The artwork, tonally, feels very samey. You could sugarcoat this with the title “consistent”, but we're not sure it's the exact same. Sure, the colour palette should have plenty of similar colours for it to feel cohesive, but everything is very dull and bland. The characters don't express all too much, either. The dialogue is relied upon quite heavily to know what's going on – and that's fine – but that's what separates good art from great art. Read Full Review

This is the last issue that has Steve Dillon artwork from start to finish, he'll have a few more pages in the next issue. Most of the story is backstory for Punisher in some nondescript location in the Middle East. Is this to suggest that Frank was in Desert Storm or Iraq or something? We all know he's a Vietnam veteran, so has his origin been rebooted since Secret Wars or something? I don't understand and it is a bit of a 'screw you' to loyal Punisher readers to add superfluously to his backstory without giving more context, especially when it doesn't really add any further insight into Frank's character. What did Cloonan want us to take away from this, that Punisher wasn't always crazy? The final pages in the graveyard threw me off, but I do admit that they are cool. The cover is also sweet, I didn't see the skull in the flames before, but now that I do I can't get over how bitchin' that is. more