Civil War II: Kingpin #3 Review and *SPOILERS* - Marvel Monday

Shooting Gallery

Written By: Matthew Rosenberg
Art By: Ricardo Lopez Ortiz, Hayden Sherman, Mat Lopes
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 28, 2016
Publisher: Marvel

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

The Kingpin series in Civil War II has been serving as villain perspective throughout this crossover and honestly, it hasn’t been too bad. The first issue really caught my attention, but the second issue kind of fell flat for me. It wasn’t bad by any means but it certainly didn’t up the game of the book. That said, I’m still incredibly excited for this issue because, if nothing else, The Punisher is going to make an appearance! The only way I know this is because of the cover and covers have led me astray before but I’m still looking forward to it. That said, we left the last issue on a pretty big cliffhanger as a car bomb had gone off and Wilson Fisk no longer had his Inhuman companion Janus with him anymore. Assumingly, Janus was the only one that was able to do things because he couldn’t be seen by the Inhuman precog Ulysses. How will Wilson Fisk fare with him gone? Let’s find out.

Our issue begins with another one of Kingpin’s inner monologues as he states that despite popular opinion, he does not enjoy the life that he lives. He doesn’t like that people that he called friends have turned against him and he had to kill them. We then cut to the aftermath of the explosion from the previous issue and Fisk’s ears are ringing. They flee the scene but Kingpin demands that someone find Janus and bring him with them. Kingpin has become paranoid due to the attack and he calls a meeting but only with those who he personally hired. Anyone else is left out. This is when he realizes that one man in the car with them was hired by someone else. He wraps his hands around the man’s neck and kills him.

They arrive at the meeting place but Janus has yet to be found. Kingpin tells his man to find Janus and kill whoever is with him. Either that person kidnapped Janus, or conspired with him. Either way, that person should die. Kingpin meets with some more of his men where he reveals that he believes that Janus has betrayed him. However, the meeting is cut short when Scourge suddenly pulls out a gun and kills one of Kingpin’s men. Scourge gets a couple more shots off, killing others before he is pinned to the wall. Kingpin questions why Scourge would do such a thing when part of his costume is ripped to reveal the symbol of The Punisher. They have him pinned as they remove Scourge’s costume but suddenly find that they is a trip mine underneath it and it is aimed toward Fisk. Fisk grabs a man and uses him as a human shield from the blast.

The Punisher then vanishes in the commotion and Kingpin demands that they find him but the lights suddenly go out. Using a lighter, Fisk keeps looking for Castle, but the dark allows Castle to continue taking out more of his men. Fisk finds a room that is lit by a fireplace where he finds another ally. However, this ally also as a grenade in his mouth so Fisk grabs a table and uses it to avoid the brunt of the explosion. Frank Castle then burst through the door, firing his weapon. Fisk continues using the table as a shield and eventually is able to reach Castle. Fisk has Castle pinned and Castle reveals that he was the one that put the car bomb in to attack Fisk. He then starts edging Fisk on as he draws a knife and puts it on the opposite side of the table between the two. Fisk grows angry and attempts to crush Castle with the table between them. The knife Castle was hold pierces the table and goes straight into Fisk’s chest.

The table is now stuck to Fisk’s chest and the Castle kicks it even deeper into Fisk’s body. He informs Fisk that the position of the knife will cause him to die in four minutes if he removes it. Fisk is able to break the table in half without removing the knife from his body and he gets the upper hand on castle once again. He finally captures Castle before taking a small rest. Fisk has accepted that he is going to die but he wants to kill Frank Castle before he does that. He attempts to burn Frank alive in the fireplace but Frank grabs a pieces of burning firewood and strikes Fisk in the face, freeing himself. Castle attempts to escape out the window but Fisk follows him. This leads to Castle grabbing hold of the knife sticking out of Fisk’s chest and eventually getting away, removing the knife from Fisk’s chest. Fisk begins to bleed out when he reaches the top of his building and waiting for him is a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopter that is ready to arrest him. This is where the issue leaves us.

This issue really impressed me and made me excited to see how this series will end. Granted we still get the Kingpin monologues which fit really well into the story but I’ve grown tired of them. That said, this issue was exciting and action packed from start to finish and it left us with a huge cliffhanger. Still, we all have various questions about what’s going to come next and that’s why I’m so excited for the fourth and final issue. The action scenes in this book are a joy to look at and the classic Punisher vs. Kingpin storyline hooked me in immediately. Unlike many other comics who will have a quick one-off fight that doesn’t mean a whole lot, this fight carried with it some very big complications that will affect the story going forward. Nothing about this issue was wasted and that is something that I really appreciate.

Bits and Pieces

Kingpin finally reaches a new level as a battle with The Punisher (not a spoiler, it’s on the freaking cover) gives us intense action that will have most turning page after page excited to see what comes next. Something that couldn’t have said prior to this issue I now say with pride. I’m looking forward to the reset of this series.

9.0/10