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Punisher Noir #1-4

Justiceiro Noir

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Nova York, 1935. Frank Castelione, um veterano da Primeira Guerra Mundial, defende, junto com o filho, Frankie, sua pequena loja contra o crime organizado liderado pelo gângster Dutch Schultz. No entanto, que esperança eles podem ter diante de assassinos como Barracuda e Retalho? Se pelo menos um certo justiceiro, personagem das novelas de rádio existisse, as coisas poderiam ser diferentes… Com roteiro de Frank Tieri e arte de Paul Azaceta e Antonio Fuso, a história desta edição, estrelada pelo Justiceiro, faz parte da linha editorial Marvel Noir, que aborda seus personagens de uma forma mais realista e madura.

108 pages, Hardcover

First published March 31, 2010

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5 stars
109 (17%)
4 stars
211 (34%)
3 stars
226 (36%)
2 stars
58 (9%)
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16 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
Profile Image for Amanja.
575 reviews75 followers
March 17, 2020
Punisher: Noir contains issues 1-4 and is part of a Marvel Noir special series.

The standard origin story for the Punisher is that he comes home from war, has severe PTSD, sees his family murdered, and goes nuts vigilante style.

Punisher Noir has his dad come home from war, be fed up with the mob and teach him about street justice. Then pops is murdered and Punisher is all grown up to take his revenge.

The book is set in 1918 or so and the mafia runs the streets. Frank Castle Sr is a shop owner who is sick of paying dues to the mafia and decides to risk his life and family's welfare over it.

The book starts with our Punisher appearing to be in his pre-teen years. By the end of the book he's probably in his late 20s still seeking revenge on the same bad guys who haven't aged a day.

The book assumes you have some prior knowledge of Punisher lore. If you don't know who Jigsaw is this story would probably be even less satisfying. One of the only good parts of this whole book is when Jigsaw carves the Punisher up with the image of his skull (spoiler!)

My main problem with this book is that it's ultimately boring. The timeline is a little confusing which doesn't help but mostly I just really didn't care about Frank Castle Jr and his entire mission to avenge his father.

To be completely honest, for the first two issues I thought the dad was the Punisher and the kid was going to be killed, like the standard story. When the dad died instead it just made it that much lamer.

The true Punisher has some serious mental consequences from having his wife and children murdered. Switching that to having the dad murdered just puts him in the running for least powered of all the orphans running around Marvel's New York City trying to vigilante their way to parental justice.

The orphan thing is so played out.

It's only four issues long so it's definitely easy enough to get through if you're some sort of Punisher completest but if you're not I'd say this one is skippable. I haven't read the other noirs in the series but this one did not make me want to start.

The art is decent, and I liked the mood of having it set in the 20s. It just really should have worked more. It's utterly forgettable.

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Profile Image for Ill D.
Author 0 books8,594 followers
June 7, 2018
It’s not great. It’s not bad. It’s Punisher: Noir!

Sure enough the title does indeed tell the story. With nods and generally well-done replications of the film noir style, a tale grimy with revanchism and post-great war grief spools forth from its roots. Laid down in the “War to End all Wars,” Frank Castle’s daddy comes home from the front to run a shop in this alternate take on the Punisher mythos.

When protection money payments are refused, the local don calls for the execution of this one-man rebellion. Of course, the hard-hitters are called in and we catch glimpses of the ever-present Barracuda, Jigsaw, and a certain mononymously known citizen of the previous U.S.S.R. Predictable predictableness ricochets along with the up-coming bullets and I’m sure you can guess what happens next.

With spoilers avoided and a mere two issues to go, the internal world that took two issues to build, has to wrap itself up just as quickly. Vengeance is blasted forth from loaded hand-guns and revenge takes the center stage from here on out. As such, this one man’s mission of highly personal vigilantism courses through Coney Island and desolate urban streets until it finally concludes at a local Zoo.

While nothing amazing on its own, neither does it find itself riddled with errors either. At best it’s an appetizer and at worst it’s (somewhat) pleasant bathroom reading fare. If you want the full course cinematically or graphically – stick to the source materials within the VHS tape and the comic – respectively. But, if a quick little snack is all you want, this is a good choice.

Bon Appetit.
Profile Image for Scott.
2,256 reviews269 followers
June 6, 2018
I would think placing the Punisher in a Prohibition / Great Depression-era crime drama would be a match made in pulp fiction heaven with a rat-a-tat Tommy Gun chaser. Well, the end result was just adequate. As noted by other reviewers there's a good twist with a villain's 'reveal,' and the main character's roaring rampage of revenge on a trio of assassins was entertaining in a squicky way.
Profile Image for Lost Planet Airman.
1,283 reviews90 followers
March 9, 2019
Interesting take on The Punisher; re-set between 1918 and 1935. Several nasty pieces of work get their just desserts.
Profile Image for Dimitris Papastergiou.
2,526 reviews85 followers
September 13, 2017
Ah.. wanted to like this but... could have been a lot better with the whole vibe and setting. It was just ok.

Won't hurt if you don't read it.

Nice artwork, and ok/meh story.. other than that, too predictable and nothing special.
Profile Image for Dan.
2,235 reviews67 followers
November 5, 2016
This has to be one of the better Marvel Noirs. To bad they didn't do anymore.
Profile Image for Sam Quixote.
4,803 reviews13.4k followers
August 27, 2011
New York, 1920s, an a WW1 vet Frank Castelione Snr runs a grocery store with his young son Frank Jnr while meting out justice in the night time against the mobsters that threaten to overrun the city. Unfortunately after an encounter with two vicious assassins, Barracuda and Jigsaw, Frank Jnr is killed. Years later mobsters are being taken out by a masked vigilante. But will the Punisher find vengeance on his father’s killers and become the hero for the innocent his father wanted to be?

Like DC’s Elseworlds series, Marvel takes some of its best loved characters and puts them into an earlier epoch, a kind of “what if?” storyline, mostly focusing on the early twentieth century in this “Noir” series of Raymond Chandler-esque books.

This book is gangster heavy, as you would expect a Punisher book to be, but because of its setting in the 20s and 30s it feels like Max Allan Collins’ excellent comic book “Road to Perdition” than the contemporary Punisher books.

This book was well written and imaginative as well as fast paced and the artwork was very dark, very appropriate to a series titled “noir”. Dennis Calero’s covers are utterly gorgeous and are included in a gallery at the end. The Punisher with a skull mask also makes the series feel darker than average Punisher books as it looks like a serial killer than Frank Castle.

This whole series has been designed very well with smaller than average books, glossy covers with thematically linked covers and well imagined re-inventions of these famous characters in a less technologically advanced time. “Punisher Noir” is a great addition to a superb series and a good read.
Profile Image for Quentin Wallace.
Author 34 books178 followers
January 2, 2015
Pretty damn good. This takes the Punisher and sets him firmly in gangsterland of the 1930s, and it works even better than you'd expect. The only minor complaint I had is maybe a little too much tried to be forced in, as you had versions of The Russian, Barracude, Jigsaw, and Detective Soap all the in story. That being said, they were still cool characters and it mostly worked. There was also a major twist that I didn't see coming that provided a pretty shocking moment. The art is great as well and totally fits the story.

If you're a Punisher fan, read this ASAP! If you aren't so much a Punisher fan, but you like graphic novels and gangster stories, you'll like this one as well.
Profile Image for Tyson Adams.
Author 5 books19 followers
June 13, 2011
Meh. Didn't enjoy this at all.
Profile Image for Robert.
4,558 reviews30 followers
September 19, 2020
An Ok story it is. Punisher it is not. And once again injecting Hitler as a boogeyman into these is unwarranted. Seeing as how they ethnicized Frank Castle into Castelione, the smallest spark of creativity would have led to the use of Mussolini, but alas.
Profile Image for Marquis Cooper.
21 reviews
December 29, 2015
NICE! Solid story, and i like the twist they put on Punisher as a character. Also with the mysterious woman. Not going to lie...i was concerned where the story was going in issue 4 at the zoo, it got strange lol. Made up for it with how beasty the fight was....No pun intended. 4 stars!
Profile Image for Ant Tellez.
300 reviews20 followers
January 1, 2024
3.6/5.0

Although I think the idea of what this Punisher could have become is rather fascinating, I felt like the story being told here was weak and rather rushed.
Profile Image for Gav451.
749 reviews5 followers
June 1, 2020

There are some sniffy reviews of this which I read and respect but I wonder if the true fans of the comic engaged less with this less than people like me who know nothing of the history or canon. Almost nothing.

I enjoyed this enormously. Its beginning to look like the ‘Noir’ run of takes on the characters were more than a little awesome. Spiderman was great, both of the stories and this one is great as well. It has much more of a gangster feel to it and because the action is weapons based there is less nuance. Nonetheless it is still impactive and entertaining to read.

The art was brilliant in this comic and the story Solid. No it was not exactly the same story as the comic but it world on its own terms and I enjoyed it no less.

If you are not completely immersed in the world of the Punisher or, if you are, if you still have an open mind I would suggest you try this. Its a really fun read.

Its definitely Noir, but it is deftly handled.
Profile Image for Rosaria Battiloro.
430 reviews57 followers
May 1, 2023
Ugh, this was a mess. I thought the Punisher would be a great and perfect character to place into a noir settings, among the mobsters of the '30s, and still this story has some good moments that show you the potential behind the idea, but in the end it fell quite flat, with a couple of really stupid and underwhelming moments!:/ Shame.
In the first 3 issue the art is by Paul Azaceta, and I really enjoy his style, but the artist changed for the "big finale" and it made things even worse!
Profile Image for Judah Radd.
1,098 reviews15 followers
October 13, 2019
Fast, fun, good art. It was exactly as I wanted it to be.

This noir reimagining of The Punisher reads like the MAX series if it were set in the 1930s. Some familiar Punisher villains show up. Violence ensues. Overall, I was highly entertained.

It’s only four issues. There’s really not much more to say about it. I read this on MU, and it was a great way to spend 30 min. Anyone who loves Frank Castle will enjoy this.
Profile Image for Philip.
454 reviews2 followers
April 18, 2021
This is a unique take on Punisher in the years between WWI and WWII. The artwork and 1930’s era crime, as well as the portrayal of Punisher and some of his classic antagonists, are fun to look at but I feel like there was a lot of story that could have been told but wasn’t.
Profile Image for chris.
905 reviews16 followers
April 23, 2023
Generally badly written, but I want to specifically call out two things:

1. The writer incorporates characters from other Punisher runs (specifically Garth Ennis's takes on the character, which are actually good) in a superficial, thoughtless way that adds nothing but cheap nostalgia for people who are satisfied with that kind of thing. Dangling the comic book equivalent of jingle keys in front of the audience does not equal good storytelling.

2. The final chapter is largely devoted to pointless animal cruelty, to an extent that I almost didn't finish the comic. Why was it necessary for the Punisher and the Russian (another pointless call-back) to duke it out in a zoo, and why was it necessary for them to slaughter rhinos, chimpanzees, gorillas, and tigers? Why do we need to see the Punisher feed a tiger a grenade? Why do we need to see the Russian snap a gorilla's neck? Spoiler: there is no reason. It's just cruel, pointless stupidity.

Oh, and the comic ends with Frank deciding to kill Hitler or something...?

We get it, Frank Tieri, you're totally edgy and cool; whatever makes you feel better about writing a terrible Punisher story. I may hate Jason Aaron's run on PunisherMAX but I would rather read that than this schlock.

Don't read this.
29 reviews1 follower
November 22, 2014
I love Punisher. I love noir. That's why I'm disappointed in this series and the ratings. The back story was weak. His father teaches him to be a gun toting vigilante? Like Dexter?? But he's upset the kid joins a group of juvenile delinquent street kids??? Blahh. There's some confusing artwork of young Frank that is equally distorted and confusing. He looks like a demented old man puppet in a few cells. Other than a couple cool shots of The Russian and Jigsaw, it's a total buzz kill.
Profile Image for Mike.
1,586 reviews149 followers
August 18, 2011
Solid story, good well-coloured art. The story played out in a way that completely fit my impressions of the 20's and 30's, and made me believe this is how punished would've emerged and behaved in those times.

Once in a while the dialog sounded a little Bugs Bunny tho.
Profile Image for Grant Perry.
60 reviews
April 2, 2025
I haven’t had time to read anything thick or with substance lately since I’ve been creating things like a work horse and building a life for myself at the same time, so I decided after watching The Amazing Spider-Man 2 with Montana and Brody to get Marvel Unlimited and read some runs I’ve always wanted to instead for the time being. Don’t get me wrong, I did this for quick fluff just as much as I did for vague quality, and over all I know it’s all junk food reading for the most part. ESPECIALLY since they redacted most of the MAX imprint as easily as Oscorp redacted Max Dillon from their computers in that movie. Fucking Disney man: that’s like a hundred really bad stories I’ll never get to read now for shits and giggles lmao, and VERY high quality Punisher storytelling that just isn’t accessible. So instead of starting with really good Garth Ennis or schlocky Garth Ennis or very bad non-Garth Ennis MAX writers, I replaced that itch with this universe (elseworlds? what does Marvel call that?) line I totally forgot existed: Punisher Noir.

It’s the worst shit I’ve ever read lmfao. Worse than any of the bad MAX runs I’ve read about (was REALLY hoping the terrible Wolverine MAX comic would be on there but oh well), and certainly worse than any Punisher run, even the hella offensive ones. Zero depth, no structure, totally dead-brained, contrived, racist, transphobic. It’s basically the anti-Sandman Mystery Theatre. But I’m intrigued enough to read Daredevil Noir now too, so I’ll probably do that after chugging down what I gather to be a run just as bad as this one (but hopefully, surely to god, more inadvertently hilarious): Kevin Smith’s Guardian Devil issues. Fuck it: here’s my reading list on the app and I’ll give an explanation in parentheses beside each for why.

Kevin Smith Daredevil (because it’s legendarily bad - there’s literally a cancer and aids Mysterio plotline; yes, he used Mysterio lmfao)

Spider-Man/Black Cat: Evil That Men Do (I want to see if this got shit on too hard or not, especially because it’s the only other run Smith did and he usually almost always blows. On paper though, it sounds like it could be promising somewhere…it gives me cringey I Spit on Your Grave vibes tho currently…)

Machine Man (og run, because it’s fucking awesome probably)

2016 Foolkiller miniseries and Squadron Supreme from 2006 - the only MAX imprint story I’ve seen so far that hasn’t been taken off the app (because they sound darkly hilarious/potentially awesome)

Spider-Man: Blue, Hellcat, a.k.a. Patsy Walker, the new Juggernaut miniseries (because they’re acclaimed and look great)

So yeah, hype for some comics fun!

Profile Image for Mykhailo Gasyuk.
986 reviews15 followers
December 8, 2020
З Карателем найлегше зробити нуарну історію, бо вигадувати щось оригінальне не треба. Але автори трішечки погралися кольорами та сюжетними поворотами…

Жив-був Каратель-батя з татухою на всі груди та син його, малолітній бешкетник та хуліган. Під час першої світової війни батя гнув німців в ріг, а потім, повернувшись на Батьківщину, почав гнути покупців заради доляру. В баті була власна крамниця.

Якось приходить до баті мафія, та й каже, що тепер буде його дахом. Не стріхою, бо це ж Каратель (версія а-ля Джанго Фетт), а так, по питанню розподілення економічних вигод серед італійського пролетаріату. Але замість грошей на порцію макаронів мафія отримує люлєй.

Босу мафії набридає відрізати пальці своїм підлеглим (відрізалку заклинило), тому він відправляє до Карателя-баті трьох міні-босів (все дуже толерантно: це білий, чорний та жінка. В фіналі історія виявиться ще більш толерантною).

Каратель традиційно про помсту та вогнепальну зброю.

Дивна сцена з падінням Барракуди. Якщо вдивитися в кілька відповідних кадрів, то помітно, що бандюган ніяк не дотягувався до Карателя (версії а-ля Боба Фетт), відстань між ними завелика, але в результаті він все ж хапає Френка за руку, і вони разом падають вниз. Падіння, до речі, ніяк не вплинуло на Барракуду, він навіть пережив момент, коли на нього буквально "наїхало" оглядове колесо. Нуар нуаром, а мальописні умовності ніхто не відміняв.

Порівняно з іншими коміксами серії, тут чудова деталізація, це нуарний бойовик, в якому видно майже все.

Захисники тварин будуть обурені, якщо дочитають до фіналу.

Якщо вже порівнювати з іншими тайтлами в Марвелівській нуарній серії, то тут 3,5-4. Знову ж таки, в своїх рамках. Бо якщо брати до уваги інші нуарні коміксі, то й у Карателя все буде сумно.
56 reviews
February 7, 2022
As expected, this is one of the more decent Marvel Noir titles, featuring some of the better art in the series. How can you go wrong with a Great Depression-era Punisher? Much like the Iron Man arc, however, this is more pulp than noir. The work based around these reimagined concepts hasn't been exceptional by any means, but they're fun ideas for the most part, and the Punisher delivers on that front. I just wish it could have been at least one or two issues longer, so that the plot could have a chance to unfold at a better pace.
Profile Image for I_ty_toje.
539 reviews12 followers
December 31, 2022
Страшно надоела такая завязка для сюжета мести, вариантов должно быть побольше одного всет-ки. Весь остальной комикс очень даже неплохой по сюжету, множество деталей. История похожа на каноничную, но прикольно изменена и читать интересно, понравились и диалоги и финал. Внутри одной мини-серии все также довольно логично и понятно. С удовольствием прочитал.
Рисунок тут не порадовал тоже. Нет в нем нуарности и грусти Сорвиголовы или отбитости Росомахи)
Profile Image for Pedro.
508 reviews4 followers
December 26, 2017
Una interesante versión de Frank Castle, en los años veinte luchando contra gangsters en tiempos de la prohibición. Villanos clásicos como Barracuda y Jigsaw hacen su aparición. Lo único que no me gustó fue el final que me pareció poco elaborado, tal vez por falta de páginas, y eso lo hizo muy poco plausible, incluso en el mundo de Punisher.
Profile Image for Václav.
1,127 reviews44 followers
March 8, 2018
Even if Punisher Noir didn't reaches the highs of some others Noir takes on "calssic" characters, it still good, especially in view of Punisher fan. I actually is quite good story, nothing suprising, but quality work. I really enjoy Paul Azaceta's art an Filardi's colours, it all suits the Noir styling very well.
Profile Image for Abu Syed sajib.
147 reviews15 followers
July 9, 2017
It was good but surely could've been way much better.Doesn't really fit in the noir genre.It was just like a video game where you have to cross three mini villains to get to the main villian.The exception was the main boss really sucked and the last twist really didn't help either.
Profile Image for Maëva Catalano.
Author 7 books15 followers
May 7, 2019
Si j'ai bien aimé le style et la nouvelle storyline des origines de Frank Castle (un père vétéran tué par la mafia) j'ai trouvé les affrontement trop rapides et un passage particulièrement trransphobe. Ça reste une bonne addition au personnage.
Profile Image for Λευτέρης Αναγνωστόπουλος.
Author 3 books78 followers
May 14, 2023
2.5/5

I thought Punisher Noir would be one of the best, if not the best, of Marvel's Noir series, but in end it's just ok. I saw the twists from a mile away, the pacing was all over the place and I didn't care all that much for the story.
Profile Image for Stufflebean_2.
3 reviews
August 14, 2025
An overall enjoyable read, with very good art on the first 3 issues and an interesting story and setting. The last issue fell apart in how the story was told, however, and the way sequences of events were illustrated was incomprehensible and lazy at times, which led to a disappointing finale.
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