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Punisher MAX Volume 1 : In the Beginning

You’ve got to hand it to Garth Ennis he has a knack for re-booting popular comics and even resurecting some. As you know the fightrunner have a soft spot for the punisher and with this title Garth Ennis took the Punisher to new heights.

The MAX label is basically Marvel for adults and as such the Punisher feels right at home here. The first change is that the timeline is now fixed and Frank Castle is now in his 50’s as opposed to the fresh faced version seen in the regular marvel run. But with the MAX series we finally get to the see the punisher in full swing and these comics feel more real and grittier.

Beginning with a bloody flashback to the murder of Frank Castle’s family and followed by an even bloodier assault on the mob, Frank finds himself hounded to become the CIA’s own personal hitman, and none other than Frank’s long thought dead partner Micro is here trying to convince Frank to do it. All of this leads to a shocking , violent conclusion that you just can’t put down. The final few panels are heartbreaking to read and some up the genius of Ennis’ work on the character.

The violence and gore are amplified 100 times here but it never ever feels like its done for cheap thrills same with the swearing, like I say if any other comic had the MAX treatment it would feel like shock tactics but here it feels like the punisher is in familiar territory. The artwork here is amazing throughout and perfectly compliments the dark tone of the subject matter at hand whilst also striking a chord for the more emotional parts and even helping the black humour along.

For sure if you are a casual comic reader this won’t be your cup of tea but for anyone else this is nirvana. A bleak, violent, dark, gory piece of genius and a great start to a series. Don’t know about you but I’m up for more!

Rating 9/10

Miss this and you deserve punishment

PREACHER (The entire collection)

Time for my first comic book review. I have been collecting comics seriously since 1992 when I was but 12 years old, but I have to say that this comic really marked the change for me, it’s kinda what lead the way into the darker side of comics.

Preacher, is the story of a small town Precher by the name of Jessy Custer that has grown up in the deep south of America and has began to loose his faith. Jessy is of the rare disposition of being a direct descendent of the big man, Jesus Christ himself. Not only this but he is also possessed by a newborn offspring produced by the forbidden love between an angel of heaven and a devil from the deepest realms of hell. This leaves Jessy with a godlike power, “the voice of God”… this allows him to command a man to do anything he says… literally. This power has only previously been held by God himself and now god shit his pants realising this monumental fuck up and has fled heaven.

This sets off a whole host of people hunting down Jessy for their own means. First off we have a band of angles, that believe he has to be killed in order for the big man to return, they send in a relentless, unstoppable killer by the name of the Saint of Killers.

We also have The Grail, a world wide orginasation that has been around since biblical times to protect the bloodline of Christ. They aim to replace the pope with Jessy Custer in a bid to make the world fall at their knees at the sight of a true envoy of God, thing is they plan to use it to their own end.

Who could forget, Arseface… A teenager whos face has been chewed up in a botched suicide attempt with a shotgun. He has sworn to kill Jessy for ordering his father to go fuck himself, which he does by ripping his own cock off and shoving it up his own arse.

There is a host of other minor characters, ranging from gay private detectives to a Nazi sex dominatrix… yeah that’s right, a Nazi sex dominatrix.

Its not all bad though, Jessy has is one true love by his side, Tulip… a strong willed and passionate girl that would follow him to the end. And Cassidy, an Irish vampire that has a penchant for booze and blood.

Quite a lot to take in eh? Well it is everything you could ever ask for in a comic… funny, dark, violent, action packed, straight talking, hard hitting and very very sharp witted. Written by Garth Ennis, who for me is the greatest comic book writer ever. He may not be as intellectually stimulating as Allan Moore but for me anyway, he sure is more entertaining. Its the kind of writing that means you can’t stop flicking through the pages, it leaves you hungry for more and more and for me, it has left a void in my soul since it ended. Don’t get me wrong, the end was necessary and expertly executed. It ties up to many loose ends in the last book that you feel almost happy that its ended because Ennis just… well he just did it all justice.

As for the art, Steve Dillon is an old pro and these two work together like bacon and brown sauce in a Saturday morning hangover cure. His sharp inks and colours work well without being overly detailed and messy. A few other artists have a pop at some stories in the later books, but for me, it just doesn’t feel right unless its Dillon.

Sorry that this was almost a novel, but fuck me if you haven’t read this book… you really need to get your fat arse of the sofa and run as fast as you can down to your local comic shop and beg the vendor for some of the reprints!!!!

Verdict: 10/10

The most entertaining comic of all time… That is the word of God.

A fightrunner videocast tribute to comic Book writer Garth Ennis.