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Foolkiller MAX #2
Foolkiller MAX: White Angels
Los Angeles. The City of Angels. For a town that thinks it's pretty, there's plenty of ugly to go around. That's where the Foolkiller comes in - taking a scalpel to warts, expurgating the cancer that grows in society's gut When an ex-con named Darius Goode is brutally murdered just two days out of Lompoc, it barely makes the police blotter. But when signs point to Goode being the latest victim of the clandestine hate-crime organization known as the White Angels, the Foolkiller has to get involved. Thus begins a bloody search that takes him from the Hollywood Hills to the city's back alleys and eventually across the path of the one vigilante whose legend exceeds even his own. Yep, him Collects Foolkiller: White Angels #1-5.
120 pages, Paperback
First published March 4, 2009
About the author
Gregg Hurwitz
294 books7,263 followersGREGG HURWITZ is the New York Times #1 internationally bestselling author of over 25 thriller novels, including the Orphan X series. His novels have won numerous literary awards and have been published in 33 languages. Gregg currently serves as the Co-President of International Thriller Writers (ITW). Additionally, he’s written screenplays and television scripts for many of the major studios and networks, poetry, and is an award-winning documentary producer. Gregg has also written comics for AWA (including the critically acclaimed anthology NewThink), DC, and Marvel. Currently, Gregg is working against polarization in politics and culture. To that end, he's penned dozens of op eds and pieces for The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Bulwark, Salon, and others, and pieces of creative content which have won numerous industry awards and achieved several hundred million views on digital TV platforms. He also helped write the opening ceremony of the 2022 World Cup.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 20, 2018
Merely making a single cameo three issues in, FoolKiller MAX attempts to take first and then install second the person and personae of The Punisher in order to use this titanic figure to propel our (ostensibly lackluster) FoolKiller. Featuring probably the dumbest gimmick(s) of all time, cane sword, tarot cards, and a not-so-dissimilarly-familiar-tragic origin tale, our Z level primary hero is barely kept above water by his other’s duochromatic insertion, and a story befitting of this below-dirt-level-quality is the fetid result.
Nothing redeemable. Utterly forgettable.
Nothing redeemable. Utterly forgettable.
March 14, 2015
This one really surprised me. I picked it up due to The Punisher appearance, and was really glad I did. It basically read like a good Punisher story. You had some really evil villains in The White Angels, a white supremacist group. If anything, they were almost too over the top, but they came across as really evil b@astards. Then you had The Punisher and Foolkiller, who definitely fought fire with fire. I'm sure I wouldn't have liked this story nearly as much without The Punisher involved, but he played a major part and this was a good one.
It does require major suspension of disbelief in parts, as Foolkiller is going around killing huge groups of heavily armed men with just a sword, but like a Tarantino film it just comes across as cool.
This one is not for the squeamish as it has a LOT of violence and rough language, but if you are a fan of The Punisher MAX series you'd probably like this one.
It does require major suspension of disbelief in parts, as Foolkiller is going around killing huge groups of heavily armed men with just a sword, but like a Tarantino film it just comes across as cool.
This one is not for the squeamish as it has a LOT of violence and rough language, but if you are a fan of The Punisher MAX series you'd probably like this one.
September 30, 2019
Reprints Foolkiller: White Angels #1-5 (July 2008-January 2009). Mike Trace is on another assignment. As Foolkiller, he’s taking on a hate group called the White Angels who are targeting minorities. When he discovers the Punisher is also on the trail of the White Angels, Foolkiller realizes he might have a reluctant partner in Frank Castle. With the body count growing, Foolkiller will sort out the fools but could become a target himself.
Written by Gregg Hurwitz, Foolkiller: White Angels is a Marvel limited series. Featuring art by Paul Azaceta, the series is a follow-up to the previous Foolkiller 2007-2008 limited series which like this volume was released under the Marvel MAX imprint.
Foolkiller was a ’90s series that I kind of liked. The character put away his goofy pirate look from the 1970s, donned a leather outfit, and began killing. It was gratuitous and pretty typical of the 1990s, but it also didn’t hurt that Foolkiller (the Greg Salinger Foolkiller) was from Noblesville, Indiana right near where I grew up…and one of the few “heroes” from Indiana. The Trace MAX Foolkiller is pretty much the Punisher with a sword…I don’t feel that his path against the foolish is as fun as the Earth-616 Foolkiller.
The comic deals with gritty realism, but the Trace character can easily chop his way through body parts and people with little effort. I didn’t ever feel any worry for the character because both he and the Punisher made the jobs look a bit too easy. The assassin came and was pretty much stopped with little effort. It wasn’t like I felt there was much danger or risk.
The comic tried to distinguish the Punisher and Foolkiller’s actions. The Foolkiller is making “art” while the Punisher is just killing and not trying to make it look pretty. If this was the plotline of the story, I would have liked to see it expanded. I think the Punisher should have tried to understand the Foolkiller and the Foolkiller should have tried to understand the Punisher…it felt like they started to explore it and the had to wrap-up the “team-up”. It also felt like the Punisher should have been in the final issue to really cement his role in the collection.
The Foolkiller: White Angels series also has a big problem. As of 2019, there has never been a follow-up series to the comic. This volume feels like a real lead-up to the next volume. The assassin is maimed and out for justice and the police are begrudgingly having to bring in Foolkiller. It is set-up for the future, but nothing came of it…leaving the reader the ultimate fool for thinking there would be a payoff.
Written by Gregg Hurwitz, Foolkiller: White Angels is a Marvel limited series. Featuring art by Paul Azaceta, the series is a follow-up to the previous Foolkiller 2007-2008 limited series which like this volume was released under the Marvel MAX imprint.
Foolkiller was a ’90s series that I kind of liked. The character put away his goofy pirate look from the 1970s, donned a leather outfit, and began killing. It was gratuitous and pretty typical of the 1990s, but it also didn’t hurt that Foolkiller (the Greg Salinger Foolkiller) was from Noblesville, Indiana right near where I grew up…and one of the few “heroes” from Indiana. The Trace MAX Foolkiller is pretty much the Punisher with a sword…I don’t feel that his path against the foolish is as fun as the Earth-616 Foolkiller.
The comic deals with gritty realism, but the Trace character can easily chop his way through body parts and people with little effort. I didn’t ever feel any worry for the character because both he and the Punisher made the jobs look a bit too easy. The assassin came and was pretty much stopped with little effort. It wasn’t like I felt there was much danger or risk.
The comic tried to distinguish the Punisher and Foolkiller’s actions. The Foolkiller is making “art” while the Punisher is just killing and not trying to make it look pretty. If this was the plotline of the story, I would have liked to see it expanded. I think the Punisher should have tried to understand the Foolkiller and the Foolkiller should have tried to understand the Punisher…it felt like they started to explore it and the had to wrap-up the “team-up”. It also felt like the Punisher should have been in the final issue to really cement his role in the collection.
The Foolkiller: White Angels series also has a big problem. As of 2019, there has never been a follow-up series to the comic. This volume feels like a real lead-up to the next volume. The assassin is maimed and out for justice and the police are begrudgingly having to bring in Foolkiller. It is set-up for the future, but nothing came of it…leaving the reader the ultimate fool for thinking there would be a payoff.
August 2, 2026
Os desenhos distorcem a anatomia o suficiente para tocarem o limiar do amadorismo sem serem simplórios e a história avança num passo rápido, com as imagens a fazerem o trabalho sem grande texto, mas numa história de supremacistas brancos estraçalhados por dois "heróis" sanguinários, aquilo que fica é uma exagerada dedicação ao destilar da ideologia neonazi através dos discursos de um radiofonista conciso e à descrição gráfica dos violentos homicídios perpetrados pelo grupo odioso.
Os heróis - Foolkiller é acompanhado pela surpresa aparição do Punisher - apenas matam os vilões sem abrirem a boca. Ou seja, a única ideologia que pode ler-se é a dos vilões, porque os heróis não contrapõem a sua visão. O leitor neonazi tem aqui bastante com que se deliciar, porque o seu ponto de vista nunca é rebatido através de palavras. Não sabemos em que acreditam os heróis, porque não o verbalizam, nem sequer em pensamentos. São apenas assassinos de criminosos, mas sem explicação para os seus actos. É demasiada preguiça por parte do argumentista, que nunca explicita a sua versão daquilo que considera a atitude e a mentalidade correctas.
Aparece no quarto capítulo um assassino a soldo que é um velho magrinho e de óculos que vem matar os heróis, e chega a atacar o Punisher, mas a quem é arrancado um braço inteiro pela espada de samurai do Foolkiller e toma no rio. Na última página do livro, ressurge com um braço mecânico e a intenção de vingar-se do Foolkiller. Não se esvaziu em sangue, simplesmente ter-se-á conseguido arrastar para a margem e desta para um daqueles hospitais que colocam braços biónicos. É a mais indigente lógica dos comics, que lembra os filmes de terror, a fazer-se a uma sequela. Mas devia ter-se esvaído em sangue, porque o assassino é um homem comum.
Os heróis - Foolkiller é acompanhado pela surpresa aparição do Punisher - apenas matam os vilões sem abrirem a boca. Ou seja, a única ideologia que pode ler-se é a dos vilões, porque os heróis não contrapõem a sua visão. O leitor neonazi tem aqui bastante com que se deliciar, porque o seu ponto de vista nunca é rebatido através de palavras. Não sabemos em que acreditam os heróis, porque não o verbalizam, nem sequer em pensamentos. São apenas assassinos de criminosos, mas sem explicação para os seus actos. É demasiada preguiça por parte do argumentista, que nunca explicita a sua versão daquilo que considera a atitude e a mentalidade correctas.
Aparece no quarto capítulo um assassino a soldo que é um velho magrinho e de óculos que vem matar os heróis, e chega a atacar o Punisher, mas a quem é arrancado um braço inteiro pela espada de samurai do Foolkiller e toma no rio. Na última página do livro, ressurge com um braço mecânico e a intenção de vingar-se do Foolkiller. Não se esvaziu em sangue, simplesmente ter-se-á conseguido arrastar para a margem e desta para um daqueles hospitais que colocam braços biónicos. É a mais indigente lógica dos comics, que lembra os filmes de terror, a fazer-se a uma sequela. Mas devia ter-se esvaído em sangue, porque o assassino é um homem comum.
July 7, 2018
This has to be ugliest and most poorly written comic book that I had ever read. The artwork is simply ugly most of the time, most obviously done by tracing rather than drawing. The colouring is just hard too look at. I understand they were trying to go for a grim and dark palette, but there's a difference between that and only using shades of black and brown for an entire series. The shadows are so strong that sometimes you can barely tell the characters apart (i'm talking about Foolkiller and Punisher, since all the others are just generic masked thugs). That's actually for the best, since the characters themseleves are plain hard to look at anyway.
Regarding the story, this must be what a 10 year old that watches too much wrestling and plays edgy video games imagines a venegence story to look like. This interpretation of Foolkiller is written badly, angsty and way too edgy with bad lines that struggle too much to sound bad ass and deep but fall flat. One could argue this book is written for preteens but the violence and graphic content would argue otherwise, so there is no excuse!
The whole plot line, although written in 2009, seems actually more apropiate for the political climate of 2018. The use of buzz words and overwall good but badly argumented intent again gives the impression that this was written by a person who has little grasp of the real world. This plot could've been handled amazingly by other writers since at its base it is actually really intriguing and captivating. But the asanine execution only damages this furthermore.
Regarding the story, this must be what a 10 year old that watches too much wrestling and plays edgy video games imagines a venegence story to look like. This interpretation of Foolkiller is written badly, angsty and way too edgy with bad lines that struggle too much to sound bad ass and deep but fall flat. One could argue this book is written for preteens but the violence and graphic content would argue otherwise, so there is no excuse!
The whole plot line, although written in 2009, seems actually more apropiate for the political climate of 2018. The use of buzz words and overwall good but badly argumented intent again gives the impression that this was written by a person who has little grasp of the real world. This plot could've been handled amazingly by other writers since at its base it is actually really intriguing and captivating. But the asanine execution only damages this furthermore.
December 19, 2017
It starts and ends well, but the bulk of it is just mindless extreme violence. when Steve Gerber created the Foolkiller, he requested that the character be kept off the covers of Man-Thing #3-4 so as not to sensationalize the character, which appeared on the scene at almost the same time as The Punisher debuted in The Amazing Spider-Man #129. The Punisher guest stars in this series, but apparently sales weren't high enough to pick up on sickle Moon's revenge plot at the end.
When Hurwitz announced the first Foolkiller MAX mini, Steve Gerber was supportive of it because he was creating a new character, Mike Trace, and just using the Foolkiller concept loosely. The first volume was quite good and had excellent art that fell off in later issues. This one starts promisingly enough by making the villains white supremacists, but it's mostly about how disgustingly Trace and Castle can kill them.
When Hurwitz announced the first Foolkiller MAX mini, Steve Gerber was supportive of it because he was creating a new character, Mike Trace, and just using the Foolkiller concept loosely. The first volume was quite good and had excellent art that fell off in later issues. This one starts promisingly enough by making the villains white supremacists, but it's mostly about how disgustingly Trace and Castle can kill them.
March 1, 2020
Not a great character or story, fairly generic MAX stuff
October 21, 2025
I get wanting to make a more grounded take on an oddball character but they ended up with something really generic.
August 3, 2016
Following in my footsteps of strange Punisher crossovers is this gem. I have no idea who the Foolkiller is but he is an interesting protagonist.
The story takes place in LA. A group of white supremacists called the White Angels are lynching illegal aliens and minorities. This blatant murder attracts the notice of the Foolkiller, a vigilante who always leaves his kills in some artistic state (reminds me of the killer from the Hannibal tv series). When he crosses paths with the Punisher, who is tracking a gun-runner affiliated with the White Angels, the story takes off.
This was a very dark, gritty and violent tale. The art is never quite on par with the story, but there may be those who like this style. For me it lacks detail. But the story is a good one. While the White Angels seem rather a bland group for a TPB, there is more to them. I enjoyed the different styles between the Punisher (who uses guns) and Foolkiller (who uses a katana). The writing was well done and I enjoyed the tale. If I had only one complaint it's the art. I would recommend this to any Punisher fan, as well as those who like a dark and violent tale.
The story takes place in LA. A group of white supremacists called the White Angels are lynching illegal aliens and minorities. This blatant murder attracts the notice of the Foolkiller, a vigilante who always leaves his kills in some artistic state (reminds me of the killer from the Hannibal tv series). When he crosses paths with the Punisher, who is tracking a gun-runner affiliated with the White Angels, the story takes off.
This was a very dark, gritty and violent tale. The art is never quite on par with the story, but there may be those who like this style. For me it lacks detail. But the story is a good one. While the White Angels seem rather a bland group for a TPB, there is more to them. I enjoyed the different styles between the Punisher (who uses guns) and Foolkiller (who uses a katana). The writing was well done and I enjoyed the tale. If I had only one complaint it's the art. I would recommend this to any Punisher fan, as well as those who like a dark and violent tale.
April 3, 2013
Gratuitous revenge fantasy, with no wit or substance. Hurwitz' first Foolkiller book was nothing special, but it seemed at least somewhat interested in the subtleties of guilt and the ugliness of vigilantism. This is just irredeemably ugly people being slaughtered in a flurry of ostensibly righteous gore.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews