The Creators – Jason Aaron – Writer, Jesus Saiz & Paul Azaceta – Artists, Dave Stewart – Colours, Cory Petit – Letters

The Players – The Punisher (Frank Castle), The Hand

The Story – The Punisher is back, doing what he does best and it is good.

The Take – Jason Aaron, Jesus Saiz and Paul Azaceta bring The Punisher roaring back to the pages of Marvel Comics and the man is more brutal than ever. If it was just that, it alone would make a good book but behind Castle is the Hand and he leads the way. This is also the issue and the series which made the news recently with his much-ballyhooed costume change and people who are losing their minds over it have done so for nothing. The change is a natural one and it looks good, going along with the story that Aaron is trying to tell which is definitely a strange turn for the character but one that ends up making sense in the end, after a fashion that is. Aaron leaves the surprise for the end of the book, leaving it all off on a cliff-hanger and tying it all the way back to his origin. It is surprising and one has to wonder just how it is that Frank would fall for such a thing, how he could ever think it was real but when one lives in the Marvel Universe, things such as what is revealed happen every day. As for the Hand, they are looking for a leader, a killer of men and not just any man, one who is a beast, one who can stand hand-in-hand with the beast that they worship and they think they have found it in Frank Castle. Where this story goes, one might guess though knowing Jason Aaron that guess might be just that for he has already given the readers something different than what has come before. As for the artwork, it is perfectly executed by Saiz and Azaceta as the book looks slick and Frank looks both intimidating and fearsome. The biggest question that is asked though is whether The Punisher is hero or villain and it is one that is sure to be explored the further this series goes on and as one can see, the old costume has not necessarily been retired, merely put aside, sure to be worn another day.

Worth It? – Yes.