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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The essential Punisher story., February 12, 2004
This review is from: Punisher: Born (Hardcover)
This disturbing, yet masterfully written and beautifully drawn comic book (or "graphic novel" for those in denial) chronicles Frank Castle during his third tour of Vietnam, which is before he even thought about declaring war on mobsters and calling himself the Punisher, and showcases how the violence and gore surrounding him didn't turn him into what he is today, but rather how the war he was willingly a part of released his true, warped sense of morality and justice all those years before his family was slaughtered in Central Park, which was thought to be the original event that gave birth to the Punisher. Castle searched within his mind for the answer to the question of what he truly is and over the span of the four chapters it is so incredibly interesting to see how Castle comes to understand -- and accept -- that he is a monster and that he was born with this murderous yearning. A combination of beautiful art and powerful story, "Born" is without doubt the greatest mini-series of 2003. If you are a Punisher fan, you will forever cherish this as a part of your collection. If you are at least adept with the basic knowledge of the Punisher's history, you will find this mini-series as pure literary genius. Ladies and gentlemen, mini-series do not get much better than this.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good look at Punisher's time in Vietnam, December 7, 2004
This review is from: Punisher: Born (Hardcover)
Ennis crafts a short (four issues or about 100 pages) examination of Frank Castle's time in Vietnam, cultimating in a particularly disastrous attack that only Frank survived. The carnage, while perhaps expected, certainly satisfies -- and the depiction of Frank's commanders as incompetents, while not uncommon in the Vietnam subgenre of war stories, resonates with the Punisher's attitudes.
Perhaps most interestingly, the story suggests that Frank accepted a kind of spirit into himself -- a spirit of killing -- and that he did so in Vietnam rather than after his family was killed.
Certainly worth having.
-- Julian Darius, Sequart.com (for the sophisticated study of comic books and graphic novels)
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Frank's inner demons, July 9, 2007
Frank Castle, the man who would one day be known as The Punisher, is on his third tour of duty in Vietnam when something terrible starts creeping into his psyche as his bloodthirsty nature gets the better of him in this trade paperback entitled BORN. I enjoyed it a lot, and I would love it if Garth Ennis took it upon himself to write more tales starring a younger Punisher who is still learning the ropes and coming to grips with who he is and what he will eventually become. BORN appealed to me because it centers around the notion that the death of Frank's family was not the catalyst that gave birth to The Punisher, but that the vigilante side has lurked beneath the surface ever since Frank's last tour in 'Nam, when he made a deal with something or someone that feeds on death and bloodshed. This allowed him to survive long enough to become the world's fiercest vigilante, but at a terrible price. I adore Robertson's art (check out Ennis and Robertson's other project The Boys for similar brilliance) and the covers of the individual issues by Wieslaw Walkuski are absolutely amazing. Punisher shows that even during his early years no one was safe from his wrath as he punishes Vietnamese and fellow soldiers alike in typically violent ways in trademark Ennis style. I loved the plot and the overall realization that some dark entity inspired the Punisher, and it makes for an interesting read at the end of the day. I gave it four stars because the comic turned out to be a tad more predictable than Ennis' ongoing Punisher MAX series, and it felt as if I had seen something like it before somewhere (a man in dire peril makes a deal with a devil or whatever to become something inhuman that serves the devil's needs, almost like Ghost Rider). What is different here though is that Frank Castle enjoyed killing and just needed an excuse to go on an endless rampage and become what he always wanted to become. Even when he moralizes with fellow officers his inner voice or demon refutes his claim that he wishes to be 'saved'. Throughout the book Frank is portrayed as a man in love with death, and though he is presented with a choice the reader gets the feeling towards the end that we know which path Frank will take, since he is obviously destined to become Marvel's quintessential vigilante, so the comic basically just shows you how the situation in which Frank makes the choice came about. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who has read the MAX series or even Ennis' earlier Preacher comics, it won't disappoint.
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