Written by Garth Ennis
Art by Howard Chaykin, Goran Pavlov
By Marvel Comics – MAX Imprint

A while back Frank Castle encountered a fellow that went by the name of Barracuda. He found him to be a fearsome adversary and eventually despatched him by slashing off a few fingers, blinding him in one eye, shooting him and then leaving him to be killed by sharks. Castle broke the cardinal rule of comic book villains, for this one extends even to Marvel’s Max comics: If you don’t get a body, assume said corpse is alive. That said Castle had every reason to believe Barracuda was dead…

Jump forward and Barracuda has a new employer who asks him to go after Castle, Barracuda figures it doesn’t get much better than this: He can kill Castle and get paid for it. The stage is set for a titanic battle and Ennis doesn’t disappoint, as the arc sets new standards for sheer brutality, which given the record of the title is quite surprising. The arc goes up a gear once Pavlkov returns to the art, as his style is not only far better suited to this story than that of Chaykin, but as he also drew the other Barracuda stories, so it’s only fitting he draws the character’s swan song.

Oh, was that a spoiler? That Barracuda loses? Well I have to say not. The title is The Punisher, it’s focused on Frank Castle, therefore concluding Barracuda will lose isn’t difficult. Working out how he will lose is a considerably different and far more difficult a proposition and I can say, right now, with the utmost accuracy, you’ll never see it coming. Is it satisfying? Oh yes, one thing Ennis excels at is giving his villains a brutal execution that they utterly earnt.

What’s most surprising about Long Cold Dark is how it refuses to be a simple fight story, it could have easily been so but isn’t. Ennis carefully links this story of confrontation with earlier arcs as Castle recalls O’Brien, a woman he crossed paths several times over. He also places a link that might be overlooked on an initial read by mentioning that Barracuda is employed, so who is employing him? Finally there are the reflections that Barracuda sets off in Castle, as he contemplates the nature and costs of the life he leads.

One of Ennis’ triumphs with Punisher has to be his characterisation of Frank Castle. How interesting can a guy be who goes around killing every criminal he can to get revenge for his family being killed? To be fair, that’s a well which will run dry quite quickly. Instead, starting with Born, Ennis has pursued an alternative angle: That Castle does this because he has to, that he needs to. Vengeance for his family is a part of it, but not the whole of it. Despite that though Castle can’t close himself off completely, he recalls his wife and daughter, he remembers how he used to be and then affirms the necessity of him continuing to do what he does, even though it’s been thirty years.

The news that Ennis’ final Punisher issue will be number sixty was a dismal development for some yet, by the end of Long Cold Dark, it’s clear that the stage is set for a finale. One last arc to deal with the very few loose ends that remain and then that’ll be it. Whilst it will be a shame to see Ennis’ run on this title end, it’s far better that he does so and goes out with a bang. It will also maintain the high quality that his run has been renowned for, rather than keep going and deliver uninspired, derivative material such as a crude fight story that this could have so easily been.

Discuss this topic here.