Book of the Week

2-10-10

First off, I'm going to say something that a lot of people don't agree with, and that's The Punisher is a garbage character. He's a psychopath with a lot of guns. I don't get his appeal. I think I'm the only person in the world who didn't like Garth Ennis' Max run (I did very much enjoy his Marvel Knights run, which is hilarious).

That being said, recent months have seemed like a bit of a time warp, being that three of my favorite monthly comics are two Punishers and a Ghost Rider. Well, Ghost Rider just ended. Maybe I'll make my way back to 2010. Although, the way the two Punisher books are going, maybe not.

When I do enjoy The Punisher, I tend to enjoy stories that aren't necessarily realistic or gritty. I watched a lot of Steven Segal movies in my youth and the avenge-family's-death story just seems a little played out to me. However, what I don't tire of is violence, and Punishermax (even the title is barely mediocre) does not fall short in that aspect.

Also, the story is told from the criminals' perspective. The Punisher just kind of shows up like Jason Vorhees every now and again, takes an almost inhuman beating, and offs a bunch of gangsters. There's really more of a pathos with the criminals. Its odd, but I find myself wanting to see the Punisher get killed.

It looks like this series will be about taking classic Marvel villains and rebooting them in the Max universe. This first arc is about the Kingpin and up next is Bullseye. A new character called The Mennonite makes his debut. Oh. And I almost forgot to mention the creative team. It's written by Jason Aaron, drawn by veteran Punisher artist, Steve Dillon, and has these really cool unique covers by Dave Johnson. Check it out.