World Famous Comics: Punisher by Garth Ennis Omnibus
Punisher by Garth Ennis Omnibus
By: Garth Ennis Publisher: Marvel Comics Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Marvel Comics Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 1136 Publication Date: November 26, 2008
Product Description: The bodies of drug dealers, murderers, and the scum of the Earth litter the streets...the Punisher is back, courtesy of writer Garth Ennis! The critically acclaimed creator that brought you Preacher restores one of the most popular characters in the Marvel Universe to his former glory and ultra-violent roots. Stripped of sidekicks, spiritual directives, and other excess baggage, the vengeance-crazed vigilante hits the mean streets of New York city with a renewed sense of purpose! Lawbreakers beware: Frank Castle is locked, loaded and waiting for you to slip up! Collecting Punisher (2000) #1-12, Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe, Marvel Knights Double Shot #1, and Punisher (2001) #1-7 and #13-37.
Great, but short of perfection Over 8 years, Garth Ennis proved himself to be the definitive writer when it came to Marvel's once easily derided character, Frank Castle.
In his epic run which dominated the marvel knights publication line, Ennis brings Frank back to the realms of the Marvel Universe, bringing home his absolutionist, somewhat despotic brand of justice, while simultaneously having some brilliant run ins with a select few of the rest of the superhero community. Ennis' run is littered with humour and great action, however its portrayal of The Punisher's motivation falls somewhat flat at times, and it definitely detracts from the great character he subsequently built up in the Marvel MAX line. A warning to Wolverine fans however, there is very little respect paid to "the ol' canucklehead" when he shows up in the story; but don't worry, the sheer absurdity of the situation (as Logan is without a face for almost the entirety of this appearance) is more than enough to make up for the lack of respect for the character.
Top Quality- A Physical review It's my prediction that if you are seriously considering buying this, you know what you are getting content-wise. The entire book, content-wise, can be reviewed for the informed comics buyer in one poignant sentence: It's Garth Ennis and he is writing Punisher.
You are probably much more concerned with the quality of the book. I would give it a solid A-, still 5 stars. As others have noted, it is a sewn binding. This means a few things:
1) It will lie flat. The binding bends, adjusts, and folds seamlessly, unlike a glued binding, which stays flat while the pages adjust instead. While I like the stability of glued bindings during reading, I got used to the sewn quickly.
2) In comics with glued binding, full page spreads and in some instances other art generally extend into the depths of the margin and a quarter-inch or so of art is completly lost to the reader. Because of the sewn binding, every page is fully viewable to the art margin before it even comes close to the center. The result is being able to see a full-page spread as well as you can with a retail comic book lying open.
3) It's probably gonna last a long time. This omnibus is basically exactly at the limit of pages that I feel comfortable saying the binding is going to hold up a long, long time. If this thing had 200 more pages, I would be skeptical - it would be a monster.
One last word, dealing with content.
This book contains the one-shot Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe. I own the entire Ennis Punisher run, including MAX, and must say: This is the best Punisher story ever. When Ennis started the main run, this earlier individual comic was selling at $50-60. The story is simple: Frank's family dies in the middle of a superhero battle instead of a mob shooting, and as a result Frank punishes the heroes of Marvel rather than the criminals of the world. It is worth the price of admission alone.
Phenomenal and HUGE!!!!!! This is such an awesome collection and it is massively HUGE! Trust me when I say that you will need a desk to sit at to read it. You won't be holding it for long if you try. It is a monster! The stories are freakin' sweet and the art work is top notch. The binding is sewn and the paper is thick. This omnibus is put together right and will stand the test of time! Marvel did it right. Even though it is not the MAX run that Ennis wrote, it is every bit as good! Trust me, you need to get this collection while you can. You will not be disappointed!
A fine collection indeed I'll just say this: its over 1200 pages and I finsihed it in less then a week. Enjoy.
Great way to own out of print Punisher stories This book represents the first half of Garth Ennis's incredible run on the Punisher. It's not the MAX books, so the humor is played up to make up for the lack of gratuitous violence, blood and guts, and nudity that featured so heavily in the later books. However they are still enjoyable reads. The artwork is great, and what really stymies me is the fact that Jimmy Palmiotti got to ink so many issues. His work is crap (and one of the few low marks in this book), though things get righted because a few of the later Steve Dillon drawn issues allowed him to ink his own work. The other stories included here (Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe and Marvel Knights Double Shot) are interesting additions. A great collection for any fan of the Punisher, or Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon. Buy it! Buy it now!
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