BULLETS AND BRACLETS #1 (1996) by John Ostrander (writer) Gary Frank (Pencils) Cam Smith (ink)
Sunday, 25. June 2006, 07:15:04
In the mid 90s DC and Marvel came out with DC vs Marvel and the concept of Amalagms. An Amalagm character has qualities from a DC Character and a Marvel character to create a new character, such as Super Soldier which combines Superman and Captain America.In BULLETS AND BRACELETS, they combine elements of The Punisher mythos with the Wonder Woman mythos. The Punisher is Trevor Castle, combining Frank Castle with Steve Trevor (from Wonder Woman). Trevor's back story is the same as Frank's. Diana Prince is not Wonder Woman but rather a renegade Amazon - Diana Prince, Freelance (which could be a tip of the hat to Mike Grell's Jon Sable Freelance).
Diana and Trevor had met and married and had a son Ryan Castaglione. The couple had differences and seperated. Then some enemy kidnapped their son and The Punisher and Diana Prince team up again against the Hand Ninja who stole their son.
Which is where we come into the story ... we could have a gritty crime drama where the former couple let loose on the ninja cult that took their son.
Instead, Castle and Diana are transported to the planet Apokolips where they discover that Thonoseid (Thanos and Darkseid) has taken their son. After some battling with Thanoseid's henchpeople, we discover the plot to have Castle kill his own son because Thanoseid sent Ryan into the past and raised him as Kantos, who Castle is about to kill when Diana realises the truth.
This is where I have a bit of rant - characters like The Punisher, Batman, Green Arrow, The Vigilante in my opinion shouldn't be involved in cosmic goings on, the crime they fight should be more down to earth - suiting their down to earth powers. Foes like Jigsaw and The Joker who are similar in power levels are fine but once we see them take on more cosmic and powerful foes we're getting away from the characters roots. The new Punisher comic from Marvel sees Frank Castle take on the regular Marvel Universe, running concurrently with his Max series, personally I can't see Castle tackle Galactus or Thanos or Magneto as a foe, perhaps the series will be cool but the mix doesn't feel right. Again all my personal opinion.
WIDGETIZE
Anonymous # 25. June 2006, 22:28
Yeah, I don't think the Punisher should be fighting cosmic god like beings either. Even Max Allan Collins' Wild Dog didn't seem a good fit in his short appearance in Infinite Crisis.
Still, I think Amalgam was a pretty good idea, and one of the high points in the otherwise dismal comic world of the time.
David Scott Aubrey # 26. June 2006, 09:17
Kind of like the days when they had Spider-Man fighting the old Herald of Galactus, Firelord. And beating him!
Yes ... they even had Dazzler fighting Terrax the Tamer, too.
God ...
I completely agree - cosmic threats for cosmic powered people (Silver Surfer, Superman, etc). Down-to-Earth threats for down-to-Earth characters.
Which brings me to Green Arrow and the Justice League ... !
Brad Mengel # 26. June 2006, 09:20
Wild dog is another comic series I'll have to check out.
There is a certain appeal to the idea of the amalgam character and creating your own... Dark Man and Angel and you get Dark Angel - Vampire with a soul, searching for sythetic blood whilst fighting crime.
Brad
David Scott Aubrey # 26. June 2006, 09:31
Brad Mengel # 26. June 2006, 12:21
Green Arrow was actually handled very well in JUSTICE LEAGE UNLIMITED, Batman suggested that he's there to keep them honest (and Black Canary might have also influenced his decision. There's an episode Patriot Act which has GA leading a non powered team against a general whose given hiself superpowers to show how dangerous superpowered beings can be. Dang I wanna see that episode.
As for Dark Angel's face I figure Angel can change his face at will and the whole sythetic blood instead of a skin made for neat angle.
David Scott Aubrey # 27. June 2006, 01:05
Yup ... the Punisher vs Doom was during Acts of Vengeance. Interesting concept, but could have been done better. Still, I suppose it's okay for me to say that ... I wasn't in charge of it or working as one of the creative team. Easier to criticize from the sidelines.
Terrax the Tamer ...
When you think about it, there's a whole slew of super-people names that appear like that (and some characters).
In an Iron Man not so long back (couple of years), Blacklash appeared dressed in S&M gear for some reason. Presumably to indicate how tough he was, or something. Or because the artist might have been a fan of certain issues of Preacher.
There's also the character of 'Night Thrasher'. Night Thrasher ... hiding in the cupboard, in the dark, armed only with vaseline ...