Punisher MAX Vol. 1: In the Beginning

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
Written by GARTH ENNISPencils by LEWIS LAROSACover by TIM BRADSTREETPrepare to be punished! For the first time ever, Marvel's one-man-army takes center stage in a no-holds-barred Mature Readers series! Writer Garth Ennis and artist Lewis LaRosa take PUNISHER to the MAX - literally - as the hunter becomes the hunted! Frank Castle's old associate Micro is back, and he's after Frank. But first, he's got an offer for Frank that he'd better not refuse. Get ready for blazing bullets, bloodbaths and bold beginnings... Collects PUNISHER #1-6.144 PGS./PARENTAL ADVISORY

Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Oh yeah baby, I've waited a long time for this September 18, 2004
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

Garth Ennis' Marvel Knights Punisher run had it's share of up's and down's; mostly due to the fact that Ennis didn't have the kind of freedom he had on titles like Preacher and Hellblazer which allowed his insanely dark humor-ish yet gritty storytelling to shine, but with the newly launched Punisher title under Marvel's MAX line (meaning, for mature audiences only), this is indeed the Punisher at his best. Beginning with a bloody flashback to the murder of Frank Castle's family and followed by an even bloodier assault on the mob, Frank finds himself hounded to become the CIA's own personal hitman, and none other than Frank's long thought dead partner Micro is here trying to convince Frank to do it. This is Garth Ennis at his best, giving the Punisher a dark, gritty, crime story feel that more than suits the book. The only problem with this book is the art from Lewis Larosa. While he does a fine job drawing the brutal ensuing blood baths and gore, his character models aren't the best around. Ennis' old Preacher partner Steve Dillon would have been an excellent choice to do the art, but as great as this is, that's only a minor withdrawal. All in all, Punisher fans who have been waiting for an excellent gritty and adult story that takes the character back to his roots should definitely pick this up. And if you think this is good, just wait until the next storyarc, called Kitchen Irish, comes out in TPB form, because that's even better.

5 out of 5 stars

Return of the Golden Age Punisher January 9, 2005
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

Did Marvel have a Golden Age? Or was this the Silver Age? Regardless, this Punisher is THE Punisher, back when he was in 'Nam and only on leave when his family was killed. Gone are the giant vans with sonar cannons and his super-powered fights with Venom and others. We're left with one hulking man covered in scars both real and metaphoric. The Punisher is on his own, the government is considering how to use him, Micro is trying to set him up and the mafia is getting antsy over the way that everyone keeps dying. The art is nice, the writing is nice, and Ennis takes the Punisher back to his basic roots; a man who punishes those who deserve punishment. No superpowers, no supergadgets, just... revenge.

3 out of 5 stars

Marvel finally lets the Punisher loose September 17, 2004
5 out of 10 found this review helpful

Now THIS is how the Punisher was always meant to be shown: dolin' out the gory ultraviolence on the bad guys with profanities flyin' left and right! It's about freakin' time Marvel dropped the main man into their adult-themed Max imprint! Now writer Garth Ennis can REALLY cut loose scripting the kinda stuff that made him a household name amongst geekin' fanboys across the country. Um, that stuff being ridiculously over-the-top violence with a streak of disturbingly dark humor, and such quirky supporting characters as a couple of mentally questionable mobster sidekicks, and a nympho "spook". Oh yeah, and lotsa cranium-exploding, brain-matter-flyin' head shots. There musta' been about a half-dozen noggins explosively opened up in the last issue alone!

The most notable thing about this particular story is the return of-- and not-so-fond farewell to-- Microchip, the main man's former sidekick in punishment back in the "grim-n-gritty" days of the late 80s to mid-90s. Which is kinda weird, `cuz I coulda' sworn they bumped him off near the end of the first volume's run. Anyhoo, he's working with a few rogue CIA types to try and get his former "buddy" to help out in other "wars". Unfortunately, I found Ennis' portrayal of Microchip a bit too off-base for my tastes. I found his conversion into someone who is now "working with the enemy"-- to paraphrase the Punisher's assessment of the man-- ludicrously out of character. Also, his... final moment... could have been more heroic.

Another wee problem I encountered was the story itself. While it had plenty of gore, profanity, and some barfing-- you know, the good stuff-- it didn't have quite the degree of weirdness or dark humor that made such Ennis-penned fare as `Hitman' and the initial `Punisher' relaunch series so fun to read. And while I found Lewis LaRosa & Tom Palmer's rendering efforts in this adventure above average, I'd have preferred `Preacher' & pre-Max "Punisher' cohort Steve Dillon to have done the honors here. Fortunately, they kept Tim Bradstreet on to do the cover art for the Max issues, all of which are on display in this TPB without any logos, bar codes, or other clutter gettin' in the way.

Bottom line: "Punisher: In the Beginning" is worth at least one read by any self-respecting Punisher/Garth Ennis fanboy. As for it bein' worth repeat readings: if I had my `druthers I'd probably read my copy of the "Welcome Back, Frank" TPB (www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0785107835/qid=1095404356/sr=ka-1/ref=pd_ka_1/002-4146420-7131215) again instead...

`Late

UPDATE 12/17/2004: For some reason my write-up for this particular TPB has been linked to the product page for the second Punisher Max TPB, "Kitchen Irish". So please disregard this review if you're reading this on the "Kitchen Irish" product page. And in case you're wondering: yes, I have contacted Amazon regarding this glitch, and they've been rather uncooperative in trying to fix it.

`Later

5 out of 5 stars

Down Home Truths January 25, 2005
3 out of 7 found this review helpful

I'm someone from Belfast who spent a year in New York and now lives in Japan and I have to ask; Is Ennis from Northern Ireland?
As a keen reader of novels and comics for twenty-five years this is not only one of the best comics, but one one of the best representations of the Northern Irish mindset I've ever seen.The post peace agreement stabiltity has left a massive gulf in the terrorist organisations and the republicans in particular have a foothold in the US.So this is scarily real stuff!
Ennis has the sense in such a politically sensitive arena to leave The Punisher as a reactionary force and, for once, doesn't paint the British as oppressive militants but presents a balanced, compelling and bloody but exciting scenario of the Ulster problem transposed to New York.
Take it from one who knows, this is good stuff!
Even for the casual reader (I have to say I'm not a huge Punisher fan) it's a great read.The storytelling is interesting, the subject compelling and the characters involving. All of them!
So, if you want to have a BLOODY good time, with a bit of Northern Irish history thrown in, read this book!

4 out of 5 stars

YE SHOWER OF C**TS!! August 17, 2005
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

As in real-life events, Kitchen Irish starts after In the Beginning.
Ever wonder what how, when or why Hell's Kitchen reveals its ugly site?
This is where Kitchen Irish comes along. To get an average reader
understand the premise of the story, Ennis has used various references from
movies like Gangs of New York and The Devil's Own. In addition, Ennis
has created some of the wonderful supporting characters from real-life
celebrities or fictional characters such as Lucy Lawless, Martin Landau,
Bill the Butcher, Mason Verger and whoever that you see.

The gangs in Hell's Kitchen are fighting over a sum of $10 million - a
will left by the late gang boss Nesbitt. To this end, every gang will
slug it out toe to toe to reach for the prize at all costs, even if it
means of having their members killed or causing a collateral damage
which involves our vigilante. As it goes on and on, it seems that the gangs
will have a hard understanding on Nesbitt's message to them which
involves are harsh and punishing way of saying, "Will You Stop That? " or
"No Rest For The Wicked."

Kitchen Irish was the real opposite in terms of mood and tone depicted
in In The Beginning. Ennis has brought back the black-comedy elements
as seen in the Maxi series. The real highlight in this story arc is not
the story itself but Leandro Fernandez's (Wolverine) art. Clean and
better looking, it's totally different that what Lewis Larosa illustrated
in the previous volume. The colors are brighter and have more variety,
but one problem was that there are some inconsistencies in the
character faces drawn in one frame compared to the previous frame. Nonetheless,
Leandro's art was real good and thus he was brought in by Ennis to work
on the next upcoming story arcs, The Slavers and Up Is Down, Black Is
White.

A lot of people asked of the lack of sex elements in the current
series. One of the parts of the story is the only one moment in the series to
have sex elements. Although the series has the highs on wanton violence
and the language used, the real low was on the sex thing. As you can
see, Frank doesn't do this ever since the family's murder. Another thing
that makes the story fell short compared to In the Beginning is Frank
himself. In here, Frank became more or less a secondary character and
instead the gangs were given the priority first. Not much of the personal
emotions of Frank elicit so often were shown here.

Anyway, it provides a relief to the cold mood in the previous volume.
If you like the laughs, if you are a fan of Leandro's art or even like
The Punisher, it's a good read really. Good but not that great.

[This review posted by my friend Melvin, also from Malaysia!]

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