OneMetal.com REVIEW:
Punisher MAX: Butterfly

The world inhabited by superheroes and villains can often be a very insular place. You’d be forgiven for thinking that the supporting characters within it do little but stand around waiting to witness the next big superhero fight or get in the firing line between opposing mob gangs. Ordinary people and B-list villains seem to orbit around the heavy-hitters like moths around a flame, as throwaway placeholders with little background needed or explored. Punisher Max: Butterfly takes this preconception and turns it on its head.

By exploring the periphery of the world of the Punisher, supporting characters get pushed into the spotlight. Ordinarily disposable villains are fleshed out and given time to grow. You’ll invest more time and care more deeply for the cast of players you’re introduced to – probably more so than any Punisher title that’s come before. Yet this careful character development comes at a cost: unfortunately, Punisher fans won’t get much actual Punisher for their buck.

Now I get why this one-shot is labelled as a Frank Castle title. Without the weight of the Punisher name behind it, far fewer people would pick up this book, which in and of itself would be a shame. I also get the rationale for him being the inspiration for the Butterfly of the title and for why she becomes an assassin in the first place. As a matter of fact, Butterfly’s metamorphosis into a trained killer is far more original (and dare I say it – more interesting?) than that of the Punisher himself. Yet I think the biggest problem the title has is that his appearances are so fleeting, and their impact so other-worldly, that anyone grabbing this from the shelves would feel a little cheated that the headlining star of the show isn’t actually the star at all. Perhaps as such an iconic figure for Butterfly, their encounters need to be near-misses or corner of the eye glimpses. In Butterfly’s eyes at least, Punisher is a near-mythological figure, but I can totally understand why people might discard the book in frustration at the end.

It’s a risky move by Marvel, but one that does let their writers and editors off the leash. They can dive into violent worlds like the one Punisher and femme fatale Butterfly inhabit, and they can recklessly slaughter their way through the title. After all, one-shots are often, by definition, self-contained narratives, which must be a liberating feeling for the writers and artists who ordinarily tip-toe through plot lines for fear of upsetting the established laws of the story world. Here, characters are given pages and pages of development, only to be snuffed out as they start to get interesting. It’s so detailed that it almost feels alien spending so long getting to know a character in a comic book. Thematically, the pages of Butterfly read like a novel or short story, which is no bad thing for a medium that often gets unfairly labelled as being just for kids.

Valerie D’Orazio weaves a pretty intriguing story around the damaged Butterfly, who, in an attempt to exorcise some personal demons, starts penning her memoirs – a move that understandably worries many of the high profile criminal bosses she’s worked for in the past. Laurence Cambell’s gritty images complement and enhance the storytelling, weaving an equally complex and interesting a web as D’Orazio’s words. It’s an intriguing partnership that works reasonably well. There are some problems along the way, however. The depiction of men is one-dimensional. They’re rapists, they’re abusers, they’re rootless. Think the men you’ll find in film noir, and you’re pretty much there. Similarly, for all the pain we see Butterfly enduring, she’s so removed from her emotions, so desensitised to horrible acts, that it’s almost impossible to empathise with her because the humane part just isn’t there anymore.

With this in mind, it’ll be no surprise that the fate of Butterfly is the key theme of the book, so exploring here exactly what happens to her and how she develops during the story would spoil things beyond repair. What I can say, however, is this: as a flawed yet engaging character study of a life spiralling out of control, and an exploration of how damaged things can become when your role model has something of an off-kilter moral compass, Punisher Max: Butterfly delivers, and delivers in style.

Bottom Line

A brave character study that surprises and disappoints in equal measure.