World Famous Comics: Punisher MAX Vol. 7: Man of Stone
Punisher MAX Vol. 7: Man of Stone
By: Garth Ennis Publisher: Marvel Comics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Marvel Comics Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 144 Publication Date: May 16, 2007
Product Description: The last time General Nikolai Alexandrovich Zakharov encountered Frank Castle, the two men were playing chicken with a dozen nuclear warheads over Moscow. Since then, well, let's just say Zakharov's not the type to forgive and forget. When a mutual enemy of Castle comes with the perfect plan to lure Frank out of his hole, Zakharvo is all ears. That man is Rawlins. His bait? His former wife and sometime Castle flame: O'Brien. Collects Punisher #37-42.
Obvious... If you review the ratings for the other Punisher MAX books you'll see that the lowest average is at least 4 stars. Garth Ennis has written this series and the Punisher in general so well that the gratuitous violence and periodic sex isn't even necessary. But it's fun. You will be conflicted about Frank. The stuff he does is so criminal, but he does this stuff to criminals or worse. So is what he does justified?
This book is actually somewhat a sequel to Mother Russia so I'd recommend reading it first, but really there are other elements that come from other arcs. The intelligent traps, escapes, and political moves that Ennis endows Frank with are mind blowing. And each villain is more heinous than the last. Really you should just start where it begins ..."In the Begining" and finish when Mr. Ennis does. May that day be many years from now.
Punisher goes punishing.......again First off, I love Garth Ennis and his back to basics style for Punisher. Punisher kills people, lots of people. Yet as dark as he is, Ennis manages to make Punisher the "good guy" by creating villains so evil they make Punisher the sympathetic guy and you end up rooting for him. But this dark and violent style has an arc (like all good stories) and I feel that Ennis may be running out of steam creatively. Man of Stone is recycled goods, still useable, still practical. But obviously used. If your looking for Ennis' best Punisher work, check out the early volumes in this series. Man of Stone is a sign that Ennis may be reaching his Punisher crescendo, and he should wrap it up soon, so that he may leave on a good note.
Continuing Garth Ennis' bloody take on the Punisher Since Garth Ennis brought the Punisher to Marvel's MAX line, I can't get enough. His take on Frank "The Punisher" Castle is of a man posessed that has only one goal in his life: to punish criminals. Man of Stone, the seventh collected volume in Ennis' bloody and brutal run on the series, continues Ennis' take on the unstoppable killer of killers as Frank makes his way to Afghanistan in a hunt for the elusive Rawlins (from Mother Russia and Up is Down and Black is White), but he gets even more than he bargained for with Soviet war criminal General Zakharov pulling all the strings; and setting a trap for Frank that involves his occasional flame O'Brien. There's political intrigue, surprises, and shocking displays of violence and dark humor to be found as usual, and frequent Punisher artist Leandro Fernandez provides solid pencil work as well. Like Ennis' previous Punisher tales, Man of Stone is enjoyable and well paced, so if you've enjoyed Ennis' lengthy run on the series, chances are you'll dig Man of Stone too.
Man of Stone Rock Solid "Man of Stone" is a truly great Punisher story. It's amazing how Ennis makes such simple characters so complex; it's becuase he weaves different motivations like revenge, money, sex, loyalty, and duty into the story that makes it have such depth. But again, it's still violence Punisher style. Sometimes Ennis uses sex for sex's sake without a point to the story and there is sex here, but not a lot. The scenes of violence are so well depictated it feels like a movie still from a summer blockbuster. The bottom line is if you like Punisher then "Man of Stone" is a must. If you like action stories with plenty of violence and great characters (true bastards aplenty here) then this is for you.
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