Marvel Comics
Punisher War Journal #24
Written by Matt Fraction
Art by Howard Chaykin
On Sale: 10/01/2008

Before today my only experience with The Punisher was years ago when someone decided that Archie and The Punisher would make a good pair. Even with Archie Andrews and the rest of the Riverdale gang the issue didn’t hold my attention enough to read the whole thing.

A man’s family being tragically murdered is an intriguing opening, but Mad Max pulled that off in ’79 with such panache that it would be difficult to top. Based on what I have heard I am sure that The Punisher is a good series, though you wouldn’t know it from this issue. The story was weak and seemed to mainly be a springboard for future events. It’s possible that would be a reason for people to purchase the next issue, but I was not invested enough in the plot or characters to shell out the money for it. I admit, I’m curious as to why all of Tony Stark’s invention’s went kaput, but I don’t think that was intended to be the highlight of the comic.

It’s been brought to my attention that my standards are impossibly high, but I simply don’t care. Something is either quality or it isn’t, and it’s not my fault either way. The art could have been so much better. It didn’t look as thrown together as other comic art I’ve seen, but it lacked strength and was simply boring. I always thought The Punisher was about a pissed off dude that had no mercy and went around killing bad guys and whoever got in the way. I imagined him shooting drug dealers in the head, not throwing grenades at green aliens. I was prepared for gritty violence not cheesy shenanigans.