Do what you are best at – review of the comic book “Punisher”, vol. 1

Beware, mafioso!

After the series Punisher Max Egmont gives us the opportunity to get to know the adventures of Frank Castle again. This time it hits the market in the Marvel Knights installment , and the first volume is simply titled Punisher . The famous Slayer finds its way back to New York, and targets the mafia headed by Mother Gnucci. Frank eliminates more thugs, and finally a certain Rusek is sent against him, a superhumanly strong and resistant man who will cause Frank a lot of trouble. Besides, the hero also has other worries. The police are also following him, and they want to get him alive or dead. Moreover, people appear in the city who, wanting to imitate him, kill those whom they themselves deem appropriate to be liquidated.

Later in the album, Punisher goes to Grand Nixon Island, a place of refuge for the worst degenerates from around the world. The commander-in-chief of the facility, a certain Kreigkopf, intends to use the nuclear tests conducted by France, seize several bombs and drop them on Europe and the USA. Frank, of course, wants to stop him, and in the process find out who is funding it.

Adults only!

Punisher is an extremely bloody and brutal comic, and at times also contains erotic undertones. Its plot is extremely simple. Frank does what he does best – killing more thugs. For most of the stories, he moves forward almost without scratching and leaves piles of corpses behind him, only some of which are lucky enough to die from a headshot, which is quick and painless. The rest are run over, burned, torn apart by an explosion or even to shreds by polar bears. Frank’s only serious problem is actually a superhuman and exaggerated Rusek. The duo of Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon are responsible for this carnage. Both gentlemen are known primarily for their work on the Preacher, a comic published by Vertigo and under the banner of DC Comics (based on it, a series with Domic Cooper in the lead role was also created). If you’ve read the series, you already know what to expect from the Punisher. The author doesn’t bother to think about any deeper thought-provoking stories. Yes, there is a thread of Frank’s followers killing almost blindly, and Castle’s dilemma for Daredevil, but that’s about it. The rest is just plain beating up in style. Also in terms of graphics, one could say that the notebook is not outstanding. It contains fairly simple and a bit caricatured illustrations that perfectly fit the script. This makes the album, which might seem unimaginative and even uninteresting, more attractive. The authors themselves, from the very beginning, claimed that they were playing with Frank and that they wanted to give the readers simple entertainment. And they succeeded. Although it’s bloody here, we can laugh at it. The best recommendation is that although the comic is over 400 pages long, time with him passes very pleasantly and quickly. So as intended by the creators!

I’ve seen it somewhere before …

One more thing is worth mentioning – the Punisher in questionhe was a source of inspiration for Jonathan Hensleigh in making the movie of the same name, which hit theaters in 2004. Let us recall that Thomas Jane played the title character there, and on the screen he was accompanied by John Travolta, Will Patton and Rebecca Romijn. The picture is a combination of Frank’s beginnings, i.e. the moment when he loses his family, and a comic book created by the Ennis-Dillon duo. Admittedly, Howard Saint is not there, and Mother Gnucci is in his place, but Castle himself also hides in one of the blocks, has three neighbors whom he helps and protects, and is visited by a packed Rusek. The filmmakers even presented a brutal scene in which thugs tear numerous earrings from Dave’s body, while massacring his face. So if you liked this adaptation,

Addition

You will also find some bonuses in the first volume of The Punisher . Egmont has already got us used to the fact that we can find some alternative covers at the end, and this is also the case this time. In addition, there are also two letters of a kind written by Garth Ennis – In Defense of the Punisher and The War of the Self-proclaimed Law Enforcers, or the Punisher’s Manifesto – in which the author explains what led him to create the comic and what goal he wanted to achieve. Additionally, there is also the original script of the notebook.

In addition, the album contains a fragment of the story The Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe . This is an alternate adventure in which Frank kills every famous hero and villain created by the House of Ideas. Here you can see his fight with Wolverine, Spider-Man, Venom, Hulk, Kingpin and Doctor Doom. This is obviously a kind of curiosity and bloody superhero fun. Later, Deadpool also followed the same lead, who also had the opportunity to get rid of all the other leotards and bad-guys.

With a grain of salt?

The Punisher comic book should be approached in accordance with the expectations of the creators, i.e. with a distance. This is not a high-minded story with a message about a noble superhero fighting against an intelligent criminal and his own weaknesses or conscience. We are dealing here with a grotesque adventure in which the main character does what he likes and knows best, i.e. he kills. Without any obstacles, he lays down successive groups of enemies and does not even sweat. The only thing he gets under his skin is the comical Rusek, who even being decapitated will not kill him! Despite the high level of brutality, it is quite fun here and the album itself is a pleasure to read. So if you are looking for simple entertainment to relax, the Punisher will be a bull’s eye!