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The Punisher (2000/2001) (Collected Editions) #5-6
Marvel Knights Punisher by Garth Ennis: The Complete Collection, Vol. 3
The Marvel Knights era of Punisher comes to an explosive close! First, guns meet blades as Frank faces perhaps the only person more deadly than he Elektra! Next, the Punisher heads to the Lone Star State for a high-noon showdown on the streets of Laredo! Then, when Daredevil, Spider-Man and Wolverine join forces to finally bring Frank's killing spree to an end, can he make three of Marvel's greatest heroes look like a confederacy of dunces? And how does the Hulk figure in to it all? Finally, Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's sequel to their classic "Welcome Back, Frank" sees the resurrection of Ma Gnucci turn the Punisher's world into a war zone - which is just the way he likes it!
Collects Punisher (2001) #27-37 and Punisher War Zone (2008) #1-6.
Collects Punisher (2001) #27-37 and Punisher War Zone (2008) #1-6.
400 pages, Paperback
Published June 4, 2019
About the author
Garth Ennis
2,666 books3,234 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 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 11, 2022
Ostatnia historia Ennisa i znowu poszedł na całość ze swoim stylem. Ale taki jego urok, kupujesz albo nie. Jednak wcześniej kilka „normalniejszych” fabuł. W tym humorystyczna, w której Punisher mierzy się, po raz kolejny, z Daredevilem, Spidermanem i Wolverinem. Bardzo polecam. :)
Zastanawiam się, czy jest jeszcze miejsce na Franka Castle w superbohaterskim uniwersum. Po tym co zrobił z tą postacią Ennis i Jason Aaron (pod koniec serii Max), wydaje się być kompletne. Może zatem już czas na jakieś przedefiniowanie.
Zastanawiam się, czy jest jeszcze miejsce na Franka Castle w superbohaterskim uniwersum. Po tym co zrobił z tą postacią Ennis i Jason Aaron (pod koniec serii Max), wydaje się być kompletne. Może zatem już czas na jakieś przedefiniowanie.
June 21, 2023
The weakest stretch of Garth Ennis' Marvel Knights Punisher run for sure. The opening story with Elektra was fun, but the arc featuring Daredevil, Wolverine and Spider-Man taking on Frank Castle was pretty hard to get through. It seems like the only way Ennis knows how to bolster the reputation of the Punisher is to make characters like Daredevil and Wolverine much limper. It's kind of interesting that around this time, Daredevil was going through a modern renaissance with the Bendis/Maleev run, and then readers could turn to Ennis's Punisher run to see a completely opposite take on the character. I like John McCrea as an artist, but I really had a tough time getting through this stretch of the run with the strangely disproportional figures of characters like Wolverine (though I'll admit his style works well for Spider-Man).
The final portion of this collection has Steve Dillon returning for Punisher War Zone, a miniseries that goes back to the "Welcome Back Frank" arc that kicked off the Marvel Knights era of the Punisher. Frank takes on a resurrected Ma Gnucci in a highly ridiculous and near fever dream-esque kind of story. It's goofy, but not really in a good way.
Overall, the Marvel Knights run of the Punisher is a bit of a mixed bag. There are some genuinely fun arcs (though mostly compressed into the earlier stretch of the run), but it's clear how much Ennis is settling into ideas he will eventually try out with more success in with the MAX run. This series has mostly been a fun ride, one that isn't perhaps meant to be taken too seriously and just leans a bit more into the campiness compared to Punisher stories that come later on.
The final portion of this collection has Steve Dillon returning for Punisher War Zone, a miniseries that goes back to the "Welcome Back Frank" arc that kicked off the Marvel Knights era of the Punisher. Frank takes on a resurrected Ma Gnucci in a highly ridiculous and near fever dream-esque kind of story. It's goofy, but not really in a good way.
Overall, the Marvel Knights run of the Punisher is a bit of a mixed bag. There are some genuinely fun arcs (though mostly compressed into the earlier stretch of the run), but it's clear how much Ennis is settling into ideas he will eventually try out with more success in with the MAX run. This series has mostly been a fun ride, one that isn't perhaps meant to be taken too seriously and just leans a bit more into the campiness compared to Punisher stories that come later on.
May 6, 2022
Another great run by Ennis. This collection sees him tackle a few more Marvel heroes as Daredevil, Spider-Man, and Wolverine band together to take down Frank Castle. Ennis' writing of Logan is still disastrous but he clearly has a lot of love for The Man Without Fear.
'The Streets of Laredo' is a great story that takes Frank out of New York to fight a gun-running outfit in Texas. He's joined by the town Sheriff, who happens to be gay. I was impressed with how Ennis handled this. The man is often juvenile in his humour but he always handles these things from a progressive standpoint. It's the sort of thing that gets the right-wingers upset nowadays, and it's a reminder that comics have always been pushing the boundaries and telling these stories.
The final arc is from 'The Punisher: War Journal' and that sees the reformation of the Ennis/Dillon team. It's fantastic and is a great way to end the run.
'The Streets of Laredo' is a great story that takes Frank out of New York to fight a gun-running outfit in Texas. He's joined by the town Sheriff, who happens to be gay. I was impressed with how Ennis handled this. The man is often juvenile in his humour but he always handles these things from a progressive standpoint. It's the sort of thing that gets the right-wingers upset nowadays, and it's a reminder that comics have always been pushing the boundaries and telling these stories.
The final arc is from 'The Punisher: War Journal' and that sees the reformation of the Ennis/Dillon team. It's fantastic and is a great way to end the run.
March 5, 2022
I love how Steve Dillon draws the Punisher, and how Garth Ennis writes him. I hadn't realised Ennis carried on with this run for so long (that was round about when I stopped buying monthly issues) so books two and three of this were an unexpected treat. Reading it made me quite nostalgic for the days when people would just criticise a book for its problematic elements (of which this has many, by current standards!), rather than demand it be unpublished, the author dropped and anyone who enjoyed it castigated as a monster.
May 7, 2020
Garth goes out with a bang
The one thing about Garth i can do without is his endless hate of little dogs. I cannot get eggnog of how his punisher takes on wolverine, daredevil and Spider-Man. Endlessly hysterical. A fine goodbye from Garth.
The one thing about Garth i can do without is his endless hate of little dogs. I cannot get eggnog of how his punisher takes on wolverine, daredevil and Spider-Man. Endlessly hysterical. A fine goodbye from Garth.
June 27, 2024
Entertaining, albeit slightly weary-feeling, conclusion to the Marvel Knights' Punisher run by Garth Ennis. Lots of grim humour, colourful characters and gore inventively staged so as not to risk the ire of censors. Thoroughly entertaining stuff.
November 27, 2021
Great Punisher book. Garth Ennis one of my favorite writers.
September 30, 2022
Ennis and co. were really able to sustain the quality of this series right to the end. Really great visual gags, great writing, and some great art. Also, strangely, a really comfy read.
September 21, 2023
Strasznie przeciętny tom. Warto przeczytać jedynie dla miniserii "Zmartwychwstanie mateczki Gnucci".
April 8, 2025
"The man for the job is dead, Reverend."
September 10, 2025
Definitely the weakest volume of Ennis’ Marvel Knights run but still great. All the stuff about cops being corrupt and allowing The Punisher to do what he does is really great in being a critique of the american justice system and how it lets criminals go. Love how the death of Elite from WBF is handled here; his wife managed to move on but his daughter gets sent to an asylum whilst his son is sent on a downwards spiral. The fact Frank directly caused all of this but is still unfazed with no remorse or guilt whatsoever. I love how decencitised he is to all of it. The black comedy is still really fucking funny, Frank having a dry humour is just perfect. Very much looking forward to rereading the MAX run now.
“I’ve met The Punisher. He’s scary, all right. But more than that he’s just plain horrifying; when you think about his ruthlessness, his single-mindedness, the implications of what he’s doing.
He reminds me of those Holocaust documentaries you see on the history channel. He’s privately passed sentence of death on a large section of society. He’s going to have a damn good go at carrying it out.
Yeah, good thing they’re criminals…”
“I’ve met The Punisher. He’s scary, all right. But more than that he’s just plain horrifying; when you think about his ruthlessness, his single-mindedness, the implications of what he’s doing.
He reminds me of those Holocaust documentaries you see on the history channel. He’s privately passed sentence of death on a large section of society. He’s going to have a damn good go at carrying it out.
Yeah, good thing they’re criminals…”
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews