I have a confession to make.

I never liked The Punisher as a lead character.  I was talking with PiscesPaul, who grew up in the same town that I did, last week about why I was so averse to the character, when he put his button pushing finger right on it: all the kids in our town who liked The Punisher were douchebags.  They all served time before they could legally purchase alcohol; they all had gun fascinations that troubled those around them; and none of them could look you in the eye when they talked to you.  Not one of them ever really understood that The Punisher was about more than just violence and guns.  And, because they didn’t understand, and I wasn’t invested enough to do any research, I never bought a signle Punisher comic.

When I grew up, I grew to appreciate Frank Castle as a fantastic background character.  His interactions with Spidey and Daredevil were great.  Shit, his brief entry into the fray of Marvel’s Civil War was the highlight of the series for me.  Still, I never picked up a Punisher comic.

Then Ron, Josh, and Conor did their Punisher show, and I decided to pick up Welcome Back, Frank and give it a shot.

I was too busy adopting, and then catering to, new cats to read the book at home.  But this past Thursday was an exceptionally slow day at the comic book store, so I read it all the way through, and then I read In The Beginning, followed by Kitchen Irish, and then I went back and read Punisher Born.  Hooked, damn it!  This series is great.  Once I’m done with the Max series, I’m going to pick up the War Journal trades.

This is the state of mind I’ve been in for the last week, so it was a perfect time for Punisher War Zone.  Having just read the original Gnucci storyline, all the characters are still fresh in my brain. And I’m loving the series’s direction.  But, I mean, it’s Ennis and Dillon, so I’m not terribly surprised at the high quality.  What I am surprised at, is how long it took me to get on to the Punisher bandwagon.

Thanks, Conor, Ron, and Josh for plucking Frank Castle out of the background of the Marvel U, and putting him center stage on my shelves for a while.  But if I end up slashing any of my friends’ tires, or setting fire to one of my neighbors’ guinea pigs, it’s on your head.