For some reason, the first arc of this Punisher title didn’t really rock my world. Sure, it was pretty good, good enough to keep me buying, but…nothing special. So, I kept buying. I also kept not reading. Not reading and not reading and not reading until I found myself with a stack of fourteen unread issues. Then came the announcement that the title would be ending soon. Time, I thought, to do some catching up and start cracking that stack.
Boy, am I glad I did!
Everyone seems to have their own opinions right now about the best title Marvel is publishing. There’s no question that there is a lot of quality stuff coming out of the House of Ideas. Personally, I think Daredevil and Cap & Bucky are the strongest titles on the market. Now I can add a third book to that rarefied list. Punisher Max is nothing short of breathtaking, every issue a devastating gut punch delivered with all the power and flair Aaron and Dillon can muster. Each arc builds on the last in a way that leaves me now, having devoured those fourteen issues, breathlessly awaiting the next twist, the next revelation, the next brutal showdown.
When this book does end (and reading these issues back to back it does seem that Jason Aaron can only have had one possible conclusion in mind from the beginning), there really don’t need to be any more Punisher books ever again. Aaron and Dillon’s exploration of the character is so brilliant, so powerful, and so damn well done as to be absolutely definitive in the truest sense of the word.
This book is AWESOME.