The Punisher: Very Special Holidays

by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, Andy Diggle

Spend the holidays with the Punisher In Red X-Mas, 'tis the season... for revenge. Following an eight-casket funeral, a group of vengeful mob widows go holiday shopping for the perfect assassin to take down the man responsible - and enlist the services of the lovely and lethal Sicilian assassin known as Suspiria In Bloody Valenine, something sparks the little black pit in Frank Castle's chest - the one that used to be a heart Suspiria's back, and she wants to kiss and make up. It seems the murderous pair have a mutual enemy, an arch-villain whose pursuit will take them to Suspiria's home turf of Rome. Can Frank withstand his partner's charms? Does he want to? And finally, are you ready for a little holiday cheer? No? Neither is Frank Castle. In Silent Night, he's more interested in tracking down a mob rat in the witness protection program and punishing him. But to do that, he'll have to face his greatest foe. Hint: he's fat, dresses in red, and sports a white beard Collects Punisher: Red X-Mas, Punisher: Bloody Valentine, Punisher: Silent Night.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Crime, Comic Book

120 pages, Paperback

First published November 22, 2006

About the author

James "Jimmy" Palmiotti is an American writer and inker of comic books, who also does writing for games, television and film.

Photo by Luigi Novi.

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three holiday-themed short stories - the opening and closing are set during Christmas, while the middle's Valentine connection is marginal at best - featuring Frank Castle in his (over)zealous war on organized crime. The first tale, 'Red X-Mas' (a group of vengeful young widows hire a fabled Sicilian assassin known as 'Suspiria') was my favorite of the bunch with its blend of violent action and dark humor. 'Bloody Valentine,' which was also good, picks up over a year later in a quasi-continuation of the story-line. However, the standalone finale 'Silent Night' was in questionable taste.

[Angel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up mostly on impulse, as a way to get something with a holiday theme as the holidays are coming up. The book is just ok. It is a collection of three stories, two with a Christmas theme, and one with barely a touch of Valentines. The stories are short, quick, and with not much depth. Of the three, the first one is the best of the bunch, and even that one seemed to be a bit rushed. If you want a tale of widows trying to get revenge on The Punisher, you may want to look up Widowmaker, part of the Max series. Anyhow, so a nice ok read to entertain, but nothing too memorable. For Punisher fans, I would say this is optional.

[Michael Emond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jimmy and Justin are two of the best writers in comics today. They did a long Jonah Hex series that needs to be collected. I love them because they write engaging stories that are fun to read and treat the character they are using with respect. They don't write flashy stories where the universe is ending, or even comics where the multiverses are imploding, or changes the character in a reboot. They write solid, logical, entertaining, stories. I love them.

We get two holiday stories from them (Christmas and Valentine's Day) that introduce a new character, Suspiria - who works better in the second tale with love than the first tale but both were fun tales. My complaint in the first tale is that she is set up to be the best assassin in the entire universe and...she never lives up to that billing. Which I understand because Frank/Punisher can't be dead by the end of the tale, but because it is only one issue long we never get to see her prove she is worth the money she is paid. If it were a 4 issue mini series she could have killed some other people where we go "okay - I get it - she's awesome".

The third tale is by Andy Diggle - another amazing writer. This tale is a little more tongue and cheek (although the tongues and cheeks still get blown up by the end of the tale - it is Punisher after all). I loved the art in this one and had a great time reading it.

Altogether - No these are not stores that deserve a place in the top ten Punisher stories (most of this slots go to Garth Ennis) but for pure fun and enjoyment I was very happy to have read them.

[Pavel Pravda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tři vánoční speciály a všechny mají víceméně povedenou kresbou. Snad jen ten druhý má tu kresbu až příliš noirovou a tmavou. Ale neměl jsem s ní v zásadě problém. Nějaké výtky bych měl i ke kresbě prvního příběhu, ale tam to může jit za scenáristou. Po výtvarné stránce je tato kniha povedená. Co se týká scénářů, tak tam je ta situace horší. Naštěstí to má vzestupnou tendenci.


První příběh se jmenuje "Vánoce v rudé". Člověk si ani neuvědomí, jak dobře Ennis toho Punishera dělal, dokud nedostane tohle. Přímočará akce, která má řadu chyb a nesmyslů. Tak například na prvních třech stránkách Punisher oddělá čtyři mafiány, ale na čtvrté stránce už se počítá s pěti. Souboje jsou sledem póz, které dohromady vůbec nefungují. Jinde zase Punisher stojí s protivníkem čelem k sobě, sypou do sebe zásobníky a ani jeden se netrefí. Asi Matrix. Podobných nesmyslů je tam plno. Až mě to skoro uráželo.


Druhý příběh "Seznam" je už o něco lepší. Ale jeho těžká noirová atmosféra je děsně pomalá. Trošku směšně působí Punisherova údržba seznamu padouchů, ale jinak se to docela dá.


Kniha končí naštěstí tím nejlepším - Aaronem a jeho krátkým příběhem s dlouhým názvem, který si už nepamatuji. Je to rychlé, je to brutální, je to vtipné a parafrázuje to ten nejslavnější vánoční příběh. Tohle mě bavilo. Aaron této knize zachránil prdel před úplným debaklem.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection of "holiday"-themed Punisher tales are lackluster for the most part. The first of the three is the only one that I thought was somewhat interesting as mobster widows go in together to hire a legendary assassin to take Frank down. The follow-up seemed forced and the third tale was awful. Mark Texeira's art in the opener was really good and fitting. The rest was just okay. Overall, some people love the Punisher for books like this, but this wasn't for me.

[Tomáš Drako · Rating 4 out of 5]

Na dnešný deň, 24.12.2019. Som si doprial vskutku vianočné čítaníčko.
Bavilo, a prinieslo mi vianočného ducha do môjho srdca.
V knihe nájdeme tri ,,vianočné,, poviedky. Obe majú dačo do seba, ale len jedna vyčnieva.
Poviem len meno a hneď bude jasné. Jason Aaron. On je pán boh drsných príbehov. Fakt som nečakal paraftázu na krála Herodesa, a všetko okolo.

[Timo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three stories: Two with a x-man theme, one with Valentine theme. The x-mas ones, both of them, where just brilliant fun with violence. Straight forward mayhem. The Valentine one tried too much with making sort of agent type with a woman.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

HELL YEAH

[Ondra Král · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solidní punisherovské příběhy pod značkou MAX. Nic víc, nic míň. První dva využívají svátky jako kulisu, třetí tvoří hezkou paraelu. 3,5*