Two different takes on the Punisher
While there are many things that annoy me about Marvel one thing I have consistently enjoyed is the Punisher ever since Garth Ennis rebooted the character a decade ago. I was sad to see Ennis’s real world Max line take on the Punisher come to a end, but Duane Swierczynski did a good job of filling in before Jason Aaron and Steve Dillon relaunched the Max line book this month. I had pretty high hopes coming into this book since I am a fan of Aaron’s Scalped, if you are not already reading that I highly recommend it, and Dillon for many years now has been one of the best to ever draw the Punisher. The first issue did not disappoint as it sets up what will be the Max line version of the Kingpin. Fans of the Ennis and Dillon run will like this as well for if I did not know any better I would have thought Ennis had written this issue himself.
Over in the Marvel U proper Rick Remender has a very different but equally entertaining take on the Punisher. Issue #11, out this week, is my highlight of the week. It is a very good jumping on point for those not already reading as the book goes in a very different direction after the events of the List where the Punisher was literally cut to pieces by Daken, the Dark Wolverine. This issue sees a strange group of Japanese men hunting down and killing monsters of the world. Many of the monsters have taken refuge in the old Morlocks tunnels in New York. After gathering up what parts of the Punisher they can find, Morbius the Living Vampire in a Doctor Frankenstein like role pieces the Punisher back together again in the hopes that the Punisher will defend the monsters against whoever it is that is trying to kill them all.
Remender has crafted a very strange but highly entertaining story. Tony Moore comes on board as the artist here and he is perfect for the job as it involves drawing Marvel’s Legion of Monsters. Anyone who enjoys this issue should also check out Fear Agent which is from the same creative team. Fear Agent also features the art of Jerome Opena, the artist of the first several issues of Remender’s Punisher.
That Max book looks worth picking up on the cover alone. That is awesome! I can’t make out for sure from the small pic you have in the post. I’m guessing however, that it is Dave Johnson. His covers are the best.
Thanks for the recommendations by the way, I might go check out that Max book.
I can’t keep up with Punisher stuff. It seems like there’s a new Punisher #1 every few months. And is the MAX series some kind of alternate reality Punisher, or is it just ignoring that the guy has been dismembered and raised from the dead? I was under the impression that the MAX series was just the same guy with more violence and profanity.
Yeah Dave Johnson is still on covers for the Max line Punisher. He has been handling the Max covers for some time now and of course they always look good.
The relaunched Max just picks up where Garth Ennis’ Max run left off. I probably should have explained it better in the review but the Max line is the Punisher set in the real world. The Remender written Punisher, which spun out of the recent Punisher War Journal series that came out of Civil War, written by Matt Fraction then co-written by Fraction and Remender, is set in the 616. It’s basically like the difference between the 616 and Ultimate universe just the Max line being the mature real world setting.
Oh the Punisher officially did die at the end of the List. It’s a bit of lazy Marvel writing in that he was magically able to come back to life by being stitched back together by Morbius. But the good far outweighs the bad in this case.