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THE WORLD TO COME EXPANDS! One of the other pillars of MARVEL KNIGHTS enters the fray with THE PUNISHER! How did Frank get from the killer of killers you know to the man you met in THE WORLD TO COME?! Marvel Knights co-founder Jimmy Palmiotti and artist extraordinaire Dan Panosian treat you to one of the most savage comics ever!
When you read this book and read this book you must, pay close attention to your rage, your anger and your fear for the future of this iconic Marvel character. Because if you feel something that brings those emotions to the surface like this comic was able to do for me, then that's the point and guess what – we're only just getting started! Read Full Review
Marvel Knights: Punisher #1 doesnt ask for your trust. It takes it, shakes it upside down, and dares you to look away. Palmiotti and Panosian deliver a Punisher debut soaked in grit, menace, and sharp banter, never letting hope peek out from under Castles shadow. Eight and a half skulls out of ten, and if that feels harsh, well, thats just how the medicine goes down. Read Full Review
It's unfortunate that this first issue didn't hit the ground running with its plot, because art-wise, it's a home run. Hopefully subsequent issues will flesh out the proceedings better, and make it feel like more of a unique tale than has been presented thus far. Read Full Review
Marvel Knights: Punisher #1 succeeds as a brutal, unapologetic return to the kind of adult-oriented storytelling that made the imprint famous, with authentic creative voices and plenty of bone-crunching action. While it nails the aesthetic and violence fans crave, the narrative doesn't push far enough beyond familiar clichs to feel like a reinvention, making it more of a nostalgic thrill ride than a groundbreaking return. Read Full Review
Marvel Knights: Punisher is guns, explosions, and minimal depth feeling more like a video game than a comic. Read Full Review
Plot
The Punisher is after drug trafficker Armando Molero, but it's not easy to locate him, so he begins eliminating his collaborators to gather information.
Molero has a frog on the streets called Zombie, which literally leaves its users distracted like zombies.
The Punisher arrives at a base of operations and confronts Molero's assassin/bodyguard, called THE ZOMBIE, who is unstoppable and beats the Punisher to a pulp.
Molero brainwashes Frank Castle and transforms him into another THE ZOMBIE, his relentless hitman.
The narrative rhythm is mesmerizing and aggressive, incorporating all the best elements for an epic Punisher comic and much more.
Art
It's raw, full of details, t more
A very throwback issue, gritty is a word that's being used a lot to describe it but there really isn't any better word. The story isn't anything over-the-top or complicated or anything, but it gets the job done. Same with the art, it not the best art ever but it conveys the message in the way it was intended. Reminds me a little of Steve Dillon art, except better (I don't like Steve Dillon's art.) Panosian has come a long way since the 90s and Prophet, where I first saw his work and hated it. This is definitely going on my pull list.
As Punisher fan, you bring expectations when picking up a comic like this. The team up of Jimmy and Dan sounds really promising, as you saw as well.
After reading this issue I can see why some readers are not into it. It's different. The art style, the flow, the outcome,... My advise is to not overthink it and accept this storyline as new. It's a good comic issue and a good start of the series. Will this be a classic run? Most likely not.
Have fun
A sad go at it.
This is a return to form for The Punisher. The gritty art by Dan Panosian really brings out the tone and aesthetic throughout the book, and I think aging up Frank was a brilliant move since we don’t really get to see him older very often. That’s kind of where it ends for me, though this is just another textbook Punisher story with unoriginal ideas. Here comes the Punisher, ready to murder some Hispanic narco drug lords it’s a story we’ve seen many times before, but done better by Jason Aaron in his MAX series and by Garth Ennis. The new suit looks cool with the inverted skull, but there’s nothing particularly interesting going on in the story department. Still, that could change it’s only the first issue.
I had originally rated it a 1 because I hated the ending, but I’m raising the score a bit since, looking back, aside from the ending the rest is decent (not amazing, but okay), and the art is definitely top-tier. Also doing it to balance things out, like comment who have nothing to do with the actual comic.
Anyone praising a book like this either doesn't know the Punisher or is doing it so he'll one day be noticed by an editor and Marvel will call him to secure his place in the fold. Such cases have become common, as seen with David Pepose and others who are asked to write stories for these characters, where they put their own ideas and nothing more. But with Palmiotti, things become even more regrettable, since, like Jason Aaron, when both are called upon, they write good stories: Aaron for Titan's Savage Sword of Conan, and Palmiotti for Mad Cave's Pop Kill.
Here, we have Jimmy's easy money from a Marvel dominated by progressivism (which I believe Charlie Kirk's death will change in the future), in a cancerous story where Frank Ca more
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