Punisher Max Volume 1: In The Beginning Tpb (Punisher)

Rating:
Summary: Return of the Golden Age Punisher
Review: Did Marvel have a Golden Age? Or was this the Silver Age? Regardless, this Punisher is THE Punisher, back when he was in 'Nam and only on leave when his family was killed. Gone are the giant vans with sonar cannons and his super-powered fights with Venom and others. We're left with one hulking man covered in scars both real and metaphoric. The Punisher is on his own, the government is considering how to use him, Micro is trying to set him up and the mafia is getting antsy over the way that everyone keeps dying. The art is nice, the writing is nice, and Ennis takes the Punisher back to his basic roots; a man who punishes those who deserve punishment. No superpowers, no supergadgets, just... revenge.

Rating:
Summary: Oh yeah baby, I've waited a long time for this
Review: Garth Ennis' Marvel Knights Punisher run had it's share of up's and down's; mostly due to the fact that Ennis didn't have the kind of freedom he had on titles like Preacher and Hellblazer which allowed his insanely dark humor-ish yet gritty storytelling to shine, but with the newly launched Punisher title under Marvel's MAX line (meaning, for mature audiences only), this is indeed the Punisher at his best. Beginning with a bloody flashback to the murder of Frank Castle's family and followed by an even bloodier assault on the mob, Frank finds himself hounded to become the CIA's own personal hitman, and none other than Frank's long thought dead partner Micro is here trying to convince Frank to do it. This is Garth Ennis at his best, giving the Punisher a dark, gritty, crime story feel that more than suits the book. The only problem with this book is the art from Lewis Larosa. While he does a fine job drawing the brutal ensuing blood baths and gore, his character models aren't the best around. Ennis' old Preacher partner Steve Dillon would have been an excellent choice to do the art, but as great as this is, that's only a minor withdrawal. All in all, Punisher fans who have been waiting for an excellent gritty and adult story that takes the character back to his roots should definitely pick this up. And if you think this is good, just wait until the next storyarc, called Kitchen Irish, comes out in TPB form, because that's even better.

Rating:
Summary: Down Home Truths
Review: I'm someone from Belfast who spent a year in New York and now lives in Japan and I have to ask; Is Ennis from Northern Ireland?
As a keen reader of novels and comics for twenty-five years this is not only one of the best comics, but one one of the best representations of the Northern Irish mindset I've ever seen.The post peace agreement stabiltity has left a massive gulf in the terrorist organisations and the republicans in particular have a foothold in the US.So this is scarily real stuff!
Ennis has the sense in such a politically sensitive arena to leave The Punisher as a reactionary force and, for once, doesn't paint the British as oppressive militants but presents a balanced, compelling and bloody but exciting scenario of the Ulster problem transposed to New York.
Take it from one who knows, this is good stuff!
Even for the casual reader (I have to say I'm not a huge Punisher fan) it's a great read.The storytelling is interesting, the subject compelling and the characters involving. All of them!
So, if you want to have a BLOODY good time, with a bit of Northern Irish history thrown in, read this book!

Rating:
Summary: Marvel finally lets the Punisher loose
Review: Now THIS is how the Punisher was always meant to be shown: dolin' out the gory ultraviolence on the bad guys with profanities flyin' left and right! It's about freakin' time Marvel dropped the main man into their adult-themed Max imprint! Now writer Garth Ennis can REALLY cut loose scripting the kinda stuff that made him a household name amongst geekin' fanboys across the country. Um, that stuff being ridiculously over-the-top violence with a streak of disturbingly dark humor, and such quirky supporting characters as a couple of mentally questionable mobster sidekicks, and a nympho "spook". Oh yeah, and lotsa cranium-exploding, brain-matter-flyin' head shots. There musta' been about a half-dozen noggins explosively opened up in the last issue alone!

The most notable thing about this particular story is the return of-- and not-so-fond farewell to-- Microchip, the main man's former sidekick in punishment back in the "grim-n-gritty" days of the late 80s to mid-90s. Which is kinda weird, `cuz I coulda' sworn they bumped him off near the end of the first volume's run. Anyhoo, he's working with a few rogue CIA types to try and get his former "buddy" to help out in other "wars". Unfortunately, I found Ennis' portrayal of Microchip a bit too off-base for my tastes. I found his conversion into someone who is now "working with the enemy"-- to paraphrase the Punisher's assessment of the man-- ludicrously out of character. Also, his... final moment... could have been more heroic.

Another wee problem I encountered was the story itself. While it had plenty of gore, profanity, and some barfing-- you know, the good stuff-- it didn't have quite the degree of weirdness or dark humor that made such Ennis-penned fare as `Hitman' and the initial `Punisher' relaunch series so fun to read. And while I found Lewis LaRosa & Tom Palmer's rendering efforts in this adventure above average, I'd have preferred `Preacher' & pre-Max "Punisher' cohort Steve Dillon to have done the honors here. Fortunately, they kept Tim Bradstreet on to do the cover art for the Max issues, all of which are on display in this TPB without any logos, bar codes, or other clutter gettin' in the way.

Bottom line: "Punisher: In the Beginning" is worth at least one read by any self-respecting Punisher/Garth Ennis fanboy. As for it bein' worth repeat readings: if I had my `druthers I'd probably read my copy of the "Welcome Back, Frank" TPB (www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0785107835/qid=1095404356/sr=ka-1/ref=pd_ka_1/002-4146420-7131215) again instead...

`Late

UPDATE 12/17/2004: For some reason my write-up for this particular TPB has been linked to the product page for the second Punisher Max TPB, "Kitchen Irish". So please disregard this review if you're reading this on the "Kitchen Irish" product page. And in case you're wondering: yes, I have contacted Amazon regarding this glitch, and they've been rather uncooperative in trying to fix it.

`Later