Punisher

Carlos Pacheco passed away yesterday.  Kevin O’Neill died only a few days before that.  Rest in peace to two amazingly talented artists, thanks for the joy you brought me through your art.

Punisher: Platoon 1-6

Frank Castle’s first tour in Vietnam.  He’s a smart lieutenant who’s yet to taste combat, but he quickly proves himself to be a natural leader and soldier.  Garth Ennis and Gorlan Parlov create a perfectly paced story between the relentless battle scenes and moments of introspection from the soldiers who served under Castle.  I’d forgotten just how good this story is.  I really hope Ennis returns to Frank in Vietnam next year as previously announced.  He’s so good in this setting.

Totally with them on this.

I LOVE Giap's elegant contempt towards his deceased subordinate.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pure joy

Punisher: The Cell 1

Frank gets himself sent to jail (again), this time to kill the mobsters responsible for the deaths of his family.  It’s very well executed, and the art by Lewis Larosa is suitably dark, but it lacks that extra level of complexity that marks the best Ennis Punisher stories.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Punisher MAX 1-22

Before I read this for the first time, I would never have believed that anyone could even come close to the quality of Ennis’ Punisher.  But here Jasan Aaron has done just that.  (This might actually be my first exposure to his writing.)  It helps that he has frequent Ennis collaborator Steve Dillon by his side.  

The cast basically feels like adult Ultimate Universe versions of Kingpin, Bullseye, and Elektra, brought in to take part in the Punisher’s last battle.  

This Kingpin does NOT fuck around.

Cold.

Coldest.  This is fucked up.

Heh.  Love the realistic take on the main canon Bullseye.

Heh.

This Bullseye is pretty funny.

Aaron writes each arc with real stakes, and they fly with reckless abandon at breakneck speeds towards the climactic ending.  

Embedded in there is a twist on that fateful day in the park that honestly blew my mind the first time I read it, while making perfect sense at the same time.  I’m not sure if I want it retconned into the main canon, but it’s really a brilliant take by Aaron. It changes everything we know about Punisher's origins, while changing nothing at all.

The death of Frank Castle is heart wrenching, bleak, and pathetic, and again, a wonderful bit of writing from Aaron.  And it doesn’t work without Dillon’s sad depiction of those final moments.

If I didn’t want to see how Ennis would write the death of the Punisher, this would honestly be the perfect ending to Frank Castle’s story.  (It even refers to Ennis’ run, so this is technically in that continuity.  Disregard the fact that Ennis’ Punisher: Platoon will later write a different experience for Frank’s first tour of duty in Vietnam.)  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pure joy