From Marvel September solicitation: ( link)
FRANKEN-CASTLE #21 | |
COVER BY: Dan Brereton WRITER: RICK REMENDER PENCILS: Dan Brereton LETTERED BY: NEUROTIC CARTOONIST, INC THE STORY:The shocking conclusion of the FrankenCastle era! After his brutal struggle to kill Daken in Tokyo, the Punisher is in rough shape. In order to restore his health, hacker comrade Henry Russo sends Frank to the nearest remote place he can find -- Monster Island. However, as his body heals, Frank’s mind begins to fade into madness. Someone needs to take him down. Someone named Elsa Bloodstone. Parental Advisory …$3.99 PRICE:3.99IN STORES: September 22, 2010 |
Does this mean the title will end at issue 21 after Frank is restored to his former body? Or will the title revert back to normal Punisher and continue?
The Bloodstone is the plot device that will restore Frank's body - that was set up in earlier issues of Punisher/Frankencastle.
I read an article with Rick Remender saying the FrankenCastle story would continue well into 2011 and he had about 2 years worth of stuff ready. It seems like the FrankenCastle concept is being cut short.
I generated a sales chart a few months ago and posted it here. Below is an updated sales chart that includes up to April. The May stats doesn't have FrankenCastle title within the top 100 comics, so I don't know if we'll see stats for that issue or not.
Source Data: http://www.comichron.com
My personal opinion:
I know there were many long time Punisher fans, like me, that didn't buy/follow the Frankencastle arc, but the sales when compared to other titles seemed to be doing fairly well. When I asked my LCS guy about the sales, he mentioned that non-Punisher subscribers were picking up the slack from the former-Punisher subscribers, so his sales were basically even before/after the FrankenCastle arc began. That's also what I've been reading about on various comic related web sites. There's been lots of good and bad reviews of the story arc and I'm sure this arc will go down in infamy alongside other Punisher incarnations.
My personal feelings on the Frankencastle story is that it was well written and the artwork worked well. I enjoyed the earlier issues of Punisher pre-FrankenCastle. However, it's the FrankenCastle arc isn't something that I'd like to see within the 616 continuity. If it was a mini-series/limited series based in an alternate universe or "what if", then I might have picked it up in addition to a normal Punisher 616 title and PunisherMax. I get/understand the story and how Frank is a monster on the inside and now he's a monster on the outside and the whole concept that Remender was trying to get across. But there's just so many comics, you can reasonably buy nowadays as the prices are increasing and this arc was bumped off my pull-list.
Rick Remender is also becoming the writer for X-Force, so maybe the Punisher/Frankencastle title will just end at #21 and he'll be given X-Force to work on. I haven't heard that anyone will be replacing him for issue #22, so he may stay on and write a few more Punisher issues.
Log in to comment