It felt like the end of the world for me when Garth Ennis left Punisher MAX. He made without a question, the greatest Punisher run in the history of the Punisher. How can this title even go on without the man and myth? Well it wasnt easy for Gregg Hurwitz, but he put a glimmer of hope for this title.

Now without question either, this isnt the greatest Punisher arc ever. I doubt we’ll remember this as one of the best in 20-30 years from now. But what Hurwitz did to this title was make me believe that this title can flourish without one continuous writer. This arc brings Castle to Mexico, where a drug gang is kidnapping women of all ages to ship drugs threw out the country. The reason this gang steal the women is a nice little twist, although not entirely original. What I loved about this arc the most was that Hurwitz just had a great voice for the Punisher. In the third part of this trade (or issue #63 which was my POTW when it came out) is the best example of Castle’s voice. I dare you to read that issue and not tell me you were engaged with the heavy heart of Frank Castle. The only thing that really brought this arc down was the last issue. The introduction to this mainstream villain felt force and didnt feel nessicary either. Overall the last issue was still pretty good, but didnt hold a candle to the other four.

Here’s what absolutely destroied this arc though, the godawful art. Laurence Campbell is without a doubt, the worst artist I’ve ever seen. I mean I thought the artist on Punisher: War Journal were bad; they dont hold a candle to the crapiness of Campbell. For some reason day is always dusk, everything is too sketchy, faces are hard to tell apart, and the only reason I am giving it a 2 is because, again, of issue #63. For some reason that issue just clicked on both fronts for the creative team.

I would say give this a shot, especially to all of you guys who left the series after Ennis departed. The art might not be a good selling point but Hurwitz’s writing well makes up for that part. I hope in the future Hurwitz goes back on Punisher in any form, cause he is clearly a good writer for the character.