Punisher Max Volume 2 Hardcover for $19.79 at Amazon
The second hardcover from the Punisher MAX run by Garth Ennis, straight up, this one’s my favourite of the whole run. I’ll get it out of the way and say that the covers and the art, as in the previous hardcover, they’re perfect for this.
It starts off with Nick Fury popping in and recruiting Castle for a mission that no one else could do. He’s sent off to Russia to recover a sample of a super flesh eating virus. Problem is, some higher ups in the military don’t agree with Fury and his goals for the mission. They’re playing their own game behind the scenes and it plays a massive role in the rest of the Ennis Punisher arcs.
Once Frank’s back in NYC, the Italian mafia is at it again. They’ve got a new guy who digs up Frank’s family and he gets a little crude with their corpses. I’m sure you can guess where this is going, but yeah, great read.
One thing about the Punisher though. Even when I was enjoying the stories, the MAX arc…it’s close to war porn. The Punisher is more or less a force of nature, destroying everyone he judges as a criminal. He tortures people, he burns them alive, and he does it dozens of times an issue. No matter how well written it is, and for the most part, the people are written as deserving it, it’s just a strange read. Not my usual type of thing. It’s a never ending revenge story.
5/5. Probably the best Punisher stuff I’ve read.
