This is an excellent jumping-on point for anyone interested in the espionage/street-level vein of Marvel but had issues with the Frank Castle element of the Punisher mythology. It also scratches the itch of classic Punisher stories, delivering a twisted sense of justice on the remorseless criminals and supervillains of a world filled to the brim with ineffectual heroes and cycles of crime and non-punishment. Read Full Review

PUNISHER #1 launches a new character and the creative team creates an epic adventure that has me excited for the next issue. Read Full Review

No Frank Castle, No Problem. Pepose blends the classic Punisher themes with a new character with excellent writing. The action flies off the pages via Wachter and Brown's vision of unrelenting fury. With the action cranked up to a fever pitch, there is no way you want to miss this book when it drops on New Comic Book Day! Read Full Review

On first blush the new PUNISHER series seems to be returning to the original concept behind the character. It's not complicated, and that makes for a story and character that are easy to get into. The art is the perfect tone setter for the story Pepose is telling. As an issue designed to introduce a new series with a new protagonist, PUNISHER #1 is effective and holds a lot of potential. Read Full Review

Overall, Punisher #1 features an excellent and intriguing new protagonist to take on a familiar mantle. The story by Pepose is exciting. The art by the creative team is gorgeous. Altogether, a story that shows why everyone loves this complicated antihero, no matter who dons the skull. Read Full Review

Punisher #1 should be able to bring in new fans while keeping older ones happy. It's filled with fun, violence and revenge! Read Full Review

Given the tech and the background of Punisher, I'm on board for more. It's unclear how deep it'll get with the man behind the skull, or even if he'll continue to use the name, but there's enough here to get hardcover Punisher fans excited while drawing interest from casual Marvel fans. Read Full Review

Punisher #1 delivers a new main character, new mission, new sidekicks, and lots of new weapons. But, at its core, it's the same tale of revenge taking the concept of the character back to his roots. This is a more grounded take on the character, taking things down a notch from the ever convoluted and “superheroic” nature of Frank Castles' version. Here, we get what works and works so well, a tale of revenge with the action of John Wick. It's simple and straight to the point and some times that's exactly what you're looking for. Read Full Review

A strong introduction for a new character, with enough parallels to Frank to carry on the legacy of the Punisher, and artwork well-suited for the story. Read Full Review

There's nothing yet revealed that makes this feel unique on the whole, no specific take on the idea of a gun-toting, revenge seeking maniac in a world with superheroes and super villains, but the potential seems like it could be there... eventually. Right now though, it's kind of just what you expect from The Punisher, just starring another guy, which feels like not enough. Read Full Review

If you're a fan who misses the old Punisher, then let the new 'Punisher' remind you what made him so great to begin with. Read Full Review

After Aaron's run, there had to be a something new, and this fits the bill, though I'm sure it's going to make certain quarters angry. I've loving the art and interested in the premise. Read Full Review

Granted, this is only one issue, and I dont know what the creative team is planning. Peposes script, while not especially exciting or unique, does whats expected of it, and Wachters art has a scratchy, pulpy quality contrasted by surprisingly bright and vibrant colors at times. Theres potential here, but I dont know how well this Punisher will be received, or if will even endure long enough for them to deliver something worth reading. Read Full Review

Punisher #1 is a weird comic because it tells almost the same origin story as Frank Castle's Punisher with a different man. There's nothing different about Joe Garrison's Punisher to set him apart from Frank Castle except his name and a slightly different costume. Considering the original is still alive and kicking, there's no point to this comic. Read Full Review

I really like this book. Good storytelling. Not the greatest artwork. But good. I think this could've been a frank castle punisher and that would of been just as good

My only grip: it would have worked better as an Ultimate Punisher Series. But, it was very good.

I enjoyed this comic but I wish it was Frank instead of this generic guy, and for that reason, I’m out.

Frank Castle is off in Weirdworld, currently leaving Earth-616 without someone assuming the Punisher moniker. Enter Joe Garrison, the protagonist of David Pepose and Dave Wachter’s series. He’s assumed to be a new Punisher by the media after taking out an entire gang of baddies in gear which looks far too much like Frank Castle’s iconic skull logo. Garrison, a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, wants nothing to do with the title or his old job, though he appears to be somewhat amenable by the end of the book. Pepose does a great job introducing this brand new character and giving him a backstory that makes him both immediately compelling and sympathetic, yet lacks complexity to make him more than man driven solely by revenge. Wachter’s art sets a dark and gritty tone that’s perfect for a Punisher series and his designs for Joe’s high-tech futuristic weapons are really neat. Pepose will need to double-down on making Joe his own person and not just a stand-in for Frank Castle. more

I bought it mainly to see what they were going to do and it turned out better than expected. Kept a good feel to it, good action scenes, pretty good art, I can't complain too much for now.

https://youtu.be/9FEDbhepU9I?si=pCPQudZFQ1ushx5O

Review at (2:19) in link

This was a book that I was really unsure about going into it. I really enjoyed the previous Punisher series with Jason Aaron, so I was interested when a new series was announced. Seeing David Pepose as the writer didn't give me a ton of hope. Don't get me wrong, he's not a terrible writer or anything, but it's documented that I'm not the biggest fan of his current City of the Dead miniseries with Moon Knight. Plus, I didn't really know how to feel about the new lead character either. His name (Joe Garrison) didn't really stick out to me like "Frank Castle" does, but I was willing to give this a chance. With all of that out of the way, I can say I actually enjoyed this a fair amount. It's far from my favorite book, but it reminds me of his first City of the Dead issue, in that it feels more like a classic comic book at times, particularly with some of the dialogue. I just hope this run doesn't follow the same trend of City of the Dead, in that I've like each issue that follows less and less. Either way, this was a solid debut issue that gained my interest and will have me, at least, reading the next one. Also, Wachter's art is pretty good throughout the whole thing. more

(Cover Date: January, 2024)

Features the death of Mr. Hyde?

I didn't read much of the prior Punisher series, so I don't know what happened to Frank Castle, but why does the Marvel Universe need another Punisher?

There's absolutely no reason for this book. Ditching Frank Castle for another person with an extremely similar origin is quite meaningless. I liked the ending with him making the shot in the subway, but getting punched through several feet of concrete and his back not being jelly was ludicrous. I'll keep collecting it since it's a miniseries, but I'm not expecting much out of it.

My Comic Review Channel - https://youtu.be/6W1H6jlGVl0

Issue 1 makes a good attempt at restarting the Punisher story, but trying to follow Jason Aaron’s King of Killer is no easy task.
The story is an easily recognizable Punisher story. A criminal has committed a terrible crime and only a highly skilled vigilante can bring him to justice. The story might just be too recognizable.
Except there is no Frank Castle and Joe Garrison accidentally becomes the Punisher because his outfit looks familiar. Garrison doesn’t make much of an impression and overall the issue is a little bit of a shame to call it a Punisher comic.

Not terrible, but not very good. I feel like I've read this punisher story a million times.

So Marvel is making someone write a Frank Castle origin story/essentially a FC story without FC? Isnt this just a knock off? I feel like this series will not last, and then FC will come back when Marvel realizes a fake one wont sell. So this is just pointless filler isnt it?

I mean it's frank castle lite I suppose, why on earth does this book exist and y are so many ppl giving it high scores 🤣

"Hey, here's a great idea. Let's relaunch The Punisher with a new character nobody has heard of, just make sure it isn't Frank Castle."

"How about Joe Schmo from Nowhereville?"

"I like it. Then let's give him an almost identical origin story, just change it to the family being killed in a house explosion rather than the crossfire from a Mob shootout."

"Nice! Don't forget to give Joe Schmo a helper who's good at tech, but let's make it a young woman this time."

"Genius! What about the costume?"

"It doesn't matter really, just make sure there's no skull logo on his chest."

"OK, we can do that. Wait, the skull thing is pretty cool. I know, let's redesign it so it looks worse than the last redesign. We can pretend it's just part of his body armour."

"Great! I love it. The fans will love it too 'cos they've never seen anything like our new idea before. We deserve a raise we're so clever." more

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RKS - Nov 9, 2023

See South Park: Joining the Panderverse and you'll understand why these choices were made. "Make it lame..." lol

wakizashireviews - Nov 10, 2023

@thecimmerian Haha, thank you. I wanted to see if my sarcasm meter was still fully charged.

wakizashireviews - Nov 10, 2023

@RKS That South Park episode is hilarious!

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Pretty boring, and it's creation ridiculous.

The new Punisher #1 was absolutely mid, a toothless and needless comic. Nothing really interesting about it since they literally just had a new character basically go thru the same trauma as Frank, since Frank cannot be the Punisher for real-life reasons associated to the misuse of his original logo.

This comic is clearly a meta exercise attempt at cloning Frank Castle's archetype without the real life baggage.

I can imagine the EIC telling the writer "Make a story about someone with Frank's trauma, but that it's not Frank" -- which is the funniest thing because that already existed: Rachel Alves.

But again, the problem is the logo and it's IRL baggage.

Jeez, and I thought the last series was bad...This, well this just sucked.

Frank Castiglione is the Punisher...Why did Marvel/Disney do this?