of The Exchange.  Cole-Alves started to do the same, and now they are working together.

Last issue, they pulled a caper that gave them a key to try to set up to get to the very top of the Exchange.  This issue, they put that plan into effect.

The issue is very satisfying.  It shows Castle and Cole-Alves working effectively as a military team, executing a daring and highly lethal plan that builds on everything they have been doing to date.  It is exciting, and, as with every issue in this run, I had not had my fill when it was done.  I wanted more and was disappointed only in the realization that I had to wait another month, and that I was only going to get two more like this.

Yes, there is also the 5 issue mini-series to cap off the run (Punisher War Zone), which I am happy is coming, but the fact that the series is going to be over is very disappointing.

The only other thing that I found disappointing from the issue was the art.  Some of it was done very competently, but artist Mico Suayan lacks the skill shown by series mainstay Marco Checcetto.  This deficiency shows up especially in the drawing of characters' faces when shwing strong emotion (fear, anger, etc.) and by the feeling I got that the backgrounds were flat and uninteresting in many panels.

In the end, the art got the job done, but it did not live up to the high quality of the writing.

Bottom line though, buy this book.

Captain Marvel #2

Last month I gave a somewhat luke warm review to Kelly Sue De Connick's first issue of Captain Marvel.  After a month's reflection, I still feel the same way.  The story, for me, was too slow, and I was put off by the art.  This contrasted with the terrific writing for Captain Marvel by De Connick in the pages of Avenging Spider-Man (reviews here for issue 9 & 10), where she got the tone, pacing and character just right and I really liked the art.

So, how does Captain Marvel #2 stack up?  For me, she did considerably better, though things still start out slow.  Slow is not necessarily bad, in any case, but there can be a fine line between a slow burn and ponderous pacing.  I felt that we tipped more into slow burn territory with the start of issue 2.  By the end of the book, the story's pace has picked up considerably, and delivers some solid action, as well as promising more.  The direction of the story certainly takes a left turn, as we go from gettng background and character information on Carol Danvers, to suddenly jumping into a mysterious time travelling (and possibly alternate timeline) adventure, which Captain Marvel in the middle of World War II action in what appers to be the Pacific, but one where seemingly alien craft are working with the Japanese forces.

It is a little confusing, but the reader is sharing the confusion of the character, Captain Marvel, as she tries to make sense of having be apparently ripped out of her time and place and popped into some other place by powers unknown for reasons unknown. 

Because I trust the writer, I know that it will all become clearer as the story goes on, and I was both intrigued by the wild development in the story and happy with how the action unfolded in the last two-thirds of the book.

I am still not sold on the art.  It has a definite aesthetic which sometimes produces some wonderful and striking panels.  However, as a whole, it still feels muddy and dark to me, and I would prefer a cleaner line and a brighter pallet. 

Nonetheless, I am optimistic about the book.  I am still in "like" with it, and not yet in love, but it appears to me that this is a reader-writer relationship woth the time to invest in, so that is what I am doing.

Check it out.

------

As has been my custom over Rucka's run on Punisher, here are some other views on issue #14:

IGN (8.5/10)  "Get ready for perhaps the most badass Punisher moment ever."

Comic Vine (Recommended) "If I had to sum up this issue in one word it would be 'heavy.' That's the perfect way to describe the overall tone and mood of the book; from the writing to the art. If you are into comics that are deep, gritty, action packed and weigh really heavy like a good episode of, say, 24 (remember that show?) then there's really no reason for you not to be reading THE PUNISHER on a consistent basis. Not only does Rucka capture Frank Castle's character perfectly in this issue, but he does it effortlessly."

More as they hit the web.

08/28/2012 update

CBR (4.5/5 stars) "'Punisher' #14 is yet another example of just how effective an editor can be to the overall cohesiveness of a monthly title. While most of the credit for this comic should rightfully be placed on the shoulders of Greg Rucka, if Steve Wacker hadn't convinced Rucka to write this book and supplied the writer with an amazing array of reliable artists with similar visual sensibilities, this title wouldn't be nearly as compelling."

Weekly Comic Book Review (A-) "A really, really fantastic read that manages to pull the reader in and get him/her truly involved.  Issues like this only make me more upset about this series’ cancellation due to poor sales.  Seriously, what’s wrong with you people?"

Bending Breakout: Marvel Heroic Role Playing Actual Play

Marvel Heroic Role Playing has been the first game that I have felt comfortable running for a while.  I have been out of the game master game for a long while, and while my son and I valiantly tried to get me to get a D&D 4th Edition game off the ground, I felt there that I had lost my mojo.

However, MHRP has really allowed me to find my way back into mastering a game.  I have published one actual play account already and this is a second.  So far, this has all been one-shot stuff.  But it has been fun, and has made me think that running one-shots is a pretty good way to flex those long dormant muscles, as well as being a lot of fun.

This time around, I ran the game for some old role playing friends that I visited on the West Coast and one new person I had not met, but who was taking a break from another game happening in the house.  I decided to run the shell of the Breakout event, though I knew we would perhaps get through just the first few scenes of the first Act.  I have an idea to mix up Breakout with The Hammer Falls, with a few ideas taken from the Fear Itself arc from Thunderbolts to really mix up a What If? scenario.  However, this was not the time to try to do that.  This was the time to let people rifle through the big stack of official and fan made datafiles and take some heroes for a spin.  We ended up with Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, and Firestar (from Marvel Plot Points; but played with a twist, since we were in a "What If? scenario, Firestar in this reality was a guy and not a gal).

I played the intro pretty straight, though I took on the additional "What If?" of Bruce Banner being held at the Raft instead of Sentry.  Thor was coming to see Banner; Black Widow had SHIELD VIP minder duty.  Captain America was on a helicopter on the way back from Washington, DC, and Firestar was out flying patrol over the city.

All heck breaks loose, the lights go out, and things start happening.  Widow and Thor are in an elevator, momentarily stuck.  Cap's air transport is going down, and he is working with the pilot to get it safely into the drink as close to the Raft as possible.  Firestar sees figures riding the lightning out of the Raft, but makes the decision to tackle the bigger problem of the villains left in the prison, rather than chasing the figures seeming to make a break for it.

Widow quickly acrobats her way out of the top of the elevator and gets the access to the hallway above open.  Thor is about to squeeze through when something (or someone) blasts through the elevator like a missile, leaving Thor surprised.  Cap gets himself and his pilot to safety.  Firestar sees Count Nefaria blast out of an elevator shaft and pause to hover above the raft.  Then stuff really starts happening.

Firestar, true to his name, decides that the Count needs more fire in his life and starts raining down fiery blasts down on him.  This gets the Count's attention, but does not seriously inconvenience him.  Captain America then steps up and, with the SHIELD pilot providing some covering fire, throws his shield, making it ricochet to strike Nefaria from an unexpected angle.  Cap did well and manages to inflict some physical stress on Nefaria.  Then Cap chose Nefaria to go next so that Black Widow and Thor would have plenty of time to bat cleanup in the round.  Nefaria lets loose with just about everything, attempting to fry Cap, Firestar and the SHIELD pilot all at once.  Firestar takes some physical stress, Cap manages to get himself and his shield between the agent and the blasts, keeping them both safe.  Black Widow then on her turn starts sniping with her widow's sting from down in the elevator shaft.  Her goal was not to cause direct damage, but rather to set Nefaria up to be disoriented for Thor's attack.  This she does exceptionally well with a d10 complication.  Finally, Thor blindly blasts his way out of the elevator with Mjolner leading and finishes off Nefaria in a one hit strike.

The heroes then gathered into a single team to determine the next course of action.  On the one hand, they knew that Bruce Banner was trapped down in the Raft with scads of supervillains who had just been released from their restraints.  Also, they knew that there had been some "leaders" (at least the first ones out) in the breakout.  However, they determined that Banner/Hulk could care of himself while they tried to get the prison under control.  Since that was their goal, they knew they needed to get power back up and take control of the control room.  They determined Black Widow was the natural leader for the mission since the had the SHIELD access and knowledge of Raft operations.  Widow then determined that rather than going through the direct route where they might have to fight through dozens of villains, they would take a more indirect route through the belly of the raft and come up through the main service conduits to the power plant and the operations center.

On the one hand, this meant getting through a series of dropped security bulkheads.  On the other hand, they had a THOR.  So this was proving easy.  Then Thor's player had to step away from the table.  So, I spent a Doom Pool die to make it official, and had Widow, Cap and Firestar trapped between two armored doors while Thor got dropped out of the raft and into the river by a trap set up by Typhoid Mary, Vermin, Zzzax and Hydro-Man.  They would have had to face the first three if they had gone back to check on Thor, but they were focused on going forward.  So, Hydro-Man tried to take them out by himself.  He did a major area attack and got lucky, taking Firestar to d12 physical stress.  Widow got herself to the ceiling with her swing line, and Cap is an Olympic level swimmer, etc. and was fine.

Widow then turned to attack and dealt some stress to the overconfident (and quite dumb) Hydro-Man.  Cap swam to the bottom of the quickly filling section of tunnel and recovered Firestar and rolled a recovery action on the stricken hero.  This brought Firestar back up enough to focus, and Cap then pointed him at Hydro-Man, whom Firestar quickly flamed into oblivion. 

Having stressed out the bad guy, the water started to recede.  Black Widow then started in on the far bulkhead door and pulled a MacGyver, using power from her bracelets to jump the mechanism to raise the door.  Low and  behold, there was Thor, who (by a little of Bullpen fiat) had transported himself back with Mjolner.  They then proceeded onward until they had to choose between the control room and the power plant.  They decided to split up.

Cap led a team consisting of Firestar (whose scientific know how was needed to deal with the generators) and Thor, whereas Black Widow split off to take the control room on her own, as she had the necessary access and resources to take it, or so they thought.

Black Widow easily made it through the access tunnels to the Control Room.  There she found former SHIELD agent and Raft Inmate Mentallo using a mysteriously powered control panel to direct confederates to take possession of a momentarily subdued Bruce Banner.

In the meantime, Cap's team entered the power plant to find a villain with his hands in the reactor core, muttering about burning the drugs out of his system.  The villain turned, showing himself as Graviton.

As Rob Donoghue would say, it was then On Like Donkey Kong!

Black Widow acted first in the action order.  She blasted the monitor in front of Mentallo to disrupt whatever control he was exercising over the other goons and/or Banner.  He was taken unawares,  but was soon threatening terrible vengeance on Widow.  Widow then chose Thor to go next.

Thor advanced swinging mighty Mjolner to subdue Graviton.  Graviton simply pointed at Mjolner and Thor found himself humbled on his knees, momentarily unable to even lift his mighty hammer.  Thor picked Graviton to go next, deciding to try to get the worst of it over while other heroes would have time to act.  Graviton fired a mighty blast of force at Thor, staggering, but not disabling the mighty son of Asgard.  Graviton picked Mentallo to go next.

Mentallo put a great deal of thought into trying to immobilize Widow, trying to regress her mind back to her time in the Red Room, under painful and shocking training.  Widow, however, shrugged off the mental stress with that self-same Red Room training and a handy plot point.  Mentallo chose Firestar to go next.

Firestar summoned his most powerful energy blast to go full force, toe to toe with the master of gravity.  Graviton easily captured the energy and began to convert the molten globe of plasma to his own uses.  Firestar picked Captain America to go next.  The Sentinel of Liberty threw his shield into center of the energy fields Graviton was manipulating in order to disrupt his planned attack.  He managed two effects, both robbing Graviton of his stunt die, and inflicting some severe Emotional Stress on the villain.

For the next round, Cap chooses Thor to go first.  Thor again struck with Mjolner, this time overwhelming Graviton's defenses, inflicting physical stress on the villain.  Thor chose Graviton to go again, and Graviton unleashed a brutal multi-target attack.  Thor, however, used his Anti-Force SFX and reflected the d12 of physical stress back on Graviton, taking him out.  Graviton chose Mentallo to go next.

Mentallo continued his relentless mental assault on the Widow, showing her scenes of her friends dying, of her efforts failing.  Widow put almost all of her Plot Points into resisting, and then, activated a counter attack, kicking Mentallo into unconsciousness.  Widow chose Firestar to go next.

Firestar flew to the power controls and quickly managed to restore enough power for Widow to start locking up the prison, isolating inmates and regaining control.  Reacquiring a view into Banner's cell, she saw the Hulk just finishing mopping up the cell with the goons who had been trying to kidnap Banner while he was incapacitated.  She contacted Captain America on what to do.

Cap said, "Let him go."  So, Widow cleared a path for the Hulk, and he left the Raft and headed to New Jersey.

And, we were out of time.  The session was a lot of fun.  I am still quite a rookie at running and explaining the system.  The basics are easy,  but elaborating how to make Opportunities, Assets, Stunts, and counterattacks work are still a work in progress.  Also, Milestones have not yet played a big part.  Mostly, this is because I have run limited one-shots that have not been to coherent as far as short or long term story goals.  Mostly they are just slugfests.  These are fun, but I need to flex some other "Watcher" muscles.

With a little more planning, I would like to develop some short act/action scene milestones and unlockables that could bring those into play even for a one-shot.  The issue, as always, is time.

I was very grateful to find the materials on StufferShack.com which will make writing up and producing custom Datafiles extremely easy.  The resources on the web for this game are amazing.

So, after a third play, with a second time being a Watcher, I am ever more a firm lover of this game and the system.  The best thing is that I am still just scratching the surface, and more and more interesting and helpful materials, official and unofficial, keep coming out.  Thus, it is easy to have a very rich play experience with relatively low investment, and without even too much prep. 

Thanks to everyone out there making with the awesome on this.  It's great!

First August Reviews: Avenging Spider-Man #10 and Hawkeye #1

This month is starting off with me getting comics on the day they come out.  Good for me, less so for my wallet, but whatever.  Thanks to Beyond Comics, for being there when I want to spend my dough!

This week's comics are brought to you (seperately) by the Husband and Wife writing team of Kelly Sue DeConnick and Matt Fraction.  That is a lot of writing talent under one roof!  This month opens with two great books from them, one each respectively.

First I'll take a look at the conclusion of Kelly Sue DeConnick's story started in Avenging Spider-Man #9 and conveniently concluded in Avenging Spider-Man #10, then I'll talk about Matt Fraction's Hawkeye #1.

Avenging Spider-Man #10
More Fun!  More please!

Last month I loved Avenging Spider-Man #9, with guest star Captain Marvel, and the love continues this month.  DeConnick does a terrific job with both heroes, doing terrific justice to both characters.  She plays them smart, funny and always heroic.  Last month I gave only middling reviews to the actual debute of DeConnick on Captain Marvel #1, but I will definitely stick with the series because she can write and write Captain Marvel especially well.  Even though I felt Captain Marvel #1 was too low key for my tastes, Avenging Spider-Man #10 shows what DeConnick can and will do with Captain Marvel, and it is a lot of fun.

Spidey also is done justice in this book.  DeConnick plays him pitch perfect, and he proves a good foil to Marvel.

I won't spoiler the story, just say that the police, rent-a-cops in Iron Man cast offs, corporate and ex-corporate folks as well as the hero/villain introduced last issue, Robyn Hood (with a "Y" for Freedom) (yeah, she's kinda crazy) all play their parts well and provide a satisfying set of personalities to aid, inhibit and befuddle our heroes.  I really enjoyed the book and recommend it.

Also, I have to credit the artists on the book again, it looked great!

I look forward to more from DeConnick with her blend of light comic touch over serious political and character issues.  Captain Marvel is a keeper, and she can write my Spider-Man anytime.

Hawkeye #1
Bullseye!

This is a new title (ahead of the universe bending Marvel Now! new titles), which explores the "off duty" life of Clint Barton, Hawkeye.  The first issue is a very good start.

I read an article where writer Matt Fraction described Clint Barton as the "Jim Rockford" of the Avengers.  I was intrigued by that take on the character, and I think Fraction has made it work in spades.  Of course, I think he has done more than just make Barton into the scrappy, never say die, never give up (on a client or other things) PI type, he has also gotten the interplay of dark and light in Barton's personality tuned just right.  Fraction has done this hat trick before with Tony Stark on Invincible Iron Man; Danny Rand on the Immortal Iron Fist, and with the cast of characters in the current run of Defenders.  He knows all about getting to the person behind the mask.

Barton can be a real jerk (much moreso that we ever saw from Jim Rockford).  When he acts that way to his fellow heroes or the average guy on the street (which he can do), you cringe (good example of this for the character was Avenging Spider-Man #4 (written not by Fraction, but by  Zeb Wells).  Hawkeye was a criminal for part of his career, and part of what led him there was that he can have a very BAD ATTITUDE.

Of course, when he channels that attitude against guys who are even bigger jerks than him, then we are very happy.  No cringing, pure applause.  Of course, if that was all there was to Clint Barton, he would not be the hero that he is.  Even though he can default down to a jerk, he can and does work hard to rise above his limitations.  Often these are his physical limitations, because he is "just a guy."  He is on a team with gods, robots, geniuses, and monsters.  He is just a guy.  With some sticks.  So, he makes himself a hero by running into situations that no sane person would ever approach.

But more importantly, and Fraction totally sells this in the first issue, Barton knows how to exert himself to rise above being a jerk.  He can make bad choices, but when the chips are down and it really counts, he makes the right decisions, the hard decisions, the personally costly decisions, and he backs them up with every ounce of skill and determination at his disposal.  This was well captured about the character in Jen Van Meter's limited series, Avengers Solo, starring Hawkeye.  Fraction doubles down on the premise.  As much of a flawed jerk that Barton can be, he is, in the end, a "do the right thing" guy, and the extremes that he is willing to go to in order to make the right thing happen define his heroism.

The plot of the book almost doesn't matter, because the character stuff is so rich, but basically Fraction sets the scene for Barton as a resident of New York and what he can and will do when he is not leading the Secret Avengers or standing beside Thor, Captain America and Iron Man in some cosmic showdown like AvX.  He solves smaller problems, for people and dogs, in his neighborhood, and I'd say it probably is one of the best first issues I have read since Punisher #1 by Greg Rucka.

The art is perfect.  It's like Barton's neighborhood, a little rough, but with a classy heart.  It totally fit the writing and I look forward to much more from this team.

Good stuff.

Views and reviews: Captain Marvel #1, Avenging Spider-Man #9 & Punisher #13

So, I am behind on many things, largely due to the wirlwind which was my children's swim team season.  It was another season of fun and a lot of early mornings (less fun).  But now, I need to do some catching up.  I have expanded my regular consumption of comic books from one to a startling TWO.  Not only am I subscribed at my local store (the wonderful Beyond Comics) to Greg Rucka's The Punisher (sadly to end at issue 16 and then be followed by a five issue mini-series, and then the character passes to another writer, reportedly in a team book (see Punisher Central where I first saw this story)), but also to Kelly Sue DeConnick's Captain Marvel.  As a bonus (except to my budget), Captain Marvel also guest starred in Avenging Spider-Man #9, giving me three comics to behind on writing about.

So, without further meanderings, here's what I thought about these comics.

Captain Marvel #1

Good, but not yet great.

I am happy and excitited about this comic.  Issue #1, based on my level of excitement, was a bit of a let down.  I still enjoyed the comic, but I wish different choices had been made editorially and in the writing.  DeConnick is a very talented writer, and the editor Steve Wacker is a very smart editor.  Somehow, their efforts on this launch fell a little flat.  The story was a real "back to foundations" kind of story.  What makes Carol Danvers, currently Ms. Marvel debuing a new uniform, tick? (PS I in the "I love the new uniform" camp).  She is a pilot at heart, and her heroes are female pioneers of flight.  We get a bit about her growing up, her idols, meeting the female pilot who most inspired her, things like that.  This is all good deep background.  However, it wasn't very exciting.

Other things were a bit by the numbers as well.  The comic is called "Captain Marvel."  Carol is conflicted about whether the take the name, Captain America talks her through it.  She flies into space.  She decides to take the name.  Okay, but we kind of knew that was going to happen because it is on the cover.

The other things that sort of bothered me was the by the numbers fight between the Absorbing Man and then Ms. Marvel  and Captain America.  Absorbing Man stands in the place of the sexist stooge, as well as the big dumb villain.  I realize that Carol is, and is meant to be, a female empowering icon.  An intrinsic femanist.  I am totally on board with that.  However, having Absorbing Man speak like he just stepped out of Mad Men instead of existing in the 21st Century just did not wow me.  We don't have so much of a problem with big palooka's calling women "broads" anymore.  Sure it exists, but the challenges to advancing women and girls political and social interests are much more subtle and poisonous today as I see it, and I am hoping for more depth in this book in future.

Finally, I have to comment on the art.  Much of it is beautiful and eye popping (I love Captain Marvel releasing ashes into space).  However, much of it is also muddy, unclear and hard to look at.  On balance, I am not a fan of artist Dexter Soy as he is creating now.  Maybe I am just too much of a traditionalist, but I love a clean line and sharp colors with a realistic style as my default "like."  For me, the art often distracted from my enjoyment of the comic.

So, on balance, I have hope for the title, but I was not wowed by the issue.  And I wanted to be.  I wanted Captain Marvel to fly out of the pages and punch my brain so I saw stars.  I'll be hoping for that from issue 2.

Avenging Spider-Man #9

Pure Fun

I have read a few issues of Avenging Spider-Man, and it has been a consistently fun title, with Spider-Man teaming up with a fellow Avenger for one or two issues.

This month, Spidey teams up with Carol Danvers, who at this point in continuity had taken on the mantle of Captain Marvel.  The story is set somewhat after the initial Captain Marvel arc started in Captain Marvel #1.  And this is the silver lining for Captain Marvel #1 for me.  Kelly Sue DeConnick writes this issue, and it is pure fun.  This and more of it is what I want to see in the main Captain Marvel title, and I know DeConnick can deliver.  Here, Captain Marvel is determined, sassy, brave, resourceful and self-assured.

The premise is that Carol Danvers, proud new owner of a prop engine plane, offers to fly Peter Parker to Boston.  There is a bit of "road trip" bonding in an awkward and funny way, and then stuff starts happening that requires costumes, superpowers and some punching.  Good stuff.

I don't want to provide any spoilers, just to say that DeConnick deftly tosses her two heroes into a superpowered conflict between a little Occupy Wall Street anarchy and big bank big corporate interests mercenaries.  The tone is great, the twists are fun, and this time Deconnick gets to deal with the more subtle side of 21st Century inequality, involving sexism and economic disparity.  The text is light, the sub-text is serious, and the tone is pitch-perfect.  I was really happy to read this story.

And I was really mad (in a good way) that it is a two parter.  I will have to wait until next month to see how Spidey and Captain Marvel diffuse (or punch their way out) of the situation.

Also, the book was an example of the kind of art that does not get in the way of the story and really enhances the experience of the reader.  Artists Terry and Rachel Dodson did a fantastic job with all the characters and set pieces.  I wish they were drawing Captain Marvel in many ways, though their clean bright art might not have captured parts of the story in Captain Marvel #1 that DeConnick was telling.

The comic book restored my faith, and I really liked it.

Punisher #13

Terrific!  Buy it!

So, when I first read this title, I was not aware that it was one of the last 4 issues in The Punisher regular series.   This issue is certainly an argument against cancelling the title.  However, I guess the sales numbers tell a different story, which it a great shame.

Here we see the Punisher and his ally Rachel Cole-Alves working on a operation together.  The operation is self-contained, but clearly part of a much bigger plan that the Punisher has to take down the Exchange.  This is not a smash and grab operation, but instead an infiltration with the Punisher and Cole-Alves posing as high powered criminals to attend the auction of high tech contraband.  It is clear that they have a plan (and probably multiple back up plans) to acheive their objectives.  The heist is all around fun and excitement, and it definitely leaves you wanting more and wondering just what the Punisher is planning to do with the item they acquire.

This issue was not drawn my Marco Checchetto and he was missed, but in general I thought the art by Mico Suayan was solid, though no one works this comic like Checchetto does.

It is a great issue, and I am very sad to know that only three regular issues remain in the series.

Here, as per usual, is what others have to say about this month's Punisher.

Punisher Central (A-) "The story is incredibly entertaining. From Frank and Rachel becoming imposters in formal wear to Frank allowing himself to be captured and interrogated to allow Rachel to rig the yacht to explode, there’s lots to have fun with."

IGN (8/10) "Rucka delivers yet another worthwhile standalone issue this month. Punisher #13 is both an enjoyable heist adventure in its own right, but also an issue that builds towards a larger conflict and opens new questions about Frank's war against the Exchange."

Outer Realm Comics (4/5 stars) "In Punisher #13, Rucka and co. take a detour into espionage territory . . ."

The Complete Marvel Reading Order " It’s pretty standard spy stuff, but it’s an enjoyable read and it does a fine job of furthering the character arcs."

Trinity Comics "Greg Rucka is one of those writers that always does amazing stuff but never gets the credit he deserves . . . If you have always been interested in Punisher then you need to start reading now!"

iFanboy (Story: 4-Very Good, Art: 3-Good) "This story reads like a heist. Several twists and turns and we get some pretty cool action scenes."

Splinter's reviews "All in all, #13 is a decent comic, and an acceptable chapter in the ongoing Rucka "Punisher" narrative. It does little to elevate the story so far, which has seen much more accomplished moments than the ones provided here. Hopefully, by the time they are finished with the character, Rucka and Chechetto will leave behind a complete story, that is none the worse for inclusion of outside superhero elements."

Punisher Issue 12, comments and reviews

So, back on Wednesday, June 20, Greg Rucka's twelf issue of The Punisher came out.  Summer has gotten very busy, so I was late to the store (again my local place, Beyond Comics) to buy it, and I am late for my commentary and aggregation of other reviews.

So sue me.

*******************************Some Spoilers to Follow****************************

I liked issue 12 a lot.  The art was top notch, and once again we got to see the range of characters featured in the book all following their agendas and pushing forward on this story arc dealing with the criminal organization known as The Exchange.  The story's focus is on Marine Sargeant Rachel Cole-Alves again, and I have to say I thought the story was going to zig when it zagged.  My reading of things at the end of the Omega Effect was that Daredevil had perhaps talked her off the path of vengence and that Frank was not going to go looking for her unless she wanted to be found.

Well, no, totally misread that.  Rachel is planning more against the Exchange, perhaps even (reading between the lines) going down in a final blaze of glory before the cops can catch up to her.  This is not what Frank wants, not because he wants to save her, it is because his own plans require more planning and finer execution.

So, he manages to track her down and he gives her a choice, either you are all in, dead to the world all except the mission, like him, or you get out and try to tell yourself you can go on. 

The issue was low key, but intense, and sets us up for the roller coaster ride to plunge off the brink once again. 

I look forward to more.

But don't just take my word for it.  Here are some other views:

CBR (5/5 stars) "The Punisher" #12 is the first book I would hand to anyone who asked me why I like Greg Rucka's writing so much. While this is a very solid twelve issues into Rucka's work on the series, this comic is a shining example of a great shared universe adventure and everyone in the Punisher's sphere of influence gets some panel time."

Spinter's Reviews  "Greg Rucka and Marco Chechetto's leisurely paced relaunched "Punisher" series continues in much the same vein, . . .The character confrontations culminate with the fight between Frank and Rachel, which feels somewhat overlong and predicated on a piece of a particularly loaded symbolism. Chechetto's solid, clear work gets overtaken by a particularly intrusive piece of special effects when it gets to the featuring the two characters trading punches in the rain. The resulting sequence is at least a page too long and muddy, which takes away from the intended effect of shock and emotion."

Talking Comics "Greg Rucka’s run of The Punisher has been a must-buy since the beginning and issue #12 keeps that trend moving along nicely. From a visual or narrative standpoint you really can’t lose here. Checchetto’s artwork and Hollingsworth colors are a treat for the eyes and Rucka’s dialogue, especially his work with Frank this issue, is fantastic. Do yourself a favor and pick this book up. You won’t be sorry."

Punisher Central (A+) "There are two components to this issue that really drew me in. First was the artwork. From the cover to the last panel on the last page, Marco Checchetto’s work is second to none. Second is the leading up to the confrontation between Frank Castle and Rachel Cole-Alves. This meeting lives up to the hype and it leads to a very satisfying conclusion."

Sequnetial Review (8.5/10) "These bullets have backbone."

The Mamals "Rucka's take on the Punisher continues to fascinate me and just might be my favorite part of this comic book. I think this might be my favorite issue of the series so far because of the conversation between Castle and Cole-Alves."

Thor's Comic Column (4/5 stars)  "Rucka’s Punisher continues to do a fine job of telling crime-comic stories in a superhero universe."

IGN (8.5/10) "Throughout Greg Rucka’s run on The Punisher, Frank Castle has said, at best, 7 complete sentences. In issue #12, he finally speaks his mind to Rachel Cole-Alves about, what else, the mission. Remarkably, though he speaks more in this issue than he has in the series total so far, Rucka still positions Frank as merely a driving force for the other characters. We’re not interested in what Frank is doing so much as what he’s causing other characters to do."

First Time Watcher: Marvel Heroic Role Playing Actual Play Report

This past weekend I had my first chance to run Margaret Weis Productions'  Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Basic Game as the game master (the Watcher, in MHRP parlance).  I have played RPGs off and on for over 30 years, but I had not yet run MHRP.

Some friends of ours generously host a game day at their home about three times a year.  The focus is mostly board and card games, but my son and I decided to take MHRP to see if anyone would sit down and play a brief event with us.

Fortunately, last week MWP released as bonus content, a "What if" scenario based in part on New Avengers issue 6, which happened to be one of my favorites from that era of Brian Michael Bendis' run.  The original story had to do with a batch of the New Avengers (Spider-Man, Spider Woman, Luke Cage and Wolverine) ending up having to fight The Wrecker (who is constantly reminding them that he has successfully fought Thor) and having quite a hard time of it.  The mini-event gives you the opportunity to run an encounter with The Wrecker, but also provides datafiles for the rest of the Wrecking Crew, as well as Thor, and provides some ideas on how to run an alternative scenario from how it played out in the pages of New Avengers.  Quinn Murphy wrote the action scene and Cam Banks and Dave Chalker (Dave the Game!) developed the bonus content download.  Amanda Valentine edited.  I mention all these folks, because they provided something that I was able to immediately jump brand new players into with minimal effort and prep and we all had a really good time.

Before I go into how things ran, I want to send a few more shoutouts to the professional and fan community surrounding MHRP.  I have been watching the development of the game by following Cam Banks (lead designer), Philippe Menard (The Chatty DM)  and Dave "The Game" Chalker on Twitter, and I had the good fortune to go with my son, Ian, to a launch event at Labyrinth Games in Washington, DC and sit at a table with Dave the Game as Watcher.  I have learned a lot from them.  Further, I have been really impressed and learned a lot from the fan base of MHRP.  Especially helpful have been Dr. Doom and Marvel Plot Points who through posting support materials, actual play reports and events (adventures) have really fired my imagination.

I have to give major prop supports to Plot Points, because I printed out a bunch of their unofficial hero datafiles to add to the official ones from the basic game in order to have an even broader appeal for my potential players. 

One pro-tip on printing datafiles from Plot Points: the image files will kill your printer as is.  They are beautiful and would totally work if you are using them off of a tablet (e.g. iPad), but to print out they are a challenge.  However, here is how I solved it.  I use Picassa 3 (free from Google) as my photo-editor.  I imported the datafile images into the program, and then I transformed them using Picassa's "Pencil Sketch" tool.  Just a little fiddling with the intensity of the "sketch" and I had very legible sheets that did not kill my printer FTW.

So, how about some actual play in the actual play report?  [This is what happened to the best of my recollection]

We arrived at the game day, and immediately, my son, who is 14, looked to recruit players.  He immediately had 3, our hosts' two sons (12 and 9) and the younger son's good friend (also 9).  I sat them down and they all selected heroes.  We soon had a team consisting of Captain America (my son), Mr. Fantastic, Iron Fist and Rogue (thank you Plot Points!).  I started to do my best impression of someone who knows what he is doing (thinking back to playing at Dave the Game's table) and explained how the basics of the game worked and how to read the datafiles.  Then two more boys sat down, each about 13.  We were happy to add them, and they picked Spider-Man and Iron Man.  Aside from my son, I think all the kids were pretty new to RPGs and most I did not know well, if at all.  However, we got everyone up to speed and launched into the mini-event.

In the wake of the Breakout at the Raft, heroes had been assembled to try to recapture the many Super villains who were at large.  SHIELD intelligence had identified a collector of super villain and super heroic memorabilia who might have acquired dangerous technology/gear that belonged to some of the escaped villains.  Heroes were dispatched to secure the items and set up to try to apprehend any evil doers who might show up. 

Captain America had the lead.  Reed Richards was the scientific advisor, since they were unsure as to what they would encounter in this collection, Iron Man was along to provide firepower (both scientific and physical) and Spidy, Iron Fist and Rogue were there for their versatility, experience and ability to punch things hard.  They touched down in a Quinjet on the cul-du-sac near Ed Gross' McMansion.

They quickly split into three groups.  Iron Man was flying over watch, Cap, Rogue and Mr. Fantastic went to the front door, and Spidy and Iron Fist went around back.  Cap asked Mr. Fantastic to do some kind of scan to give them an idea of what to expect.  Dr. Richards quickly jury rigged something and soon had a full schematic of the house and its secure sub-basement filled with all sorts of super-tech and mystic junk.  Also, Richards could tell they some super-powered individual was already in the basement with someone else.

At this point Iron Man got bored, or at least the kid playing him did.  I felt a pang of failure as a watcher for not being able to immediately engage him and keep him interested.  However, no one gave him a bad time about deciding that this was not for him, and he went to find a more conventional game.  Later, my host told me that he actually doesn't like to play games that much, but he comes to the game days because all the other neighborhood kids come and he does not want to be left out.  So, not an epic fail, but, so long Iron Man. 

I informed the players that Iron Man had to respond to an emergency at Stark Enterprises and they were going to have to deal with things on their own.

So, then we switched to Spider-Man and Iron Fist.  They detected the intruder as well, but the old fashioned way, since someone had come in through the rear, ripped out the sliding glass door and stomped through the house and down to the sub-basement.  Spidy and Iron Fist followed the trail and soon heard some mean guy threatening a teenage girl.  The heroes immediately leapt to action.

I chose Spider-Man to act first since he seemed the most tentative of my players and I wanted to give him a moment to shine.  We talked about what he thought Spidy would do and I showed him how to form a dice pool.  He had a great role and he leaped into the room, web-shooters blazing and quickly had webbed Wrecker's face and feet!  I then explained how action order worked in MHRP and he wisely chose to let Wrecker go next, so Iron Fist could bat cleanup.

Wrecker, who can at least go a few rounds with Thor, was not going to let some web slinger do more than annoy him.  He ripped the webbing off his face and teleported away from the webs on his feet and behind Spider-Man, recently recovered magic crowbar raised to strike.  The collector's teenage daughter (being held hostage by The Wrecker) really started screaming at this point.

Into this calmly stepped the Living Weapon of K'un Lun.  I turned to the nine year old playing Iron Fist and said, "What do you want to do?"  "I think I should kick that crowbar out of his hands."

Okay.

One terrific role later, the crowbar was out of the Wrecker's hands and imbedded in the wall across the room.

Iron Fist graciously picks Spider-Man to act next.  He was not sure what he wanted to do next.  Bullpen style, we all gave him some suggestions.  Next thing he was rolling to grab the crowbar with his webbing and swing it upside Wrecker's head.  "Hey Wrecker, I think you dropped something!"

PTANNNGGGG!!!

Spidy K.O.'s the Wrecker with his own crowbar (d12 physical stress). 

Wrecker falls onto a pile of alien technology, mystic artifacts, and superhero fan magazines.  Sparks start to arc and there is a little smoke curling from behind his head.

The teenage girl continues to scream.

Back to Cap's group.  They briefly consider knocking down the door after the house foundation jumped when Wrecker hit the floor, but then they did decide to check the door, and low and behold, the collector's (Ed Goss) daughter has left the door unlocked (much like many a forgetful son and daughter I have known).

The heroes rush down to the basement, led by Mr. Fantastic’s holographic schematic and arrive to find one ex-hostage teenage daughter near hysteria, one unconscious super villain lying on top of some stuff that probably should not have been crushed together, and two very satisfied heroes (Spidy and Iron Fist).

Suddenly, Wrecker's limbs start to spasm, and before anyone can take an action, his right hand grasps the crowbar and he vanishes [yes, this was some mean old Watcher fiat, and I can explain that I had planned to have Loki (thank you Plot Points!), masquerading as the Norn Queen, manipulating things; I was going to follow the flow and decide if he would take a direct hand at all, or if he was just jerking everyone around.  At this point, he was just making mischief and putting Wrecker back into play with the rest of his Crew.

Reed Richards quickly scanned and could tell that Wrecker was being joined by three other like powered individuals and they all seemed to be approaching the parked Quinjet.

Uh oh.

In this brief transition scene, everyone besides Spider-Man decided to spend plot points to make assets based on picking up useful things from Ed Gross' collection.  Everyone made up what it was they were taking.  Cap picked up a Hydra pulse rifle.  Mr. Fantastic picked up a pocket mass canon.  Iron Fist picked up a mystic staff.  Rogue picked up an energy baton.  Then, they all raced topside, except for Cap, who took a moment to calm the distraught teenager who was sure her dad was going to kill her when he saw his collection.

Cap reassured her, and she said he was kinda hunky for an old guy.  Cap beat a hasty retreat and sprinted to join the rest of the heroes.

Spidy leapt from the front door to a lamppost and saw that the other three of the Crew (Bulldozer, Piledriver and Thunderball) had arrived in a huge dump truck.  Wrecker was back on his feet.  Thunderball, the genius, was cracking the code to get into the Quinjet.  Spider-Man acted decisively and leaped to the front of the dump truck and flipped it at Bulldozer and Piledriver.  He only rolled well enough for one effect die (and I got to add a d8 to the doom pool!) and he smashed the engine block onto Bulldozer's head, additionally exploding the gas tank and spraying burning fuel around the neighborhood (DOOM POOL, YAY).

Mr. Fantastic notified SHIELD authorities than an evacuation of the local neighborhood might be warranted.

Iron Fist got himself in position to stop anyone from escaping in the Quinjet.  He was unable to create an effect die to help him by melting into the shadows, but he still was in good position.

Bulldozer said "You are dead Spider-Man!" and attacked.

At this point, Spider-Man's player, unfortunately, was stating that he was tired (I think he spent the morning at the pool) and was thinking about going home.  I told him we would miss his participation, but if he needed to go, we would be okay. 

Bulldozer then hit Spidy so hard he went flying out of the neighborhood and into a nearby playground jungle gym.  The Bullpen decided that Spidy probably would see some folks trying to get out of the neighborhood that needed rescuing and would get caught up doing that before he could get back to the fight.

Piledriver then went after Iron Fist, saying he was going to plant that old Bruce Lee wanna-be six feet under.  Iron Fist easily evaded.

Thunderball declared that Mr. Fantastic was clearly the most serious threat given his intellectual superiority, so Thunderball put everything he had into catching him with his huge ball and chain and flinging Reed Richards out of the neighborhood.  Despite a valiant attempt to evade the attack, Reed Richards soon found himself having avoided damage, but under the complication of "hurled far away".

Rogue went after Wrecker directly, flying straight at him (gloves, literally off), grabbing his face, flying up with him, leeching his strength, and then pounding him into the ground.  How do y'all like that Sugah!

Wrecker's attack was ineffective against Rogue. 

Reed Richards halted his flight, crashed into someone's skylight, but then (again literally) began to spring back to the action.

Then, Captain America hit ALL the bad guys with his shield.  He made sure that he put two effects on Thunderball.  One was physical stress, but the other translated to mental stress.

While I could spend from the Doom Pool to activate invulnerability for Wrecker and Thunderball, I had to sacrifice and take some stress on Bulldozer and Piledriver.

Iron Fist then continued his fight with Piledriver.  Somehow, the battle took them up onto the Quinjet where Iron Fist swept Piledriver's feet out from under him and made sure that Piledriver's crotch hit the wing (hey, this was a nine year old narrating).  More physical stress to the Wrecking Crew.

Wrecker then teleported behind Captain America and laid him out with the crowbar.  Cap was down, but not out.  Rogue in turn took Wrecker down with his own stolen strength. 

Iron Fist easily leaped over Bulldozer’s charge, but could not counterattack. 

Cap caught his second wind and threw the shield to hit Bulldozer and Thunderball again.  Bulldozer went down, but Thunderball sucked a die from the Doom Pool and ignored the physical stress. 

"I'm smarter than all of you put together" declared Thunderball.  "You'll never take me down!"

Ian, playing Captain America did a facepalm and said, we have to stop hitting him and stress him out mentally!  We need Mr. Fantastic!

At which point, in sprang Reed Richards!

"Take him down with SCIENCE!" yelled Cap!

Cut to brilliant and funny nine year old playing Mr. Fantastic: I make my head really big, and I explain to him what the many probable outcomes of his continuing to fight with us.  I tell him he is going back to maximum security and tell him his intellect is nothing compared to mine!  Also I shoot him with my pocket canon.

One roll later, Thunderball collapses in a pile of overwhelmed nerves and neurons.

Cap: "You talked that guy into unconsciousness!  Way to go!"

After that, it was all cleanup.

“When do we fight Loki?” asked the kid playing Iron Fist (who had noticed the sheet in front of me). 

“Not right now,” I had to say.  We needed to break and everyone wanted to try some other games.

There was a lot of interest in doing some more, but we did not have time then.  But, I would totally sit down with those kids again, probably in one or two action scene and one transition scenes at a time.  My core group of 4 totally understood the game and really got into it.  They were uninhibited, creative and enthusiastic!

My Reed Richards proudly declared "Mr. Fantastic is definitely my favorite superhero ever!!"

For me, these kids epitomized why I play RPGs.  We went to a different world and had a whole lot of fun by cooperating together to tell a really interesting and exciting story.

It was a blast.  I don't know when my next opportunity is going to come, but I am definitely running this game again!

Finished "Alpha"

I was able to finish Greg Rucka's "Alpha" yesterday.  It was a painful eight days, not because of reading the book, but rather all the time I had to NOT read the book.  This is easily a book you can sit down to read a chapter or two and find yourself reading all afternoon and into the night.  Rucka has always written terrific page turners and this book is no exception.

So, after putting down the book each day with regret that I was going to have to wait to pick it up again, I finished yesterday.

All the good things have been said already about the book, but I will say them again.  The book is a classic character driven piece.  Yes, there is a BIG ACTION plot.  But what happens in the book is not dictated by the flow of the plot from point A to point B.  Instead, the action is driven by the decisions of the characters, big and small.  Rucka puts us in the perspective of several protagaonists and antagonists so that we see who they are, how they thing and we understand why they are doing what they are doing (and we see at what costs).  The book is compelling because the characters are compelling, not because it is about the possibility of a dirty bomb going off at a major American amusement park.

The writing is very taught.  The action builds and builds, and each chapter end demands that you turn to the subsequent chapter. 

The hero is a flawed paragon.  Jad Bell is someone you want on your side, but he is complicated, and may not be the best friend, husband or relative to have.  He chose early on what was most important, and it is the duty to his service and his country, and when it comes to personal relationships, that can be pretty brutal.

Jad has the most complicated relationships with his teenage daughter, who happens to be deaf, and his estranged ex-wife.  Both characters are fully realized and even though you are on Jad's "side" as he does his job, you can see why the choices he has made destroyed his marriage and make his daughter really mad at him (more than your usual teenage daughter).  The relationships are earned and painful.  They are not just there for "feel good" moments, like some sentimental relief.  They are there because they throw into sharp contrasts the contradictions of our hero and legitimately up the ante on the events of the plot.

Finally, the rest of the supporting cast is amazing.  This is one of Rucka's most cinematic books (like I said, BIG ACTION), but everytime you see a character and, based on your experience perhaps with action movies, you say, oh, I know who this character is, it turns out that you are wrong.  There are no cardboard villans, spies, corporate jerks, military guys.  There are characters who are believable and complex, even if they only have slight "screen time."  You don't even think that you are dealing with some idiot from central casting who could not really do the role he or she is portraying and who only exists as some kind of straw person or foil.  For a BIG ACTION book, this is a true study in characters.  And the characters are smart and competent.  Everyone makes mistakes and has imperfections, but no one is portrayed as an idiot just to make Jad look good.  The twists and turns of the book are sharp and earned through the logical actions, sacrifices and gambles of three dimensional characters.

It is a pleasure to read.

I highly recommend it.  It would be a great way to spend a summer day or two.

Justin Peniston also has some interesting things to say about Alpha and Rucka as a writer in general.  I recommend checking out what he has to say (and he has two great web comics, so you could check those out as well!)