Garth Ennis (writer), Steve Dillon (pencils), Matt Hollingsworth (colors)
The Story: Shot to hell, and on the run from Elite 2, The Punisher makes a stop to patch himself up. Unfortunately the location of the stop lands him right into the cross-hairs of a mob hit-squad.
What’s Good: After the weirdness of the Ma-Bots, the story has seemed to find it’s footing once again. It’s still far-fetched that Elite would use them as part of a plan to kill the Punisher, but the focus has shifted away from them and back to the vendetta. This is good because I feel like this is the kind of tone that would be needed if there was ever a successful Punisher film franchise. The violence and action is there to appease the MAX fans with a slightly lighter tone for a wider audience. That tone is shown really well with Castle’s bleak matter-of-fact humor which always hits the mark.
What’s Not So Good: I’m concerned about the pacing. It’s not that each issue hasn’t been a good read, but we’re coming up on the final book and the story feels somewhere in the middle. The Ma-bots haven’t played much of a role in the story so far, and I’m concerned that they won’t pay off. If they do, great. Sorry for ever doubting Ennis; but if not, it would feel more like a marketing ploy than an attempt to tell a good story.
Conclusion: As goofy as parts of it are, I love this story. The deadpan humor of Castle’s inner monologue is fantastic. The lighter tone of a Marvel Knights Punisher makes the character more accessible to fans with a weaker stomach, but Ennis’ chops as a writer keep it hardcore for the diehards. Punisher fans new and old should give this a read.
Grade: B
-Ben Berger
Filed under: Marvel Comics, Reviews Tagged: | Garth Ennis, Marvel Knights, Matt Hollingsworth, Punisher War Zone 5, Steve Dillon, The Punisher
