What do you think?
Rate this book
The Punisher: One-Shots
Punisher: Return to Big Nothing
Daily, the scythe of corruption makes its mark across the face of America, leaving deep scars in the lives of its victims. Untreated, they fester and grow into the diseases of fear, uncertainty and hopelessness. Unaided, the law is blinded by bureaucracy and bound to a justice bent toward the protection even of the criminal. The face of a kinder and gentler nation is destroyed, carved into a harlequin's mask; a grim skull. And the wielders of the scythe laugh, secure in the knowledge that their crimes will go without punishment.
They are wrong. In the urban jungle, there is one who stands alone and apart; one who lives not for the law, but only to see justice done. The Punisher reaps a different harvest.
Once, he was Frank Castle, loving husband and father. A tour in Vietnam had shown him what war was. Part of him died there, but a precious part stayed alive, determined to return to the family he loved, and the peace and freedom that was his America. Part of him held on to live, until his family died in a hail of mob gunfire, victims of the wrong place and wrong time.
Daily, criminals greedily cut their portions from the souls of the weak and weary, the foolish and the frightened. One man senses how the guilty feed like parasites on the heart of the American Dream. One man hears when evil laughs at the law. One man sees clearly that the most powerful criminals have placed themselves above the law. One man has become their judge, their jury.
One man has become their Punisher.
They are wrong. In the urban jungle, there is one who stands alone and apart; one who lives not for the law, but only to see justice done. The Punisher reaps a different harvest.
Once, he was Frank Castle, loving husband and father. A tour in Vietnam had shown him what war was. Part of him died there, but a precious part stayed alive, determined to return to the family he loved, and the peace and freedom that was his America. Part of him held on to live, until his family died in a hail of mob gunfire, victims of the wrong place and wrong time.
Daily, criminals greedily cut their portions from the souls of the weak and weary, the foolish and the frightened. One man senses how the guilty feed like parasites on the heart of the American Dream. One man hears when evil laughs at the law. One man sees clearly that the most powerful criminals have placed themselves above the law. One man has become their judge, their jury.
One man has become their Punisher.
68 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1989
2 people are currently reading
78 people want to read
About the author
Steven Grant
785 books23 followersSteven Grant is an American comic book writer best known for his 1985–1986 Marvel Comics mini-series The Punisher with artist Mike Zeck and for his creator-owned character Whisper.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
March 1, 2020
"What'll you have, Castle? What'd you ever have?" -- Cleve Gorman, sneering villain
"Castle's dead. I'm The Punisher." -- The Punisher, after firing a single kill shot
A story dating back to the vigilante's salad days, or shortly after the 1987 debut of his inaugural series, The Punisher takes on a former U.S. Marine Corps colleague-turned-international narcotics smuggler. (The 'Big Nothing' of the title refers to a remote military installation in the Nevada desert where both characters were stationed prior to their deployment in Vietnam.) It was a relatively simple and straightforward action tale, sort of dated and certainly tame compared to some of the more recent volumes. My favorite scene was where The Punisher - undercover in a brothel (!) on the Vegas outskirts - coincidentally intercepts a quartet of young Cambodian enforcers who have arrived to strong-arm a percentage of the establishment's monthly take. (One of them is Old West outlaw-obsessed, and even sports a Stetson and cowboy boots when dallying with an unlucky prostitute.) If you guessed this gang meets with some rough (by 80's standards) justice you would be correct, sir!
"Castle's dead. I'm The Punisher." -- The Punisher, after firing a single kill shot
A story dating back to the vigilante's salad days, or shortly after the 1987 debut of his inaugural series, The Punisher takes on a former U.S. Marine Corps colleague-turned-international narcotics smuggler. (The 'Big Nothing' of the title refers to a remote military installation in the Nevada desert where both characters were stationed prior to their deployment in Vietnam.) It was a relatively simple and straightforward action tale, sort of dated and certainly tame compared to some of the more recent volumes. My favorite scene was where The Punisher - undercover in a brothel (!) on the Vegas outskirts - coincidentally intercepts a quartet of young Cambodian enforcers who have arrived to strong-arm a percentage of the establishment's monthly take. (One of them is Old West outlaw-obsessed, and even sports a Stetson and cowboy boots when dallying with an unlucky prostitute.) If you guessed this gang meets with some rough (by 80's standards) justice you would be correct, sir!
April 24, 2021
I seem to remember liking The Punisher at some point, and I must have done because this is the second Punisher entry of these old Marvel hardcovers sitting on that shelf, and there's a third in the queue. Of course there was no goodreads back when I first read this (which I'll just estimate as roughly 1990 based on the publication date) and I kept no records of my reading, let alone opinions, so there is no way for me to know. I know my view of the world was substantially different back then, fueled much more by anger, dissatisfaction, general youthful belligerence, and much less life experience including a lack of exposure to the variety of people I've known over the last three decades since.
So maybe back then this simplistic revenge fantasy tying Frank Castle back to his war days in Vietnam, and his hatred of his nemesis Gorman had much more resonance in my mind than it does now. The Punisher is at is core a fantasy about being able to strike back where the law fails, to have power against those wrongs in the real world where regular people feel helpless. I've been there. I guess I just feel it a lot less than I did all those years ago. This story is fine, if a bit derivate. The artwork is pretty good. It does the job it sets out to do.
So maybe back then this simplistic revenge fantasy tying Frank Castle back to his war days in Vietnam, and his hatred of his nemesis Gorman had much more resonance in my mind than it does now. The Punisher is at is core a fantasy about being able to strike back where the law fails, to have power against those wrongs in the real world where regular people feel helpless. I've been there. I guess I just feel it a lot less than I did all those years ago. This story is fine, if a bit derivate. The artwork is pretty good. It does the job it sets out to do.
March 7, 2013
Punisher crosses paths with an old army colleague from ‘Nam who went from killing US soldiers, stuffing their bodies with drugs, and shipping them back to the US avoiding customs, to doing more or less the same thing without the bodies and on a larger scale.
This a book from 1989 and isn’t a bad story but having read the far superior series written by Garth Ennis, the Punisher of this book is very amateurish and dated. Castle gets captured by Cambodian drug dealers and gets beaten up by his army buddy who really shouldn’t be able to considering he was only a supply sergeant and Castle has dedicated himself to being the Punisher. And then there’s the classic Punisher outfit that you couldn’t get away with today (those white booties!).
Not a terrible book but a very minor one in the canon of the Punisher. Good title, but average story and art, more of a footnote in Frank Castle’s history. “Return to Big Nothing” is far from a must-read and only for Punisher fans.
This a book from 1989 and isn’t a bad story but having read the far superior series written by Garth Ennis, the Punisher of this book is very amateurish and dated. Castle gets captured by Cambodian drug dealers and gets beaten up by his army buddy who really shouldn’t be able to considering he was only a supply sergeant and Castle has dedicated himself to being the Punisher. And then there’s the classic Punisher outfit that you couldn’t get away with today (those white booties!).
Not a terrible book but a very minor one in the canon of the Punisher. Good title, but average story and art, more of a footnote in Frank Castle’s history. “Return to Big Nothing” is far from a must-read and only for Punisher fans.
December 27, 2024
Not a bad little graphic novel. Its no Garth Ennis but at least it had a decent story
February 16, 2022
(Re-read from 1989)
Standard Punisher Comicbook revenge noir. Lots of baddies easily die. Steven Grant flourishes some fun dialogue at times. Mike Zeck contributes some killer artwork.
Standard Punisher Comicbook revenge noir. Lots of baddies easily die. Steven Grant flourishes some fun dialogue at times. Mike Zeck contributes some killer artwork.
September 13, 2025
This is the first Punisher comic I’ve read that was made before the Garth Ennis run that has defined the character since 2000. By comparison, Return to Big Nothing was a lot more like an 80s action b-movie.
December 9, 2017
Punisher ajusta cuentas con unos ex compañeros, ahora devenidos en traficantes, que lo abandonaron a su suerte en Vietnam, dándolo por muerto. Gran historia de venganza
March 16, 2012
Punisher crosses paths with an old army colleague from ‘Nam who went from killing US soldiers, stuffing their bodies with drugs, and shipping them back to the US avoiding customs, to doing more or less the same thing without the bodies and on a larger scale.
This a book from 1989 and isn’t a bad story but having read the far superior series written by Garth Ennis, the Punisher of this book is very amateurish and dated. Castle gets captured by Cambodian drug dealers and gets beaten up by his army buddy who really shouldn’t be able to considering he was only a supply sergeant and Castle has dedicated himself to being the Punisher. And then there’s the classic Punisher outfit that you couldn’t get away with today (those white booties!).
Not a terrible book but a very minor one in the canon of the Punisher. Good title, but average story and art, more of a footnote in Frank Castle’s history. “Return to Big Nothing” is far from a must-read and only for Punisher fans.
This a book from 1989 and isn’t a bad story but having read the far superior series written by Garth Ennis, the Punisher of this book is very amateurish and dated. Castle gets captured by Cambodian drug dealers and gets beaten up by his army buddy who really shouldn’t be able to considering he was only a supply sergeant and Castle has dedicated himself to being the Punisher. And then there’s the classic Punisher outfit that you couldn’t get away with today (those white booties!).
Not a terrible book but a very minor one in the canon of the Punisher. Good title, but average story and art, more of a footnote in Frank Castle’s history. “Return to Big Nothing” is far from a must-read and only for Punisher fans.
May 15, 2025
Más recuerdos de Vietnam y de la vida militar de Frank Castle que completan al personaje. En esta aventura sangrienta nuestro antihéroe comienza desarticulando una operación de tráfico de armas en la frontera, pero las cosas se complican bastante. Resulta que la mano maestra que mueve esos negocios sucios es un viejo conocido de Frank, un compañero de armas detestable que presenta un gran desafío. Es una buena historia de venganza con localizaciones menos urbanas que en otros números, más alejadas de núcleos urbanos, como bases militares, prostíbulos de carretera, el desierto de Las Vegas, etc. Los flashbacks están bien y la acción que transcurre en el presente también engancha, pero el final es muy anticlimático, podría haber sido bastante más épico.
ENGLISH
More flashbacks to Vietnam and Frank Castle's military life flesh out the character. In this bloody adventure, our anti-hero begins by dismantling an arms trafficking operation on the border, but things get quite complicated. It turns out that the mastermind behind these dirty deals is an old acquaintance of Frank's, a detestable comrade-in-arms who presents a major challenge. It's a good revenge story with less urban locations than in other issues, farther from urban centers, such as military bases, roadside brothels, the Las Vegas desert, etc. The flashbacks are good, and the action that takes place in the present is also engaging, but the ending is very anticlimactic and could have been much more epic.
ENGLISH
More flashbacks to Vietnam and Frank Castle's military life flesh out the character. In this bloody adventure, our anti-hero begins by dismantling an arms trafficking operation on the border, but things get quite complicated. It turns out that the mastermind behind these dirty deals is an old acquaintance of Frank's, a detestable comrade-in-arms who presents a major challenge. It's a good revenge story with less urban locations than in other issues, farther from urban centers, such as military bases, roadside brothels, the Las Vegas desert, etc. The flashbacks are good, and the action that takes place in the present is also engaging, but the ending is very anticlimactic and could have been much more epic.
January 15, 2022
About as obvious and unoriginal as Punisher stories go with the title practically describing how I felt about the book. I only grabbed it from the shelf after hearing about a page of Mike Zeck's artwork fetching a miraculous three million at auction the other day. Sadly, Zeck didn't see any of that money; he probably sold it at a convention years ago for a few hundred bucks. Ugh.
Anyway, the book is about as predictable as you can imagine with typical 80s tropes half taken from Death Wish and the other half taken from... well every other Punisher book of the 80s. Let's take an imaginary conversation between two fans:
As if it wasn't obvious.
One and a half stars, but I always round up so I guess it lucks out with a half star more than it deserves.
Anyway, the book is about as predictable as you can imagine with typical 80s tropes half taken from Death Wish and the other half taken from... well every other Punisher book of the 80s. Let's take an imaginary conversation between two fans:
As if it wasn't obvious.
One and a half stars, but I always round up so I guess it lucks out with a half star more than it deserves.
April 28, 2018
a great return to something !!!
January 31, 2019
An engaging crime/war story - I've never read a Punisher book before, but I enjoyed this one. 3.5 stars
July 28, 2021
The art is good. Writing is a letdown. Story is predictable and uneven.
May 29, 2023
Maybe 3.5
February 25, 2025
Like a Golan & Globus 80s action movie, including the politics.
December 7, 2024
A mediados de los ochenta, un personaje que había aparecido como villano en las páginas de la colección principal de Spider-Man alcanzó una fama inusitada, en el marco de la marea de justicieros solitarios que anegó el cine estadounidense en ese momento. Se trataba del Castigador, un soldado que, ya como civil, vio cómo su familia moría en medio de un tiroteo entre bandas. En un universo de ficción donde los héroes no mataban, este vengador de la calavera en el pecho resultaba tan peligroso como los villanos habituales. Sin embargo, durante la era Reagan esta figura pasó a ser tomada en consideración como parte del colectivo de anti-héroes dispuestos a tomarse la justicia por su mano. Una exitosa miniserie dejó paso a una serie regular que llegó a ser la piedra angular de una franquicia que se mantendría durante los siguientes diez años. Aquí tenemos uno de los mejores productos que vieron la luz bajo la escudería castigadora.
«Retorno a Gran Nada» supone la reunión del equipo que realizara la práctica totalidad de la miniserie que dio a conocer al Castigador a la mayor parte del público. Aquella empresa se había cerrado con un número adicional realizado por autores circunstanciales, de ahí que el resultado final tuviera un regusto agridulce. Esta novela gráfica viene a ajustar cuentas, contando una historia del pasado de Castle en Vietnam -cuando ese conflicto estaba más cerca en el tiempo marveliano y era factoría de generación de tipos duros, expeditivos y con problemas psicológicos- y la enlaza con el presente.
Grant y Zeck dan lo mejor de sí mismos contando una historia que presenta un tiempo en el que Castle era más inocente y descubre la parte oscura del uniforme que ha vestido, contrastando con el implacable ejecutor que conocemos bien. Sus oponentes y, con ellos la parroquia lectora, descubren el cambio, para desgracia de los primeros e impresión de la segunda, en un tebeo de contenido un poco más duro de lo que era habitual en la casa de las ideas en aquellos días.
La obra marca el prólogo de lo que será la primera parte de los noventa en el género superheroico: anti-heroísmo, fines que justifican cualquier medio, cazadoras, barbas de tres días y armas, muchísimas armas. Aquí tenemos una historia donde la dureza viene dada precisamente por su plausibilidad en el mundo real, como corresponde o correspondía a cualquier historia que estuviera ambientada en un conflicto que es, todavía hoy, la mayor derrota de los Estados Unidos de América.
«Retorno a Gran Nada» supone la reunión del equipo que realizara la práctica totalidad de la miniserie que dio a conocer al Castigador a la mayor parte del público. Aquella empresa se había cerrado con un número adicional realizado por autores circunstanciales, de ahí que el resultado final tuviera un regusto agridulce. Esta novela gráfica viene a ajustar cuentas, contando una historia del pasado de Castle en Vietnam -cuando ese conflicto estaba más cerca en el tiempo marveliano y era factoría de generación de tipos duros, expeditivos y con problemas psicológicos- y la enlaza con el presente.
Grant y Zeck dan lo mejor de sí mismos contando una historia que presenta un tiempo en el que Castle era más inocente y descubre la parte oscura del uniforme que ha vestido, contrastando con el implacable ejecutor que conocemos bien. Sus oponentes y, con ellos la parroquia lectora, descubren el cambio, para desgracia de los primeros e impresión de la segunda, en un tebeo de contenido un poco más duro de lo que era habitual en la casa de las ideas en aquellos días.
La obra marca el prólogo de lo que será la primera parte de los noventa en el género superheroico: anti-heroísmo, fines que justifican cualquier medio, cazadoras, barbas de tres días y armas, muchísimas armas. Aquí tenemos una historia donde la dureza viene dada precisamente por su plausibilidad en el mundo real, como corresponde o correspondía a cualquier historia que estuviera ambientada en un conflicto que es, todavía hoy, la mayor derrota de los Estados Unidos de América.
Read
September 8, 2014I've not read much Punisher from the old days, barring his appearances in other titles; always been put off by the sense that, as with Wolverine, the carnage was considered its own reward. This has a little more substance than that, dealing with an unpleasant legacy from his time in 'Nam (and even before), but the badassery can still come across self-parodic at times.
June 30, 2014
Lähinnä tämä oli enemmän lässähdys kuin komea pamahdus, mikä tämän piti olla kun oli oikea albumi ja kaikkea.
Kovastu yritti olla niin kovaksi keitetty, paljon tuimaa sisäistä juttelua Tuomari harraseti, mutta kun se ei riitä, jos tarina itse ei nouse likimainkaan samalle tasolle.
Kovastu yritti olla niin kovaksi keitetty, paljon tuimaa sisäistä juttelua Tuomari harraseti, mutta kun se ei riitä, jos tarina itse ei nouse likimainkaan samalle tasolle.
August 25, 2013
review tba
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews