Customer Reviews

The Punisher Vol. 1: Dark Reign

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I'm not really a hardcore fan of The Punisher but I've always liked him so I was thrilled to see him tie into Dark Reign. (Which except for this I haven't really been reading) I'm also glad that we finally got to get a new relaunch of The Punisher books. (Matt Fraction's take was awful, and the art was too water colored) The writing is strong in this new Punisher series and the art is gritty but very appealing. I would recommend it even thought at times the book did seem pretty implausible.

This story is quite good for what it is. The basic premise is that Norman Osborn is "ruling the world" and Frank Castle isn't happy about it. So we get Frank trying to take down the big boss. Of course it doesn't quite work out like that. The art is very good & very suitable for this series. Frank comes across quite well in some of the fight scenes especially against the hired goons. Frank gets some high tech gizmo's that make him look a bit stupid but then the gizmo's are used in a good & funny way. The customising of some of his equipment is a bit much but overall it's a solid enough set up for the rest of the series.

There is a very quick synopsis of The Punisher & his role in the Marvel Universe over the years at the back of the book which is interesting enough & helps new readers get a grasp on the character's history (minus the MAX series of course).

People who read Punisher stories typically fall into two camps- those who only think he should go around shooting mobsters and those who can also enjoy him interacting with superheroes. If you're firmly in the first camp, this is not the book for you- check out the MAX series instead. I've always been in the second camp, and actually prefer seeing Frank Castle used as a foil for Daredevil or Spider-man than getting his Death Wish on.
This series takes place after Marvel's Secret Invasion title- the ending of which saw Norman Osborn play the big hero and fool the public enough to get put in charge of what used to be SHIELD. This doesn't sit well with Frank, who decides Osborn needs to be taken out. This obviously proves more difficult than the Punisher had hoped,and he is forced to contend with the various threats that Osborn sends after him. (Despite the long overview of the Punisher in the back, that's really all you need to know and it's presented clearly in the title. Longtime Marvel and Punisher fans will have a richer appreciation, but not at the expense of new readers)
I thoroughly enjoyed this title (the first solo Punisher title set in the Marvel Universe I have read since the character's heyday in the 90s). Remender has a great take on the character that feels deeper than a poor man's Ennis clone and has some great ideas on what it's like to be a soldier on a mission in a world of Marvels (The Punisher amps up his armory in an interesting way to keep up with the threats around him). The art by Jerome Opena is fantastic- he showcases the action in a very vivid way, but his storytelling and character work makes the dialogue scenes just as interesting. His style makes this book feel very much like the same world as some of the Marvel U's darker titles like Daredevil.
The two creators worked together before on Fear Agent and more recently on Uncanny X-Force. While I didn't love this as much as those other works, it's easy to see their collaboration ups their respective games. I'm planning on picking up the next volume, but am disappointed to see that they changed artists for that.

This series by Remender seems to fall between Ennis' gritty take on the Punisher and Matt Fraction's horrible version with capes. Thus we have Ennis' Punisher taking on the likes of The Sentry and The Hood, an uneven mix. The story is straightforward - Punisher teaming up with a whizkid to take down Osborn and his crooked empire.

Terrible cover ripped off from an earlier Punisher cover. I nearly didn't buy this comic as I thought that it was a reprint. Anyway, decent enough start to what promises to be interesting reading.

I never really cared for The Punisher in the past but with his recent cameos in Deadpool and other Dark Reign crossovers and being seen using old supervillian weapons instead of just guns, I found myself enjoying his presence and got curious. This first volume, taking place right after Secret Invasion, is a good jumping in point. This volume explains where Frank got those super villian weapons and has a great face-off against The Sentry if you can believe it! Unfortunately the artwork is that horrid watercolor style which I see as the comic book equivalent of the shaky-cam movie style direction. Luckily the story is good enough that it overshadows the art and makes this worth getting if you're having the same curiosity about The Punisher that I was.

This is nothing like Garth Ennis' Punisher, which I learned about from the [...]. Remender's Punisher is part of the regular Marvel Universe, like Matt Fraction's was. It's still a fun book--adult fun, though, because it's very violent.

I was surprised to see that this issue was written within the past decade. This super hero comic is far too wholesome to be called "Punisher". I will have to stick to my Punisher Max Garth Ennis books from now on. This is full of wannabe super heroes in tights, no REAL Punisher to be seen.