The Public Eye is a corrupt police task force but how far does that corruption lead too? Can the Punisher be the force needed to stop this corruption? Find out in Punisher 2099 #1 by Marvel!

PUNISHER 2099 #1

Writer: Lonnie Nadler and Zac Thompson
Artist: Matt Horak and Eoin Marron
Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer: VC’s Joe Sabino
Editor: Darren Shan
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: November 27th, 2019

Previously in 2099: In the year 2099, Dr Doom has taken control after destroying all the heroes and taking away people’s memory of them. In the city of Nueva York, there is a police force known as the Public Eye and a gang known as the Thorites. These two forces are constantly at odds with each other.

FORCED TO TELL THE TRUTH

Lieutenant Hector Tago is a member of the Public Eye and has recently been in a skirmish with the Thorites. When looking at a recording of the skirmish, he is shown shooting one of the Thorites who was about to attack him. While Tago doesn’t remember exactly what happens, the recording he is seeing is missing key details. Tago is soon called to check on a malfunctioning robot that he has to hack to shut off. While hacking, he gains the robots memories revealing that the robot was once human.

Hector Tago thus begins an investigation to figure out what is happening. Sneaking into the Public Eye Archives, Tago realizes that he shot an unarmed Thorite and it was covered up by Captain Gallows to save public face. Tago decides he must make penance and dons a skull mask and kills Captain Gallows. He then uploads the true memory of events to the internet before going into self imposed exile.

YOU ARE A NUMBER

The biggest bit of world building in this comic is the idea of a Social Score that reflects your status and value in society. If your social score hits 0, you are considered Worthless. The people who have the Worthless title are people who are way below the poverty line or are criminals. Throughout the book, Tago’s rating goes up and down depending on his actions and how it benefits the Public Eye. When he finally uploads the true video of what happens, his social score hits 0. Being numbered is a common idea in many cyberpunk-esque stories and I enjoyed the way they implemented the idea here.

I also appreciated the characterization of Hector Tago and his transition from public servant to antihero. This issue gives us a lot of information: the origin of Punisher, elaborating the setting, and explaining the technology. This book does all those things without overburdening the reader. The story was not seamless but it gave everything it needed to in a good way. The art compliments the tone of the writing and had great detailed backgrounds that added to the story. Great work here from the creative team.

BOTTOM LINE: ENJOYABLE

Overall, this was a great origin story for 2099’s Punisher. I think this is the best narrative arcs I have read out of the new 2099 series so far and I have become invested in the character. The world-building being set up here is interesting and using the Punisher as a character who wants to redeem himself was a smart choice. 4 out of 5 stars for Punisher 2099 #1 from me.

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Punisher 2099 #1

80%

80%

Enjoyable

The story was not seamless, but it gave everything it needed to in a good way. The art compliments the tone of the writing and had great detailed backgrounds that added to the story. Great work here from the creative team.

• Writing

  8
• Art

  8
• Coloring

  8
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