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The Punisher Vol. 1: Welcome Back, Frank Paperback – June 1, 2001
Purchase options and add-ons
- Print length272 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherMarvel Comics
- Publication dateJune 1, 2001
- Dimensions6.62 x 0.47 x 10.18 inches
- ISBN-100785107835
- ISBN-13978-0785107835
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Product details
- Publisher : Marvel Comics (June 1, 2001)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 272 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0785107835
- ISBN-13 : 978-0785107835
- Item Weight : 1.25 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.62 x 0.47 x 10.18 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #2,030,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #8,766 in Marvel Comics & Graphic Novels (Books)
- #61,077 in Graphic Novels (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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About the author

Garth Ennis is the award-winning writer of Hellblazer, Hitman, Punisher, Preacher, Pride and Joy and War Stories. He is much in demand for his hard-edged, wickedly humorous style.
Photo by pinguino k from North Hollywood, USA (william and garth ennis) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.
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I should have been forewarned by Ennis' foreword, where he explains that he is aiming to entertain, as opposed to depicting "a portrait of one man's tragic descent into murderous psychosis", or "an in-depth examination of the vigilante down the ages", according to his own words. Choosing instead to deliver "a laugh, a thrill...". This is quite alright, as there is no approach in comic books, or any other art form for that matter, that is set in stone, nor should there be. My particular problem with this is the fact that we're dealing with The Punisher here. Most other characters you could enjoy greater flexibility with, exploring their fun, entertaining side, or their darker, more serious, deeper aspects. The thing with Frank Castle is that he is a serial killer, a possible sociopath, a borderline-personality disorder case, a mass murderer. I find it very hard to take a character like that and gloss over these things and instead focus on showing him kill people in various different ways and limit yourself to presenting that as entertainment.
Having said that, there are many moments of reflection. Not every page is imaginative ways to kill. The deepest moments are Frank's thoughts, such as when he remembers catching a glimpse of heaven, or reminiscing about Vietnam and doing things that "make dirty look good". Those are the moments that make me interested in "Born" or the MAX issues. Having Ennis go deeper instead of just entertaining us. I mean, any book has to entertain, but the way I see The Punisher, it has to be ugly, gritty, raw, dark, grim. Think Batman, but way darker. The very nature of the character demands it. But when by page 4 you see Frank pulling his fat neighbor from being stuck in the frame of his door, the general setting of the story begins to take shape and it's not very, Punisher-like. Oh and the exchange with Daredevil is great, a high point of the collection.
The point here is, this is Ennis and Dillon's version of The Punisher. I'd be wary to identify Frank Castle with this collection, as I feel it doesn't represent the character or his reality in its appropriate dimension. Think of Adam West's Batman. Entertaining? Yes. Would you show it to someone as the definitive Batman? As an accurate portrayal of The Dark Knight? I sure as hell wouldn't. The Punisher is a guy that lives to kill, and for a person living that reality, scenes showing a fat guy getting stuck in a door frame, breaking his toilet, or using said fat guy to kill an enemy (with help from a pepperoni pizza), just seem wildly out of place. Is this portrayal of The Punisher wrong? No, it's just the version of the same guys that brought you Preacher. I love Preacher, but applying that approach to The Punisher is at most a cool experiment, but I wouldn't take it too seriously. Take the art for example. Steve Dillon is one of my top ten favorite comic book artists, hands down, but whereas his style is right at home in Preacher, it feels a bit too cartoony here. Frank's costume with the glaring white, the ketchup-like spurts of blood, the "aiiiieeeee" screams of the victims...Don't get me wrong, the art is great, it just feels odd when applied to this character.
So, I would refer this book to someone only after making it clear that this is "Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's version of The Punisher", in the same way that I would show The Simpson's "The Shinning" episode to someone only after clarifying that it's a Simpson's version, and they should instead read the book or watch the movie if they are looking for a definitive version of that story, or if they've never heard of it.
I find it very revealing how the Thomas Jane Punisher movie thought it was a good idea to get inspiration from these books, as we all know how that turned out. The cartoonish Russian, the fat & thin comic relief couple...No disrespect to this comic book series, but it was surely an idiot that presented the producers/writers/director with this specific depiction of The Punisher and led them to base parts of the movie off it. So, yes, enjoy this book, but don't expect this to be the definitive version of The Punisher.
The service was quick from Amazon and received the graphic novel in a few days. In this revenge tale, ( “Welcome Back Frank” by Ennis, Dillon and Palmiotti) when the mob finds out Frank Castle (The punisher) is back in town they hire a bunch of professional assassins to kill him; however, as fans of the series know the Punisher is not an easy target to kill. In fact, Frank Castle counter-attacks his assassins before they even had a chance to actually approach the Punisher.
He lets the mob know that he is coming to take out their whole criminal family which makes these thugs just a little nervous. The illustrations are clear and beautiful showing the Punisher at his best as he plows through the mob’s thugs and murders.
If you are a fan of the Punisher series you may want to check out this graphic novel
Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Hanbo-Jutsu: How to use the Hanbo, Cane, Walking Stick and Baton for self-defense).
He does.
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此処には、ありとあらゆる武器とバトル・ヴァン(ウォー・ワゴン)
を使ってバタバタとマフィア連中をぶっ殺していくかつてのパニッ
シャーの姿は無い。当然、マイクロチップも此処には居ない。
そしてフランク自身も幾度と無く窮地に立たされたり銃弾を派手に
食らったりしている。旧作を知ってる人にとってはかなり驚くと思う。
それらに取って代わるのが、先のレヴューにもあったようなブラック
ユーモア、それも悪意スレスレのかなり危ない路線で、これまでの
マーヴェルでは考えられなかったんじゃないのかな。俺自身はかなり
笑わせてもらったけど。動物園の白熊を「武器代わり」にしたり、
その熊にやられて「ダルマ」になっちゃうババァとか、ポパイみたい
なロシア人を倒すのに同じ階に住んでる巨漢デブを使って窒息させり
というセンスに脱帽する。あとは、旧作でかなりの数を描いていた
俺の好きなジョン・ロミータJrとはまさに正反対というべきディフ
ォルメの効いた絵も一役買って、まさに「Welcome Back, Frank」という作品になっている。


![PUNISHER: WELCOME BACK, FRANK [NEW PRINTING]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61OshwUZv9L._AC_UL160_SR160,160_.jpg)




