The Comicologist » Punisher

Bullseye: Greatest Hits

The Comicologist — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:18:36 +0000

Apparently I'm a sucker for an "untold origin story", because when I saw Bullseye: Greatest Hits for $2.99 from the Things From Another World scratch and dent sale, I couldn't pass it up.

The trade paper back, Bullseye: Greatest Hits, collects the five issue mini-series, with the story itself attempting to reveal the origins of the man that became the ultimate thorn in Daredevil's side. The mini-series ran from November 2004 through until March 2005 and was written by Daniel Way and illustrated by Steve Dillon, the same team behind Wolverine Origins.

Bullseye: Greatest Hits opens with Bullseye being held in a top secret underground government facility, where he is being interrogated by two special agents, who are attempting to learn the whereabout of some nuclear weapons that Bullseye was responsible for stealing. This interrogation is used as the plot device through which to reveal snap shots of Bullseye's origins.

Bullseye: Greatest Hits #3 CGC 9.8

US $39.95

18h 18m

Bullseye reveals that when he was a child he displayed the uncanny knack of being able to hit any target with any sort of projectile, as seen when he kills a bird with a yo-yo. When his family is killed, following a bungled attempt by Bullseye's older brother to murder their abusive father, young Bullseye is put into foster care. He takes up Baseball, but his boredom for the game leads him to kill his opponent, as is depicted on the Mike Deodato drawn cover of issue 2.

This is when Bullseye first gains the attention of the US government, and is subsequently recruited then sent out into the field. It doesn't take Bullseye long before he goes rouge. Following his first battle with the Punisher, Bullseye heads back to the US, where we are treated to various glimpses of his first encounter with Daredevil and the King Pin as well as his murder of Elektra.

All the while, the two agents are attempting to located the nuclear weapons, it becomes clearer that Bullseye is just toying with them. Separating fact from fiction becomes more and more challenging. As the clock ticks down, the only one in control is Bullseye.

One gripe I have with this series is the artwork. Apparently all men have the same face in Steve Dillon's world. The eyes and nose of Dillon dudes really bug me. I can get past it. Looking at the Mike Deodato covers that were included in the trade paper back, I kept wondering if I would have enjoyed this more had Deodato had done the interiors rather than Dillon.

Another issue I have is the conclusion. Daniel Way seems to have left things intentionally ambiguous, which can be ok, except when your talking about an origin story. The whole 'was Bullseye telling the truth' thing is borderline '... and it was all only a dream'. If you've read this one, I'm sure you know what I mean.

What did I learn?

Apparently it's possible to kill a man with his own tooth. That's good to know, in case it ever comes up at a trivia night.

Daniel Way does enough with the story to keep the intrigue levels up, and if like me, you're always interested in seeing where a character has come from, then you'll more than likely get a buzz out of this.

I'd give this series 6.5 out of 10. Not brilliant by any stretch of the imagination, but good enough to keep you interested.

DAREDEVIL 141 VERY FINE BULLSEYE app COMICS BOOK

US $12.80

1h 18m

DEADPOOL # 11 BULLSEYE NM/M

0 Bid

US $1.99

10h 29m

CHARLTON BULLSEYE bronze age comics #2 VF 1981

US $4.00

10h 31m

BULLSEYE MARVEL MINI BUST BOWEN STATUE NEW MIB 2700/500

US $99.99

11h 42m

Daredevil #146 Bullseye Appearance Gil Kane cover Fine

US $6.00

11h 51m

DAREDEVIL #200 BULLSEYE APPEARANCE CENTURY ISSUE

1 Bid

US $.99

12h 22m

4 Daredevil Comics 297 299 300 Marvel Kingpin Bullseye

US $8.95

12h 41m

(!) Punisher #104 scarce last issue vs Bullseye NM

US $9.95

12h 47m

A988 DEADPOOL #12 BULLSEYE 60's Variant 1:10

US $6.95

12h 50m

BULLSEYE/BATTALION #35 1997 Marvel VS Wildstorm card

US $1.00

13h 1m

DAREDEVIL LOT #159 to 180 MARK JEWELERS MILLER BULLSEYE

US $75.00

13h 3m

Punisher Max #6 (Bullseye Part 1) Jason Aaron, Dillon

US $3.49

13h 58m

Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD #15 1st App & Death Bullseye

0 Bid

US $7.99

14h

CHARLTON BULLSEYE COMIC: "E-MAN" #2

0 Bid

US $.10

14h

DAREDEVIL #146 DAREDEVIL Vs BULLSEYE! 6.5 / FINE+

US $12.99

14h 39m

CAPTAIN AMERICA #374 cgc 9.6 Bullseye and Daredevil

US $24.99

14h 41m

DAREDEVIL #179 FRANK MILLER ELEKTRA BULLSEYE BRONZE AGE

0 Bid

US $.99

15h 13m

Daredevil #200! Bullseye!! John Byrne Cover!!

US $3.00

17h 9m

1969 Nick Fury Agent of Shield Vol 1 # 15 1st Bullseye

0 Bid

US $3.99

17h 23m

Bullseye: Greatest Hits #3 CGC 9.8

US $39.95

18h 18m

The Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe

The Comicologist — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:36:10 +0000

The Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe is a 1995 one-shot comic book written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by Doug Braithwaite. It was recommended to me by Lee who looks after the Quit Your Day Job blog. The Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe is one of the "What If...?" story lines, which hypothesise what would happen to various Marvel characters had some thing gone differently in their lives, they had taken a different path, were born with different powers, or had no powers at all. The "What If...?" stories are considered to exist separately from the mainstream Marvel Universe continuity. With that out of the way, lets get back to The Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe...

The Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe asks the question, what would happen if Frank Castle blamed the deaths of his family on the Marvel super powered community, and if so, how would he go about "punishing" them. The story begins with young Frank standing up for a young Matt Murdock, protecting him from some local bullies.

Skip forward some 20-30 years, Frank Castle's family are alive and well, and Frank has joined the NYPD SWAT team since leaving the marines. Cut to Central Park where some of Marvel's biggest names, X-Men and Avengers included, are battling some intergalactic bad guys. While the good guys win, the victory is not without consequences as a number of innocent civilians are killed in the cross fire. Among them, Frank Castle's wife and child. When Frank arrives on the scene he is finally met with a half hearted apology from the X-Men's Cyclops, which sets Frank off, shooting Cyclops from point blank range, before turning the gun on some of the other 'heroes'. He is then attacked by Wolverine, before being taken into custody.

Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe, Garth Ennis, Good B

US $33.64

15h 19m

In the court case that follows, Matt Murdock represents Frank, but is unable to stop him from being sentenced to prison. On his way to prison, Frank is rescued and taken to a mansion where he meets the rich, old, and disfigured old man called Kesselring. Kesselring and his associates have all be disfigured or hurt in some way due to being caught in the crossfire of super powered battles. Kesselring, tells Frank that he and his associates will provide Frank with everything that he will need to destroy every superhuman on earth if Frank agrees to work for them. Eager for revenge, Castles accepts the offer and becomes... The Punisher.

As the title suggests, the one-shot basically follows Frank Castle as he kills every superhero and supervillain in the Marvel Universe, and the interest for me was in how he went about dispatching heroes and villains alike, even though on paper he often appears outmatched. His method of dispatching the Hulk is so simple it makes you wonder why no one else has tried it.

What did I learn?

That Frank Castle's a bad muttha... [shut your mouth]... hey, I'm only talkin' bout Frank.

The Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe is a solid little story that also gives you a greater appreciation of why and how the Punisher can still mix it with the best of the Marvel Universe. The first run of this one-shot initially snuck out of the gate and it wasn't until Garth Ennis grew in popularity thanks to his work on DC Comics "Preacher" series, and then later on the revival of the Punisher franchise, that The Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe became harder to come by. Marvel then reprinted the one-shot, with a new cover by Steve Dillon, and included it in the first hardcover reprinting of Ennis's Punisher run.