Frank Castle aka The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) returns for a one-hour one-shot tale, One Last Kill, tonight on Disney Plus in the States and tomorrow over here in the UK.
The tale is co-written by Bernthal with director Reinaldo Marcus Green.
Perhaps it's the bridge between his role in Daredevil and his upcoming appearance in Spider-Man: Brand New Day this July?
When you're a very young kid reading comics you don't really pay attention to the credits.
Before I became a serious collector in my late teens/early 20s, I was picking up random issues as and when I could find them - either the original colour American comics or the black and white reprints that came out over here.
But I couldn't tell you who drew them. To be honest, I doubt I could have even told you who had written them!
I'm not sure when it happened, but the first artist whose style I recognised as distinctively different, and actively sought out, was that of Gil Kane. I liked his stark lines.
Then my tastes expanded to being able to pick out the work of Carmine Infantino whose art, to my untrained and uneducated eye, I thought was quite similar to Kane's work.
But it's Kane's illustrations that have always held a particular nostalgia for me, taking me to being a little kid, with my comics spread across the bedroom floor, following the adventures of sundry superheroes around imaginary cities, throughout space, and even into different dimensions.
Monday (April 6) was the 100th anniversary of Kane's birth.
For those who missed the briefing, the second season of Disney's Daredevil: Born Again has begun airing in the UK today (last night Stateside).
You can see the release schedule for the episodes above, and once Daredevil has completed his run, we're going to be treated to a special Punisher episode: One Last Kill.
Of course, this is before The Punisher/Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) pops up in Spider-Man: Brand New Day in July.
Although officially licensed from Marvel, Toei's 1970's live-action Spiderman (not Spider-Man) show, aka Supaidâman, is way more Power Rangers than modern Marvel Spider-Man movies; his powers come with their own transforming robot (Leopardon) and flying car... because Japan!
Beyond his hyperagility, the majority of Spiderman's powers also seem to originate from his alien suit, the Spider Protector (Venom-much?), and include "spider sense", which acts more like a radar, and a variety of vintage powers such as "spring string" (rope-likeprojectile webbing) and "spider netting" (for capturing bad guys in).
For a Westerner it's weird, earnest, fun, mixing a character we know so well with the established tropes of Japanese super sentai sci-fi to create a truly unique and wonderful show.
And there's something deliciously camp about the way Spiderman likes to bust a move and strike a pose at every opportunity - even when it serves absolutely no purpose.
Each episode is less than 24 minutes long, including a trail for the next instalment, and tears along with the speed and careless abandon for logic that makes certain old children's shows so enjoyable.
Occasional bursts of dialogue border on the nonsensical, but this could simply be a mistranslation in the subtitles, and there's certainly never any doubt what's going on in the very simple storylines.
Beyond the costume, and the odd refrain from the classic Spider-Man theme music, there's very little of Peter Parker's DNA in this iteration of the character.
Even his supporting characters are wildly different. Although, in his secret identity, the protagonist is a bit of a waster and coward, he's also the "man of the house", looking after his younger sister, Shinko (Izumi Oyama), and little brother, Takuji (Yoshiharu Yabuki).
I'm guessing their late parents had good life insurance as no-one in this family appears to have a steady job, yet putting food on the table doesn't appear to be an issue.
These first four episodes establish a simplistic formula and stick to it, while still drip-feeding the audience with more and more information about Spiderman's backstory and powers.
But in the meantime, here's my summary of these episodes...
EPISODE ONE: The Time Of Revenge Has Come! Attack The Iron Cross Army! The origin story - it's soooo different to that of Peter Parker's Spider-Man.
Shinji Tôdô stars as Takuya, the motorcycle-racing son of space archaeologist Dr Hiroshi Yamashiro, who receives a psychic summons from a stranded alien Garia (sometimes called Galia).
Garia has been on Earth for 400 years, having chased Professor Monster (Mitsuo Andô) and his duck-billed Iron Cross Army here after their conquest of Planet Spider.
Professor Monster
Garia is seeking revenge for the devastation of his homeworld, but has been trapped underground by Professor Monster until Takuya came along.
Not sure what Professor Monster was doing for those four centuries if his plan, as stated, is to conquer the Earth? Perhaps he was waiting for humanity to just wipe itself out?
In a very Yoda-like move, Garia passes on the power of Spiderman to Takuya then appears to die, instantly reincarnating as a spider that spouts motivational commentary to Takuya.
Takuya's father is killed by Professor Monster's forces when Takuya's family are investigating a crashed UFO, which is actually Garia's ship, the Marveller (see what they did there?) and so now he has two reasons to seek revenge on Professor Monster.
EPISODE TWO: My Serious World! The Man Who Lives According To His Destiny: Professor Monster has started to derail trains, using a giant flying brain creature, for reasons...
Takuya wanders into a church and recounts his origin story to a statue of Christ (bit odd), giving us some more information about Garia and Professor Monster's feud and how they both ended up on Earth.
There's a suggestion that after Garia and Professor Monster fought in the samurai era, leaving Garia trapped underground, Professor Monster went into hibernation until recently.
Back in the 1970s, the arachnid Yoda, Garia, decides he's done enough, curls up into a spidery ball and dies - for real.
After this things start to slot into a formula: Spiderman fights some of the duck-billed Iron Cross Army ninjas, the creature-of-the-week appears, the creature grows to kaiju size, Spiderman hops into his flying car and summons Leopardon.
The giant robot and the kaiju fight, then Leopardon throws its sword at the monster - which explodes.
The end.
EPISODE THREE: Phantom Thief 001 vs The Spider: In a plot eerily reminiscent of the 2018 season of Daredevil, Professor Monster uses one of his creatures - a large insect that projects powerful light beams from its bug eyes - to bust Phantom Thief 001 from police custody, then brainwash him into thinking he's Spiderman.
The notorious thief then goes round tagging all his burglaries with Spiderman's name, and ruining our hero's reputation.
This is all a cunning plan to lure the real Spiderman out and, when he confronts the hypnotised Phantom Thief 001, he is ambushed by Iron Cross Army ninjas and the insect creature.
There's a nice touch where the real Spiderman saves the impostor, after the Iron Cross Army decide they have no further need for him, but then the story segues into its formulaic final act.
Ninja fight. Kaiju. Flying car. Giant robot. Power sword. Explosion. The end.
EPISODE FOUR: The Terrifying Merman! Silver String That Brings A Miracle: Takuya Yamashiro wakes from a prophetic nightmare that Professor Monster has written a computer program which has divined - after studying all the available film footage of his fights - the ultimate way to kill Spiderman.
Then, Takuya sees a death announcement for Spiderman in the newspaper, complete with funeral arrangements set for a couple of days' time.
The Spider Bracelet
This is, of course, part of another plan by Professor Monster to lure Spiderman into a trap.
The Professor has created a wicked Merman to attack innocents, and chasing this creature Spiderman falls into a cage... and has his first face-to-face meeting with Professor Monster!
After being severely wounded in his cage fight with the Merman, Spiderman escapes, but is later lured into another trap when the Merman and the Iron Cross Army kidnap freelance photographer Hitomi Sakuma (Rika Miura), Takuya's younger sister's best friend and the closest this Spiderman gets to having his own Mary Jane... but without any overt romance.
In this episode we learn a bit more about Spiderman's powers: with his suit he can see in the dark, but the alien injection that made him Spiderman has also granted him superhearing and a rapid healing ability.
I'm not sure if the prophetic dreams are a new power or simply a plot device for this episode as they're never explained.
It's also amusingly bizarre that Takuya wears a huge bracelet (with Spiderman written on it) - which contains the Spider Protector and has other gadgety uses - on his wrist, but no-one ever notices this!
After rescuing Hitomi, Spiderman heads into the final act and you should know the score by now:
Ninja fight. Kaiju. Flying car. Giant robot. Power sword. Explosion. The end.
The Marveller transforms into Leopardon, which has a spectacular array of anti-kaiju weaponry
Latest comic book mail call: a pair of vintage issues of The Mighty Marvel Western
A combination of factors has necessitated constant revisions to my monthly comic book pull-list at Paradox Comics in Poole in recent years.
Not only do I find shelf space increasingly limited (despite dedicating most of the wall space in our office to my comic book collection, coupled with numerous short boxes under the bed and stacks of "to be read" books), but the cost of a single, new, comic book continues to rise while my pool of disposable income shrinks.
Yet while my list of new titles contracts, I can't help myself but seek out vintage back issues, either to fill holes in my collection or latch onto new (to me) titles that I decide I want to collect.
The latest arrival in this category is a pair of 1970's The Mighty Marvel Western (which, in turn, reprinted tales from the '50s and '60s), creating a fresh category on my list of titles to look out for.
There are 46 issues in that title, so that's going to take some work to fill up. But the joy is in the hunt.
Other comic book runs I'm gradually tracking down include Shang-Chi,Master of Kung-Fu (which I'm nearly there on); Blue Devil (I'm only a handful issues away from finishing the original run of this title); and Jonah Hex (which I have a long way to go on).
Jonah Hex #40, from 1980: one of my recent acquisitions
While I collected the modern Jonah Hex run as they were published (well, at least, until he got zapped forward in time - again - to contemporary Gotham City) and the gorgeous Joe Lansdale and Tim Truman horror mini-series from the '90s, I'm currently on the hunt for the Bronze Age books.
I'm aiming for the first volume of Jonah Hex, the 92 issues published between 1977 and 1985, with the idea that I'll then look further back in time and try to collect his appearances in All-Star Western and Weird Western Tales (1972 - 1977).
Ultimately, I can see my pull-list of new titles shrinking down to, primarily:
Superman Family books,
Fantastic Four titles,
and Titan's Robert E Howard books (currently Conan The Barbarian, Savage Sword of Conan magazine, and my top comic of the year so far Solomon Kane)
Hopefully, there'll be a bit of wiggle-room to still embrace the Justice Society and Justice League, Green Lantern and Daredevil. I'd like to also be able to squeeze some Archie in there too.
Sadly, top indie publisher Mad Cave's excellent books aren't getting distributed over here at the moment (because of the collapse of Diamond), which makes it easier to drop those titles and the first wave of EC horror books are coming to an end soon, so that'll make a convenient point to jump off.
We first met serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) in the mid-credit scene of 2018's Venom, but he steps into the spotlight for the sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
The imprisoned killer, now shorn of his fright wig hairdo from Venom, has a fascination with washed-up journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), little realising that Brock is host to the alien symbiote known as Venom.
However, Venom manages to unearth a clue in Kasady's cell that leads to the buried remains of many of his victims.
This development cements Kasady's fate and propels Brock's career back to its previous heights.
When Brock pays a final visit to Kasady in San Quentin, the killer manages to take a bite out of him... accidentally ingesting part of the alien symbiote.
Kasady's execution by lethal injection then stimulates the creature in his blood, transforming him into the brutal, tentacled monstrosity Carnage.
They break out of the prison in a grand set-piece of mass destruction and murder, and set about tracking down Kasady's childhood sweetheart, Frances, as part of a deal that would see them ultimately killing Carnage's "father", Venom.
Frances Barrison (Naomie Harris) is a mutant codenamed Shriek, with powerful sonic abilities, who is being held in a secret research facility, but Kasady makes short work of its defences and the couple slip away into the night.
However, the seeds of romantic disharmony are sown quite early on as symbiotes are extremely vulnerable to loud noises and so Carnage isn't at all impressed by his host's paramour.
Frances and Kasady immediately plan a wedding, which involves kidnapping police detective Mulligan (Stephen Graham), who cost Frances her eye during an earlier escape attempt, Eddie, and Venom.
To get to Eddie, the bad guys grab his former fiancée, Anne Weyling (Michelle Williams), who is now engaged to Dr Dan Lewis (Reid Scott).
Directed by Andy Serkis, from a script by Kelly Marcel and Tom Hardy, Venom: Let There Be Carnage tries to temper the potentially brutal reality of a character like Kasady bonding with an almost omnipotent creature like Carnage with a tsunami of screwball comedy antics and bizarre attempts at black humour.
In all honesty, it shouldn't work... but somehow it does, thanks in no small part of the hard-boiled charisma of Tom Hardy.
There are echoes of Woody Harrelson's earlier performance in the divisive Natural Born Killers in the romance between Kletus and Frances, but these characters, drawn with broad, pulpy, brushstrokes are nowhere near as well-developed as Mickey and Mallory Knox.
Upon first viewing the original Venom movie was a disaster, and yet there was something about it that drew me back to it on its home video release and I've not only found myself enjoying it more on repeat viewings, but have been drawn into the world of Venom in Marvel Comics as well.
This is something I never thought would happen, as the whole idea of a murderous anti-hero really turned me off the character.
But thanks to Tom Hardy's performance in that first movie and then Donny Cates's phenomenal run on the comics in recent years has really won be round to both the character and its potential... in the right hands.
An overview of the plot makes you realise that Venom: Let There Be Carnage is actually a surprisingly small, and contained, film with the antagonists only being free to sow chaos in the wider world for, seemingly, less than 24 hours.
There is no great hunt for Carnage and Shriek, as they tell Eddie where to find them soon after they've torched the abandoned reform school they were both held in as juvenile delinquents.
The grand finale in the cathedral where Kasady and Frances are getting married, is reminiscent of many similarly-staged climactic confrontations, from the Quatermass Experiment to 2003's Daredevil, but this has the added cachet of battling Lovecraftian abominations... and a surprise cameo by the League of Gentleman's Reece Shearsmith.
Talking of cameos, though, the biggest 'shock' and dollop of fanservice comes - once again - in the mid-credit scene, which sets up Venom's potential appearances going forward with a most exciting development.
This 'squee' moment is almost worth the price of admission alone.
To commemorate today's 119th anniversary of the birth of Robert E Howard, the creator of Conan, Sailor Steve Costigan, Solomon Kane, and a whole genre of modern literature, I decided to watch the 1996 dramatisation of his relationship with aspiring writer Novalyne Price.
This is a film I'd been saving for years for Rachel and I to watch together, but our viewing schedules are so busy these days (with the hundreds of channels on the TV, as well as Netflix et al) that, because of today's significance, it felt like a good time to bust the film out of its wrapping and take it for a spin.
The Whole Wide World is based upon Price's memoir and stars Daredevil's Kingpin, Vincent D'Onofrio, as Howard and Bridget Jones herself, Renée Zellweger, as Price.
In 1930's Cross Plains, Texas, teacher Novalyne Price is introduced to local writer Robert E Howard, already a renowned writer of pulp fiction who makes a living selling his yarns, while still residing an home with his father and tuberculosis-stricken mother.
Price pursues Howard, eager to learn more about his writing, but quickly finding herself drawn to him romantically, despite his "eccentricities".
While obviously a period film, The Whole Wide World feels very dated. It's an awkward, almost amateurish, production full of stilted performances, odd music cues, and a patchy narrative unable to contain Howard's wild genius within its 105-minute duration or truly explain why the audience should care about this couple.
Zellweger's Price, despite being the nominal protagonist, in that the film is based on her autobiography, is almost two-dimensional in the shadow of D'Onofrio's charismatic portrayal of the socially-challenged, borderline misanthropic, larger-than-life Bob Howard.
Her decisions often appear motivated by plot necessity, rather than being taken for convincing character reasons.
While the ultimate tragedy of Howard's suicide is heartbreaking, that's more from the sorrow anyone would feel for any person driven to take their own life, rather than the characters presented here.
The film doesn't truly sell us on Howard's deep attachment to his mother, clearly beyond that of a normal mother-son relationship. We needed more "why", more explanation.
To anyone not already conversant with Howard and the world of 1930's pulps, much of the importance of this story would have been lost; for instance, HP Lovecraft gets a couple of namechecks, but how many outside of geeky circles truly know who he is, even today?
Ultimately, The Whole Wide World is a strange film, trying to be both a romantic drama and an insight into the mind of the father of Conan The Barbarian, for whom, it would seem, romance was an anathema.
It's almost as though it's struggling to decide whose story it's actually telling: Price's or Howard's. And so it doesn't do an entirely satisfactory job with either.
The Whole Wide World doesn't give a broader audience enough to work with to fully understand the relationship and behaviours of the two leads, but also only hints at the constrained power of Howard's imagination when it comes to appealing to fans of his pulp literature.
While the film stands as an interesting insight into the final years of Robert E Howard's life, The Whole Wide World is just opening the door for those who are really want to learn more and continue to be inspired by his work.
My pop culture Odyssey: a slice of super-powered geek life with heavy emphasis on pulp adventure, superheroes, comic books, westerns, horror, sci-fi, giant monsters, zombies etc
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