I’m not a huge Punisher fan to begin with. And I’m not a huge fan of Secret Invasion’s outcome. That being said, pitting Frank Castle against the supervillain heavyweights of the Marvel Universe just seems asinine. Pitting him against The Sentry even more so. And that’s what happens a mere 5 pages into the book. It’s a 32-page cat and mouse story that flat out sucks.

I can suspend my disbelief enough to believe that there are mutants, people with spider powers and dudes who fly around in a mech suit, but it’s pretty hard to buy that Marvel’s most powerful superbeing, The Sentry, has trouble keeping up with The Punisher, and in fact, can’t catch him. Punisher escapes by having Sentry find a fake bomb, follow a remote controlled van and then smash into a wall painted like a tunnel, oh wait, that wrong comic…

This comic is like a bad Wiley Coyote/Road Runner loony tune. The Sentry is fast enough to catch a speeding skrull bullet with his thumb and index finger but can’t catch the Punisher, who, let’s not forget, is just an average Joe with a few screws loose. Writer Rick Remender tries to wax Frank Miller by diving into Frank Castle’s inner monologue, which strangely sounds a lot like Marv’s thoughts in Sin City. Nothing in this book stands out, art included; Jerome Opena’ style can’t decide if it’s Leinil Yu or Alex Maleev.

It’s sketchy, dulled and rings “blah.” Buy this book or don’t. But, if you do, be prepared for one craptacular ride.