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Punisher War Journal (2006) (Collected Editions)
Punisher War Journal, Vol. 1: Civil War
He's back - with a vengeance. Taking no prisoners. Literally. With Civil War in full throttle mode, Frank Castle is feeling the heat. His safe houses have been raided and his munitions seized, and he's square in the crosshair of a Marvel Universe big gun who always gets his man. Covers #1-#4
144 pages, Hardcover
First published May 9, 2007
19 people are currently reading
849 people want to read
About the author
Matt Fraction
1,221 books1,862 followers"How he got started in comics: In 1983, when Fraction was 7 years old and growing up in Kansas City, Mo., he became fascinated by the U.S. invasion of Grenada and created his own newspaper to explain the event. "I've always been story-driven, telling stories with pictures and words," he said.
Education and first job: Fraction never graduated from college. He stopped half a semester short of an art degree at Kansas City Art Institute in Missouri in 1998 to take a job as a Web designer and managing editor of a magazine about Internet culture.
"My mother was not happy about that," he said.
But that gig led Fraction and his co-workers to split off and launch MK12, a boutique graphic design and production firm in Kansas City that created the opening credits for the James Bond film "Quantum of Solace."
Big break: While writing and directing live-action shoots at MK12, Fraction spent his spare time writing comics and pitching his books each year to publishers at Comic-Con. Two books sold: "The Last of the Independents," published in 2003 by AiT/Planet Lar, and "Casanova," published in 2006 by Image Comics.
Fraction traveled extensively on commercial shoots. Then his wife got pregnant. So Fraction did what any rational man in his position would do -- he quit his job at MK12 to pursue his dream of becoming a full-time comic book writer.
Say what? "It was terrifying," said Fraction, who now lives in Portland, Ore. "I was married. We had a house. We had a baby coming. And I just quit my job."
Marvel hired Fraction in June 2006, thanks largely to the success of his other two comics. "I got very lucky," he half-joked. "If it hadn't worked out, I would have had to move back in with my parents.
- 2009. Alex Pham. Los Angeles Times.
Education and first job: Fraction never graduated from college. He stopped half a semester short of an art degree at Kansas City Art Institute in Missouri in 1998 to take a job as a Web designer and managing editor of a magazine about Internet culture.
"My mother was not happy about that," he said.
But that gig led Fraction and his co-workers to split off and launch MK12, a boutique graphic design and production firm in Kansas City that created the opening credits for the James Bond film "Quantum of Solace."
Big break: While writing and directing live-action shoots at MK12, Fraction spent his spare time writing comics and pitching his books each year to publishers at Comic-Con. Two books sold: "The Last of the Independents," published in 2003 by AiT/Planet Lar, and "Casanova," published in 2006 by Image Comics.
Fraction traveled extensively on commercial shoots. Then his wife got pregnant. So Fraction did what any rational man in his position would do -- he quit his job at MK12 to pursue his dream of becoming a full-time comic book writer.
Say what? "It was terrifying," said Fraction, who now lives in Portland, Ore. "I was married. We had a house. We had a baby coming. And I just quit my job."
Marvel hired Fraction in June 2006, thanks largely to the success of his other two comics. "I got very lucky," he half-joked. "If it hadn't worked out, I would have had to move back in with my parents.
- 2009. Alex Pham. Los Angeles Times.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
October 14, 2016
Maybe what these Civil War crossover event books need is less rhetoric and more Frank Castle.
Just maybe.
The Civil War and the Registration Act haven’t changed the Punisher’s methodology – he’s a vigilante, above the law, and his goal is to kill as many bad guys as possible - it’s just put a crimp in his resources, as SHIELD raids his secret armories.
Frank is single-minded in purpose, so it doesn’t matter if it’s the hapless Stiltman, who’s trying to turn over a new leaf. There are no shades of gray with this Punisher – Bang!
You can follow the trail of bodies from his rescue of Spider-Man to his capture by the anti-registration heroes, led by Captain America.
From one soldier to another, Captain America thinks he can make use of Castle’s particular skill set and military background, but Frank’s kind of set in his ways. “We don’t need no stinkin’ prisoners!”
P.S. Frank – You don’t want to anger an already pissed off Captain America.
The must-read issue here is #4 – a wake for the late Stilt-Man.
It’s a humorous meditation on the differences between older comics and the current grittier books – a capsulation of the zeitgeist of modern comics.
The volume is rounded out with a black and white version of issue #1. Why not present that issue in black and white instead from the get go?
Finally you have Civil War: War Crimes. The Kingpin is in jail and he wants to make a deal with Tony Stark, because he’s civic-minded and wants to help the Man out. Heh!
Between the speeches and infodumps, it’s backstabby fun.
Three and a half stars rounded down.
Bottom line: This one’s somewhere in the middle in terms of Civil War readability – more action, less speechifying.
The mini-Ironmen are a nice touch.
Just maybe.
The Civil War and the Registration Act haven’t changed the Punisher’s methodology – he’s a vigilante, above the law, and his goal is to kill as many bad guys as possible - it’s just put a crimp in his resources, as SHIELD raids his secret armories.
Frank is single-minded in purpose, so it doesn’t matter if it’s the hapless Stiltman, who’s trying to turn over a new leaf. There are no shades of gray with this Punisher – Bang!
You can follow the trail of bodies from his rescue of Spider-Man to his capture by the anti-registration heroes, led by Captain America.
From one soldier to another, Captain America thinks he can make use of Castle’s particular skill set and military background, but Frank’s kind of set in his ways. “We don’t need no stinkin’ prisoners!”
P.S. Frank – You don’t want to anger an already pissed off Captain America.
The must-read issue here is #4 – a wake for the late Stilt-Man.
It’s a humorous meditation on the differences between older comics and the current grittier books – a capsulation of the zeitgeist of modern comics.
The volume is rounded out with a black and white version of issue #1. Why not present that issue in black and white instead from the get go?
Finally you have Civil War: War Crimes. The Kingpin is in jail and he wants to make a deal with Tony Stark, because he’s civic-minded and wants to help the Man out. Heh!
Between the speeches and infodumps, it’s backstabby fun.
Three and a half stars rounded down.
Bottom line: This one’s somewhere in the middle in terms of Civil War readability – more action, less speechifying.
The mini-Ironmen are a nice touch.
April 14, 2018
What a mess. I mean, aside from a paper thin plot-Frank is recruited by Cap Am during Civil War, guess what happens-the script is barely coherent and seems done by an aspiring writer, not Matt Fraction.
The story is confused, the narration is hacked, ellipses look like holes, I mean, WTF?
Frank talks way too much, to a point he seems off-character-Ennis' bad influence on the much better Max imprint I reckon.
Even Cap seems out of himself with some speech to kill VCs when touring Marines Boot Camps.
The only good issue is the last one, bittersweet funerals for a C-list villain.
I don't like Olivetti's art. Period. Not to say he's bad, it just ain't my cuppa. Deodato illustrates the 4th but in a sad low key mode.
To say I bought the whole lot of TPBs at a bargain sale...
The story is confused, the narration is hacked, ellipses look like holes, I mean, WTF?
Frank talks way too much, to a point he seems off-character-Ennis' bad influence on the much better Max imprint I reckon.
Even Cap seems out of himself with some speech to kill VCs when touring Marines Boot Camps.
The only good issue is the last one, bittersweet funerals for a C-list villain.
I don't like Olivetti's art. Period. Not to say he's bad, it just ain't my cuppa. Deodato illustrates the 4th but in a sad low key mode.
To say I bought the whole lot of TPBs at a bargain sale...
January 21, 2018
Book Info: This collection contains
Punisher War Journal
issues #1-4.
ABSOLUTE RATING: {2.5/5 stars} (Rounded Up)
STANDARDIZED RATING: <2/5 stars>
Frank Castle (aka the Punisher) generally doesn't involve himself in the affairs of metahumans, and sticks to tackling street-level crime. Sadly for him, the recent enactment of the Superhuman Registration Act is stretching "good guy" numbers very thin, and giving supervillains the chance to capitalize on the chaos. Apparently, some unknown benefactor is providing technological upgrades for these baddies, so Frank's clearly got his work cut out for him. And to make matters worse, S.H.I.E.L.D. has hired hard-driving, ex-mercenary G.W. Bridge to head the operation to apprehend the vigilante. But with the help of a tech-savvy ally who's got a mutual interest in shutting down this supplier, Frank suits up and enters the fray – doing his dirty work behind the scenes, all the while trying to avoid Bridge and his "cape-killers."
The first thing that struck me as wrong about Fraction's take on Punisher was the writer's use of humor. While it's something that worked well in Ennis' pre-MAX Punisher , the implementation is different here and much less effective. I'm sure it might sound admirable to some that it's not the kind of delivery that relies so heavily on violence – which was the case with Ennis – but it only helps to sap this book of it's sense of urgency and danger. Here we have cute little baby Iron Men running around, Frank uncharacteristically cracking cheap jokes, quirky mad scientists, and muggers taken out by a brick to the head. This focus on lightheartedness and levity is just completely misguided for a Punisher book, and made it too difficult for Fraction to play to the title's strengths.
[If I'm being totally honest here, this is probably a scene that could have worked great in another book, and this crazy scientist could very well have been an entertaining character under the direction a slightly more experienced writer. However, Punisher isn't the place, and Fraction isn't quite at that place yet in his career.]
[To anybody who doesn't know: The Punisher is a man of action and few words. Here, we have far too much unrestrained dialogue and joking going on. And as a general rule of thumb for writers looking to take this character on, they should just ask themselves if it sounds like something they see Jon Bernthal saying live-action. (Click here for a visual aid.) Using these guidelines, do you really see Frank ever using the phrase "bestest new friend?"]
Though it wasn't perfect, I see a much more thematically-appropriate presentation looking back on Remender's Punisher: Dark Reign . And in spite of its bloodiness and often sinister tone, there was a measure of dry humor and witty one-liners that kept things from becoming too gloomy, while also better complementing its central seriousness. Another huge difference between them – and probably a bigger reason why this book lacked urgency – was that there was almost no threat formidable enough to challenge Frank in the slightest; S.H.I.E.L.D.'s cape-killers weren't half as menacing as the guys Frank faced in Dark Reign, and G.W. Bridge never gets the opportunity to show off his skills. Apparently, Bridge is supposed to be some kinda big-shot merc from Six Pack, so he should've proven himself a capable enough adversary. One of the greatest strengths of Dark Reign was that it had non-stop action and lots of close calls, so I really think this comic could have benefited more from emphasizing a cat-and-mouse dynamic between Bridge and Castle. In this respect, I believe Fraction was on the right track with the fast-paced narrative, but War Journal isn't suspenseful, and felt a little disjointed during its numerous, abrupt scene changes.
By far the best character work Fraction accomplishes in this book had to be the interaction between the Punisher and Captain America. For one thing, it answered a lot of the questions I had from Civil War concerning exactly how their first encounter went, as well as showed more of the details surrounding their partnership and the stipulations which preceded it. I already knew from Civil War that Frank had a very deep admiration for Cap, but only here was I able to gain some insight into how he could be so bold that he'd defy him. Essentially, Frank respected him too much to see him compromise his morals, so he transcended his hero worship, and acted to keep Cap's hands clean and preserve the purity of "[America's] fighting spirit." This complex and potentially powerful stuff was sadly weighed down by a middling series of flashbacks which tries and fails to add profundity by depicting their first encounter during the Vietnam War.
Okay. I can't afford to end this review before talking about issue #4, so here goes: this final chapter is a standalone story separate from the leading 3-issue arc, and it involves a funeral attended by several no-name supervillains who knew the now-deceased Stilt-Man. Especially following the rather somber first page, it's all too deliberately pathetic to be funny. The balance between mournful nostalgia and silliness could not possibly be more awkward, and the writing was so weak and jumpy between characters that it never even came close to working out. Fortunately, there's a punch-line to this painfully drawn out joke, but it comes much to late to justify the effort, and isn't all that clever enough to redeem what came before it. If Fraction had instead used this issue to decompress the main story arc of this volume, we could have seen a more satisfying and developed conflict between Bridge and Frank. But in the end, it was shit like this which drowned-out the writer's occasional spurts of genuine talent.
Olivetti is probably the best part of this book, and by a very significant margin. Aside from, and perhaps even including Son of Banner , I can't say I've ever seen the artist drawing this good in a comic book. Maybe it depends on the colorist or something – I dunno – but I'd actually say he did an excellent job with this. I guess it could also be that I'm finally getting used to him, but this was the first time it took no period of adjustment before I was settled with his illustrations. It's very detailed, expressive, and fluid, and was a much better fit than Deodato was in issue #4. Like Son of Banner, this book was pretty action-packed and playful, and Olivetti seems to be best suited to this kind of atmosphere.
You think maybe the publishers could have made a mistake, and put the wrong writer on the cover? There's no *way* this could be the same Matt Fraction who wrote Invincible Iron Man (which was great up until around volume eight), and went on to write acclaimed series like Hawkeye and Sex Criminals , could it? For a 2.5 star book, this book couldn't have been closer to 2 stars. Talk about humble beginnings... Wow. And I guess I can assume that Fraction was the writer who first started giving Frank these unstoppable, high-tech weapons? It's something I've seen carried over in later books like Crime and Punisher and Dark Reign, and while I get the obvious coolness factor, I think it's still generally more interesting to see Frank duke it out with regular firearms and equipment. So now it seems the search for a good non-Ennis Punisher run continues...
ABSOLUTE RATING: {2.5/5 stars} (Rounded Up)
STANDARDIZED RATING: <2/5 stars>
Frank Castle (aka the Punisher) generally doesn't involve himself in the affairs of metahumans, and sticks to tackling street-level crime. Sadly for him, the recent enactment of the Superhuman Registration Act is stretching "good guy" numbers very thin, and giving supervillains the chance to capitalize on the chaos. Apparently, some unknown benefactor is providing technological upgrades for these baddies, so Frank's clearly got his work cut out for him. And to make matters worse, S.H.I.E.L.D. has hired hard-driving, ex-mercenary G.W. Bridge to head the operation to apprehend the vigilante. But with the help of a tech-savvy ally who's got a mutual interest in shutting down this supplier, Frank suits up and enters the fray – doing his dirty work behind the scenes, all the while trying to avoid Bridge and his "cape-killers."
The first thing that struck me as wrong about Fraction's take on Punisher was the writer's use of humor. While it's something that worked well in Ennis' pre-MAX Punisher , the implementation is different here and much less effective. I'm sure it might sound admirable to some that it's not the kind of delivery that relies so heavily on violence – which was the case with Ennis – but it only helps to sap this book of it's sense of urgency and danger. Here we have cute little baby Iron Men running around, Frank uncharacteristically cracking cheap jokes, quirky mad scientists, and muggers taken out by a brick to the head. This focus on lightheartedness and levity is just completely misguided for a Punisher book, and made it too difficult for Fraction to play to the title's strengths.
[If I'm being totally honest here, this is probably a scene that could have worked great in another book, and this crazy scientist could very well have been an entertaining character under the direction a slightly more experienced writer. However, Punisher isn't the place, and Fraction isn't quite at that place yet in his career.]
[To anybody who doesn't know: The Punisher is a man of action and few words. Here, we have far too much unrestrained dialogue and joking going on. And as a general rule of thumb for writers looking to take this character on, they should just ask themselves if it sounds like something they see Jon Bernthal saying live-action. (Click here for a visual aid.) Using these guidelines, do you really see Frank ever using the phrase "bestest new friend?"]
Though it wasn't perfect, I see a much more thematically-appropriate presentation looking back on Remender's Punisher: Dark Reign . And in spite of its bloodiness and often sinister tone, there was a measure of dry humor and witty one-liners that kept things from becoming too gloomy, while also better complementing its central seriousness. Another huge difference between them – and probably a bigger reason why this book lacked urgency – was that there was almost no threat formidable enough to challenge Frank in the slightest; S.H.I.E.L.D.'s cape-killers weren't half as menacing as the guys Frank faced in Dark Reign, and G.W. Bridge never gets the opportunity to show off his skills. Apparently, Bridge is supposed to be some kinda big-shot merc from Six Pack, so he should've proven himself a capable enough adversary. One of the greatest strengths of Dark Reign was that it had non-stop action and lots of close calls, so I really think this comic could have benefited more from emphasizing a cat-and-mouse dynamic between Bridge and Castle. In this respect, I believe Fraction was on the right track with the fast-paced narrative, but War Journal isn't suspenseful, and felt a little disjointed during its numerous, abrupt scene changes.
By far the best character work Fraction accomplishes in this book had to be the interaction between the Punisher and Captain America. For one thing, it answered a lot of the questions I had from Civil War concerning exactly how their first encounter went, as well as showed more of the details surrounding their partnership and the stipulations which preceded it. I already knew from Civil War that Frank had a very deep admiration for Cap, but only here was I able to gain some insight into how he could be so bold that he'd defy him. Essentially, Frank respected him too much to see him compromise his morals, so he transcended his hero worship, and acted to keep Cap's hands clean and preserve the purity of "[America's] fighting spirit." This complex and potentially powerful stuff was sadly weighed down by a middling series of flashbacks which tries and fails to add profundity by depicting their first encounter during the Vietnam War.
Okay. I can't afford to end this review before talking about issue #4, so here goes: this final chapter is a standalone story separate from the leading 3-issue arc, and it involves a funeral attended by several no-name supervillains who knew the now-deceased Stilt-Man. Especially following the rather somber first page, it's all too deliberately pathetic to be funny. The balance between mournful nostalgia and silliness could not possibly be more awkward, and the writing was so weak and jumpy between characters that it never even came close to working out. Fortunately, there's a punch-line to this painfully drawn out joke, but it comes much to late to justify the effort, and isn't all that clever enough to redeem what came before it. If Fraction had instead used this issue to decompress the main story arc of this volume, we could have seen a more satisfying and developed conflict between Bridge and Frank. But in the end, it was shit like this which drowned-out the writer's occasional spurts of genuine talent.
Olivetti is probably the best part of this book, and by a very significant margin. Aside from, and perhaps even including Son of Banner , I can't say I've ever seen the artist drawing this good in a comic book. Maybe it depends on the colorist or something – I dunno – but I'd actually say he did an excellent job with this. I guess it could also be that I'm finally getting used to him, but this was the first time it took no period of adjustment before I was settled with his illustrations. It's very detailed, expressive, and fluid, and was a much better fit than Deodato was in issue #4. Like Son of Banner, this book was pretty action-packed and playful, and Olivetti seems to be best suited to this kind of atmosphere.
You think maybe the publishers could have made a mistake, and put the wrong writer on the cover? There's no *way* this could be the same Matt Fraction who wrote Invincible Iron Man (which was great up until around volume eight), and went on to write acclaimed series like Hawkeye and Sex Criminals , could it? For a 2.5 star book, this book couldn't have been closer to 2 stars. Talk about humble beginnings... Wow. And I guess I can assume that Fraction was the writer who first started giving Frank these unstoppable, high-tech weapons? It's something I've seen carried over in later books like Crime and Punisher and Dark Reign, and while I get the obvious coolness factor, I think it's still generally more interesting to see Frank duke it out with regular firearms and equipment. So now it seems the search for a good non-Ennis Punisher run continues...
February 4, 2019
Didn't enjoy this unfortunately.
April 28, 2016
Meh. Disappointing for sure. Treated Frank like a joke and make him look stupid next to Cap. Expected more from Fraction.
June 5, 2019
3 stars is generous. Not crazy about the art OR the story. Read this via Comixology Unlimited. At times it appears Marvel cannot decide how to portray Frank Castle. He seemed out of place in these stories.
January 14, 2018
This collection is a supplemental piece to the Marvel story arc that is Civil War. In this one, we get to see the action thru The Punisher. The Rhino is prevalent thru this volume so my review might be a little biased as he was one of my favorites as a child.
I thought this was one of the better companion pieces to this event. We get to see that The Punisher is a man of principles even though most people might not agree with them. I thought this was a nice juxtaposition to Captain America since he is fighting this war because of principles. There was a nice flashback scene that portrays this beautifully. I liked how this also explored the affects of this event on the B-list criminals. The last issue deals with a wake of one of these criminals and it was the highlight of this collection. I loved the scene of the barroom fight between these criminals. It was fun and had a message but it also shows the ruthlessness of The Punisher.
I have read several of these companion pieces to Civil War and I thought this was one of the better ones. I believe even readers who are not fans of The Punisher will enjoy this one as it has appearances by Captain America and Spider-Man and delivers on the state of affairs that is happening at this point in this comic book universe.
I thought this was one of the better companion pieces to this event. We get to see that The Punisher is a man of principles even though most people might not agree with them. I thought this was a nice juxtaposition to Captain America since he is fighting this war because of principles. There was a nice flashback scene that portrays this beautifully. I liked how this also explored the affects of this event on the B-list criminals. The last issue deals with a wake of one of these criminals and it was the highlight of this collection. I loved the scene of the barroom fight between these criminals. It was fun and had a message but it also shows the ruthlessness of The Punisher.
I have read several of these companion pieces to Civil War and I thought this was one of the better ones. I believe even readers who are not fans of The Punisher will enjoy this one as it has appearances by Captain America and Spider-Man and delivers on the state of affairs that is happening at this point in this comic book universe.
October 22, 2012
One of the more interesting "Civil War" tie-ins, by no means required reading but a really enjoyable one. Why five stars? It wasn't 'Amazing' per se; it's really a four-star book, but it was so much fun to read, I had to give it that extra star. The Punisher is back - why does it always seem like he's back? Back from where?
Matt Fraction's script is full of action and has a lot of genuinely funny bits. It's always fun to read the Punisher when it's as funny as it is violent.
The three-parter that kicks off this trade paperback is illustrated by Ariel Olivetti who, I'm discovering, has a real knack for comedy, and that's reflected in his characters' facial expressions. He does a really good job at bringing the humor from the script to the comic book page.
The fourth and final issue of this collection is illustrated by Mike Deodato, and even though it takes place at a villain's wake, it is very, very funny.
Check this one out. This is one fun book to read.
Kneel before Doom!
Matt Fraction's script is full of action and has a lot of genuinely funny bits. It's always fun to read the Punisher when it's as funny as it is violent.
The three-parter that kicks off this trade paperback is illustrated by Ariel Olivetti who, I'm discovering, has a real knack for comedy, and that's reflected in his characters' facial expressions. He does a really good job at bringing the humor from the script to the comic book page.
The fourth and final issue of this collection is illustrated by Mike Deodato, and even though it takes place at a villain's wake, it is very, very funny.
Check this one out. This is one fun book to read.
Kneel before Doom!
December 25, 2025
3.5 out of 5 stars. A morally grey character done right. Could never fully agree with the actions he took through out the comic. For a person like myself he hasn’t read punisher comics it makes me wonder how he ended up like this. I don’t know if the show is the same as the comic. Also, I liked that he understood the importance of having a symbol that pushes you forward so he chooses not to go against it.
August 11, 2021
Frank Castle is so centered as a character that even within the context of a giant crossover event, isolating his story in a single volume can still be entertaining and understandable. It loses something, obviously, but it's easier to gloss over the loss. Plus the flashback to Frank having a pre-punisher encounter with Captain America was a nice bit of character development.
April 12, 2024
My first (and probably) last Punisher comic. It was fine, but I'm not the audience for this, but I am glad for extra depth on Civil War
March 27, 2016
I wish there was (and if there is, I wish I knew earlier) a compendium of the Civil War that put the main story and all the side stories in order. I know it would be a huge, multi volume set, but it would be nice to read parts of the story in the middle of Civil War instead of getting these glimpses back to different characters here and there after the fact. I loved this one, but it's Punisher, and I own almost every Punisher comic released since I was a kid. As part of the Civil War set, this is just an extended scene really. I liked the last one-shot story in the book at the bad guy bar, but it really doesn't fit into the Civil War set at all, and was more like one of the tales from Spider-Man's Tangled Web. No matter what, it's great to see more Punisher.
May 3, 2018
I am not a huge fan of the Punisher in the first place, but his unique position and role in the Civil War I thought would be interesting.
Honestly, this was pretty disappointing. It doesn't really tell much of a story of the Punisher's actions, you catch snippets here and there that feel disjointed and thrown in.
The Punisher does a lot of frankly pointless internal monologue. I think it is supposed to make him brooding and dark, but all it does it create a lot of text that could be shortened or shown through action.
After reading this all I could conclude is that the Punisher did very little in the Civil War, but likes Captain America.
Honestly, this was pretty disappointing. It doesn't really tell much of a story of the Punisher's actions, you catch snippets here and there that feel disjointed and thrown in.
The Punisher does a lot of frankly pointless internal monologue. I think it is supposed to make him brooding and dark, but all it does it create a lot of text that could be shortened or shown through action.
After reading this all I could conclude is that the Punisher did very little in the Civil War, but likes Captain America.
August 16, 2015
I was hugely dissapointed with the Punisher entry on Civil War. He just served to inflitrate the Baxter building, save Spiderman from some minor villains, and to get beaten by Cap for being who he is. At least he got some treatment, unlike Daredevil who was just a cameo. My two favorite Marvel superheroes eserved better.
March 31, 2016
I enjoyed Fraction's take on the Punisher. This ties in loosely to rest of Civil War, but the connections make sense and it largely holds up as a separate story. I dug the art style, too. The last issue with Stilt-Man's wake is especially fun. It was drawn by Mike Deodato whose current art style is my least favorite in Marveldom, but his older style as seen here works for me.
April 16, 2016
It was really interesting seeing things from the Punisher's viewpoint, I liked seeing more about Frank Castle and his motivations (I have no previously read any Punisher specific runs). The volume itself was pretty short/small though.
July 3, 2011
This was one of the better volumes in the Civil War story arc, I thought. I really liked the artwork, and the Punisher is an interesting character.
October 13, 2014
A half-decent event tie-in, let down by being a bit thin on content. Still, a good bit of fluff.
March 31, 2013
Great characters, great interactions with Marvel Heroes, and gritty realism, which is to say violence with repercussions.
December 10, 2017
Mixed bag. First two in particular were pretty bad.
March 13, 2020
On the whole I have enjoyed Matt Fraction's work in comics. While it has been a while since I read his Invincible Iron Man or Sex Criminals, I acknowledge the brilliance of his
Hawkeye
series which one of the best things I read last year. So when I see Fraction's name associated with something, I have a certain level of expectation when I go into it.
Of course, reading the Civil War crossover Punisher War Journal had several ingredients that probably made me willing to give Fraction a pass if it didn't meet expectations. First, I have discussed my opinion on publisher "events" elsewhere (including the review for Civil War I liked above) and I tend to find them a detriment to good storytelling. Fraction is a capable writer, but he is hamstrung here by the Civil War framework. It is possible for a creative team to excel under these conditions (Ed Brubaker on The Death of Captain America which was also a Civil War crossover) more likely the result won't meet expectations because the creative team isn't allowed to cut loose like Fraction was able to do on something like Hawkeye.
However, the real weakness here is with the character of Frank Castle himself, who is really a caricature of a human being dealing with pain and loss. This has been the driving theme of Batman for over eighty years, but that character has excelled because even though billionaire Bruce Wayne has become obsessed with fighting the criminal element of Gotham City that he uses as an avatar for the man who killed his parents, the fertile ground of Batman is in a man's struggle to find justice (or is that revenge) while still working within a moral framework that sometimes runs counter to Wayne/Batman's desires. For Batman, the end must be justified by the means, which is what differentiates Batman from the villains he fights, which is why even though his approach may be different from someone like say, Superman, they ultimately have the same goal. Castle is the opposite--he is amoral. All that matters is that what he views as criminality be eradicated no matter the cost. The problem with such black and white characters is that character growth is often impossible and the true story potential is in those characters who surround such one dimensional characters. Ultimately, that comes in the form of Captain America, but the fact is that this isn't a Captain America book and the expectation shouldn't be that he should carry the book (especially since he doesn't show up until the end of issue #1.) But there is only so much you can do with the Punisher, which is why he does best showing up occasionally on the pages of Spider-Man.
Since I came into this knowing how limiting these event frameworks can be and not really liking the character, I knew that I probably wasn't going to enjoy this much. Add to that there part of the filler was a black and white version of the first issue (what's the point?) and I just feel kind of disrespected as a reader. But since I was kind of expecting it, I'm not really all that disappointed.
Of course, reading the Civil War crossover Punisher War Journal had several ingredients that probably made me willing to give Fraction a pass if it didn't meet expectations. First, I have discussed my opinion on publisher "events" elsewhere (including the review for Civil War I liked above) and I tend to find them a detriment to good storytelling. Fraction is a capable writer, but he is hamstrung here by the Civil War framework. It is possible for a creative team to excel under these conditions (Ed Brubaker on The Death of Captain America which was also a Civil War crossover) more likely the result won't meet expectations because the creative team isn't allowed to cut loose like Fraction was able to do on something like Hawkeye.
However, the real weakness here is with the character of Frank Castle himself, who is really a caricature of a human being dealing with pain and loss. This has been the driving theme of Batman for over eighty years, but that character has excelled because even though billionaire Bruce Wayne has become obsessed with fighting the criminal element of Gotham City that he uses as an avatar for the man who killed his parents, the fertile ground of Batman is in a man's struggle to find justice (or is that revenge) while still working within a moral framework that sometimes runs counter to Wayne/Batman's desires. For Batman, the end must be justified by the means, which is what differentiates Batman from the villains he fights, which is why even though his approach may be different from someone like say, Superman, they ultimately have the same goal. Castle is the opposite--he is amoral. All that matters is that what he views as criminality be eradicated no matter the cost. The problem with such black and white characters is that character growth is often impossible and the true story potential is in those characters who surround such one dimensional characters. Ultimately, that comes in the form of Captain America, but the fact is that this isn't a Captain America book and the expectation shouldn't be that he should carry the book (especially since he doesn't show up until the end of issue #1.) But there is only so much you can do with the Punisher, which is why he does best showing up occasionally on the pages of Spider-Man.
Since I came into this knowing how limiting these event frameworks can be and not really liking the character, I knew that I probably wasn't going to enjoy this much. Add to that there part of the filler was a black and white version of the first issue (what's the point?) and I just feel kind of disrespected as a reader. But since I was kind of expecting it, I'm not really all that disappointed.
June 10, 2019
I'm reading this event according to the official Marvel Civil War reading recommendation list as seen on their website here:
https://www.marvel.com/comics/discove...
I really liked this collection. We see the Punisher deliver some harsh truths and he kills a lot of people, making it a question of if Cap even wants his help. I like that we see how much the Punisher has been helping the Resistance in the background and how he's been operating during the war. There's some humor here too with the Punisher going after the older/lesser known villains and the mini Iron Men. It isn't as cohesive as I would have liked, but it just adds to this being more supplemental material in addition to the overall event. Interesting.
For: fans of superheroes/comics; readers wanting more information about everyday crime during the Civil War and the villains.
Possible red flags: characters in peril; blood; death; violence; conspiracy; language.
https://www.marvel.com/comics/discove...
I really liked this collection. We see the Punisher deliver some harsh truths and he kills a lot of people, making it a question of if Cap even wants his help. I like that we see how much the Punisher has been helping the Resistance in the background and how he's been operating during the war. There's some humor here too with the Punisher going after the older/lesser known villains and the mini Iron Men. It isn't as cohesive as I would have liked, but it just adds to this being more supplemental material in addition to the overall event. Interesting.
For: fans of superheroes/comics; readers wanting more information about everyday crime during the Civil War and the villains.
Possible red flags: characters in peril; blood; death; violence; conspiracy; language.
May 20, 2017
After using Comixology Unlimited to read Civil War and Death of Captain America, I thought that I would use Comixology to read through the Punisher's connection to the event. The Punisher isn't my favorite hero. In terms of Marvel Comics, I usually frequent the stories of Captain America, Spider-man, and the X-Men. The heroes who avoid killing. The only time I have really ever seen anything with the Punisher in it is through crossovers or events. Overall this wasn't a bad read. I enjoyed seeing a little further into the events that occurred during Civil War. I also enjoyed the wake for a villain story until the end. For a moment I forgot that I was reading a Punisher story, until the brutal ending.
August 22, 2021
Комікс має прямісінький сюжет та зрозумілу його подачу, і цікавим у ньому є лише принциповість головних героїв: еталонний американський вояк Капітан Америка готовий йти на компроміс з поганцями (тобто поступається принципами), еталонний антигерой Каратель ні в якому разі на це не погоджується. А те, що там десь на фоні йде війна за ідею примусити супергероїв реєструватися - неважливо.
Френк просто тікає від урядових посіпак, ще й встигає при цьому вбивати суперпоганців. Якось так.
Четверта глава коміксу сповнена самоіронії, але фінал у неї передбачуваний. Та достатньо, щоб поставити цьому коміксу на бал вище, ніж він того заслуговує.
Чи доповнює це якось глобальний сюжет? Ні.
Френк просто тікає від урядових посіпак, ще й встигає при цьому вбивати суперпоганців. Якось так.
Четверта глава коміксу сповнена самоіронії, але фінал у неї передбачуваний. Та достатньо, щоб поставити цьому коміксу на бал вище, ніж він того заслуговує.
Чи доповнює це якось глобальний сюжет? Ні.
March 27, 2025
Una necesaria localización del vigilante más oscuro de Marvel dentro del gran conflicto de la casa de las ideas, muy acertada su posición y me gusta verlo interactuar con tantos personajes del Universo Marvel que tienen sus reservas sobre sus métodos.
Lindo dibujo y buen complemento para las historias que se dan entre el evento principal. Me gustó mucho su interacción con el Capitán América y el trasfondo que se le da a su relación. Creo que tiene algunos momentos donde parece evitar la personalidad y trastornos de Frank por incluirlo a la gran aventura pero hasta cierto punto es necesario.
Lindo dibujo y buen complemento para las historias que se dan entre el evento principal. Me gustó mucho su interacción con el Capitán América y el trasfondo que se le da a su relación. Creo que tiene algunos momentos donde parece evitar la personalidad y trastornos de Frank por incluirlo a la gran aventura pero hasta cierto punto es necesario.
September 13, 2018
Mildly entertaining story with a really dumb/bizarre last issue. This book has some beautiful artwork style, however, but it’s not used as well as it could be. I love portrait-style art in comics, because it looks very realistic, but we don’t get many shots of landscaping or environment. But it still looks good. I like the history between Cap and Frank, but I think we deserved more issues dedicated to Civil War, because the Punisher seems out-of-character often, in this book.
But, again, it was still mildly entertaining.
But, again, it was still mildly entertaining.
February 8, 2022
One of the regular Marvel universe stints between the non-canon Marvel Knights and MAX lines. This books is very silly, with the Punisher being shoehorned into a lot of crossover events. I think Fraction kind of figures out a narrative that the Punisher is a sane character reacting to an insane universe (Marvel).
It's not my favorite version of the character (who I think should exist outside of the MCU), but it does work as a serviceable reconciliations for the character. It's often more humorous than serious, with Frank shooting Stiltman in the taint with a bazooka.
It's not my favorite version of the character (who I think should exist outside of the MCU), but it does work as a serviceable reconciliations for the character. It's often more humorous than serious, with Frank shooting Stiltman in the taint with a bazooka.
December 13, 2023
This lost me about half way through when it showed Frank Castle as a fresh WWII Marine recruit being trained by Captain America, scenes played out in parallel to the same Captain America beating him up because he'd just shot two costume super-villians in cold blood. And they both walk away...I mean WTF? Also, Ariel Olivetti bulks Castle up in such a way that it would be very hard for him walk around, let alone fight in any agile way...
May 2, 2024
This floored me to be honest. I have been reading lots of Civil War tie-in series lately, and I started this one because I was intrigued that Matt Fraction wrote it. I am not usually a Punisher fan, but Fraction weaved him into the Civil War storyline in such an intriguing way that I was sucked into the series. The last issue is very memorable in particular. Ariel Olivetti's artwork is incredible - give this one a chance!
June 20, 2020
A travesty! The Punisher should star far from the tights wearing super crowd. He isn’t their kind and they aren’t his. I thought this was awful and a terrible thing to do to one of Marvels best loved characters.
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