What you think about Punisher #12 will really hinge on your thoughts about this current take on the character. It adds some interesting aspects to the character but overall it's a big change for the character that could lay the groundwork for what's to come. Read Full Review

Punisher #12 ends the story in a way that makes me want to read the entire series again, but maybe not for the best reasons. It was clear with the last issue what this was all about, but this final issue is less a period and more of an ellipsis, as all "final" stories are for superheroes. Read Full Review

Punisher #12 brings Jason Aaron's run, and the character's presence in Marvel, to a close with a thoughtful and quiet ending to the Punisher's war. The character moments are surprisingly mature, and the art continues to maintain the high quality offered in issue #1, but readers looking for the Punisher to go out with a big bang may find this ending anti-climactic. Read Full Review

Punisher #12 lacks the same action, suspense, and creative narrative twists that fortified this series to this point. Read Full Review

Wow. I took a long shot bet back around #2 that the point of this series was to put Frank into comics limbo and, well, here we are.

Not that he's all that deep in limbo. Any writer with a good idea can easily get him back in action; a hack could do it in about four pages. I just hope we get a few interesting solo Maria adventures before that happens.

(But since I read via MU, I can already peek into the future and see Marvel can't resist bringing back the name if not the man tout suite. I guess there's just too many dirty dollars to be made catering to whiteboy revenge fantasies.)

This finale has some powerfully-crafted scenes; good art and good lines abound. The character work is brutal and unforgiving.

Although this is the exact endgame the author was shooting for, standing by itself this issue is a little scattered and digressive. The need to wrap up every character's plotline--and to do more flashbacks, even after their purpose has been served--slow down the pace and leave this issue stranded just short of greatness.
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I liked pretty much the whole issue until the end. I wish they would have just shoved Frank away somewhere or just had him dissappear and leave it vague. It really ruined the impact of everything that came before it. Still an overall good series, that overall added a decent layer to Frank. I'm still not totally ok with the retcon of the early Frank being groomed. The Maria arc was the real star.

I'm not as big a fan of this run as everyone else seems to be. Maria comes off as a complete bitch in this one. She steals all of his money and leaves him with nothing. Not a single shred of remorse or concern about how he is going to eat his next meal. I wonder if Strange gives him the bullets on purpose to allow him to disappear and don't get the ending at all. This issue exists just to berate Frank Castle over and over again. Looking forward to a new writer. This one had it's moments, but not that high on my list.

Very meh. I mostly enjoyed the series but I feel the ending was very anticlimactic. I really could not care less about Maria or the new surprise at the end. It’s just very “weird” lol

Worst Punisher ending that the Punisher ever had in more than 37 years (since he has an ongoing series).
Bad dialogues and bad direction. It's not about the skull or the weapons, it's about the pointless deconstruction Jason Aaron did to the character that at the end of this issue it was irrelevant. This new "age" Punisher isn't for me. I'm sticking with the old Punisher series and stories until 2020.

What do you get when a writer clearly hates a character and has made little qualms about it? This is pretty much what you would get.

First off, I am not a big Punisher fan. I read him but could take it or leave it. The thing that bothers me the most about this run is the author clearly knows who Frank is, but he just hates him. I would argue he dislikes the entire Castle's family.

In this issue, it pretty much wraps up the character assassination. Maria comes off as insane/evil/unsympathetic, and Frank just gets the boot, as the writer clearly did not get the go-ahead to kill him off. His struggles are flat.

It also bothers me that this run had a lot of really cool idea that all came to nothing functionally. There is a lot to unpack about Maria coming back to life and seeing what Frank did. There are serious conversations to be had, would she be shocked, confused, disoriented? Sure, and long conversations should be had. Instead she doesnt allow any of that, cuts off any great character development that could be had and comes off as a terrible character.

Franks transformation/powers were also handled quite poorly. Things just wrap up with his legacy destroyed for no other reason than cheap shock value. This series had so much potential, but written by someone who just didnt like the character and ddint want to put in the effort to properly explore the issues, that he himself wrote.

Overall: A deeply disappointing series with such great potential that was wasted. This is what you get when a writer doesnt like a character and editorial is asleep at the wheel. more