Product Description: Locked and loaded with a bevy of bonus material, this deluxe hardcover collects Punisher Max Vol. 3: Mother Russia and Punisher Max Vol. 4: Up Is Down And Black Is White. In Mother Russia, Nicky Fury's got an assignment that needs doing. It's the kind of suicide mission any sane person wouldn't ponder for a second. And there's only one man for the job: the Punisher. Searching for a deadly retrovirus whose sale on the black market could bring the world to its knees, Frank Castle penetrates a Russian nuclear silo... and comes face-to-face with the Mongolian! And in Up is down and Black is White, mobster Nicky Cavella finally figures out how you take down the Punisher. How you get under his skin. How you send Frank Castle over the edge. But when Cavella's scheme unleashes a wave of violence that rocks New York to its core, other predators start to come out of the darkness. There are scores to be settled. Blood to be spilled. When the world turns upside-down, will the killing and carnage ever end? Can even the Punisher go too far...? Collects Punisher #13-24.
One Wild Ride! So far, I've read the first three volumes of this series and of the three, this is probably my least favorite of the bunch but not by much. The artwork in general isn't quite as impressive as in Volumes 1 and 3, and the first story ("Mother Russia") is pretty much just an all-out shoot-'em-up gorefest. I find Ennis's take on everyday lowlifes (mafiosi, street-level thugs) more engaging than his tales of international espionage. That's not to say it's not a good story, but relative to what I've seen thus far, it impressed me the least.
The second story ("Up is Down, Black is White") was probably the most lurid and vile thing I've seen from Ennis thus far. In fact it almost reads like he's trying to push the envelope further with each turn of the page. It opens with a vicious grave desecration, and moves right on to familicide and incest. It's the better of the two offerings, but possibly a bit much for most readers.
PUNISHER ups the ante by taking on Russia and the US Government Two of the best Punisher storylines are collected in this volume, "Mother Russia" and "Up is Down and Black is White." Of the two I probably enjoyed the latter the most, but only by a very narrow margin. In the first storyline Russians become cannon fodder as they go up against the inhuman killing machine that is Frank Castle when he is sent by Nick Fury to retrieve what the government calls a 'specimen' from a missile silo on Russian soil. I liked this story because Nick Fury, in Garth Ennis' hands, always brings some great dialogue along with him, usually leading to profanities and insulting superiors to their faces. There are also genuine moments in the story when it seems that all is lost and that the Punisher honestly won't get out of there alive. This sense of suspense is what kept me riveted to the page, and the sheer brutality of the Punisher when he finishes off his enemies is shocking to behold. Ennis is obviously having the time of his life with this character. In the second story the twisted mobster Nicky Cavella returns (last seen in the very first Punisher MAX trade paperback), styling himself as "the only man ever to have escaped the Punisher." He hatches a plan to take out Frank Castle for good, and an assist from the US Government in the form of a man called Rawlins he finds very welcome indeed. I loved all the characters in this last story, and my favorite by far is ex-CIA operative O'Brien, who falls for Frank big time, and is also more ruthless and violent than anyone save the Punisher. Garth Ennis constructs mature storylines that have a realistic feel to them and does not always portray the Punisher as more than human. This, above all, is what I find appealing, the fact that the Punisher is not invulnerable, either physically or emotionally. I enjoyed this collection more than the first volume, and this attests to the writing of Ennis which just keeps getting better and better. The art's nothing to sneer at either. Buy this book.
Featuring possibly the greatest Punisher story ever told The second hardcover collection of Garth Ennis' prolific re-launch of the Punisher under Marvel's MAX mature readers line, this collection features two storyarcs, Mother Russia and Up is Down & Black is White. Mother Russia finds Frank making a deal with Nick Fury to travel to Russia to recover a kidnapped girl who is the key to a worldwide conspiracy, with the fate of Russia and the U.S. hanging in the balance. It's a solid and strikingly mature tale about a modern Cold War in a post-9/11 world, and while Mother Russia is an excellent story itself, the real highlight of this collection is the second story, Up is Down & Black is White. In this arc Nicky Cavella, the surviving mobster from the In the Beginning arc, returns with a plan to push the Punisher to limits that were before unimaginable. In the process, we are given glimpses of Cavella's origin, and the rampage the Punisher goes on to set things right. This is undoubtadly the best Punisher story ever written, and Ennis' best work since the magic he worked with Preacher. The art throughout this collection, by Dougie Brathwaite and Leandro Fernandez, isn't anything too special, but it more than serves it's purpose, and both do a great job when the blood begins to spill. If you missed out on the single issues, you must pick this up to bear witness to the best mainstream comic work out today, as Ennis continues to prove that this is the character he was born to write.
FAN*&%$£"*TASIC THIS HARD COVER COLLECTING MOTHER RUSSIA STORIES WITH UP IS DOWN, BLACK IS WHITE , IS SOME OF ENNIS S BEST WRITING HE HAS EVER DONE IN REGUARDS THE PUNISHER IN HIS MAX OR MARVEL KNIGHTS SERIES... IF ANY CRITISISM CAN BE THROWEN AT ENNIS IS THAT SOME TIMES HIS PUNISHER TALES DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH ACTION.... NOT SO WITH MOTHER RUSSIA !!!!! A STRAIGHT ACTION STORY LACED WITH ENNIS ES WICKED WIT AND SOME GREAT CHARACTERS ( WHO GO ON TO APPEAR IN FOURTH COMING STORIES) MAKE THIS ALL OUT ACTON FEST!!! OH AND ENNIS ALWASYS DOES NICK FURY THE KIND OF JUSTICE OTHER WRITERS CAN ONLY DREAM ABOUT.... THE NEXT STORY IS A SEQUAL OF SORTS TO IN THE BEGINING STORY(ARUGUABLE THE BEST PUNISHER STORY EVER)THIS STORY IS ALMOST AS GOOD AND SHOWS ENNIS,S WRITING OF THE PUNISHER JUST GETS BETTER, ITS A TRUELY DARK STORY, I WONT SPOIL IT FOR YOU, BUT BELIEVE WHEN I SAY ITS UP THERE WITH BEST OF ANY WORK DONE ON THE PUN MAN... ART IN BOTH STORIES IS WORTH THE PRICE ALONE... A MUST READ FOR PUNISHER FANS....
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