Untold Tales of the Punisher Max #4

Untold Tales of Punisher Max #4 For the past several years, it hasn’t been easy for me to read Punisher comics. Not since I read Garth Ennis’ run on Punisher Max. That series was so good, so consistently good, that for me it became the Platonic ideal of what a "real" Punisher story is. Even Jason Aaron’s stuff, which was totally excellent, had a tone that made the book feel a little too… I don’t know… heavy to me. What I want to feel after reading Punisher is a fairly simple mixture of exhilaration and TAKE THAT, @*(@&*@ER’S!! And so it was when I put down UNTOLD TALES OF THE PUNISHER MAX #4.

UNTOLD TALES OF PUNISHER MAX #4 (OF 5)
MARVEL COMICS

Written by Nathan Edmondson
Art by Fernando Blanco

Another never-before-seen chapter in Frank Castle’s life!
A father begs Frank to help him find his daughter who was sold into slavery.
Frank does way more than just find the girl.
Rising star NATHAN EDMONDSON (Who Is Jake Ellis) writes this issue.

The story is fairly straightforward: Punisher makes a move on a mobster, kills many henchmen in the process. But there were two aspects of the book that made it so good for me. 1) It felt like what I would consider to be "pure" Punisher. He takes out bad guys, often in creative ways, often in ways that turn your stomach upside down, and usually just after imparting a one-liner about how they made one too many poor life choices. EXHIBIT A. That is just classic Punisher right there. 2) There were a couple of very nice twists and turns in the second half of the book, good enough that when you read it you will almost certainly either arch one eyebrow or tilt your head to the side, like a dog who’s not sure what it’s looking at. Either of these reactions will then most likely then be accompanied by an exclamation of, "Huh!" or "No kidding!"

But no matter what twists the plot takes, you can rest assured you know where the Punisher is going to come out at the end of this thing… and where everyone ELSE is going to come out. Believe me when I tell you there are several bullets to the head in this one… and knives to the throat and bombs to the gut and punches to the jaw and…

- Andy B.