The Punisher #37-#42
Marvel MAX
Writer: Garth Ennis
Pencils/Inks: Leandro Fernandez
Covers: Tim Bradstreet

The Punisher kills mobsters. This is a sentence, not the basis for a long running series. He doesn't fight supervillains, he doesn't really interact with superheroes, he doesn't have friends or loved ones, and he doesn't even really talk all that much. All he does is shoot people from rooftops and, in the hands of Garth Ennis, endlessly set up those Claymore mines with 'Front Towards Enemy' printed on them. Which is why it's amazing that so much has been done with the character over the past 5 years, mainly with Ennis at the helm. The revealing miniseries Born, the cartoonish Marvel Knights run, and now the grim MAX Punisher book have each taken the character in a different direction. While some of these books may not provide a great deal of insight into this taciturn character, they have kept things interesting over the years, something that could not be said for earlier incarnations of Frank Castle.

And writer Garth Ennis' latest story arc, the 6 issue Man Of Stone, is no exception. The story references characters from Castle's past, as well as keeping the story fresh and even, dare I say it, developing the Punisher's character a little further. Taking place in Afghanistan, Man of Stone has Castle reunited with his, uh, paramour Kathryn O’Brien, on the trail of CIA spy Rawlins and disgraced Russian General Zakharov, all of whom have graced the pages of Marvel MAX before. Throw in some carnage and enough tedious gun specs to fill a few Soldier of Fortune magazines, and you've got an engrossing comic book. The change in local really helps to liven up the book, which can only take so many warehouses at the New York docks before feeling less like escapist literature and more like getting up at 4 in the morning to load bags of feed onto a cargo ship with Panamanian registry.

To say that this series is dark would be an understatement so criminal it would probably get you shot through the pages of the comic itself, and this arc is particularly grim. Ennis isn’t known for pulling his punches, and the realism of his depiction of the war in Afghanistan might have some questioning the vague overtones of right-wing xenophobia, but it works in the context of the book. The violence is graphic, as always, and the characters, including Castle himself, are simultaneously irredeemable and, in their own strange way, honorable. Castle's development of a love interest in O’Brien never threatens to soften the tone, either, with the moments of what passes for tenderness merely counter-pointing the comic's harsh feel, like the calm before the storm, or the inevitable acoustic interlude on a Swedish death metal album. In terms of originality, everything Ennis writes still smells like Preacher, but he’s really grown since his early days, when exaggerated violence overtook his undeniable writing talents. For example, Ennis' dialogue here is sparse and hard-edged, and there are moments when he lets the images do the talking, an underused technique in many wordier books. The story of revenge and warfare brings Castle back to his roots in the military, but moves forward as well, which helps keep the series from getting stale.

Rating: 8 on 10

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