FRACTION & REMENDER TALK PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL

[MattBrady]

by Chris Arrant

In November 2006, Marvel launched a sister title to the popular Punisher title named Punisher War Journal. It serves as direct contrast to the award-winning work Ennis is doing at the core title, the new War Journal series is squarely placed in the Marvel Universe with superheroes, villains and a bunch of inbetweens. Issues have dealt with Civil War, the death of Captain America, The Initiative and World War Hulk.

Through it all, writer Matt Fraction has shown a Frank Castle you’re familiar with, wading deep into the Marvel U and taking it on with his trademark style and manner. Recently joined by legendary artist Howard Chaykin, they’re adding one more member to their posse this summer.

Coming with May’s Punisher War Journal, Fraction is joined at the writer’s table by Rick Remender. Best known for his work on Fear Agent, Remender’s made a name for himself in recent years with creator-owned work and is now venturing into new territory with work like Punisher War Journal. Fraction’s tour of duty so far on the title has been a “high octane thrill ride” in the most un-cliché of ways, and with Rememnder coming on board it’s going up a notch.

OK, enough clichés.

Let’s talk.

Newsarama: Thanks for talking with us, guys. Matt, you’ve been on Punisher War Journal for double digits' worth of issues, and now you have Rick Remender coming in as your co-writer. What’s it like?

MF: A little bit like getting to sleep over at your best friend's house when you were, like, nine. There's a lot of giggling and we stay up way too late. Also Rick insists on showing me his boner. Like, constantly.

It's also been great having somebody that's warped in the head like me to bounce ideas off of, to get competitive with, and to try and entertain. I think we both walked into this unsure of what to expect but hoping it would work, and have now hit a point where not only do we think it works, but the process is making us, and the book, way better than we could've hoped.

I've always loved writing Punisher War Journal but with Rick on board I'm digging it on a whole new level. And I can't wait to unleash what we've cooked up onto the world.

RR: It’s been nothing but fun. Matt and I sat in his house for a good three days and built what I think will be a memorable and hopefully seminal arc. Every good idea immediately gave birth to an even better idea as we began to one up each other; we found we collaborate really well, which isn’t always the case, even with friends. Matt’s focus going in was that we tell a story that solidifies the reasoning behind Jigsaw being The Punisher’s primary arch-nemesis, and we did… we really did.

NRAMA: Wow. You two are your own dynamic duo – but I don’t know what kind of dynamic that is.

Rick, how did this opportunity come about for you?

RR: Matt had a couple of great ideas for what he wanted to do with Frank for the next year but found himself suddenly being given a truckload of other amazing assignments. So he threw the idea of bringing me in to Axel and Aubrey and it all sort of worked out. It’s lead to a few other things at Marvel, which I’m really excited about. I’m having the best time of my life with this current batch of assignments.

NRAMA: The first issue you two jointly write is #19, coming out in May. What can we look forward to?

RR: Even if the book were written by the denizens occupying the benches surrounding the Monkey-Butter on a Stick at your local mall’s food court, Punisher War Journal has Howard Chaykin doing heavy, down and dirty, back to the war days Punisher action which is worth the price of admission by itself. Given that Fraction is only a part time resident of the United States and spends his winters in Armenia at Mr. Hands' palace (Matt’s Armenian royalty, most folks don’t know that) he doesn’t spend much time in the food court at the mall so his writing is still pretty good. Mine is mostly on par with the food court folk as those are my people and that is where I write most of my comics.

But seriously… Matt set up an introduction to the arc in issue 18 where we see the beginnings of what Jigsaw has begun to put together and we see this unleashed in issue 19. These two have a lot of history and the psychology behind it all begins to come to light. Jigsaw isn’t just looking to take Frank out, his plan is years in the making and will leave Frank an absolutely changed man.

NRAMA: Matt, Rick's brought up that Jigsaw will be rising in prominence in the pages of Punisher War Journal. Who is he, and why him?

MF: Jigsaw is the guy Frank's let live, the criminal that Frank hasn't been able to kill, or hasn't been willing to kill, time and time again. He's also the one bad guy in the world absolutely obsessed with Frank Castle. Jigsaw is Frank's opposite number, his arch-rival. They're one another's nemeses, in its most pure definition.

If the Punisher has a Joker, it's Jigsaw. And Jigsaw is coming after Frank in a very big, very real, very organized and, best of all, very insane way.

RR: Jigsaw is a mid-level mob boss who’s had his face disfigured on numerous occasions by Frank Castle, which in turn, has motivated him to frequent obsessive revenge attempts. As Fraction pointed out to me when I first joined him on the book, Frank NEVER kills Jigsaw when he defeats him. Frank kills a lot of people, but never Jigsaw. He could, but instead he always smashes Jigsaw’s face in glass or some similar torture. This was an exciting theme for us to explore. Something happens when these two deal with one another, something makes them behave differently towards each other than anyone else in the Marvel Universe. We have some fun answers to what ignites this unique and neurotic behavior.

NRAMA: Frank Castle is one of those characters that oozes machismo. We've seen that sort of thing in characters both of you have written, but the Punisher is... well, the Punisher. How do you get in the zone to write him?

MF: Metal helps. Lots of metal. And reducing the number of words you use. Going brief and, if possible, monosyllabic, helps.

But mostly metal.

RR: Well, I’m pretty good with self-delusion, I can think I’m being honest and analytical of my own life while manipulating my perspectives to see what I want while conveniently ignoring what I don’t want to see. I think this is also a big part of Frank Castle’s essence. Frank has to keep himself on a path that demands fanaticism born of one-sided thought. He has to be the king of self-delusion. What really separates him from the villains he kills? A perception of right and wrong? But who is to say what is universally right and wrong? Who is to say murder isn’t the most villainous thing one can do?

Gandhi said, “You can’t attempt to do right in one department of life while doing wrong in another-- life is an indivisible whole.” Can the positive results from killing another man outweigh the act of murder? Is killing a killer wrong? As a nation we’re divided on this because it’s a complex and multi-layered issue. Frank, however, has not only made his mind up but manages to keep it made up, that’s a tricky feat. Frank is a smart guy and has to have a back and forth with himself about what it is he’s doing. He has to have a philosophy behind it… what is philosophy good for if not a nice way of rationalizing behavior? All philosophies are distortable.

Anyway this is all the crap we kept in mind as Matt and I worked the beats of the next few arcs out. It all leads to strong character development with real human progress for Frank during the Jigsaw arc.

NRAMA: How would you differentiate this title from the Punisher title Garth Ennis currently does?

RR: The focus of War Journal, as I’ve come to learn, is to tap into the big fantasy potential of the Marvel Universe. It’s the difference between Frank chasing a guy who jumps over a building and Frank chasing after a guy who uses rocket boots to fly over a few buildings. We can also use other characters from current continuity and what have you… and we do.

MF: Garth's is the biggest, blackest, darkest, meanest, most brutal crime comic ever published. Ours has the Punisher shooting the Rhino in the face with a bazooka.

[alaska1125]

Awesome! I might actually purchase this book now. What a great creative team!

Also...shooting the Rhino in the face with a bazooka? Gold!

[GuitarSmashley]

Rick,

How many books are you writing? I count like 5 or 6 books. And when is Ironside coming out? And damn you for having me read/add most of them.

[Abe]

FIRST!

I might just pick this up.

[Shoeface]

Not a big Punisher fan, but Fraction and Remender? I will have to buy this.

[Jon Malin]

Sounds good.

[Spidey616]

I was wondering how Fraction was going to be able to keep up on all the titles he's working on with the start of his new Iron Man title in May. Good to know he's got a co-writer on Iron Fist and now PWJ.

[SouthtownKid]

Awesome made even more awesome.

[bkbirge]

Awesome team up.

PS. More Fear Agent and Casanova please.

[phoenix_24]

I think Punisher War Journal is great. I'm excited about the co-writer. The only bad thing about the book is Howard Chaykin's horrible art. It ruins the whole book. Marvel, please give us a new artist.

[Laz Green]

Originally Posted by Abe

FIRST!

I might just pick this up.

Oooooo...not so much. Don't you hate that? Thinkin' you got that precious first post, all amped up with braggadaccio, only to see you dreams come crashing down like the Hindenburg at the sight of not one, but TWO other posts who beat yours to being first? I've been there my son, it's not comfortable. Editing the post after helps, however.


Oh yeah, Punisher...

Well it had to be said...

The new writing tandem of...





wait for it....



RICK AND FRAC

I kill myself.

[JLAJRC]

Anyone who is reading XXXombies KNOWS Rick is a good choice for this. In fact, give him the MAX Punisher title, too to see how he can REALLY cut loose.

[Quail-Man]

I was just considering dropping this title when I read the news. The last few issues haven't really been enjoyable for me, I don't really need one shots about the gibbon and clarke... I have been waiting for the jigsaw plot thread to be picked up but I was really getting impatient. Now, I know when it's coming, and it seems like these guys are enthused about it, so I will stick around to see how it pans out.

[rwe1138]

Originally Posted by Quail-Man

I was just considering dropping this title when I read the news. The last few issues haven't really been enjoyable for me, I don't really need one shots about the gibbon and clarke... I have been waiting for the jigsaw plot thread to be picked up but I was really getting impatient. Now, I know when it's coming, and it seems like these guys are enthused about it, so I will stick around to see how it pans out.

I'm in the same boat. PWJ's on the bubble of getting dropped. Hopefully Rick coming on and Jigsaw showing up will renew my interest.

[Phil Hester]

Everywhere I turn... REMENDER! Matt and Rick together will make this book even better in that delightful, subversive, vaguely nasty 2000 AD way. Yay, reading!

[GreggN]

I really like the idea of co-writers on books, especially when they're as talented as these guys.

Think about it, you have 2X the great ideas coming in, and 2 people to carry the workload so there's (theoretically) less chance of missed deadlines

[Karmapolice]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

MF: Jigsaw is the guy Frank's let live, the criminal that Frank hasn't been able to kill, or hasn't been willing to kill, time and time again. He's also the one bad guy in the world absolutely obsessed with Frank Castle. Jigsaw is Frank's opposite number, his arch- rival. They're one another's nemeses, in its most pure definition.

RR: Jigsaw is a mid-level mob boss who’s had his face disfigured on numerous occasions by Frank Castle, which in turn, has motivated him to frequent obsessive revenge attempts. As Fraction pointed out to me when I first joined him on the book, Frank NEVER kills Jigsaw when he defeats him. Frank kills a lot of people, but never jigsaw. He could, but instead he always smashes Jigsaw’s face in glass or some similar torture.

Actually, Punisher killed Jigsaw way back in the John Ostrander Punisher series. Am I the only one who remembers?

edit: but apparently he was brought back to life by some demon or something? Sounds dumb.

[RedRonin]

Sounds like a winning combination.

Already love PWJ, can't wait to see where this takes us.

[beta-ray]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

MF: A little bit like getting to sleep over at your best friend's house when you were, like, nine. There's a lot of giggling and we stay up way too late. Also Rick insists on showing me his boner. Like, constantly

WAY too much information...

[SledgeHammer]

The fact that Punisher War Journal consistently outsells Ennis' brilliant Punisher Max really depresses me, especially given that War Journal is, in my opinion, such a mediocre book, and Fraction seemingly has no idea about how to write the character of Frank Castle as anything but a one dimensional cypher.

I'm not trying to rag on Fraction here, I like some of his other stuff, but his run, to me, is the worst extended run of Punisher I can remember reading. The only reason I've stuck with it this long is my love of the character and the fact that I've read pretty much every Punisher appearance and book since day one. Hopefully the input from Remender will help get this book on track, he's a talented guy.

[Kahn]

You...mean War Journal? I happen to like it, a lot. Like I've said before, Fraction gets comics. I'm not familiar with Remender but as long as Matt's on I'm set.

[Allen]

I'm familiar with Remender. I read his Sea of Red story.

[Skeets]

I can dig it.

[SledgeHammer]

Yeah I meant War Journal, temporary brain freeze.

The book seems pretty popular, you've gotta give it that regardless of what I may personally think, but one thing I've noticed with the popularity of the book is that it seems more popular with those who weren't necessarily big Punisher fans to begin with, or who hadn't read much Punisher, except when he showed up in other books, whereas it doesn't seem anywhere near as popular with a lot of the long time Punisher fans. That's not to say that there aren't longtime Punisher fans who don't enjoy War Journal, but the book's popularity does seem more heavily weighted towards newer and more casual fans to me. Just my observation anyway.

Just not to my taste I guess.

[SunnyvaleTra]

I wonder what sort of metal they listen to.

I really like Casanova, but PWJ didn't stay with me. I don't think think is going to change that for me, unfortunately.

I do need to check out some Remender stuff at some point.