REVIEW: Punisher No.1 (2K22)

Criminals better seek asylum because Frank Castle is back on the streets blowing brains out, except now under the guide of Jason Aaron the Punisher is using silencers. In the first chapter of a brand new series (“The King of Killers”) things open up with the death of Frank Castle’s family as the Marvel faithful can only remember, except this time the reader gets to see the death of Castle’s wife through a first-person point of view, something I have yet to see until now in all my years of reading the Punisher. And just for a refresher course for all those years , readers are then treated to a montage of various panels and covers by some of the comic book industries best creators to let reader’s now that this legacy character is back in print and ready to spill blood by the pint. The first victim’s the audience is treated to are a group of arms dealers. Typical of the usual scum The Punisher has a never ending war with. But these arms dealers are a little different : off the rip, reader’s get the taste that this is an Aaron title since these dealer’s are donned in the helmets befitting of B.C.E. warriors. Still, the high adventure homage goes about that far (in this issue at least) as these criminals deal in product befitting to take out the heroes of the Marvel Universe, something that the Punisher himself has already been there and done. Punisher takes them out of course, but less like himself. The lights go dark, hands get sliced off and the Punisher is using a sword?

It’s like ever since Elektra decided to pick up Daredevil’s schtick, Punisher has taken ahold of Elektra’s steez, and if the events of the latest “Woman Without Fear” can attest to this, these swapping of energies and styles are more than just residue from the love triangle these three have been involved in for years. Polygamy… the natural form of human mating! In all honesty to see Punisher get some silent kills off. Just the threat of this terminator (*see “Fresh” by Yakin) being as silent as he is deadly and popping up unheard and faster than light is crazy, and something completely new, given that The Punisher has always been the type to go in guns blazing. This is not Captain America. The Punisher doesn’t walk in with a shield. He comes in with a spectre of death on a T-shirt with a determination attributed to the concept of the grim reaper itself. Aaron’s Punisher from his first kills here are a different side of Frank, a different side of death which shouldn’t be unsurprising as death is a unknown in this experiment of human existence, but that doesn’t take away the surprise of a Punisher this light or silent in combat boots used to stomping.

For those looking for glory kills, there is a sequence of flashbacks where Punisher lodges some bullets into the heads of ninjas. But this is no more than a test, as The Hand is using the Punisher for their mission to establish the Beast that they want Elektra and Daredevil to preside over as referenced to right before DD served some time, thanks to Zdarsky’s run. The Hand has been able to catch Punisher’s attention, and they make their desire’s to have Frank as the “Fist of The Beast” known. They offer him gifts – criminal sadists ready for his brutality and unimaginably within the final pages, Castle’s wife – resurrected ! Pain and pleasure is what The Hand has not promised Frank, but has given him. So it makes sense why The Punisher has traded his guns for ninja blades at this time. Aaron from the jump has now put everything that makes The Punisher into question. The Punisher only got into taking down organized crime for the purpose of vengeance because he lost his family. With his wife now returned to him, is The Punisher’s mission over? Does Frank have children in Aaron’s world? If so, where are they? Can The Hand ressurect them as well? The Punisher has had trysts after the death of his wife. But nothing can ever match the memories of the relationship endeavored in that first foray into the institution of marriage – I would know. I know Frank wouldn’t care, but did his attachment for his family finally turn Frank Castle into a villain?

The Punisher has never been a hero in the mirror. His drive for vengeance because of the loss of his family has only fueled him to accomplish heroic deeds. But if it quacks, is it not Howard?
So many questions, and this is only just the first issue. Jason Aaron has provided a head scratcher for Punisher reader’s of Earth-1218 over, leaving in a shroud of unknowns as dark as Dave Stewart colors for this carnage Jesus Saiz is responsible for in the new era of the flag bearing Marvel Knight.

Score : 5/5

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Paul Azaceta, Jesus Saiz
Colors: Dave Stewart
Cover: JESÚS SAIZ