THE PUNISHER: THE COMPLETE MAX COLLECTION VOLUME 1

I've always been fascinated by the character of The Punisher. Have you ever been frustrated when the more popular heroes keep capturing the bad guys over and over even though they must know they will escape again and hurt more innocent people? Sometimes wonder why they don't stop them in a way that they can't hurt anyone else? Well, the Punisher is the hero for you! An angry Vietnam vet named Frank Castle gets some guns and makes it his mission to permanently do away with the bad guys.

I've been wanting to read good Punisher stories before the Marvel series premieres this month, and this Garth Ennis run with the character is one of the most well-received. First, Ennis opens with Born, the tragic and haunting miniseries that gives us a peek at Frank's final Vietnam days, showing us that there might've been something within Frank already, even before the Mob killed his family; demons in his nature that were simply simply let loose after personal tragedy. It's a near masterpiece. In the next two stories in this first volume, Ennis does a great job here at resetting the Punisher world. He focuses more on the Punisher as a symbol and legend. Frank Castle has been punishing for over 20 years and has built up a bit of a reputation, and whether it's dealing with a CIA conspiracy or Irish gangs in Hell's Kitchen, we see Frank Castle mostly through the supporting characters' eyes.

The books collected here are:

The Punisher: Born - Grade: A
The Punisher: In The Beginning - Grade: B
The Punisher: Kitchen Irish - Grade: C+

GRADE: B