Punisher

Punisher War Zone 1-6

Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon bring back an army of Ma Gnuccis.  They turn out to be quad amputees paid by Elite’s son to impersonate her to haunt Punisher.  (It doesn’t work.)  This is a pretty useless mini, a coda to a story that didn’t need a follow up.

Heh.

Love it when Punisher gives props.

Hahaha!

Totally looks like Christopher Walken here.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Punisher: Tyger 1

Ennis teams up with legend John Severin to tell a story about Frank Castle’s childhood.  Usually this kind of thing is horrible, but this is really well done, even better than I remember it.  Young Frank doesn’t do any actual punishing, but bears witness to an instance that provides inspiration to the future vigilante.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good

Punisher: The End 1

Frank trudges through the radioactive wasteland of a post-apocalyptic New York City to punish the sole survivors of humanity (the corporate fat cats who instigated the whole mess).  Richard Corben brings his trademark ugly ass art to the party, which matches the tone perfectly.  But it doesn’t make the simplistic story any better.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine

Punisher: Born 1-4

The birth of the Punisher on the battlefield of Firebase Valley Forge in Vietnam.  This is a great mini, and unlike a lot of Ennis DC/Marvel war stories, it actually needs the IP character to work.  This is a Frank Castle story set in Vietnam, not a Vietnam war story that happens to star the Punisher.  

This sequence says so much about who Frank Castle is.

As does this one.

Chilling.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good