We saw the
second volume some time back; I'm not sure if this is the third. Definitely isn't the 20th volume, though. From 2019,
Marvel Knights 20th #2, written by Matthew Rosenberg and Donny Cates, art by Nico Henrichon.
This was about the same time as
War of the Realms, and I managed to fish this whole series from the same dollar bins! Somehow, the timeline or the world has changed, and no one remembers super-heroes, nor do they remember themselves. But a few are starting to, like Bruce Banner, who then tells Frank Castle: this is an unusual story for the Punisher, but it works. Frank didn't have his wife and kids in the altered reality, but had a girlfriend and was reasonably happy...except he knew something was missing, and the sight of a scribbled note with his skull symbol makes him realize he used to have a very different life. (Banner keeps getting weird little notes, mostly with names on them: I thought it was the Hulk writing them when Banner was asleep, but nope!)
While Matt Murdock was starting to remember after a botched visit from Frank, he also now has what might be the ghost of Karen Page keeping him company; as Frank and Banner try to contact another of the names: Elektra Natchios. She beats the stuffing out of Frank, admitting she knew there was something going on, but she didn't want to go back to a life where she hurt people...and was hurt back in turn. Frank refuses to quit, but gets distracted by Banner Hulking out in the back of his cop car. Elektra nearly stabs him in the back, but is stopped by Daredevil. He proposes they work together, but is surprised to realize, they can see Karen Page too...
This was collected as
Marvel Knights: Make the World Go Away, which is a better title! It's a fun read, and no spoilers; but the answer for the reality shift wasn't Purple Man this time like I'd guessed, but it does tie-in to the
Marvel Knights theme. I don't think I had read the
Marvel Knights: Hulk book; I want to say that was from a stretch where they gave
anybody an MK-labelled mini-series.
2 comments:
This honestly looks pretty good. Like a truly engaging story, especially when you have Frank as a cop in this reality, which I’m sure does absolutely nothing to curb certain members of law enforcement & military personnel from feeling justified for adopting his symbol.
You are definitely right about how many MK books were coming out during the early to mid-2000’s. The Spider-Man one was nice. Ghost Rider was ok. I like FF: 1234 by Morrison despite it feeling more like a soft hit piece on the team rather than a love letter. Definitely good examples out there for fans to discover for themselves.
The Spider-Man one by Mark Millar? That might be the last thing by him I thought was any good; but it might also honestly be the last time I was all-in on Spidey. The Dodsons probably didn't hurt, either...
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