Peacemaker: Disturbing the Peace #1 Discussion/Spoilers

[Rakzo]

After being let's say, less than satisfied with the work that Robbie Thompson did with the character of Peacemaker in Suicide Squad, I wasn't particularly excited about reading more about him but considering that Garth Ennis was hired in the new book starring him, I was expecting him to deliver an unique twist about it and he certainly did.

Although I must admit that there was some fear at the back of my head that Ennis could just be repeating the work he did in Punisher with Peacemaker due to the similar backgrounds and I'm happy to say that for the most part they're very different although they keep certain similarities. Christopher Smith is presented here as a fairly cold person but unlike Frank Castle, he doesn't have any violent tendencies growing up in his soul, in fact, Christopher doesn't feel anything at all. Despite of the tragic childhood he had, that barely infuenced his personality at all, it just motivated his decisions about how to deal with the issues that were presented in his life and sadly, they were really big issues. There's something very eerie about the protagonist, something that shows him as some sort of psychopath but again and unlike any other of that type that Ennis has written about, there's no malice at all in him, just peace.

The revelations keep escalating in every page where the psychiatrist often laments learning more about Christopher's past despite that the latter keeps conforting her about how there's no problem at all, there's actually some sort of kindness in the character in a very strange manner. Speaking about the psychiatrist, this is also something different from the usual work that Ennis does due that he usually portrays shrinks as manipulative douches but the character here is actually rather nice, a bit naive in a sense but there's nothing awful about her which shows that Ennis is changing his views in a sense, maybe one day I will see him showing religion as other thing than a sin against humanity, maybe one day.

The plot offers your typical Ennis war stuff along with exploration of humanity which I think is where his writing shines the most and in that sense, he doesn't disappoint. Is a good story with interesting character work.

Garry Brown's artstyle has a rough yet detailed finish that depicts the gritty nature of the book perfectly. Solid storytelling as well.

Good read, hope to see more of Ennis soon.

[sifighter]

I actually find it interesting the Ennis went for stoic psycho instead of the admittedly goofy version we have gotten with John Cena's interpretation. Just the "I am doing it" moment alone was pretty good

[Johnny]

I actually find it interesting the Ennis went for stoic psycho instead of the admittedly goofy version we have gotten with John Cena's interpretation. Just the "I am doing it" moment alone was pretty good

I think that just shows the difference between how James Gunn and Garth Ennis handle "complicated villains".

[Vordan]

This was amazing. If DC doesn’t try to get Ennis to write a Peacemaker mini or ongoing they’re making a serious mistake. Despite them clearly getting him to do Peacemaker because he’s “the Punisher guy”, Peacemaker doesn’t feel like a Punisher copy. I did laugh at how Ennis worked the SAS into Peacemaker’s backstory, he’s always gotta get the lads into his stories somehow.

[ducklord]

I dunno. Maybe I've just seen too much of it, but I think I'm officially tired of Garth Ennis when he's in full-on "transgressive" mode. I mean, the guy is talented as f, but I think I like him a lot more when he's making in effort to rein it in a bit.

Or maybe I'm just old and cranky.

[sifighter]

I dunno. Maybe I've just seen too much of it, but I think I'm officially tired of Garth Ennis when he's in full-on "transgressive" mode. I mean, the guy is talented as f, but I think I like him a lot more when he's making in effort to rein it in a bit.

Or maybe I'm just old and cranky.

Personally this is the most pulled back I’ve seen from Ennis in a while, he’s done much worse then this in past and current work.

[Vordan]

Personally this is the most pulled back I’ve seen from Ennis in a while, he’s done much worse then this in past and current work.

This was downright tame compared to Punisher or any of his indie work like Crossed/The Boys

[sifighter]

This was downright tame compared to Punisher or any of his indie work like Crossed/The Boys

Exactly, nothing all that offensive nor truly gory.

Well maybe the death of his family

[ducklord]

This was downright tame compared to Punisher or any of his indie work like Crossed/The Boys

Well, I stand corrected, then. I was going off the preview.

Now I'll have to give it a look.

[The Cool Thatguy]

I think that just shows the difference between how James Gunn and Garth Ennis handle "complicated villains".

What complicated villains has Ennis ever written?

[HsssH]

Enjoyed it a lot, and yeah, DC should try to get Ennis on more Peacemaker (or even Suicide Squad) stuff.

What complicated villains has Ennis ever written?

Punisher.

[hairys]

Loved it, but then again, I love Ennis and Ennis writing military characters basically always delivers for me. Agree that I want him to write a mini now. Surprised some people above didn't get Punisher vibes, as I basically thought Ennis just wrote Punisher if he were still in the military. Maybe Jack Reacher (military police) crossed with Punisher.

What complicated villains has Ennis ever written?

I think there are a few but one of my faves is the old, fat Russian general in his Punisher Max run.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Punisher.

When was Punisher ever complicated?

He was a bad man who murdered worse men

[Vordan]

Loved it, but then again, I love Ennis and Ennis writing military characters basically always delivers for me. Agree that I want him to write a mini now. Surprised some people above didn't get Punisher vibes, as I basically thought Ennis just wrote Punisher if he were still in the military. Maybe Jack Reacher (military police) crossed with Punisher.



I think there are a few but one of my faves is the old, fat Russian general in his Punisher Max run.

There’s a huge but understated difference between Punisher and Peacemaker: Peacemaker kills for a cause. Punisher kills simply because war is the only thing that matters to him. Ennis writes Peacemaker as someone who kills bad guys because he legitimately believes he’s doing them a service. Punisher meanwhile just wants to kill, Ennis had him deliberately getting people killed who were going to cut his war short. Punisher just wants to fight, he doesn’t even care about his family, he was planning on leaving them under Ennis, but his family getting killed simply gave him a new direction for his war to go in.

[hairys]

I agree there are subtle differences. Still, we have an extremely talented killer, military-trained, working as a vigilante, both having an idea spark in them after witnessing their family's brutal death.

There’s a huge but understated difference between Punisher and Peacemaker: Peacemaker kills for a cause. Punisher kills simply because war is the only thing that matters to him. Ennis writes Peacemaker as someone who kills bad guys because he legitimately believes he’s doing them a service. Punisher meanwhile just wants to kill, Ennis had him deliberately getting people killed who were going to cut his war short. Punisher just wants to fight, he doesn’t even care about his family, he was planning on leaving them under Ennis, but his family getting killed simply gave him a new direction for his war to go in.

when did this happen? it sounds vaguely familiar to me but wondering if it was Ennis, who I remember still giving Frank his typical code of not killing civilians, non-corrupt cops, etc. Like when those special forces guys went after him in NYC, he used non-lethal force.