The Untold Tales of Punisher Max #1
WRITERS: Jason Starr
ARTIST: Roland Boschi
COLOR ARTIST: Dan Brown
LETTERS: Rob Steen
COVER: Roland Boschi and Dan Brown
EDITOR: Sebastian Girner and Jeanine
Schaefer
EDITOR IN CHIEF: Axel Alonso
CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER: Joe Quesada
PUBLISHER: Dan Buckley
EXEC. PRODUCER: Alan Fine
Release Date: June 13th, 2012
Published
monthly by Marvel Worldwide, INC.
ADDITIONAL DETAILS:
Price –
$4.99
WRITING:
The writing
from Jason Starr is fantastic. Carrying on the themes that Aaron and Ennis pushed
the Punisher MAX series forward with raw violence, sex and language. Starr
brings to life the untold tales of Punisher MAX to life by telling a story
titled, “Jimmy’s Collision”. This story is narrated by the protagonist named
Jimmy Frisco who finds himself in hot water with the mob. The entire story is
told from his point of view and Frank Castle really isn’t in the book much at
all. This actually helps the reader to engage more with the other characters
and by the time the Punisher shows up…readers are ready.
Rating – “B+”
ARTWORK:
Roland Boschi
is at the helm for the artwork in this first installment of the mini-series. He
does a serviceable job and really focuses on character interaction nicely.
Facial animations and movement are drawn well but the action scenes seem to be
missing something. The artwork feels familiar to past Punisher MAX titles,
which is a good thing!
Rating – “B”
STORY:
(WARNING
– MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS)
Issue one
centers on Jimmy Frisco, a collision shop owner who has found himself one too
many times owing money to a mob-boss. Now the mob is after him and he has only
so much time to come up with a way to save his own skin. Frisco starts off as a
likeable character who is looking for a way out of his situation but he soon
becomes a villain after coming up with an elaborate plot to kill off anyone or
everyone in his way to freedom. Punisher tracks him down to find out
information about the mob and after Frank puts his bullets into every last
mobster who is after Frisco, the book ends with Frisco getting blown away by
Castle. It really is a cool ending in my opinion.
Rating – “B+“
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE:
The book
quickly pulls the reader in. Jason Starr does a nice job at building up
characters who we have never met before in the Punisher Universe and he does so
very nicely. There is no need for an introduction to Punisher in this
mini-series…everyone already knows that this is about one thing and one thing
only…Frank Castle blowing people away.
Rating – “B+”
OVERAL RATING OF ISSUE: “B+”