Several years ago, fellow PopTard and host of the awesome Bibliodiscoteque, Kire Carlson and I were chatting about comics, as fellas of our ilk are wont to do, and we came to a conclusion regarding the limitations of serial story-telling in a long-running format. Sure, we all love comics and certain characters and storylines, so forth and so on, but when it comes right down to brass tacks, it’s futile. Characters will never die, things won’t change for good and that bright, shiny, candy-like re-set button will always be pressed. Wouldn’t it be great, we thought…if the stories had a sense of completion? A beginning, a middle and an end? Take Preacher, one of my all-time favorite stories, anywhere, ever. It had a nice long run, but not long enough to outstay its welcome. And then, the writer got to his predetermined ending and that was that. Story over. That is what we want from comics and that is what Jason Aaron has given us with PunisherMax.

Jason Aaron has written the perfect Punisher story. The definitive version as I see it. This isn’t hyperbole or me being dramatic. I genuinely feel like this is going to go down as my favorite Frank Castle yarn.

The players are Frank Castle, Wilson Fisk, Vanessa Fisk, Bullseye and Elektra. All characters that don’t feel like characters, but people, playing a deadly game of chess. And I do mean DEADLY. No one is safe, and it’s felt because I know that this is the end of the story, especially now that I know that Jason Aaron is finishing the book the way he wanted to end it with issue #22. Sure, I suppose Marvel could just put out issue #23 with a new writer and a new artist and things would go back to business as usual, but however Aaron ends this book is going to be the end for me.

Sure, I could go on and tell you everything that happens in this book, but come ON, it’s the second to last issue!

Beginning, middle, end. Fatal repercussions and truly dramatic moments. Fantastic Art. This is what comics should be.