Punisher #10

Obviously, I read this and the Dark Reign special in the wrong order. This issue wraps up the Hood-themed arc from the last few months. Punisher succeeds in killing off a couple more Hood-resurrected villains (I think Cyclone is one of them, I'm not sure about the other). I do like that Rick Remender has actually brought back a few of these villains to stay. At least Basilisk, Death Adder, and a few others seem to be back for good now. I won't complain about more costumed villains.

I will say I really don't like what Frank does this issue. The Hood uses his resurrecting trick on Frank's family. This is a great way to neutralize the Punisher, with his family back, what is there to be angry about? I was honestly shocked at Frank's reaction though. When he sees his family rise, he immediately has them set on fire and kills them again. How, how, how can he do this? Either he didn't want them used against him or he's ashamed of what he's become, I just can't rationalize that a man as pained as he is would dispatch his family so quickly. Even if Frank believed their return was tainted by the Hood and that their personalities were different, I can't believe anyone could do this so fast. The resurrected villains seemed to be themselves, so why would the Castles be any different? How are we supposed to view Frank after this? He's damaged beyond repair for me. I don't like what this story says about Frank, but it is pretty dramatic.

Tan Eng Huat has a fun style, but I'm not sure he's a great fit for the more "classic" elements of the story. His takes on Basilisk and Death Adder are just ugly. But the Hood and the supernatural stuff does look nice and spooky.

Fair