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Part John Wick, part Jason Bourne, part Frank Castle … all Joe Garrison!
If you’ve been reading the new Punisher series from David Pepose, you know this incarnation is one hell of a thrill ride.
As a huge Punisher fan growing up, I never thought anyone but Castle could carry the Punisher torch, but boy was I wrong.
Pepose has crafted a mature franchise that feels akin to a Netflix miniseries or a blockbuster film more so than a comic book.
Joe Garrison lost his wife and children after hitmen were hired to take out the Garrison family, but as we found out earlier in the series, his wife was actually the target after she uncovered something incredibly sinister.
Well, the Jigsaw made a major miscalculation because they picked a fight with the wrong Ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.
Call Us Jigsaw
In issue #4, Garrison is still unraveling the threads of who took out his family and why.
Dave Wachter’s art compliments Pepose’s story in such a masterful way.
I’ve never been a huge fan of the Sin City style of gritty art in comics, but for this Punisher, it just works.
The blood and bruises jump off the page with Wachter’s dark, brooding art. The action moves incredibly fast as well, leaving the reading simply wanting more.
Pepose weaves in historic Punisher villains and backstory with a new, modern fresh take on this anti-hero that’s been a Marvel staple since the 1970’s.
We know Jigsaw from his days as Castle’s arch enemy, but here, they act as almost a terrorist organization, looking to create a war by causing havoc and murder at an international summit.
Issue #4 has flashes of Batman Begins as the delegates at the summit are dosed with a fear toxin that makes them want to tear each other limb from limb.
Naturally they turn on Garrison, but the well-trained assassin is able to subdue those affected.
But then there’s Jigsaw (or so we think), seemingly the organization’s leader, who is quite a match for Garrison.
And that level of enemy is what Garrison needs to take his anti-hero ways to the next level and accept a simple fact.
I Am the Punisher!
With that, one head of the Jigsaw snake is down, but the reader quickly realizes like there are many many more out there.
But you know who else is out there – The Punisher, Joe Garrison.
And we all know, “The Punisher will never die!”
