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Punisher by Rick Remender #1-4
Punisher By Rick Remender Omnibus Mike Mckone Cover [New Printing]
Rick Remender's Punisher mega-arc is collected into one oversized volume!
Frank Castle has dedicated his life to hunting down and killing evil men. So when Norman Osborn becomes the head of US security, the Punisher sets about taking Osborn down. But when his assassination attempt fails, Frank finds himself in Osborn's crosshairs. The Hood resurrects several longdead super villains and sends them against Frank ... but it is the twisted son of Wolverine who manages to kill the Punisher. With his remains stitched back together, the Punisher is reborn as the terrifying Franken-Castle!
Collecting: Punisher 1-16, Annual; Dark Reign: The List Punisher; Franken-Castle 17-21; Dark Wolverine 88-89; Punisher: In the Blood 1-5
Frank Castle has dedicated his life to hunting down and killing evil men. So when Norman Osborn becomes the head of US security, the Punisher sets about taking Osborn down. But when his assassination attempt fails, Frank finds himself in Osborn's crosshairs. The Hood resurrects several longdead super villains and sends them against Frank ... but it is the twisted son of Wolverine who manages to kill the Punisher. With his remains stitched back together, the Punisher is reborn as the terrifying Franken-Castle!
Collecting: Punisher 1-16, Annual; Dark Reign: The List Punisher; Franken-Castle 17-21; Dark Wolverine 88-89; Punisher: In the Blood 1-5
760 pages, Hardcover
First published July 18, 2012
6 people are currently reading
184 people want to read
About the author
Rick Remender
1,242 books1,422 followersRick Remender is an American comic book writer and artist who resides in Los Angeles, California. He is the writer/co-creator of many independent comic books like Black Science, Deadly Class, LOW, Fear Agent and Seven to Eternity. Previously, he wrote The Punisher, Uncanny X-Force, Captain America and Uncanny Avengers for Marvel Comics.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
October 9, 2012
Follows Frank's adventures through the Dark Avenger's era. Basically everyone is trying to kill him. And, practically succeeds. But you can't keep a good man down... Entertaining.
April 1, 2025
Ok, i finally finished the Rick Remender Punisher run as Omnibus. I enjoyed it as much as Marvel Knights Punisher Run of Garth Ennis, The Punisher Writer.
The run started with Punisher's attempt to assasinate Norman Osborn. No matter how he acted under the image of a respectable citizen or politician, Frank knew he was just a rabid dog that needed to be put down. Punisher used a skrull technology rifle which could shoot a target from a mile away, but the bullet got cought in the air by Sentry at the last moment before it reached Osborn. We saw a Punisher in the Marvel Universe who used sci fi, alien technologies or super hero technology like ant-man's helmet (we saw Frank got shrank himself and hide in a pizza and when the criminal ate the pizza Frank made himself grow in the guy's mouth... that was massed up... lol) or Iron Man's gauntlet in this run. He was not refined to the street level crime here where The Punisher shone the most like in Ennis's the Punisher Max Run but Punisher here was in the whimsical super hero universe and Remender with his own words descirebed this stuation as better which i disagreed highly. Eccording to Remender, criminals, mafia, yakuza were small fries. Punisher needed to take on Super Villains which were the real deal.
To me and Ennis, this was not true. Super villains were all clown shoes and Mafia, Yakuza and other kinds of street level criminals and crime were what were the real cool deal here that where Punisher excelled. Also companies don't let you kill their super villains, they must be around all the time so going against villans would make Punisher look incompetent... Even the kind of a Super villain level Jigsaw died in the hands of Punisher like how many times ? and he kept on coming back... lame.
Some super villain called The Hood was the main villain who Punisher was after and Punisher couldn't kill him in the end of the run. He escaped without a trace because companies don't let you kill their super villains... grrrr... so annoying. Punisher supposed to put down that second rate freak after mostly 6 issues. The Hood who was a crime boss servant of Dormammu resurrected Microchip, Microship's son and Castle's familly. Punisher killed Microchip's son and his familly, all by fire that he did not believe they were the real deal but some abominations. That was dramatic. What i liked about Remender's run the most was when he tried to pull some dramatic cords, he really did that well. For another example: It turned out the new partner of Punisher, Henry the hacker boy who gave Punisher intel and helped on missions was Jigsaw's son. Now, that was some really dramatic stuff. There was a childhood memory of Henry, The Jigsaw's son. It was very dramatic and also very traumatic memory for Henry. (i think i started use the word dramatic alot... lol) When he was 11 or 12 or something, his female cat gave birth to 3 kittens. His mother was like ''we can't take care of 3 kittens, you should have been more careful to not to get your cat knocked up'' and she gave the news to Jigsaw. Jigwas was like ''kids never forget bad memories, that is what stays with them forever'' and then Jigsaw pulled his gun, put it on Henry's mothers temple and told Hanry '' if you don't drown the box of kittens in the sink, i will kill your mother.'' so Henry drowned the box of kittens in the sink. That was so dramatic, that showed the kind of sick maniac the Jigsaw was.
Punisher died in the middle of the run in the hands of Daken who was under the orders of H.A.M.M.E.R. organisation's leader The Iron Patriot, who was none other than Norman Osborn. Daken really massed up Punisher, sileced and diced him in to many pieces, but since this was the whimsical super hero universe, it didn't end there. Some monsters kindnapped the corpse of Punisher and brought it to Morbius the Living Vampire to stich back to Frankensitein Punisher because they needed a good soldier's aid, all the monsters around the world were hunted down by some crazy group which took it on themselves to clean the earth from monsters. Monsters wanted to survive so they asked Franken Castle for help since now, he was a monster as well. It was enjoyable stuff since as much as i am into street level Punisher, i am also into some whimsical super hero universe stuff. There was this conversation between Daken and Franken Castle when Punisher went after Daken for the second time for revenge as The Frankenstein Punisher.
I would like to just write the point they made rather than all the converstaion. Daken was like: You are just an old man who wants to be somebody, die already, ah cops. Cops are dirt with inferiorty complex, they just want everyone around them to obey them, to have authory above people. They make me sick, i love killing cops. (which i agree, though i have no murderous intentions lol) Franken Castle was like: You are just a second rate cheap knock off sadistic punk. I won't let you kill the cops, they are what stands between bad people and decent citizen, they deserve respect. Now, the thing here is, If the writer disagrees with something he makes the villain say it, like Daken here. If he agrees with it, he makes the hero say it, like Punisher here and so if you think like Daken, you are wrong and evil because Daken is a villain. If you think like Punisher, you are a good boy. lol This is totaly brainwash, they make with super hero comics alot. Such a shame.
Punisher helped the monsters and got back among the living thanks to the bloodstone and we were back to war on crime from where we left. Even if Remender talked about Punisher needed to go after super villains, he didn't turn his back on the good old street level crime, we saw in this run Punisher went nuts on the criminal under world alot especially he went on a rampage after Henry quit and Punisher thought Henry turned on him like Microship or the other Jigsaw guy. Two Jigsaws were teamed up against Punisher in the last arc of the run. Punisher thought his wife Maria did not die in the fire after her ressuraction, but she lived on and turned against him and worked with Jigsaw. That was some dramatic stuff. Jigsaws even made Punisher watch them have sex with his all burn victim wife Maria in a video... Punisher went berserker, but it turned out that was not Maria in the end, but an agumented woman assassin, who Punisher also burned down at some point.
Two Jigsaws died in the end... I hope they stay dead this time. lol Punisher handled everthing, Punisher put back on track his friendship together with Hanry, but Punisher fired Hanry, after these words of Jingsaw ''Would you bring your own real boy in to your crazy war on crime ?!?!?'' Those were some very dramatic words that got the Punisher. As i said before Remender knew how to play the dramatic cords when the time presented itself.
The run started with Punisher's attempt to assasinate Norman Osborn. No matter how he acted under the image of a respectable citizen or politician, Frank knew he was just a rabid dog that needed to be put down. Punisher used a skrull technology rifle which could shoot a target from a mile away, but the bullet got cought in the air by Sentry at the last moment before it reached Osborn. We saw a Punisher in the Marvel Universe who used sci fi, alien technologies or super hero technology like ant-man's helmet (we saw Frank got shrank himself and hide in a pizza and when the criminal ate the pizza Frank made himself grow in the guy's mouth... that was massed up... lol) or Iron Man's gauntlet in this run. He was not refined to the street level crime here where The Punisher shone the most like in Ennis's the Punisher Max Run but Punisher here was in the whimsical super hero universe and Remender with his own words descirebed this stuation as better which i disagreed highly. Eccording to Remender, criminals, mafia, yakuza were small fries. Punisher needed to take on Super Villains which were the real deal.
To me and Ennis, this was not true. Super villains were all clown shoes and Mafia, Yakuza and other kinds of street level criminals and crime were what were the real cool deal here that where Punisher excelled. Also companies don't let you kill their super villains, they must be around all the time so going against villans would make Punisher look incompetent... Even the kind of a Super villain level Jigsaw died in the hands of Punisher like how many times ? and he kept on coming back... lame.
Some super villain called The Hood was the main villain who Punisher was after and Punisher couldn't kill him in the end of the run. He escaped without a trace because companies don't let you kill their super villains... grrrr... so annoying. Punisher supposed to put down that second rate freak after mostly 6 issues. The Hood who was a crime boss servant of Dormammu resurrected Microchip, Microship's son and Castle's familly. Punisher killed Microchip's son and his familly, all by fire that he did not believe they were the real deal but some abominations. That was dramatic. What i liked about Remender's run the most was when he tried to pull some dramatic cords, he really did that well. For another example: It turned out the new partner of Punisher, Henry the hacker boy who gave Punisher intel and helped on missions was Jigsaw's son. Now, that was some really dramatic stuff. There was a childhood memory of Henry, The Jigsaw's son. It was very dramatic and also very traumatic memory for Henry. (i think i started use the word dramatic alot... lol) When he was 11 or 12 or something, his female cat gave birth to 3 kittens. His mother was like ''we can't take care of 3 kittens, you should have been more careful to not to get your cat knocked up'' and she gave the news to Jigsaw. Jigwas was like ''kids never forget bad memories, that is what stays with them forever'' and then Jigsaw pulled his gun, put it on Henry's mothers temple and told Hanry '' if you don't drown the box of kittens in the sink, i will kill your mother.'' so Henry drowned the box of kittens in the sink. That was so dramatic, that showed the kind of sick maniac the Jigsaw was.
Punisher died in the middle of the run in the hands of Daken who was under the orders of H.A.M.M.E.R. organisation's leader The Iron Patriot, who was none other than Norman Osborn. Daken really massed up Punisher, sileced and diced him in to many pieces, but since this was the whimsical super hero universe, it didn't end there. Some monsters kindnapped the corpse of Punisher and brought it to Morbius the Living Vampire to stich back to Frankensitein Punisher because they needed a good soldier's aid, all the monsters around the world were hunted down by some crazy group which took it on themselves to clean the earth from monsters. Monsters wanted to survive so they asked Franken Castle for help since now, he was a monster as well. It was enjoyable stuff since as much as i am into street level Punisher, i am also into some whimsical super hero universe stuff. There was this conversation between Daken and Franken Castle when Punisher went after Daken for the second time for revenge as The Frankenstein Punisher.
I would like to just write the point they made rather than all the converstaion. Daken was like: You are just an old man who wants to be somebody, die already, ah cops. Cops are dirt with inferiorty complex, they just want everyone around them to obey them, to have authory above people. They make me sick, i love killing cops. (which i agree, though i have no murderous intentions lol) Franken Castle was like: You are just a second rate cheap knock off sadistic punk. I won't let you kill the cops, they are what stands between bad people and decent citizen, they deserve respect. Now, the thing here is, If the writer disagrees with something he makes the villain say it, like Daken here. If he agrees with it, he makes the hero say it, like Punisher here and so if you think like Daken, you are wrong and evil because Daken is a villain. If you think like Punisher, you are a good boy. lol This is totaly brainwash, they make with super hero comics alot. Such a shame.
Punisher helped the monsters and got back among the living thanks to the bloodstone and we were back to war on crime from where we left. Even if Remender talked about Punisher needed to go after super villains, he didn't turn his back on the good old street level crime, we saw in this run Punisher went nuts on the criminal under world alot especially he went on a rampage after Henry quit and Punisher thought Henry turned on him like Microship or the other Jigsaw guy. Two Jigsaws were teamed up against Punisher in the last arc of the run. Punisher thought his wife Maria did not die in the fire after her ressuraction, but she lived on and turned against him and worked with Jigsaw. That was some dramatic stuff. Jigsaws even made Punisher watch them have sex with his all burn victim wife Maria in a video... Punisher went berserker, but it turned out that was not Maria in the end, but an agumented woman assassin, who Punisher also burned down at some point.
Two Jigsaws died in the end... I hope they stay dead this time. lol Punisher handled everthing, Punisher put back on track his friendship together with Hanry, but Punisher fired Hanry, after these words of Jingsaw ''Would you bring your own real boy in to your crazy war on crime ?!?!?'' Those were some very dramatic words that got the Punisher. As i said before Remender knew how to play the dramatic cords when the time presented itself.
December 16, 2023
(Zero spoiler review) 1.5/5
I didn't quite know why, but I was always very wary of this title. Having snagged this OOP and fairly sought after title a few years ago, I could never bring myself to take it off the shelf and read it. Now that I have, I guess I was picking up on the subtle vibes of just how terrible it actually was.
Yet it started off pretty well in fact. Arc one with the Jerome Opena art was actually good, leading me to naively message a friend at this point saying I was enjoying it. Sadly, as soon as Opena leaves the book, it's all downhill from there. And by downhill, I mean drops into the Marianas Trench with cement shoes.
I enjoy some of Remender's indie stuff. The man can write well enough when the mood or the narrative takes him. Yet all of his big two work has been woeful, with this being a rotten cherry on top of a pretty rancid shit sundae.
Everything that makes Frank Castle great disappears amidst a woefully executed, abstract fever dream of terrible ideas, even worse execution, and some pretty uninspired and bland art. The again, inspiration wouldn't exactly be coursing through my veins if I had to vomit this dreck forth visually onto the page.
Frank kills drug dealers, corrupt officials and whatever other human detritus he can get his hands on. Any major variation on this is going to fall flatter than a modern female Marvel or DC super hero's chest. Once I hit Franken Castle, I started flicking through the book and didn't stop till the end. Horrible! Utterly, utterly horrible stuff. There is nothing of worth, value or interest here after volume one. Find a way to read that arc and then pretend that Remender's Punisher run finished then and there, like it should have. At least being a rare, OOP book, I was able to flog it off for a tidy sum. 1.5/5
OmniBen.
I didn't quite know why, but I was always very wary of this title. Having snagged this OOP and fairly sought after title a few years ago, I could never bring myself to take it off the shelf and read it. Now that I have, I guess I was picking up on the subtle vibes of just how terrible it actually was.
Yet it started off pretty well in fact. Arc one with the Jerome Opena art was actually good, leading me to naively message a friend at this point saying I was enjoying it. Sadly, as soon as Opena leaves the book, it's all downhill from there. And by downhill, I mean drops into the Marianas Trench with cement shoes.
I enjoy some of Remender's indie stuff. The man can write well enough when the mood or the narrative takes him. Yet all of his big two work has been woeful, with this being a rotten cherry on top of a pretty rancid shit sundae.
Everything that makes Frank Castle great disappears amidst a woefully executed, abstract fever dream of terrible ideas, even worse execution, and some pretty uninspired and bland art. The again, inspiration wouldn't exactly be coursing through my veins if I had to vomit this dreck forth visually onto the page.
Frank kills drug dealers, corrupt officials and whatever other human detritus he can get his hands on. Any major variation on this is going to fall flatter than a modern female Marvel or DC super hero's chest. Once I hit Franken Castle, I started flicking through the book and didn't stop till the end. Horrible! Utterly, utterly horrible stuff. There is nothing of worth, value or interest here after volume one. Find a way to read that arc and then pretend that Remender's Punisher run finished then and there, like it should have. At least being a rare, OOP book, I was able to flog it off for a tidy sum. 1.5/5
OmniBen.
November 24, 2025
Finally got my hands on this Punisher run from Rick Remender which was out of print for some time. Its a wild weird one. Starts of really great, with Frank and some Alien tech trying to kill Norman Osborne, but the Sentry intervenes. Killer stuff. Somewhere along the way it gets super weird. Frank gets chopped up into pieces by Daken, and he gets sown together and becomes Frankencastle.. He is in another world on a freaking huge dragon, its a thing. It almost reads like a what if episode. Its original but at times really fucking over the top.
April 27, 2025
Rick Remender really put the Punisher through a lot during his run on the title. Here are my reviews for the individual trades collected in this massive book:
Punisher: Dark Reign (5 stars)
This is another book I can read over and over. It's witty, full of cool action set-pieces, and it doesn't let up for five full issues. It's a great start to Remender's run on the title with eye-popping art (and explosions!). Great escapist fun.
Punisher: Dead End Premiere HC (4 stars)
Had to revise my initial rating of 1 star and move it up to 4 stars after re-reading it months later. At first the art styles of Huat & Pearson did not really gel with me, and in the case of the Punisher Annual I'd found Remender's script to lean too much towards an attempt at comedy and that had put me off.
But hey - good news! I got over all that and I realised that it's actually a pretty good book and that it keeps the tone (and the level of quality) with the rest of Remender's run, even if the art takes some getting used to.
The resurrected villains were supposed to be lame (at least in their original incarnation), but the way they were updated makes them quite fearful (although it should be noted that some of their costumes still look pretty ridiculous - but I guess it's intended).
I'm glad I gave this book a second chance.
Punisher: Franken-Castle (4 stars)
This was absolutely crazy (in a very good way). I enjoyed Rick Remender’s « Uncanny X-Force » run and, while not being a Punisher fan (at the time), I found the basic premise of this story to give «Franken-Castle» a chance. I really enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. I’m now officially a fan of Remender’s work and will actively seek out more of his stuff.
The book is essentially divided into two parts : (1) Frank Castle gets killed (and chopped up, for good measure), gets put back together by the [Marvel Monsters] and helps them fight a monster-hunting sect of some sort and retrieve a mystical stone. (2) Franken-Castle goes after his own enemies, not the least of which is Daken, the very person who killed him and diced him up, then fights (and then teams-up with) Wolverine, then heals with the help of the stone, and finally returns to blowing away drug-dealers and whatnot.
The ideas that Remender throws at the reader – not the least of which is turning the Punisher into a Marvel Monster himself – are great and reminiscent of Grant Morrison, but on a less whacked-out scale (it’s hard to out-do Morrison in the whacked-out department, anyway). The story flows along nicely, never transitioning too suddenly, and it never feels forced. Then we get to the two chapters written by Way & Liu, and that’s when I was rolling my eyes and got a bit annoyed. The writing for these two chapters really is different than Remender’s and it seems like they were just trying to constantly wow the reader with their «action» sequences. That was truly the only part in the whole thing where I got impatient with the story; I just wanted to get past these endless battles between the Punisher and Daken. Other than Romita Jr.’s art, of which I’m not always a fan – and Dan Brereton’s is an acquired taste, which I haven’t… completely – I’ve got no issues with the art; it’s great, in fact. I recommend this to people who want to try something different and are willing to be surprised.
This book deserves 5 stars, but because of John Romita Jr.’s art in the first chapter and the two chapters written by Daniel Way and Marjorie Liu, I must downgrade my rating to 4 stars.
Punisher: In the Blood (5 stars)
Rick Remender ends his Punisher run with this really fun book, and ties up the Henry and Microchip storylines with style. The interaction between Jigsaw and Stuart is often hilarious and their scheme to "get to Frank" is pretty twisted. Good stuff.
** The book earns an extra star just for the fact that the entire run is collected in it. **
Punisher: Dark Reign (5 stars)
This is another book I can read over and over. It's witty, full of cool action set-pieces, and it doesn't let up for five full issues. It's a great start to Remender's run on the title with eye-popping art (and explosions!). Great escapist fun.
Punisher: Dead End Premiere HC (4 stars)
Had to revise my initial rating of 1 star and move it up to 4 stars after re-reading it months later. At first the art styles of Huat & Pearson did not really gel with me, and in the case of the Punisher Annual I'd found Remender's script to lean too much towards an attempt at comedy and that had put me off.
But hey - good news! I got over all that and I realised that it's actually a pretty good book and that it keeps the tone (and the level of quality) with the rest of Remender's run, even if the art takes some getting used to.
The resurrected villains were supposed to be lame (at least in their original incarnation), but the way they were updated makes them quite fearful (although it should be noted that some of their costumes still look pretty ridiculous - but I guess it's intended).
I'm glad I gave this book a second chance.
Punisher: Franken-Castle (4 stars)
This was absolutely crazy (in a very good way). I enjoyed Rick Remender’s « Uncanny X-Force » run and, while not being a Punisher fan (at the time), I found the basic premise of this story to give «Franken-Castle» a chance. I really enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. I’m now officially a fan of Remender’s work and will actively seek out more of his stuff.
The book is essentially divided into two parts : (1) Frank Castle gets killed (and chopped up, for good measure), gets put back together by the [Marvel Monsters] and helps them fight a monster-hunting sect of some sort and retrieve a mystical stone. (2) Franken-Castle goes after his own enemies, not the least of which is Daken, the very person who killed him and diced him up, then fights (and then teams-up with) Wolverine, then heals with the help of the stone, and finally returns to blowing away drug-dealers and whatnot.
The ideas that Remender throws at the reader – not the least of which is turning the Punisher into a Marvel Monster himself – are great and reminiscent of Grant Morrison, but on a less whacked-out scale (it’s hard to out-do Morrison in the whacked-out department, anyway). The story flows along nicely, never transitioning too suddenly, and it never feels forced. Then we get to the two chapters written by Way & Liu, and that’s when I was rolling my eyes and got a bit annoyed. The writing for these two chapters really is different than Remender’s and it seems like they were just trying to constantly wow the reader with their «action» sequences. That was truly the only part in the whole thing where I got impatient with the story; I just wanted to get past these endless battles between the Punisher and Daken. Other than Romita Jr.’s art, of which I’m not always a fan – and Dan Brereton’s is an acquired taste, which I haven’t… completely – I’ve got no issues with the art; it’s great, in fact. I recommend this to people who want to try something different and are willing to be surprised.
This book deserves 5 stars, but because of John Romita Jr.’s art in the first chapter and the two chapters written by Daniel Way and Marjorie Liu, I must downgrade my rating to 4 stars.
Punisher: In the Blood (5 stars)
Rick Remender ends his Punisher run with this really fun book, and ties up the Henry and Microchip storylines with style. The interaction between Jigsaw and Stuart is often hilarious and their scheme to "get to Frank" is pretty twisted. Good stuff.
** The book earns an extra star just for the fact that the entire run is collected in it. **
February 28, 2021
¡Que personaje complicado Punisher! En esencia, básico hasta decir basta me resulta asombroso la cantidad de buenas historias que se han dado con el personaje. Durante años, sin embargo, encontré que donde mejor funcionaba era cuando radicalmente lo apartaban ex profeso del resto del Universo Marvel y sus aventuras apenas si tocaban tangencialmente la cronología oficial, digamos. La línea MAX por ejemplo, o aquella serie que ya hace bastante tiempo dibujaba Jim Lee. Debo admitir que me sorprendió muchísimo -y para bien- el encare que hace Rick Remender del personaje porque -si bien es en esencia el Frank Castle que conocemos de siempre- lo pone en una senda que es por completo sorprendente, muy entretenida y que es sin duda para no todos los paladares. Comencemos: el punto de partida es tanto post Civil War cómo Invasión Secreta, con el mundo superheroico de cabeza y los villanos -Norman Osborn el primero- mucho mejor parados. Salvo desde la perspectiva de Castle, que le da lo mismo que el antiguo Duende Verde sea la cabeza de la seguridad mundial o esté asaltando un banco, para él es tan sólo merecedor de dos plomos entre ceja y ceja. Entonces, en este primer tercio -entiendo todo el run de Remender concentrado en tres grandes momentos- es Punisher contra Osborne o, más particularmente, contra The Hood (el lugarteniente de Osborn en el mundo criminal) y un sin fin de villanos. El segundo gran arco es cuando ocurre lo impensado, la total y absoluta ida al carajo de Remender que -imagino- debe haber vuelto locos a los fans: Frankencastle. Sí, Punisher convertido en Frankenstein. Y, tengo que admitirlo, funciona perfecto. Es una locura absoluta, pero es también llevar al personaje a un lugar por completo distinto, delirante, sorpresivo, inesperado. La serie se vuelve directamente de monstruos, fantasía, batallas delirantes, ocultismo y demonios. Y luego, completamente autoconsciente de que todo lo pasó antes es un total y absoluto disparate, Remender cierra su arco en un tercer tercio que retoma la trama inicial y vuelve a llevar a Punisher a combatir criminales, sólo que el Universo Marvel no esperó por él todo este tiempo y ya no es tan firme (o claro) quienes son sus enemigos a vencer y salvo cuando cierra algún punto particular pendiente (enfrentar a Daken, el Wolverine de la B, por ejemplo) la cosa se diluye bastante en agua de borrajas. Cómo sea, Rick Remender -y un inagotable elenco de dibujantes, alguno de ellos muy sobresaliente, cómo ser Tony Moore, Daniel Way, Dan Brereton, Tang Eng Huat y, muy particularmente, el impresionante Jerome Opena- toma un personaje en esencia limitado y lo lleva a su terreno, se lo apropia y lo pone a jugar -a contar- lo que quiere por más de 20 números. Para mi, es por completo meritorio. Y que le salga así de entretenido, ni te cuento.
May 7, 2016
The book was 3 main storylines and I enjoyed 2 of them. The Franken-Castle just didn't do anything for me. There was nothing wrong with it or bad, so I only took 1 star off, but that is the biggest section of the book (or so it seemed because I didn't enjoy it as much???). I consider myself a super-n00b when it comes to comics though, so take it with a grain of salt.
January 15, 2019
FrankenCastle quickly became my favorite thing in the world and I can happily say that this fully brought me into the comic book world and I don't ever want to leave.
December 23, 2025
A solid Punisher run that we probably would not recommend reading the complete run of. The highlight here is definitely the Franken-Castle arc, where Frank is killed and reincarnated as a Frankenstein's Monster type. He then has to help protect a monster society from a group of genocidal monster hunters. While some of the "who's the real monster" stuff is obvious, what really makes this arc shine is that it's a different dynamic than we normally see for the character, the guardian of a minority group instead of killing minorities and claiming it's for the good of the city. As a whole, Remender definitely tries to skirt around that part of Frank as much as he can, and the few dips into it feel especially bad when the main characters are all white people.
Sadly, the Franken-Castle part is only part of the run, and there's not nearly enough of it. The Dark Reign stuff is fun, putting Frank vs Norman Osborn, but the second arc of it is dreadful, with some of the worst art in the omnibus from Tan Eng Huat. The inconsistent art throughout is definitely a problem, and the lack of a "main artist" fails to make everything cohere. This is especially bad when the quality is so variable: Jerome Opena and Tony Moore are pretty good (and we loved the single issue fully done by Nocturnals creator Dan Brereton), while Huat and Roland Boschi don't impress as much. The themes and characters do go throughout the entire run, though, and there is a pretty satisfying conclusion for Frank's helper, Henry.
To most people, we'd probably recommend just picking up Franken-Castle to get to see a wild version of Punisher team up with Morbius and Werewolf-by-Night against a zombie Nazi in a mech suit. That's what comics are all about! The rest is pretty fine but typical Punisher that fans of the character or Rick Remender's work will enjoy but it's a little too entangled in larger continuities to read on its own.
Sadly, the Franken-Castle part is only part of the run, and there's not nearly enough of it. The Dark Reign stuff is fun, putting Frank vs Norman Osborn, but the second arc of it is dreadful, with some of the worst art in the omnibus from Tan Eng Huat. The inconsistent art throughout is definitely a problem, and the lack of a "main artist" fails to make everything cohere. This is especially bad when the quality is so variable: Jerome Opena and Tony Moore are pretty good (and we loved the single issue fully done by Nocturnals creator Dan Brereton), while Huat and Roland Boschi don't impress as much. The themes and characters do go throughout the entire run, though, and there is a pretty satisfying conclusion for Frank's helper, Henry.
To most people, we'd probably recommend just picking up Franken-Castle to get to see a wild version of Punisher team up with Morbius and Werewolf-by-Night against a zombie Nazi in a mech suit. That's what comics are all about! The rest is pretty fine but typical Punisher that fans of the character or Rick Remender's work will enjoy but it's a little too entangled in larger continuities to read on its own.
February 9, 2025
Rick Remender’s run on Punisher is Legendary, not necessarily because of its quality but more so because it took big risks, some paid off, some fell flat.
The first issue or two of this run was quality, then it kinda dipped and never fully recovered. Although I very much enjoyed the FrankenCastle arc, with its silliness, gorgeous artwork and emotive story.
I did find myself loosing interest often, it felt like a bit of a slog for good portions of the book and honestly if you’re wanting to read punisher I’d recommend Garth Ennis or Jason Aaron. I love Rick Remender, some of my favourite books are ones he’s written (such as Uncanny X-Force) but this wasn’t up there for me.
I’m pretty disappointed but not very surprised, this book ties pretty heavily into the events of Bendis New Avengers, mainly the Dark Avengers portion. Norman Osborne is in charge, Frank faces off against Sentry, The Hood, even spider-man at one point but nothing really feels super impactful, the stakes are high at points but it doesn’t really pack a punch. The ending little twist was neat but nothing mindblowing. I wasn’t wowed or craving the next page. This felt like one long tie in, part of a larger tale and didn’t really take off, I’d have preferred 30 issues of Frank teaming up with Morbius, Man-Thing, Werewolf by Night, Living Mummy and Manphibian to be honest, going on weird, off the wall zany adventures to be truthful, that was the best part of this book, even if it wasn’t super serious.
Does gain an extra star for Punisher using the Antman suit, Cap’s shield and the punisher hand glider.
The first issue or two of this run was quality, then it kinda dipped and never fully recovered. Although I very much enjoyed the FrankenCastle arc, with its silliness, gorgeous artwork and emotive story.
I did find myself loosing interest often, it felt like a bit of a slog for good portions of the book and honestly if you’re wanting to read punisher I’d recommend Garth Ennis or Jason Aaron. I love Rick Remender, some of my favourite books are ones he’s written (such as Uncanny X-Force) but this wasn’t up there for me.
I’m pretty disappointed but not very surprised, this book ties pretty heavily into the events of Bendis New Avengers, mainly the Dark Avengers portion. Norman Osborne is in charge, Frank faces off against Sentry, The Hood, even spider-man at one point but nothing really feels super impactful, the stakes are high at points but it doesn’t really pack a punch. The ending little twist was neat but nothing mindblowing. I wasn’t wowed or craving the next page. This felt like one long tie in, part of a larger tale and didn’t really take off, I’d have preferred 30 issues of Frank teaming up with Morbius, Man-Thing, Werewolf by Night, Living Mummy and Manphibian to be honest, going on weird, off the wall zany adventures to be truthful, that was the best part of this book, even if it wasn’t super serious.
Does gain an extra star for Punisher using the Antman suit, Cap’s shield and the punisher hand glider.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 16, 2025
Man this omnibus actually started off so good. The run kicks off by taking the premise of Punisher in the Marvel universe seriously, something surprisingly neglected in most runs. He goes after proper super villains with powers rather than just street level gangsters, and he does so without plot armor (*ahem*, looking at you Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe)! We get to see Punisher's grit and tactical brilliance in an underdog role as he tries to survive an onslaught of villains whose power levels aren't nerfed. It's great and original stuff, and Remender writes Punisher so well here.
After that though, the series gradually shifts its focus and does all this crazy stuff involving resurrections, monsters vs. monster hunters, and other such shenanigans. I didn't mind how ridiculous it all was, but I just found it to be boring and very mediocre. There's also the concluding In the Blood storyline which I also found to be painfully run-of-the-mill and boring. The art also got worse as the book went on. This run after the first few issues felt so uninspired and made me wonder why Remender even bothered writing this in the first place.
After that though, the series gradually shifts its focus and does all this crazy stuff involving resurrections, monsters vs. monster hunters, and other such shenanigans. I didn't mind how ridiculous it all was, but I just found it to be boring and very mediocre. There's also the concluding In the Blood storyline which I also found to be painfully run-of-the-mill and boring. The art also got worse as the book went on. This run after the first few issues felt so uninspired and made me wonder why Remender even bothered writing this in the first place.
June 27, 2022
My first time reading anything by Rick Remender, I heard mixed things about his style of writing, it’s unfortunate he had to touch one of my favorite characters. This book started off decent but not even halfway into it, I simply had to force myself to sit through this and finish reading. It brought me back to my 3rd grade teacher forcing me to read whatever was on the syllabus. Painful.
There was no character depth to him writing Frank, and the whole Frankenstein-Punisher thing was awful. I wish I could remove that from my memory bank. Mixing Wolverine and other Marvel characters into this was also highly unnecessary. Overall, after reading every single Punisher run known to man, only Garth Ennis did him justice for the Max run. The rest are simply secondary and in this case, forgetful.
There was no character depth to him writing Frank, and the whole Frankenstein-Punisher thing was awful. I wish I could remove that from my memory bank. Mixing Wolverine and other Marvel characters into this was also highly unnecessary. Overall, after reading every single Punisher run known to man, only Garth Ennis did him justice for the Max run. The rest are simply secondary and in this case, forgetful.
April 30, 2025
Rick Remender's very enjoyable run, which starts off as a slightly occult Punisher story, takes a shocking swerve into comedic monster mash territory and then comes right back to being a regular Punisher story. It holds together surprisingly well. Also, Manphibian rocks.
May 18, 2025
The story is dark but not as dark as punisher max. This book is mostly Punisher vs supernatural creatures with varied mystical powers. It flows well and the story ties together nicely. I would definitely recommend it to punisher fans
October 31, 2025
I want to like this so much more than I did. For the most part enjoy Rick Remender writing and think he has some genuine strokes of genius here and there that really shine during the Franken-Castle issues. Unfortunately, the rest of the book is a mediocre punisher.
October 23, 2019
Pulpy and fun. A good read for Halloween
June 10, 2025
Great read. Franken-Castle! Fun
May 22, 2014
I read this entire volume in one sitting.
I'm already a fan of Remender's later "Uncanny X-Force" run, a book turned the sorta dorky 'black ops x-men who do the things heroes can't' cliche into a really elegant meditation on the morality of pre-emptive violence (with costumes and powers and punching and Deadpool).
Before "X-Force," Remender made his Marvel name on "Punisher." The Omnibus encompasses his full run, which is told across five stories. The first, Dark Reign, comprises roughly a third of the book and features Castle fighting back against the evil H.A.M.M.E.R. organization during the hot minute in 2009 when the Marvel Universe was run by the badguys. During the battle, Castle armors up with black market avengers gear, fights a bunch of resurrected z-list badguys from the 1980's, and burns his zombie family alive instead of giving them a second chance at life wait what?
Yeah. The first third of the book concludes with the Hood, a demonically powered villain, giving Frank a choice: allow his family second life, but work for the bad guys, or allow them to perish forever. Frank decides to go with the latter, and does the deed himself.
Castle killing his family sounds (and is) disturbing, but it's ultimately the key moment of the entire run. Remender imagines Frank Castle as a full-blown anti-hero, a man with no aspirations outside of his eternal quest for revenge, a quest that is ultimately something of an illness. What I found most important to Remender's take that he never portrays Frank's violence as righteous. Don't get me wrong. Frank himself thinks it's righteous, and a lesser-written comic would have the reader believe the same thing. But early on, Castle meets a young hacker named Henry with a mysterious past, a boy with clean hands and a spirit. Henry doesn't change Castle, but he does provide the reader with a window into Frank Castle's unique brand of vigilante madness.
Frank kills his family because he's ashamed of what he's become in their name. He truly believes, as part of his hardcore deathwish, that he deserves to die and rot in hell while his family basks in the white glow of heaven. Until he dies, though, he's going to kill as many criminals as he possibly can.
The second act of Remender's grand punisher drama goes ahead and kills Castle. "Frankencastle" is probably the most famous story in the book. The Monsters of the Marvel U. resurrect Castle to protect them from a monster hunter. In the most absurd and overt way possible, Remender takes on the question of whether or not Frank Castle is, figuratively, a monster for what he does. It's great. The highlight of the book.
The third act, however, falls a little flat to me. It returns Castle to human form in a reasonable way before pitting him against his nemesis Jigsaw again. While this story ties up the plotlines involving Henry and other dangling threads from act one, they just weren't quite as interesting to me after the fun and madness of Frankencastle.
Still, for a large volume, it presents a fun and concise take on the Punisher. It doesn't glorify or fetishize the violent nature of the character, but it doesn't really demonize it either. Like the titular character itself, it walks a fine line, and for the most part succeeds.
I'm already a fan of Remender's later "Uncanny X-Force" run, a book turned the sorta dorky 'black ops x-men who do the things heroes can't' cliche into a really elegant meditation on the morality of pre-emptive violence (with costumes and powers and punching and Deadpool).
Before "X-Force," Remender made his Marvel name on "Punisher." The Omnibus encompasses his full run, which is told across five stories. The first, Dark Reign, comprises roughly a third of the book and features Castle fighting back against the evil H.A.M.M.E.R. organization during the hot minute in 2009 when the Marvel Universe was run by the badguys. During the battle, Castle armors up with black market avengers gear, fights a bunch of resurrected z-list badguys from the 1980's, and burns his zombie family alive instead of giving them a second chance at life wait what?
Yeah. The first third of the book concludes with the Hood, a demonically powered villain, giving Frank a choice: allow his family second life, but work for the bad guys, or allow them to perish forever. Frank decides to go with the latter, and does the deed himself.
Castle killing his family sounds (and is) disturbing, but it's ultimately the key moment of the entire run. Remender imagines Frank Castle as a full-blown anti-hero, a man with no aspirations outside of his eternal quest for revenge, a quest that is ultimately something of an illness. What I found most important to Remender's take that he never portrays Frank's violence as righteous. Don't get me wrong. Frank himself thinks it's righteous, and a lesser-written comic would have the reader believe the same thing. But early on, Castle meets a young hacker named Henry with a mysterious past, a boy with clean hands and a spirit. Henry doesn't change Castle, but he does provide the reader with a window into Frank Castle's unique brand of vigilante madness.
Frank kills his family because he's ashamed of what he's become in their name. He truly believes, as part of his hardcore deathwish, that he deserves to die and rot in hell while his family basks in the white glow of heaven. Until he dies, though, he's going to kill as many criminals as he possibly can.
The second act of Remender's grand punisher drama goes ahead and kills Castle. "Frankencastle" is probably the most famous story in the book. The Monsters of the Marvel U. resurrect Castle to protect them from a monster hunter. In the most absurd and overt way possible, Remender takes on the question of whether or not Frank Castle is, figuratively, a monster for what he does. It's great. The highlight of the book.
The third act, however, falls a little flat to me. It returns Castle to human form in a reasonable way before pitting him against his nemesis Jigsaw again. While this story ties up the plotlines involving Henry and other dangling threads from act one, they just weren't quite as interesting to me after the fun and madness of Frankencastle.
Still, for a large volume, it presents a fun and concise take on the Punisher. It doesn't glorify or fetishize the violent nature of the character, but it doesn't really demonize it either. Like the titular character itself, it walks a fine line, and for the most part succeeds.
January 28, 2015
As far as Rick Remender Marvel Omnibus editions go, this one is, as far as monetary value goes, the diametric opposite of the Uncanny X-Force Remender Marvel Omnibus I reviewed earlier today, which is to say: I found this for SIGNIFICANTLY less than cover price, brand new and shrink-wrapped, at a local comic book store. And I believe (though I haven't looked) that it's a similar story online.
And the astute among you will notice that I gave this a similar four-star rating.
Again: I'm not a Punisher kind of guy. I never was, really. I have serious problems with a character whose sole purpose is apparently to kill every bad guy he meets. But I have read Garth Ennis' long and fruitful Punisher epic--and really, it's just one long, long epic, from the "Back to Basics" arc to "Valley Forge, Valley Forge"--and as a result, while I dislike the character, I can see that he can be a useful tool for interesting stories. Almost like Italian gangsters in Coppola's Godfather films--well, the two good ones, anyway.
That said: I really really enjoyed the middle story in this book, and most of the well informed among you will know what I'm talking about, but if you don't know, it's called "FrankenCastle." That should maybe tell you something.
I didn't really like how Remender had to steer it there, and I'm not all that happy with how he resolved it (or, more accurately, "cured" Frank), but the actual League of Monsters stuff is just great fun, and I liked the artwork there quite a bit.
One other note, though: Frank Castle is, like Batman, entirely devoid of super powers. He's just a guy with a lot of training and a LOT of weapons. So he gets into fights with super powered people and gets pretty seriously banged up. That's just something you learn to accept when you're reading a Punisher story. And Remender takes that about as far as you can take it, and then goes just that little bit beyond believability, and then . . . well, let's just say I've read better things by him, but I'm also not sorry I read this.
I'm being helped along in my tackling these colossal Marvel Omnibus collections by a recent illness and a rather large snowstorm.
And the astute among you will notice that I gave this a similar four-star rating.
Again: I'm not a Punisher kind of guy. I never was, really. I have serious problems with a character whose sole purpose is apparently to kill every bad guy he meets. But I have read Garth Ennis' long and fruitful Punisher epic--and really, it's just one long, long epic, from the "Back to Basics" arc to "Valley Forge, Valley Forge"--and as a result, while I dislike the character, I can see that he can be a useful tool for interesting stories. Almost like Italian gangsters in Coppola's Godfather films--well, the two good ones, anyway.
That said: I really really enjoyed the middle story in this book, and most of the well informed among you will know what I'm talking about, but if you don't know, it's called "FrankenCastle." That should maybe tell you something.
I didn't really like how Remender had to steer it there, and I'm not all that happy with how he resolved it (or, more accurately, "cured" Frank), but the actual League of Monsters stuff is just great fun, and I liked the artwork there quite a bit.
One other note, though: Frank Castle is, like Batman, entirely devoid of super powers. He's just a guy with a lot of training and a LOT of weapons. So he gets into fights with super powered people and gets pretty seriously banged up. That's just something you learn to accept when you're reading a Punisher story. And Remender takes that about as far as you can take it, and then goes just that little bit beyond believability, and then . . . well, let's just say I've read better things by him, but I'm also not sorry I read this.
I'm being helped along in my tackling these colossal Marvel Omnibus collections by a recent illness and a rather large snowstorm.
March 20, 2013
A wonderfully fun read. Rick Remender really captured Frank Castle and made him an enjoyable character to follow, something I haven't often seen in the Punisher comics.
The omnibus begins shortly after the start of Marvel's Dark Reign crossover storyline and shows the Punisher taking on some heavy hitters in the Marvel Universe like Norman Osborne and The Hood, usually emerging victorious through careful planning and pure determination against their magic, tech, and overwhelming numbers.
FrankenCastle, fills the middle of the book and is a really excellent example of Remender's storytelling abilities, as it puts the Punisher in a ridiculous situation (he's killed, brought back as a Frankenstein monster, leads the Legion of Monsters against a monster-hunting army) that still feels like a great Punisher story.
Actually, the start to this storyline, which sees Castle murdered by Wolverine's son, Daken, is probably the best Punisher comic I've ever read. It shows the Punisher fighting against an enemy he knows he'll lose against, but he makes Daken work harder than he ever has before for a kill.
Following the FrankenCastle story, there's a solid plot involving the return of longtime nemesis Jigsaw, which is a fun kind of "returning to the roots" Punisher tale. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the other stories in the book, but it was still a very solid return to the street-level vigilanteism one expects from Punisher comics.
The one downside to this omnibus is it includes a couple of issues from Dark Wolverine as part of the FrankenCastle/Daken rematch plotline for what was essentially a multi-issue fight scene. This was... well, it's OK, but when compared to the rest of Remender's Punisher run, the Dark Wolverine issues stand out for some underwhelming writing.
Not quite perfect, but definitely a book I'll be happy to keep on my shelf for quite some time.
The omnibus begins shortly after the start of Marvel's Dark Reign crossover storyline and shows the Punisher taking on some heavy hitters in the Marvel Universe like Norman Osborne and The Hood, usually emerging victorious through careful planning and pure determination against their magic, tech, and overwhelming numbers.
FrankenCastle, fills the middle of the book and is a really excellent example of Remender's storytelling abilities, as it puts the Punisher in a ridiculous situation (he's killed, brought back as a Frankenstein monster, leads the Legion of Monsters against a monster-hunting army) that still feels like a great Punisher story.
Actually, the start to this storyline, which sees Castle murdered by Wolverine's son, Daken, is probably the best Punisher comic I've ever read. It shows the Punisher fighting against an enemy he knows he'll lose against, but he makes Daken work harder than he ever has before for a kill.
Following the FrankenCastle story, there's a solid plot involving the return of longtime nemesis Jigsaw, which is a fun kind of "returning to the roots" Punisher tale. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the other stories in the book, but it was still a very solid return to the street-level vigilanteism one expects from Punisher comics.
The one downside to this omnibus is it includes a couple of issues from Dark Wolverine as part of the FrankenCastle/Daken rematch plotline for what was essentially a multi-issue fight scene. This was... well, it's OK, but when compared to the rest of Remender's Punisher run, the Dark Wolverine issues stand out for some underwhelming writing.
Not quite perfect, but definitely a book I'll be happy to keep on my shelf for quite some time.
October 4, 2014
Read this in two days. Very conflicted.
The good: art is incredible, best fight scenes I've seen in comics, Henry is one of my new favorite characters, offers alternate perspectives of Frank as homicidal psycho, the "Franken Castle" arc is absolutely perfect, outstanding covers, manages both seriousness and satire of genre, includes soap opera, horror, true crime and superhero cliches to become deeply inventive
The bad: "punisher: in the blood" with the exception of the very VERY end, no well written or even important women, gratuitous stereotyping, random violence perpetrated by the punisher that is totally unreasonable, again- totally callous and garbage treatment of the women and non-WASPs in the arc
The ugly: arc in "in the blood" where a woman who frank once set on fire gets reconstructive surgery by jigsaw to look like a reincarnated Maria in a catwoman costume and is then forcibly intoxicated and raped on camera by jigsaw and his right hand man while frank is forced to watch. COME ON. A completely pathetic plot that took a five star story down many, many notches. Rick Remender should be embarrassed by his inability to write credible women and giving his non-white characters insanely terrible, unrealistic and offensive dialogue and speech patterns. Damn shame.
The good: art is incredible, best fight scenes I've seen in comics, Henry is one of my new favorite characters, offers alternate perspectives of Frank as homicidal psycho, the "Franken Castle" arc is absolutely perfect, outstanding covers, manages both seriousness and satire of genre, includes soap opera, horror, true crime and superhero cliches to become deeply inventive
The bad: "punisher: in the blood" with the exception of the very VERY end, no well written or even important women, gratuitous stereotyping, random violence perpetrated by the punisher that is totally unreasonable, again- totally callous and garbage treatment of the women and non-WASPs in the arc
The ugly: arc in "in the blood" where a woman who frank once set on fire gets reconstructive surgery by jigsaw to look like a reincarnated Maria in a catwoman costume and is then forcibly intoxicated and raped on camera by jigsaw and his right hand man while frank is forced to watch. COME ON. A completely pathetic plot that took a five star story down many, many notches. Rick Remender should be embarrassed by his inability to write credible women and giving his non-white characters insanely terrible, unrealistic and offensive dialogue and speech patterns. Damn shame.
May 26, 2015
I wanted to read a more modern Punisher and I had heard Rick Remender's run was amazing. I was a bit skeptical when I had heard about Franken-Castle, but as ridiculous as it sounded, it was pretty fun to read. This omnibus is a wonderful way to read about the modern Punisher, especially if you're like me and hadn't been paying much attention to Marvel's unstoppable vigilante. Remender did a great job, taking you on a thrill-ride with very cool twists and turns. I recommend this collection highly.
October 13, 2014
Well, this is ridiculous, Franken-Castle is probably the greatest thing ever (and there is a lovely shout-out to The Goon in Monster Metropolis). This was definitely fun. Remender makes things crazy, and crazy is why one reads comics, no?
October 27, 2025
Zum Teil großartige Einzelgeschichten, aber auch ein paar ziemlich wilde Stories, weshalb auch die übergeordnete Erzählung leidet. Insgesamt aber ziemlich freundlich für Einsteiger. Ich vergebe 3,5 Sterne!
July 29, 2016
not perfect but just so fun to read !!!!!!
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