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The Punisher: One-Shots
Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe #1
What happens when Frank Castle's wife and kids are caught in the crossfire of a super-hero battle instead of a gangland slaying? Find out as Castle vows vengeance on a world full of Marvel heroes as the Punisher!
47 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1995
16 people are currently reading
374 people want to read
About the author
Garth Ennis
2,624 books3,169 followersEnnis began his comic-writing career in 1989 with the series Troubled Souls. Appearing in the short-lived but critically-acclaimed British anthology Crisis and illustrated by McCrea, it told the story of a young, apolitical Protestant man caught up by fate in the violence of the Irish 'Troubles'. It spawned a sequel, For a Few Troubles More, a broad Belfast-based comedy featuring two supporting characters from Troubled Souls, Dougie and Ivor, who would later get their own American comics series, Dicks, from Caliber in 1997, and several follow-ups from Avatar.
Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years.
Ennis' first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994, and for which he currently holds the title for most issues written. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run.
Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for God who has abandoned his creation.
While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.
Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include Goddess, Bloody Mary, Unknown Soldier, and Pride & Joy, all for DC/Vertigo, as well as origin stories for The Darkness for Image Comics and Shadowman for Valiant Comics.
After the end of Hitman, Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada that he could write The Punisher as long as he cared to. Instead of largely comical tone of these issues, he decided to make a much more serious series, re-launched under Marvel's MAX imprint.
In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd.
Other comics Ennis has written include War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Pro for Image Comics; The Authority for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and 303, Chronicles of Wormwood (a six issue mini-series about the Antichrist), and a western comic book, Streets of Glory for Avatar Press.
In 2008 Ennis ended his five-year run on Punisher MAX to debut a new Marvel title, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle.
In June 2008, at Wizard World, Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called Battlefields from Dynamite made up of mini-series including Night Witches, Dear Billy and Tankies, another Chronicles of Wormwood mini-series and Crossed both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from The Boys) and a Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon (subsequently specified to be a weekly mini-series entitled Punisher: War Zone, to be released concurrently with the film of the same name).
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis
Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years.
Ennis' first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994, and for which he currently holds the title for most issues written. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run.
Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for God who has abandoned his creation.
While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.
Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include Goddess, Bloody Mary, Unknown Soldier, and Pride & Joy, all for DC/Vertigo, as well as origin stories for The Darkness for Image Comics and Shadowman for Valiant Comics.
After the end of Hitman, Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada that he could write The Punisher as long as he cared to. Instead of largely comical tone of these issues, he decided to make a much more serious series, re-launched under Marvel's MAX imprint.
In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd.
Other comics Ennis has written include War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Pro for Image Comics; The Authority for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and 303, Chronicles of Wormwood (a six issue mini-series about the Antichrist), and a western comic book, Streets of Glory for Avatar Press.
In 2008 Ennis ended his five-year run on Punisher MAX to debut a new Marvel title, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle.
In June 2008, at Wizard World, Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called Battlefields from Dynamite made up of mini-series including Night Witches, Dear Billy and Tankies, another Chronicles of Wormwood mini-series and Crossed both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from The Boys) and a Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon (subsequently specified to be a weekly mini-series entitled Punisher: War Zone, to be released concurrently with the film of the same name).
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
December 4, 2014
Set in an alterna-verse (where else?), Frank Castle’s family are murdered in the park when they’re caught in the crossfire of a battle involving Avengers, X-Men and supervillains. Blinded with rage, he begins his campaign of punishment against all supes. KILL THEM ALL, FRANK, MAKE THEM PAY!!! Ahem.
The Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe is a double-size one-shot issue from the mid-90s and marked Garth Ennis’ first work for Marvel. You can see Ennis’ clear enjoyment writing Frank here as an indicator for his defining run on the character a few years down the line, as well as the blueprint for his bestselling creator-owned series, The Boys.
It’s an incredibly nihilistic comic but so much fun because of that quality. Ennis’ disdain for superheroes is expressed so palpably in this story that it becomes enjoyable to see Frank gunning down Earth’s Mightiest Heroes with remarkable ease. Some of the deaths are even comical like how Frank deals with the X-Men (all of them!), and some, like the Hulk’s death, are a bit questionable in how straightforward they are.
And Wolverine - can he be killed that way? I’ll say this about that scene: it was better than how he died recently at the hands of Charles Soule if only because it was more final. Thor isn’t mentioned because how could Frank kill the God of Thunder? He couldn’t, so he’s conveniently pushed to the side, hopefully to be forgotten by most readers. Everything happens a bit too quickly without much difficulty, but Ennis only had 45 pages to play with and yet he managed to construct something awesome with that space.
Ennis is at his best when writing street-level characters which is why most of his Marvel output is Punisher-related. He’s written some really good Nick Fury books too and one or two rare comics for Hulk, Spider-Man and Thor (try finding those!), but, looking at his extensive Punisher catalogue, it’s clear he has little to no interest in the bright, costumed superheroes that make up the Marvel Universe – unless Frank’s putting a bullet in their heads!
If you enjoyed Ennis’ Punisher books and The Boys, you’ll like this one too as it’s essentially more of the same but much more over-the-top and silly. And even if you don’t think you’ll enjoy seeing your favourite heroes getting murdered by an angry man with a skull t-shirt over Kevlar armour, Ennis’ obvious pleasure in killing your darlings is so visceral and his vision so vivid, you’ll nevertheless find yourself smiling even when Daredevil’s pleading for his life!
Ennis’ The Punisher Kills The Marvel Universe totally fulfils its title and does more in 45 pages than Jonathan Maberry managed in four issues of a similar storyline over ten years later. It’s pitch black nihilism covered in red, red blood but with Garth Ennis in the driving seat you’ll read it with a grin on your mug!
The Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe is a double-size one-shot issue from the mid-90s and marked Garth Ennis’ first work for Marvel. You can see Ennis’ clear enjoyment writing Frank here as an indicator for his defining run on the character a few years down the line, as well as the blueprint for his bestselling creator-owned series, The Boys.
It’s an incredibly nihilistic comic but so much fun because of that quality. Ennis’ disdain for superheroes is expressed so palpably in this story that it becomes enjoyable to see Frank gunning down Earth’s Mightiest Heroes with remarkable ease. Some of the deaths are even comical like how Frank deals with the X-Men (all of them!), and some, like the Hulk’s death, are a bit questionable in how straightforward they are.
And Wolverine - can he be killed that way? I’ll say this about that scene: it was better than how he died recently at the hands of Charles Soule if only because it was more final. Thor isn’t mentioned because how could Frank kill the God of Thunder? He couldn’t, so he’s conveniently pushed to the side, hopefully to be forgotten by most readers. Everything happens a bit too quickly without much difficulty, but Ennis only had 45 pages to play with and yet he managed to construct something awesome with that space.
Ennis is at his best when writing street-level characters which is why most of his Marvel output is Punisher-related. He’s written some really good Nick Fury books too and one or two rare comics for Hulk, Spider-Man and Thor (try finding those!), but, looking at his extensive Punisher catalogue, it’s clear he has little to no interest in the bright, costumed superheroes that make up the Marvel Universe – unless Frank’s putting a bullet in their heads!
If you enjoyed Ennis’ Punisher books and The Boys, you’ll like this one too as it’s essentially more of the same but much more over-the-top and silly. And even if you don’t think you’ll enjoy seeing your favourite heroes getting murdered by an angry man with a skull t-shirt over Kevlar armour, Ennis’ obvious pleasure in killing your darlings is so visceral and his vision so vivid, you’ll nevertheless find yourself smiling even when Daredevil’s pleading for his life!
Ennis’ The Punisher Kills The Marvel Universe totally fulfils its title and does more in 45 pages than Jonathan Maberry managed in four issues of a similar storyline over ten years later. It’s pitch black nihilism covered in red, red blood but with Garth Ennis in the driving seat you’ll read it with a grin on your mug!
September 2, 2018
This 90s brutal What If? special that inspired the awful Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe story aged not much well at all, with lots of killings needing a huge suspension of disbelief to be really appreciated (Castle killing Doom with a magnetic mine and killing all the mutants in the world with a nuke? C'mon, be serious) and author and artist mistaking Kitty Pryde for Jubilee, but the Puni vs Wolverine fight is like a proto-one of the future one on the vigilante Max run by Ennis, and that prologue with Frank saving a young Matt Murdock by bullies and the grim ending are still a 5 stars for me after all these years.
March 17, 2013
March 11, 2012 around midnight Philippine time, Marvel Comics made available for free download 700 number one issues from its catalogue on both Comixology and it Marvel Comics app. It broke the internet.
One of the books that I managed to download despite the slowness of the Comixology servers is this forgotten gem which featured Garth Ennis' first Marvel work.
If there is one Marvel comic that perfectly captured how Ennis felt about the spandexed hero set, this is it. In some ways, it felt like a precursor to his work on his creator owned series The Boys. A former soldier who loses his family due to the actions of superheroes, his Frank Castle is a proto-Butcher.
Despite being a Marvel graphic novel that still kowtowed to the Comic Code Authority's standard for comic book violence, blood still followed between the panels and pages.
If you liked Ennis' work on the Boys, you'll find this one too tame. If you're a fan of his Punisher, his later work, especially on the miniseries and the Punisher MAX is much superior.
One of the books that I managed to download despite the slowness of the Comixology servers is this forgotten gem which featured Garth Ennis' first Marvel work.
If there is one Marvel comic that perfectly captured how Ennis felt about the spandexed hero set, this is it. In some ways, it felt like a precursor to his work on his creator owned series The Boys. A former soldier who loses his family due to the actions of superheroes, his Frank Castle is a proto-Butcher.
Despite being a Marvel graphic novel that still kowtowed to the Comic Code Authority's standard for comic book violence, blood still followed between the panels and pages.
If you liked Ennis' work on the Boys, you'll find this one too tame. If you're a fan of his Punisher, his later work, especially on the miniseries and the Punisher MAX is much superior.
June 1, 2019
A What If? story where the Punisher's family is killed during a super battle in Central Park. He declares war on all costumed people and is aided by a group of people who were hurt during super hero battles. You can tell Ennis's heart isn't really in this as he doesn't really give a crap about superheroes in general. The whole thing feels very contrived to get the desired outcome of the Punisher beating characters like Dr. Doom. Go read Ennis's
The Boys
instead if you're looking for normal humans taking out superheroes.
May 5, 2018
Falling Down + The Punisher = The Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe
All the emotional resonance and repressed ferocity that gave us this 90’s classic, here is born of a single incident that explodes over a rather short ~50 page comic. And since it’s Garth Ennis on the helm it doesn’t merely poke fun at all the internal inconsistencies and triflings of comics, it instead perforates them with a seemingly endless stream of amour piecing rounds.
While it should be great fun, it finds itself entrenched in good ol’ fashioned comic muck more often than not. Overly repetitious and overly eager in its application of excess – it actually gets… boring. Ensuing predictability drags down a story that was never meant to develop into anything more than a single one-shot.
Don’t get me wrong tho(ough). There are some fun moments and some inventive modulations on well-known themes and characters. And in retrospect, it’s kinda cool to see this is a precursor of such to Ennis’ far more fully fleshed out comic book satire – The Boys. Yet, a germ, no matter how important or interesting, is no replacement for a fully grown flora.
Lather, rinse, but don’t repeat.
March 27, 2016
If I could, I'd give negative stars, like a black hole.
The art is piss poor, it reeks of 90s ism...ugh. Some of the dispatching of big names is stupid...Wolvie, Hulk, Cap...all killed in ways that have been proven not to work in other areas.
Storyline ugh. Also? The ending is so Corny, I thought I was in Iowa.
The art is piss poor, it reeks of 90s ism...ugh. Some of the dispatching of big names is stupid...Wolvie, Hulk, Cap...all killed in ways that have been proven not to work in other areas.
Storyline ugh. Also? The ending is so Corny, I thought I was in Iowa.
January 4, 2022
Many of the what if kind of stories never seem to portray the characters well. This one is far different, the Punisher is a spot on portrait of this character. I can easily see this story happening. Very good writing and art. Very recommended
March 20, 2025
this comic featured the 1995 one shot and the full run of marvel universe vs. the punisher — raw next question
the one shot was so hilariously insane to me, and the ending was so scrumdiddlyumptious. i’ve been working my way up to having the stamina to read older runs *cough watchmen* but it felt like light reading besides seeing everyone get their organs blown out ofc 🤓
i’m so biased against god tier dystopians that i devoured maberry’s run 🙇♂️ despite only being 4 issues the world building was solid, characterisation was solid and the execution was executed 🙏
ennis and parlov’s art were so peak. frank4life 🫡
(can’t wait to get my copy of aaron’s punisher run vol 2)
4/5.
the one shot was so hilariously insane to me, and the ending was so scrumdiddlyumptious. i’ve been working my way up to having the stamina to read older runs *cough watchmen* but it felt like light reading besides seeing everyone get their organs blown out ofc 🤓
i’m so biased against god tier dystopians that i devoured maberry’s run 🙇♂️ despite only being 4 issues the world building was solid, characterisation was solid and the execution was executed 🙏
ennis and parlov’s art were so peak. frank4life 🫡
(can’t wait to get my copy of aaron’s punisher run vol 2)
4/5.
June 23, 2011
Frank Castle's family dies as a result of a super-hero battle, and not a mob hit. So he decides to kill all the super heroes in the world. In a couple of pages, he has wiped out all the villains and all the heroes. (If only one of Wolverine's foes had fought him near a high voltage breaker!) Then he discovers that they were all people too, and kills himself. What a ridiculous waste of time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 17, 2016
Deadpool'un öldürmesinden daha inandırıcı geldi bana. Hiç değilse zahmete girdiği belli adamın. :D
September 16, 2022
Before Cullen Bunn made Deadpool Kill the Marvel universe, Garth Ennis had The Punisher do it. Only it wasn’t nearly as good haha.
It all starts with a battle in Central Park with some superhumans and an invading alien race. Frank Castle is rushing his way there to make sure his wife and child don’t get caught in the crossfire. He’s unfortunately too late and gets filled with so much anger he lashes out and kills one of the X-men. Who you ask? Well its never made clear but it appears to possibly be Kitty Pryde. Yea…he shot the person whose power is to phase through things. (That’s important cause it’s a common theme). He is then arrested and while being transferred to Rykers, he is actually sent to the home of Kesselring. A super wealthy man who made some arrangements to get Frank out of jail. He then shows him a group of people who have all been affected negatively by our favorite superheroes. A man who had a building thrown on him by The Thing, someone attacked by Wolverine in a case of mistaken identity, a woman run over by Ghost Rider, another woman who lost her parents after a Hulk rampage, and so on and so on. They want to hire Frank to kill these “heroes” and PUNISH them for what they’ve done (I’m sorry, I know that was corny but so was this read).
Garth does such a terrible job on a character that he is mostly known for writing very well. In this story he gives us lazily written plot points, too fast in pacing, and some corny and wack ass dialogue. The only thing I thought was slightly interesting was the small inklings he left for his idea on ‘The Boys.’ A story he’d write 12 years later that had a very similar theme to this one-shot. Besides that, everything felt rushed and lazy. The fights and interactions with the other heroes/villains were so mozzarella and ridiculous that it didn’t really live up to the title of the read. The way Punisher kills the heroes and villains is so ass backwards, he electrocutes Wolverine to death; he can just regenerate, he shoots Bruce Banner and that successfully kills him; the Hulk would clearly come out if that happened, and he nukes a group of Omega level mutants, ONE WHO JUST SO HAPPENS TO HAVE CONTROL OVER MAGNETISM! Maybe it would’ve been better as a mini-series but even so, if he would’ve written more issues similar to this one and we got the same ending, I might not have been able to finish it. The ending was also super predictable after a certain point and was so anticlimactic, I almost feel like Garth didn’t care anymore. Honestly Garth probably didn’t care at all through writing this cause it lacks so much, there is no way such a great writer could do something THIS BAD.
Doug Braithwaite is the artist on this one-shot and his work was okay, but wasn’t anything special. It kinda felt like a Mark Bagley style but not as good haha. His paneling was also bad at times and it made reading the book confusing. It was during the 90s so I'm sure he was trying to go for that cool “unique” type of paneling but it messed with the flow at times.
Overall; this was a HUGE miss for me and I’m really let down by Garth. I was hoping since this was the character he’s most known for, that he’d give us something great, but in the end he gave me garbage.
It all starts with a battle in Central Park with some superhumans and an invading alien race. Frank Castle is rushing his way there to make sure his wife and child don’t get caught in the crossfire. He’s unfortunately too late and gets filled with so much anger he lashes out and kills one of the X-men. Who you ask? Well its never made clear but it appears to possibly be Kitty Pryde. Yea…he shot the person whose power is to phase through things. (That’s important cause it’s a common theme). He is then arrested and while being transferred to Rykers, he is actually sent to the home of Kesselring. A super wealthy man who made some arrangements to get Frank out of jail. He then shows him a group of people who have all been affected negatively by our favorite superheroes. A man who had a building thrown on him by The Thing, someone attacked by Wolverine in a case of mistaken identity, a woman run over by Ghost Rider, another woman who lost her parents after a Hulk rampage, and so on and so on. They want to hire Frank to kill these “heroes” and PUNISH them for what they’ve done (I’m sorry, I know that was corny but so was this read).
Garth does such a terrible job on a character that he is mostly known for writing very well. In this story he gives us lazily written plot points, too fast in pacing, and some corny and wack ass dialogue. The only thing I thought was slightly interesting was the small inklings he left for his idea on ‘The Boys.’ A story he’d write 12 years later that had a very similar theme to this one-shot. Besides that, everything felt rushed and lazy. The fights and interactions with the other heroes/villains were so mozzarella and ridiculous that it didn’t really live up to the title of the read. The way Punisher kills the heroes and villains is so ass backwards, he electrocutes Wolverine to death; he can just regenerate, he shoots Bruce Banner and that successfully kills him; the Hulk would clearly come out if that happened, and he nukes a group of Omega level mutants, ONE WHO JUST SO HAPPENS TO HAVE CONTROL OVER MAGNETISM! Maybe it would’ve been better as a mini-series but even so, if he would’ve written more issues similar to this one and we got the same ending, I might not have been able to finish it. The ending was also super predictable after a certain point and was so anticlimactic, I almost feel like Garth didn’t care anymore. Honestly Garth probably didn’t care at all through writing this cause it lacks so much, there is no way such a great writer could do something THIS BAD.
Doug Braithwaite is the artist on this one-shot and his work was okay, but wasn’t anything special. It kinda felt like a Mark Bagley style but not as good haha. His paneling was also bad at times and it made reading the book confusing. It was during the 90s so I'm sure he was trying to go for that cool “unique” type of paneling but it messed with the flow at times.
Overall; this was a HUGE miss for me and I’m really let down by Garth. I was hoping since this was the character he’s most known for, that he’d give us something great, but in the end he gave me garbage.
May 22, 2013
I remember as a child walking into a comic shop and seeing this comic on the shelf. I picked the comic up and stared at the impressive cover art which displayed The Punisher standing triumphantly atop a giant pile of dead superheroes, hand raised in victory, and I read the eye-catching title, The Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe, a very bold claim, and I recall thinking to myself "Well how in the hell did he manage that?" (or, you know, the young kid equivalent of that). Then I put it back on the shelf, likely because I wanted to buy something else instead, and I mostly forgot about it (as did many people, until the subsequent fame Ennis achieved with his eventual Punisher revival) until today.
While this story isn't quite part of Marvel's What If? series, it follows the same idea: what would happen if Frank Castle's family had been (accidentally) killed by superheroes instead of mob members? He would exact his revenge on superheroes instead of the mob, of course. And so with that novelty premise we have this story of The Punisher killing every single superhero.
Unfortunately my childhood question of just how in the hell The Punisher manages to kill every single superhero still remains generally unanswered. He just sort of...does. Sure, he steals a bunch a weaponry and equipment (and a nuke!) from Doctor Doom (whom he only manages to defeat because Doom was too busy giving him a speech) but that hardly grants one the ability to destroy EVERY SINGLE SUPERHERO. Hell, Doctor Doom has been struggling to defeat the Fantastic Four alone for the past 50+ years. I mean seriously, Punisher makes killing superheroes look easy; so easy that it makes you wonder why no one else can just walk up to them and shoot them. I suppose Frank just had one hell of a willpower.
It's also so short (under 50 pages) that it feels rushed and poorly paced. Everything happens too quickly and is never elaborated. The concept of killing every last superhero and villain is a concept that, when acted out, should take quite a bit of time.
So it's not exactly believable fantasy, it's a fantasy story that's hypothetical within it's own fantasy universe. But that's fine. It's just a fun story, really not meant to be taken seriously. It's The Punisher going around and killing all your favorite heroes. Enjoy it.
About two and a half stars out of five. I might also add that this story sort of acts as a precursor to Ennis' later comic, The Boys, which deals with many of the same ideas in here.
While this story isn't quite part of Marvel's What If? series, it follows the same idea: what would happen if Frank Castle's family had been (accidentally) killed by superheroes instead of mob members? He would exact his revenge on superheroes instead of the mob, of course. And so with that novelty premise we have this story of The Punisher killing every single superhero.
Unfortunately my childhood question of just how in the hell The Punisher manages to kill every single superhero still remains generally unanswered. He just sort of...does. Sure, he steals a bunch a weaponry and equipment (and a nuke!) from Doctor Doom (whom he only manages to defeat because Doom was too busy giving him a speech) but that hardly grants one the ability to destroy EVERY SINGLE SUPERHERO. Hell, Doctor Doom has been struggling to defeat the Fantastic Four alone for the past 50+ years. I mean seriously, Punisher makes killing superheroes look easy; so easy that it makes you wonder why no one else can just walk up to them and shoot them. I suppose Frank just had one hell of a willpower.
It's also so short (under 50 pages) that it feels rushed and poorly paced. Everything happens too quickly and is never elaborated. The concept of killing every last superhero and villain is a concept that, when acted out, should take quite a bit of time.
So it's not exactly believable fantasy, it's a fantasy story that's hypothetical within it's own fantasy universe. But that's fine. It's just a fun story, really not meant to be taken seriously. It's The Punisher going around and killing all your favorite heroes. Enjoy it.
About two and a half stars out of five. I might also add that this story sort of acts as a precursor to Ennis' later comic, The Boys, which deals with many of the same ideas in here.
July 7, 2023
Genel olarak alternatif evrende geçen hikayeleri sevsem de bunu pek sevemedim. Çizgi romanlardaki güç dengeleri her zaman yazarın elindedir ama burada olaylar biraz fazla zorlanmış ve çok da detaylıca düşünülmemiş gibi hissettim. Punisher yapmış ve olmuş. Tüm hikaye bu şekilde ilerliyor. En azından bir mücadele veya bir tehdit de olsaymış da karşısında biraz heyecan olsaymış. Neleri neleri atlatan kahramanların ve kötülerin Punisher karşısında bu kadar kolay harcanmasını pek sindiremedim doğrusu.
September 8, 2021
During a battle between Avengers and X-Men on one side and alien invaders on the other, Frank Castle's family is killed. He retaliates by killing some of them on the spot. He is sentenced to life in prison, but a man named Kesselring frees him and offers him the chance to punish the ones responsible for ruining his life. Kesselring is part of a group of innocent bystanders who were hurt in the wake of superhero brawls. He offers Frank all the resources he needs to punish superheroes and villains alike.
April 8, 2023
⍋ 9/10 ⍋
There’s something quite extraordinary seeing all your favourite super-heroes die a gruesome and unapologetic death in one single comic issue. There’s grief and pain, yet tainted with the righteous sense of justice Frank fervently encapsulates.
The Punisher kills the Marvel Universe might not be for everyone, but I keep coming back to these pages in my The Punisher vs. the Marvel Universe volume. From the very beginning depicting an unlikely amiable relationship between two boys, through all the killings and explanations, to finally reach its tragic ending. And what an ending.
No other comic issue has ever quite got me like this one. It might not be perfect, but it’s damn near.
There’s something quite extraordinary seeing all your favourite super-heroes die a gruesome and unapologetic death in one single comic issue. There’s grief and pain, yet tainted with the righteous sense of justice Frank fervently encapsulates.
The Punisher kills the Marvel Universe might not be for everyone, but I keep coming back to these pages in my The Punisher vs. the Marvel Universe volume. From the very beginning depicting an unlikely amiable relationship between two boys, through all the killings and explanations, to finally reach its tragic ending. And what an ending.
No other comic issue has ever quite got me like this one. It might not be perfect, but it’s damn near.
October 15, 2018
Short and kind of fun.
My main complaint is that this commits the cardinal sin of unrealized potential.
It just could have been so much... cooler.
There were a couple highlights. I always love it when Frank shoots people he’s talking to in the head with no warning. These heroes are all used to villains who like to talk. They are ill prepared for a shoot-first kinda guy like Mr Castle.
The personal angle involving Murdock and Castle was pointless, and took up valuable pages that could have shown The Punisher murdering heroes. I want to know how he killed The Thing. I want to see him up against heavy hitters like Thor.
It just could have been cooler. Even a montage of fun deaths could have boosted it a bit.
It’s not a long time commitment, so I don’t mind recommending it, but manage your expectations.
My main complaint is that this commits the cardinal sin of unrealized potential.
It just could have been so much... cooler.
There were a couple highlights. I always love it when Frank shoots people he’s talking to in the head with no warning. These heroes are all used to villains who like to talk. They are ill prepared for a shoot-first kinda guy like Mr Castle.
The personal angle involving Murdock and Castle was pointless, and took up valuable pages that could have shown The Punisher murdering heroes. I want to know how he killed The Thing. I want to see him up against heavy hitters like Thor.
It just could have been cooler. Even a montage of fun deaths could have boosted it a bit.
It’s not a long time commitment, so I don’t mind recommending it, but manage your expectations.
Read
January 26, 2021A What If? story where Frank Castle’s family is killed in a superhero battle. He’s sent to kill all superheroes by a group of people who suffered a similar fate. The storytelling is fine and Ennis has a solid handle on the Punisher, but the story itself is a little forced. Even though Ennis hates superheroes - and that disdain shows here - this doesn’t really have the satirical edge of later works like Marvel Knights Punisher or The Boys (it was his first Marvel work from 1995). The story is serious and straightforward for such a wild premise. Ennis would improve his Punisher writing not long after this.
July 29, 2019
Set in an alternate universe Frank Castle’s family are murdered in the park when they’re caught in the crossfire of a battle involving Avengers, X-Men and Aliens by doing just what the title says, killing the Marvel Universe. It is an interesting one off, but entertaining, and the first of a long run on the Punisher by Garth Ennis that was very successful. This story wasn't much, but it also wasn't terrible, and that stands for something.
August 7, 2025
so stupid bru
April 1, 2025
why is matt blond???
March 15, 2008
When compared to some of Ennis's better-known works, this is far more restrained and structured. It takes place in an alternate Marvel Universe, where instead of being murdered by mobsters, Frank Castle's family are incidental victims of a superhero battle against alien invaders. Blaming superhumans for their deaths, The Punisher sets out on a war against villains and heroes alike.
The story is surprisingly effective, providing insight and a nuanced look into the character of The Punisher. Particularly impressive is the book's multifaceted examination of Frank's mission, which is sadly lacking from much of Ennis's other work on the character.
As The Punisher faces heroes such as the X-Men, Captain America, and Doctor Doom, Ennis finds innovative ways for him to fight and defeat these adversaries. Each battle is written and illustrated in a manner reflecting that the diverse tones and rules from different corners of the Marvel Universe. In almost every case, the resolution is believable.
There is, however, one major exception. The Punisher's five-page showdown with Wolverine strains believability, and those familiar with Marvel may feel a little cheated. Particularly given Frank's method of handling the rest of the X-Men, which, although abrupt, is convincing and consistent with the team's strengths and weaknesses, the time spent on Wolverine feels drawn out, not to mention illogical.
Likewise, many deaths occur off panel, including some of Marvel's most powerful characters, such as the Fantastic Four and most of the Avengers. I suspect that fans of such characters will feel they were robbed of any explanation. However, for the most part, the book works better than you might expect, and while several characters are glossed over, the pacing is well set.
Overall, this is one of Ennis's best. His blunt humor and crude jokes are mostly absent here, while his character work remains strong. It tells a good story that longtime fans of Marvel should enjoy.
The story is surprisingly effective, providing insight and a nuanced look into the character of The Punisher. Particularly impressive is the book's multifaceted examination of Frank's mission, which is sadly lacking from much of Ennis's other work on the character.
As The Punisher faces heroes such as the X-Men, Captain America, and Doctor Doom, Ennis finds innovative ways for him to fight and defeat these adversaries. Each battle is written and illustrated in a manner reflecting that the diverse tones and rules from different corners of the Marvel Universe. In almost every case, the resolution is believable.
There is, however, one major exception. The Punisher's five-page showdown with Wolverine strains believability, and those familiar with Marvel may feel a little cheated. Particularly given Frank's method of handling the rest of the X-Men, which, although abrupt, is convincing and consistent with the team's strengths and weaknesses, the time spent on Wolverine feels drawn out, not to mention illogical.
Likewise, many deaths occur off panel, including some of Marvel's most powerful characters, such as the Fantastic Four and most of the Avengers. I suspect that fans of such characters will feel they were robbed of any explanation. However, for the most part, the book works better than you might expect, and while several characters are glossed over, the pacing is well set.
Overall, this is one of Ennis's best. His blunt humor and crude jokes are mostly absent here, while his character work remains strong. It tells a good story that longtime fans of Marvel should enjoy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 13, 2016
The "____ Kills the Marvel Universe" concept worked with Deadpool, because the concept is fundamentally absurd, and is therefore easier to achieve with an absurd character. The Punisher on the other hand? I just didn't buy it. For an idea of this scale, the story is too short to have any depth, and the manner in which Frank Castle disposes of the Earth's mightiest heroes (and villains) makes them all look either (a) weak (b) moronic (c) both. A cool ending notwithstanding, this isn't one of the better one-shots.
July 14, 2021
Re-Read 1: Nothing amazing, but it is somewhat serviceable.
August 1, 2021
Nah...Deadpool did it better.
March 13, 2021
Punisher Kills was disappointing. It starts of with a fantastic premise: the collateral damage wants revenge. It’s made even more promising when you start to anticipate how the closest thing Frank has to a friend is a hero that he will have to kill one day. The story, however, doesn’t manage to deliver on its potential.
The biggest problem with this Punisher story is that it doesn’t understand who the Punisher is. As far as this story is concerned, Frank Castle is just an angry man in a recognizable T-shirt. The regular Punisher recognizes that most of these heroes do good on balance and aren’t worth punishing. The story does understand the Punisher, albeit briefly, near the end when he kills one of his benefactors because that guy was getting too kill-happy.
But not everyone may care about a story being true to its character. Some people are just here to watch a guy they like kill some other guys they like. If that’s what you want, you may also find yourself disappointed. The kills start of reasonable, but get more ridiculous as the story goes on. Spider-man and the Hulk is killed with a handgun, Dr. Doom with what seems to be a small bomb and a lot of punches. Usually intelligent characters like Magneto are easily tricked. A similar contention is how usually immortal characters like the Juggernaut and Wolverine are killed. This, however, can probably be handwaved by an advocate because they all need to die somehow, otherwise the story doesn’t match the title. What can’t be handwaved as easily are what’s left off screen so many characters are disposed of off-page with only a single speech bubble to explain what happened to them.
I believe that most of these problems stem from the publishing decision to make this a one-shot. Everything has to wrap up in a couple dozen pages, so a lot content has to be severely condensed. It’s easy to imagine a world where this story was given more space to explain the planning behind the kills and to Franks development as a character along with his relationship with Daredevil.
The book isn’t all bad though. The artwork is dark and gritty to match the tone of the story. Everything is obviously from the 90’s but it holds up incredibly well. There are only a couple panels where the action is confusing (the hockey puck that killed Dr. Doom comes to mind).
This comic strikes me as a B-comic in the same way that Samurai Cop is a B-movie. It doesn’t make much sense, but it’s dumb pointless violence for anyone in the mood for it.
The biggest problem with this Punisher story is that it doesn’t understand who the Punisher is. As far as this story is concerned, Frank Castle is just an angry man in a recognizable T-shirt. The regular Punisher recognizes that most of these heroes do good on balance and aren’t worth punishing. The story does understand the Punisher, albeit briefly, near the end when he kills one of his benefactors because that guy was getting too kill-happy.
But not everyone may care about a story being true to its character. Some people are just here to watch a guy they like kill some other guys they like. If that’s what you want, you may also find yourself disappointed. The kills start of reasonable, but get more ridiculous as the story goes on. Spider-man and the Hulk is killed with a handgun, Dr. Doom with what seems to be a small bomb and a lot of punches. Usually intelligent characters like Magneto are easily tricked. A similar contention is how usually immortal characters like the Juggernaut and Wolverine are killed. This, however, can probably be handwaved by an advocate because they all need to die somehow, otherwise the story doesn’t match the title. What can’t be handwaved as easily are what’s left off screen so many characters are disposed of off-page with only a single speech bubble to explain what happened to them.
I believe that most of these problems stem from the publishing decision to make this a one-shot. Everything has to wrap up in a couple dozen pages, so a lot content has to be severely condensed. It’s easy to imagine a world where this story was given more space to explain the planning behind the kills and to Franks development as a character along with his relationship with Daredevil.
The book isn’t all bad though. The artwork is dark and gritty to match the tone of the story. Everything is obviously from the 90’s but it holds up incredibly well. There are only a couple panels where the action is confusing (the hockey puck that killed Dr. Doom comes to mind).
This comic strikes me as a B-comic in the same way that Samurai Cop is a B-movie. It doesn’t make much sense, but it’s dumb pointless violence for anyone in the mood for it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 20, 2025
Stylized time-waster.
It's a common misconception that Garth Ennis hates superheroes, but he isn't, however, one might think that's the case with this comic book in particular. Sure, it's written casually as a balls-to-the-wall "what if" story, but upon closer inspection i was wondering about several things: why so mean, why so scatterbrained, why so lame. Frank Castle - a.k.a. Le Punisher - just kills one iconic character after another once he gained suport of some enigmatic illuminati patron or something like that. He does it to avenge his family, because some of the X-men alongside other Marvel superhero caused the death of Frank's family as an unintended collateral damage - kinda like the premise of Zack Snyder's Batman Vs Superman.
And this caricature iteration of the Punisher would have been fine if the comic didn't appear as a string of never-ending deus ex machinas allowing Frank to kill even the most godlike of Marvel characters, whether it's The Wolverine or Doctor Doom. He doesn't apply any elaborate military strategic thinking he is known for to overcome an obvious disadvantage of being a meek mortal, compared to them. He didn't resort to staging some sort of multi-layer proxy war between those almighty superheroes which could have been an actually authentic and clever way to write this story. He didn't even to came up with his own version of kryptonite like Batman and, apparently, some random magnetic bomb is all Frank Castle needed to annihilate Doctor Doom! Just because it's says "Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe" doesn't mean it should be handled with a lack of thought.
And after everyone in Castle's family is avenged and the killing is done Frank's encore will be foiled almost as badly as Joker: Folie à deux ending. If this closure was designed to be a mockery of the Punisher being such an vigilante than he could be put in destructive motion as if he has all of the sensativity of a trinitrotoluene detonator than i fail to see how it can be so ironically funny.
Where this comic book is no slouch is in the art style at least. I like how detailed all the characters are. And the visuals are a fine mix between classic Marvel comics from 60 to 80s and their 90s counterparts. There's also an interesting use of blue and orange for making some of the darker parts more distinct without losing this traditional flamboyant look of the comics drawn on white background. So, being released somewhere in 2000 in a way this feels like a swan song to that era of Marvel comics, before Garth Ennis started to reinvent The Punisher with the MAX series, with much more grace to it, i might add. But Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe is a taste of a numb tongue nonetheless.
It's a common misconception that Garth Ennis hates superheroes, but he isn't, however, one might think that's the case with this comic book in particular. Sure, it's written casually as a balls-to-the-wall "what if" story, but upon closer inspection i was wondering about several things: why so mean, why so scatterbrained, why so lame. Frank Castle - a.k.a. Le Punisher - just kills one iconic character after another once he gained suport of some enigmatic illuminati patron or something like that. He does it to avenge his family, because some of the X-men alongside other Marvel superhero caused the death of Frank's family as an unintended collateral damage - kinda like the premise of Zack Snyder's Batman Vs Superman.
And this caricature iteration of the Punisher would have been fine if the comic didn't appear as a string of never-ending deus ex machinas allowing Frank to kill even the most godlike of Marvel characters, whether it's The Wolverine or Doctor Doom. He doesn't apply any elaborate military strategic thinking he is known for to overcome an obvious disadvantage of being a meek mortal, compared to them. He didn't resort to staging some sort of multi-layer proxy war between those almighty superheroes which could have been an actually authentic and clever way to write this story. He didn't even to came up with his own version of kryptonite like Batman and, apparently, some random magnetic bomb is all Frank Castle needed to annihilate Doctor Doom! Just because it's says "Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe" doesn't mean it should be handled with a lack of thought.
And after everyone in Castle's family is avenged and the killing is done Frank's encore will be foiled almost as badly as Joker: Folie à deux ending. If this closure was designed to be a mockery of the Punisher being such an vigilante than he could be put in destructive motion as if he has all of the sensativity of a trinitrotoluene detonator than i fail to see how it can be so ironically funny.
Where this comic book is no slouch is in the art style at least. I like how detailed all the characters are. And the visuals are a fine mix between classic Marvel comics from 60 to 80s and their 90s counterparts. There's also an interesting use of blue and orange for making some of the darker parts more distinct without losing this traditional flamboyant look of the comics drawn on white background. So, being released somewhere in 2000 in a way this feels like a swan song to that era of Marvel comics, before Garth Ennis started to reinvent The Punisher with the MAX series, with much more grace to it, i might add. But Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe is a taste of a numb tongue nonetheless.
September 19, 2019
Guilty pleasure... Tym jest wspomniany tytuł, który ma swoje wady i zalety, ale potrafi dać czytelnikowi naprawdę masę radochy. To historia z kategorii What if...?, a która pokazuje co by się stało gdyby rodzina Castle'a padła ofiarą nie w wyniku gangsterskich porachunków jak w kanonie, a starcia pomiędzy bohaterami i złoczyńcami. Frank nie przebiera w środkach. Otwiera ogień do tych dobrych...
Trafia na wokandę i zostaje skazany na Rykers, ale tam nie trafia. Okazuje się, że istnieje zgromadzenie wpływowych ludzi, którzy zostali kalekami w wyniku działania bohaterów. Są oni gotowi finansować Punishera, aby ten mógł odpłacić się sprawcom pięknym za nadobne. Tak zaczyna się rzeź.
Jeżeli chcecie zobaczyć jak Castle załatwia Spidermana, Dr Dooma, Hulka, Wolverine'a, Kapitana Amerykę czy Kingpina to jest komiks dla was. Jedyne co można mu zarzucić to fakt, iż jest za krótki, nie pokazuje śmierci większości postaci z Marvela, a niektóre zgony są nieciekawe lub nielogiczne, a same tarcia za krótkie.(taki Hulk na przykład. Przecież Banner wielokrotnie sam chciał się zabić, a zielony nigdy na to nie pozwolił, a tutaj...)
Kreska już się nieco zestarzała, ale fabuła nadal pozostaje świeża. Powiązanie z Mattem Murdockiem ma tu kolosalne znaczenie, zwłaszcza w kontekście świetnego zakończenia tego one-shota, a które zostaje w pamięci na kilka dobrych chwil. Polecam mimo wad.
Trafia na wokandę i zostaje skazany na Rykers, ale tam nie trafia. Okazuje się, że istnieje zgromadzenie wpływowych ludzi, którzy zostali kalekami w wyniku działania bohaterów. Są oni gotowi finansować Punishera, aby ten mógł odpłacić się sprawcom pięknym za nadobne. Tak zaczyna się rzeź.
Jeżeli chcecie zobaczyć jak Castle załatwia Spidermana, Dr Dooma, Hulka, Wolverine'a, Kapitana Amerykę czy Kingpina to jest komiks dla was. Jedyne co można mu zarzucić to fakt, iż jest za krótki, nie pokazuje śmierci większości postaci z Marvela, a niektóre zgony są nieciekawe lub nielogiczne, a same tarcia za krótkie.(taki Hulk na przykład. Przecież Banner wielokrotnie sam chciał się zabić, a zielony nigdy na to nie pozwolił, a tutaj...)
Kreska już się nieco zestarzała, ale fabuła nadal pozostaje świeża. Powiązanie z Mattem Murdockiem ma tu kolosalne znaczenie, zwłaszcza w kontekście świetnego zakończenia tego one-shota, a które zostaje w pamięci na kilka dobrych chwil. Polecam mimo wad.
April 29, 2025
At his core, the Punisher is a remorseless and restlessness killing machine fuelled by the deaths of his family, and that concept is at the core of this story. What if the Punisher's family were caught in the crossfire and killed by superheroes instead of the organised criminal underbelly? Would he go channel his vengeance towards killing superheroes instead of criminals? Yes, the Punisher would kill anyone who was complicit in the death of his family regardless of whether their hero or not. The Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe is not simply an entertaining concept put into practice it's a character study. The death of the Punisher's family is merely an excuse for him to be a merciless killing machine. Even after those who are responsible for the death of his family are killed, the Punisher continues on his one man war.
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