Author Archives: Phil

Will Eisner’s The Spirit #2 — Writer: Darwyn Cooke; Pencils: Darwyn Cooke; Inks: J. Bone What’s most interesting about this is that it’s not a pastiche, or a tribute; Cooke tells the story in his own way. There’s no bending over backwards to get in stereotypically Eisneresque angles and compositions — it’s mostly variations on the three-tier page, with two or three panels per tier (the first page of the book is a classic nine-panel grid, in fact). The one time Cooke does let loose, with a two-page splash, the effect is explosive. And yet, it feels like a Spirit … Continue reading →

Punisher #43 — Writer: Garth Ennis; Penciller: Lan Medina; Inker: Bill Reinhold Ennis owns the Punisher; the character plays to his strengths, and just about everything he’s done with him (the last two arcs, the Barracuda one and the Afghanistan one, for example) has been dependably nasty, noirish fun. This new story begins as the wives of some of the mob guys/thugs that Castle has killed get together to plot revenge, promising some ironic echoes involving families destroyed by violence. There’s an off-putting line of dialogue from one of the female characters, who’s black, that made me wince — it’s … Continue reading →