Art: Mitch Gerads
Our favorite one-man crime killing machine starts anew as Marvel relaunches an all-new Punisher ongoing series. Nathan Edmondson and Mitch Gerads breathes new life into Frank Castle by moving him west to Los Angeles, and also a new drug cartel as a target.
Edmondson does not waste time setting up the status quo in this debut issue. He makes Frank more sociable, giving him a full supporting cast that he seems to be interacting with for some time making this a total opposite of the Frank we knew from Greg Rucka's run in the previous volume.
The issue starts off nicely with a typical military extraction by a group that's surely to be relevant later on. Then it cuts off to Frank doing what he does best - killing and extracting information from criminals. There's a lot of violence of course - something that is almost a requirement in a Punisher comic.
What seems to be noticeably different in this issue from the past Punisher titles is Frank's social skills. Edmondson tweaks Frank's personality by letting him interact with a supporting cast. He gives us Sam, a local cop that Frank occasionally talks to in a diner. At this point it is not known if Officer Sam knows who Frank Castle really is. Next we've got Lou, the owner of the diner. And lastly, a military contact who supplies Frank with weapons. This is a refreshing change that explores the lighter and human side of Frank more as opposed to the totally dark and brooding Frank from the past volumes and also something significantly missing from Greg Rucka's excellent run.
Gerads sets the right tone for the book. His bright and sunny Los Angeles gives a different feel from the New York setting we've been accustomed to when it comes to Punisher. His Punisher also looks like the type of guy who can finally get out and enjoy little things in life, but also a guy that can dish out serious violence.
The Punisher #1 is a welcome change of pace for Frank Castle, who seriously needed to lighten up a bit while still being true to his one-man war on crime.
Rating: 3.5/5
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