I’ve been catching up with the first two issues of Greg Rucka’s The Punisher, and I’m really enjoying it. I like to have a more ‘real-world’ book on my reading list, and Frank Castle occupies the slot perfectly. Rucka and artist Marco Checchetto do a fantastic job of setting the mood. Checchetto’s palette of dark blues, reds, and other rich colors and Rucka’s sparse dialog create a brooding atmosphere ideally suited for the tone of the book. In the first two books, Castle doesn’t have a single line of dialog, which speaks volumes about the way Rucka establishes the setting and Checcetto draws the action.

My only gripe with the book is that I wish the page layouts were more creative. With so little dialog, Rucka and Checchetto had the perfect opportunity to deviate from the standard, linear, rectangular layout. Instead, their layouts are very conventional, and I can’t help but think a more dynamic layout would be a great service to the largely atmosphere-driven narrative.

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