When the mob killed his family, Frank Castle went to war. But before he became the scourge of the underworld, the Punisher set his sights on a certain world-famous wall-crawler. This volume collects the vengeance-seeking vigilante's earliest appearances in the pages of the Amazing Spider-Man, Captain America, Daredevil and more.
Collects AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #129, #134-135, #161-162, #174-175, #201-202 and ANNUAL #15; GIANT-SIZE SPIDER-MAN #4; MARVEL PREVIEW PRESENTS #2; MARVEL SUPER ACTION #1; CAPTAIN AMERICA #241; DAREDEVIL #182-184; SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #81-83; and PUNISHER #1-5.
Gerard Francis Conway (Gerard F. Conway) is an American writer of comic books and television shows. He is known for co-creating the Marvel Comics' vigilante the Punisher and scripting the death of the character Gwen Stacy during his long run on The Amazing Spider-Man. At DC Comics, he is known for co-creating the superhero Firestorm and others, and for writing the Justice League of America for eight years. Conway wrote the first major, modern-day intercompany crossover, Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man.
Not really a villain but not really a Hero by most standards, the Punisher is a complex and tortured character. Something like a Batman with guns that takes a more violent fight to the criminal element. These early stories are a very good collection of what the Punisher was originally envisioned to be. Recommended
The Punisher is one of the darker characters of the Marvel Universe and he was first seen not in his own comic but in Amazing Spiderman #129 (1963) where he met somebody who popped up a lot in his early days. And indeed this dark character did indeed need a lighter touch and banter that was brought by the Spiderman. As you continue further in this b/w tome you'll find that he'll finds his own footing and even the anti-drugs story with another New York superhero by the name of Daredevil shows that darker and more moral tales do have their place in the Marvel Universe. This collection ends of with a solo outing of the Punisher were people want to use his reputation and skills.
The Punisher in the Netflix show had his first sighting in the Daredevil series and it was pretty good as both characters have a darkness and moral code and they find that they can respect the other one in his style of operations. The Netflix Punisher is perhaps darker than its Marvel opponent but certainly more impressive than the movie outings who always feel that they are lacking. Perhaps its is the character that offers a difficulty because the Punisher is a killer and that is always a hard sell.
I enjoyed this early Punisher and was surprised how Marvel tried to launch him on he shoulders of other popular superhero's. But Frank Castle made it from the sixties nonetheless. Even though it is B/W presentation of 25 comics it does offer enough reading to be enjoyed in the collection, for me the absence of colours does not matter. It does show the skills of the artists better. You see more confidence in Castles solo work and more of the usual quality from the Spiderman artists.
This is a must read not just for Punisher fans but for the serious comic book lover. What began as a minor antagonist with a twisted morality ended in a wonderful meditation on how society deals with crime. Also, this book helps to realize how visionary and profound were Spiderman's and Daredevil's comics in the 70's and 80's.
U većini epizoda Panišer se pojavljuje samo kao sporedni lik. Priče nisu nešto posebno upečatljive zbog čega ne mogu da kažem da sam suviše uživao čitajući ovaj strip.
The Punisher first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man # 129 (Feb 1974) and was created by Gerry Conway and John Romita, Sr., who was the art director at Marvel then, though Ross Andru drew the actual comic and Stan Lee believes he came up with the name. The Punisher is a ruthless vigilante who acts as judge, jury and executioner and kills bad guys with impunity. This kind of anti-hero was unknown to comics of the Silver Age but I suppose they eventually had to emulate the movies where films like ‘Dirty Harry’ (1971) popularised a tougher approach to criminality.
In his first appearance, the Punisher is out to kill Spider-Man as part of his fight against crime, convinced by the Jackal that Spidey murdered Norman Osborn. Having proved popular, he came back in The Amazing Spider-Man # 134-135 to fight with the eponymous hero eventually against Tarantula, a spikey-shoed refugee from some dodgy South American dictatorship. He next appeared in Giant-Sized Spider-Man # 4 and finally had a couple of solo shots in Marvel Preview # 2 and Marvel Super-Action # 1. These were both black and white titles, the latter a one shot. The Punisher was not yet popular enough to succeed in a mainstream comic and so resumed guest appearances in other Marvel titles, notably Daredevil # 182-184, an excellent story from the Frank Miller era of that title. Most often, though, he appeared in the various ‘Spider-Man’ comic books of the era where the contrast between his ruthless methods and Peter Parker’s less self-righteous approach to crime fighting worked well. Actually, the Punisher was not so murderous as he later became, often using mercy bullets which don’t kill on the lesser hoodlums.
The 1980s saw the coming of the mini-series to the comic book industry and this gave an opportunity for longer stories about characters who might not carry off an on-going comic book. The Punisher was ideal for this kind of thing, so writer Steven Grant and artist Mike Zeck teamed up to do a complicated five-part story in which our hero ‘kills’ the Kingpin and unleashes a gang war as everyone else tries to take the large man’s place as top crime lord. Grant’s script is great and Zeck’s art is excellent. Part five is scripted by Jo Duffy and drawn by Mike Vosburg and John Beatty, who do a perfectly fine job.
As extreme violence and a more hard-nosed crime-fighting approach took hold in the 80s, the Punisher became more popular. There are three films about him!
This is an entertaining collection of early stories which showcases a wide variety of talent. The only drawback, from a reader’s point of view, is that you are left wanting to carry on reading ‘Spider-Man’ and ‘Daredevil’ to find out what happens next to them. From a publisher’s point of view, this is wonderful and, indeed, the whole point of crossovers. Happily, the various ‘Essential Spider-Man’ collections are up to date with what’s shown here. The ‘Essential Daredevils’ are still a few years short of the great Frank Miller years, so you’ll have to wait for them. On the other hand, there are, to date, four volumes of ‘Essential Punisher’ into which your teeth, bullets, hand grenades or machetes can now be sunk. Enjoy!
I thought this might be some light comix reading, some non-superhero realistic action, and it is that for the most part but the stuff I surprisingly found compelling was the Spider-Man issues. The Amazing Spider-Man, writing by Gerry Conway and art by Ross Andru. That was the stuff that jazzed me. I was a bit let down when it would skip a few Spider-Man stories just to concentrate on the Punisher. Now the Punisher's a cool character but his action-movie/revenge fantasy realism doesn't really fit in the Marvel Superhero realm and suffers a bit because of that. (I know I'm muddling my criticism. I'll try better: Spider-Man works because we accept the incongruities of super-hero realm, The Punisher doesn't work as well because Marvel was still trying to appeal to kids and teens so in effect would 'pull' their punches in the presentation of the Punisher's world of violence.) Anyway now I got to get that good 70's Spider-Man stories which are only really available for a reasonable price in the Essential format, black and white on cheap paper for a cheap price, I'll keep my eye out for the gorgeous color Masterworks and Omnibus editions of 70's Spider-Man . . .maybe if I save up my money. Another bit of a surprise for me was the Daredevil stories featuring Frank Miller art and writing left me a bit cold. I'm not a fan of the Daredevil character but as well wasn't too impressed w/Miller's art at this stage, I liked his more expressionistic stuff w/Batman and Sin City, here it seems hastily done and a bit half-assed. That's an opinion that will probably mark me as a comic book barbarian but that's how it is babee. Where's my war-van when I need it?
As a latecomer to The Punisher, I found this volume of his original and early appearances both disconcerting and absolutely charming - simple and highly stylised, at first much more concerned with creating a contrast for established heroes like Spidey, Cap and Daredevil than fleshing out a new character, but gradually taking on the challenge of making him more than just a fun boogeyman. Beautiful line art, beautifully homoerotic, glorious mayhem; the birth of a legend.
Very fun collection of anti-hero vigilante Frank Castle's first appearances, as he teams-up/does battle with Spider-Man, Daredevil, Captain America, the X-Men's Nightcrawler, and Cloak and Dagger. Villains include the Kingpin, Jigsaw, Tarantula, the Jackal, the Hitman, Moses Magnum, and Dr. Octopus. Also featuring his first solo limited series.
The Punisher is a rather more exciting (anti)hero than Captain America and Fantastic Four, although to be fair I've only read their first few comics, from the 1960s. The late 1970s / early 1980s when Punisher popped up in Spider-Man, Daredevil and Captain America presented a much more nuanced, darker world of the mafia, drugs and questions of morality. A great collection.
There are 2 things wrong with this collection: 1) The whole thing is presented without colour - this in itself isn't to much of a problem, but unfortunately I have read the original coloured versions and it feels like the art is lacking with its absence 2) I wouldn't call this collection essential
If you want to see some of the earliest stories where The Punisher appeared, then great, this is perfect for you. These stories are however very much of the time, and Frank Castle here obviously isn't the character he would later become. I found reading the Spider Man seconds a chore, with 2 thirds of the book mostly being throw away.
The last third, is easily what's makes up for it - The original Five Part Mini-series. If you know The Punisher well, skip to these (or just search it out individually), as you'll know the character's, if you don't know a lot, skim read through the rest of the book first.
Buy it if you can find it cheap, otherwise, this is only really for the hard-core fan
This one was a REALLY quick read for me! Why? It read like the crime fiction that I am famous for reading! I remember when The Punisher first appeared in Spider-Man & Daredevil, but I was unaware that he was in any of their magazine-format books since a) they were prohibitively expensive & b) their generally-adult nature just did not resonate with us as kids. Reading this frankly brutal story arc was like picking up a Hard Case Crime novel, ala Quarry & getting started. Phew! The prison scenes were quite reminiscent of Rorschach in "The Watchmen". Phew! Now, I am really hooked. I recently scored the elusive Vol. 4, so I am reading all four volumes in order to see how this madness plays out.
I'm a huge fan of the Punisher and know his origins and history, but most of his early stories were unfamiliar to me, so this was perfect! It was great to see him crossing paths with Spiderman, Captain America, Daredevil, and Cloak & Dagger! I'm not entirely familiar with them, so it was great to expand some of my knowledge for New York's famous heroes.
While it does truly show its age in some areas, it was still a fun read with plenty of action and adventure, daring escapes and unlikely allies. I would say this is worth picking up for anyone who really wants to see the classic stories of the Punisher when he began his run.
A nice collection featuring the Punisher first appearances in black and white, many of these stories not compiled in the epic collections of the character. A great book for Punisher fans.
This collects all the Punisher debut appearances from the late 70s and early 80s, mostly consisting of appearances in Spider-Man books and a handful of other titles before it wraps with the Punisher's first mini-series in the mid-80s, which was the catalyst for his first on-going series that went 104 issues and followed shortly after.
I was not a huge fan of the early Punisher design, especially his hairdo. The issues he guest stars in Spider-Man especially were way too wordy than most Punisher issues I am accustomed to and to be honest the first 2/3's of this collection was a bit of a slog to get through the Spidey issues. I got the vibe Marvel was playing it safe having an anti-hero in Punisher for a lot of his early showings here with him using 'mercy' rubber bullets in a lot of situations and going out of his way to justify a lot of odd situations you just don't get from Mr. Castle nowadays.
Eventually though this collection is worth the effort to get through as you see the Punisher evolve in his first decade in the Marvel universe. Marvel got a real good feel for him in a special one-shot Punisher issue included that I had to do a double take on the cover because it is not code approved which was a rarity from comics in the 80s and it features far more graphic stuff than the rest of this collection of issues. I really dug reading Punisher's debut mini-series for the first time and how he briefly lands as a prisoner in Ryker's for the first time and this is also where he first encounters one of his primary arch rivals, Jigsaw. It is a really good arc that naturally leads to him making alliances and double-crosses as he plans his eventual escape. It is a really good payoff as I am through the first 40 issues of his main first ongoing series in the other Essentials so far and the events of this mini-series is regularly referenced every few issues. By the end of the mini-series you can say Marvel got a comfortable foundation for the Punisher we know today.
Definitely get this if you want to see the evolution of the Punisher's origins, or at the very least make sure to check out the mini-series at the end. I am only scoring this three stars because like I said the first 2/3's of this is very tough to get through Spider-Man stories.
Amazing Spider-man #129 jeste prvo poiavljivanje famoznog antiheroja koji nema supermoći ali ni skrupula. Ovde je ispraćena tipična formula priče o 2 različita heroja koja se usled zabune međusobno bore sve dok ne shvate šta se dešava, nakon čega se privremeno udruže da spasu svet. Nažalost, ovaj broj je izašao ubrzo nakon čuvenog finala s Zelenim Goblinom, pa je više prostora dato opisivanju śta se desilo Goblinu nego samom Panišeru. 2/5
ASM #134 i #135 su skoro identični Panišerovoj prvoj priči, samo produženi i s mnogo više zlikovaca koje treba poraziti. 3/5
Giant-size Spider-man #4 je značajan zato što predstavlja prvo pojavljivanje intrigantnog zlikovca Mozesa Magnuma. Situacije u koje (sada već uvežban) duo upada su ovog puta toliko preterane i na trenutke nelogične da pred kraj strip počinje da nalikuje parodiji. 3/5
Marvel Preview #2 – prvo pominjanje Panišerovog origin-a baš i nije najbolje izvedeno. 2/5
Super-sized Marvel #1 je verovatno najbolja i najzaokruženija priča u ovoj zbirci, a takođe i najbrutalnija. Jedini problem je što nešto nije u redu s crtežom (kao da nedostaju završni slojevi), pa su neki paneli skoro nerazumljivi van konteksta. Ali kraj je spektakularan! 4/5
Narednih nekoliko brojeva su samo "već viđene" avanture u kojima Panišer i Spajdermen skaču i šutiraju generične zlikovce po Njujorku. Naslovne stranice "lažu" i ne odgovaraju sadržini brojeva. Uz to je uglavljeno mnogo subplotova o sporednim likovima koji kao da su iz najnaivnijih sapunica. 2,5/5
Panišerov susret s Kapetanom Amerikom deluje kao dosadnija i zbrzanija kopija antiherojevog prvog susreta s Spajdermenom. 1,5/5
Poslednja priča u knjizi (ASM #201-202) je lepo nacrtana, ali sadržinski inkoherentna i verovatno najlošija u celoj zbirci. Kao da ni sami autori nisu bili sigurni šta da stave u sledeći panel već su samo ubacivali sve što im padne na pamet bez ikakvih naknadnih prepravki. 1/5
Gli esordi di Frank Castle, come comprimario, soprattutto sugli albi dell'Uomo Ragno, e poi con la sua prima miniserie, quella che lanciò il personaggio come uno dei più popolari degli anni 80-90. In realtà le storie non sono granché ne come grafica ne come sceneggiatura, le idee sono poche e ripetitive, ma hanno un buon valore filologico, ed io le apprezzo per questo.
I went into this read simply interested in fulfilling my desire to read all things marvel. Before reading this I didn't really give a shit about the Punisher, but now I think I might have fallen for the chump. He's an interested character and he has amazing interactions with the other heroes of the Marvel universe. I have to say I feel that's where he shines, running into other heroes.
Classic. This was surprisingly good and it was fun to see the seeds planted for what would eventually grow into the very definition of an antihero over the years. Sure other writers have made better entries into the Punisher canon that this, but it's hard to discount the original work. It's worth a read if you stumble upon it (or have Marvel Unlimited).
really love how in most of the really early appearances, somebody goes “hey man what’s your deal??” and mr punisher replies, “absolutely none of your goddamn business.”