Punisher War Journal #8

So far Matt Fraction has done an excellent job with what some are calling the best Punisher title ever written. The level of depth to characters especially the ones other than Frank Castle really sets this title apart. This issue is certainly not bad, but could stand to have better development of the events occuring. We pick up with Frank, now a prisoner of the white supremacist The Hate Monger and his storm trooper like minions who are "protecting" the border from illegal immigrants. The story itself is decent, but lacks the type of focus you would want to see with the event they're hyping up. Punisher is taking on a role similiar to Captain America because of its symbolic value but they never explain its importance with the depth that it deserves or even really explain who he is using this look to influence. The time they use to focus of G.W. Bridge's pursuit of Castle should have gone to this aspect of the story. While the portrayal of Castle's fight against racism is noble, its presentation seems forced (See Best of the Best 3). They don't give you any victims to care about and I feel that the story lacks a genuine side to it to make it memorable. With that being said, the story kind of jumps around in the sequence and I expect Fraction to connect the dots by the time this story comes to a conclusion. Its worth a read if you've been following it, but if you're new to the title, this is not the issue to start with.