COMICS: Wed. 4/27/05 cont.

The Punisher: Well, this issue succeeded in exactly what was lacking in the previous one: it established Nicky Cavallo as both an interesting (if deeply, deeply disturbed) character, and as a worthy adversary for Frank Castle. Now I actually care about seeing the conflict between the two of them. In fact, I was so into the story, it didn't even occur to me until I was done that the Punisher doesn't make an appearance. Very nice, Ennis.

The New Avengers: Not so nice, Bendis. Talking about Young Avengers last week, I noted the way they wanted to have it both ways: allegedly kids-friendly, yet still sexually suggestive. This comic is much the same, what with everybody being naked and all. Sure, it's mostly covered up, and played for laughs -- but hey, kids, if you look hard, you can see a little bit of Spider-Woman's ass! Speaking of whom -- her takedown of Wolverine was just ridiculous. Who thinks Spider-Woman could beat up Wolverine? Let's take a vote. Okay, that's 49% "no way," 49% "who cares," and 2% "apple fritter." What the? My point is, Bendis wants to make the case for having Jessica Drew on the team, so he has her whipping the roughest, toughest guy around with little to no effort. She tosses him like a rag doll, and then plunges his own claws into his throat. Isn't she super-cool?? I call bullshit. Didn't Wolverine used to be, like, strong? And fast? And a supremely good fighter? And not prone to leaving his claws out when they're being driven into himself? It's fanboy-level writing: Spider-Woman can beat Wolverine because I said so!

Of course, complaining about the results of a Spider-Woman/Wolverine fight is worse than fanboy-level blogging, so I'll stop now.