Punisher Kills The Marvel Universe #1 – Review

By Garth Ennis (writer) Dougie Braithwaite (pencils) Robin Riggs Sean Hardy Don Hudson Michael Halblieb Martin Griffith, John Livesay (inks) Bill Oakley (Letters) Shannon Blanchard Tom Smith (colors)

This is wonderful and ridiculous for the same reason: The Punisher kills every hero and villain in the Marvel Universe. Even as weird and unrealistic as all of this sounds, it remains a totally entertaining and satisfying read.

Punisher’s origin remains similar, with a minor change – it’s heroes who kill his family – not the mob. From there, he kills Cyclops and Jubilee only to be sprung from jail by a wealthy group of investors who were disfigured in similar hero battles. These guys want to finance The Punisher’s quest for revenge to reach their goal of a hero-less society. Since Frank Castle’s not a super powered being, Garth Ennis makes sure to note that he’s outsmarting these guys not outfighting them. Doom, Kingpin, and Wolverine all give Castle a beating before he’s able to sneak out a win. Throughout the book Daredevil tries to bring The Punisher back  to reality, before it’s too late. The flashback of young Frank saving Matt Murdock from getting beat up really adds to the poignancy of the book’s final moments.

Dougie Braithwaite’s art compliments Ennis’ writing very well. It’s a nice trip down memory lane to see the mid-1990s art again. I like the implication of Castle’s murders rather than showing brains everywhere. Nothing against brains, but sometimes the imagination is worse than anything you can be shown. It’s a technique used to great effect here. A number of the heroes have similar faces which gets distracting. Aside from a wrinkle or scar Castle, Wolverine, Cap and others look the same. That said, everything else shows a lot of good detail especially the interior backgrounds. My biggest complaint is on a few different pages. While killing, Castle sometimes gets this panicked, war-cry look on his face. It implies that he’s out of control, or uncomfortable with what he’s doing. It just seems out of place for the character.

Punisher Kills The Marvel Universe holds up pretty well. It’s so over the top it’s almost funny at times, but the core of the book is the story which remains satisfying. There are better stories out there, and it’s harder to fully appreciate since it’s just an alternate time line story, but it’s a complete story and one no true Punisher fan should miss. (Grade: B)

-Ben Berger