Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

I'll take it.  I wanted to finish this last night, but my braille project ate up so much time, and I didn't get very far at all.   I also need to explain Infinite comics: they are digital first, and in my opinion, aren't really worth reading in paper when compared to the digital versions.  (I can say this as I've read Ms. Marvel #1 in Infinite form - and in regular form, as it was originally created.   The Infinite is my go-to for that issue.) There is a lot of exploration with what digital formats can do for comics, and Marvel's Infinite comics - some original, like this story, some redone of issues like Ms. Marvel #1 - are at the forefront of this exploration.   

This is 67 pages, and also not.   It's probably closer to half the regular 25 pages, but each page has different components.   Panels will show up on the same page, slowly revealing what that entire page looks like.   I've always felt giddy about comics, but when I first discovered them?   There was something else, something new and exciting, and this is what Infinite comics feels like to me: I'm discovering something new and exciting, something my comics couldn't do before, and it revitalizes my interest in them.   (And even at $1.99, I will take the 15% off.   It's good to be a Marvel Unlimited Plus member, although I believe I've saved more than the extra money that cost me already.  I would most likely be buying these comics anyway, but it's nice to get something off since I can.)

I'm going to show you an example using one of the least elaborate page changes: the title page.

This is a nice example for many reasons: it took less work than a more multipaged panel for me, and yet the design changes are easy to spot.   More so than with other panels, although the changes are never hard to find.   This one is just more conspicuous, so perfection.  It also helps that the energy in this changes when the design elements do, and there's a sense of drama and storytelling even without words. 

Love, love, love.   

This is also fantastic.   Other than the gorgeous art here, one of my favorite writers has picked up Daredevil.  I was still worried: Daredevil and Doctor Strange can be written weirdly, or off, and I've got a slight cynicism.    I love Soule's work on Inhumans, but...

No need to worry.  I'd already picked up Soule's Daredevil 1-4 on more than a whim.   (My blind hero protagonist/learning braille project has me seeking out more, even when I was cynical before.)   I also subscribed to this series.   That being said, this was my first Soule/Daredevil focused project.   And both Daredevil and the Punisher are written to perfection.   (I keep using perfect, but I loved this issue so, so much.)

Matt's always tried to keep things light and he trades barbs with the villain of the piece here, but it also doesn't stop him from being in justice.   Yes, he's a vigilante, but one who intercedes only to save people.   He is not a killer, not a man who takes justice into his own hands.   Like Spider-Man, he intercedes until that intercession is not necessary.   He tends not to even throw punches that aren't necessary.  Once his opponent is subdued, he allows the police, and the legal system, to take over.  

Frank Castle, the Punisher, however?   He's a man broken by the system, who believes that the system is irrevocably broken.  He believes the only way to save innocent people is by taking the system into his own hands, and hey, the system has trained him to do so.   (His history has been retconned, but it tends to be some kind of special ops.)   He may be a mass murderer, but he also has a sense of justice.   Drug dealers, murderers, rapists, basically anyone who threatens those who aren't criminals?   They should be worried about Castle.  He will, however, let his quarry go to avoid killing the innocent.   And while this reprieve will be temporary, I think it goes a long way to explain why I love The Punisher so much.   He is the flip side of Daredevil.   They both believe in justice, very strongly, but their ideas of justice differ. 

It's the strength of their convictions, it's their belief in justice - a worthy cause - that makes me love them both so fiercely.  I can't say that I'd condone The Punisher in real life - let me rephrase that, I would most definitely not - but as a revenge fantasy?   He's very, very cathartic.   And no guilt.   If he were a revenge fantasy that just slaughtered anyone to get to his goal, I'd feel weird afterwards.   

Not with Frank, though.   This is also what makes them such a good pairing as far as a comic mini-series goes: the differences in how they think of, and approach, justice are so different, so exclusive, that the tension level is increased for me.   Punisher sees Daredevil as someone who is actively trying to get between him and justice, and this makes Daredevil guilty enough to go after.   

But Daredevil is also trying to protect the innocent, and there's this nice dissonance there.   For example, when Daredevil tries to stop Frank, The Punisher gives Matt a chance to back off.  When he doesn't, well, he tried, he warned Matt, and now all's fair in war.   

Lovely, lovely story in which I was completely engrossed.  I was only sorry this ended so quickly.   I'll be looking forward to the next issue in this series.