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The Punisher: One-Shots
The Punisher: No Escape
U.S. Agent and Paladin guest-star! Punisher is trailing a killer drug-lord, but he'll have to get through the mercenary Paladin before he can make the hit. Complicating matters? The government has deployed the U.S. Agent to take down Castle… permanently.
48 pages, Comic
First published January 1, 1992
22 people want to read
About the author
Greg Wright
119 books6 followersGreg Wright has written several books: TABLOID!: Once Upon a Deadline, Claim, Monstrous, Wild Bullets, and the Holliston graphic novels.
Greg earned a Ph.D. in American Literature and Film from Michigan State, and his award-winning fiction has appeared in a variety of journals. He has taught screenwriting, media studies, creative writing, and composition.
If he had a castle with a secret passage, he’d probably tell everybody and make it just a regular passage.
Greg earned a Ph.D. in American Literature and Film from Michigan State, and his award-winning fiction has appeared in a variety of journals. He has taught screenwriting, media studies, creative writing, and composition.
If he had a castle with a secret passage, he’d probably tell everybody and make it just a regular passage.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 20, 2018
Awful, awful, awful.
Whenever the Punisher is splashed alongside familiar (and in this upcoming case not so familiar) capes, he readily loses his special idiosyncrasies – his own Punisherness (if you will). Top it off with those stupid white gloves and boots, Frank Castle becomes yet (another insufferable) (not-)cape. Incredible it took almost 30 (’76 onward) years for Garth Ennis to step up to the plate and brand our death-skull’d figure into something far more unique, demanding, and enjoyably complex. With a far greater depth of psychological rationale enshrined within a highly personalized one man’s existential impetus+project, it can boggle that mind that this gestation period lasted so long and: No Escape is a sad landmark on that journey that still needed another decade to fecundate to a far fuller extent.
Already primordial in the earliest rays of the dawn of the 90’s, our tadpole of quality is uncomfortably paired up with two foils: the ever forgettable Paladin (some dope with bullet-proof armor and super-strength) and his even more forgettable counter-counter-part U.S. Agent (some lesser Captain America doppleganger). Instead of a trio being formed, separate strands of narrative furl and unfurl themselves first across, and then briskly into eachother. Darning together a fleshy tale, both figures of the supporting cast do their battles; in some cases, and their co-ops, in others. However, without a sufficient degree of characterization, even when the action is white hot and generally well-illustrated, I couldn’t care because without something more to care about, we’re still stick with the moral equivalency of the Golden Age (of Comics) : Good guys win, Bad guys lose – The End. Boooring!
And you know what? For a character that has been so supremely well developed, its mildly enraging to believe that he used to be just another cookie-cutter super-hero production. For Batman (DC’s effective counterpart) will always retain Batman-ness and thus, no matter how good the spin, will always remain a bizarre fantasy of a rich man who dons his underwear at night to fight crime. The Punisher (well at least post-Ennis era) conversely, is something for more real – eschewing the silly white gloves, boots, and accompanying black body suit for something far more realistic, so too does the Punisher gain by destroying the puerile cling-ons of yesteryears gone past. Seemingly shedding the skin of young days gone past, a far more mature vision can be seen in the nooks and crannies here.
Whenever the Punisher is splashed alongside familiar (and in this upcoming case not so familiar) capes, he readily loses his special idiosyncrasies – his own Punisherness (if you will). Top it off with those stupid white gloves and boots, Frank Castle becomes yet (another insufferable) (not-)cape. Incredible it took almost 30 (’76 onward) years for Garth Ennis to step up to the plate and brand our death-skull’d figure into something far more unique, demanding, and enjoyably complex. With a far greater depth of psychological rationale enshrined within a highly personalized one man’s existential impetus+project, it can boggle that mind that this gestation period lasted so long and: No Escape is a sad landmark on that journey that still needed another decade to fecundate to a far fuller extent.
Already primordial in the earliest rays of the dawn of the 90’s, our tadpole of quality is uncomfortably paired up with two foils: the ever forgettable Paladin (some dope with bullet-proof armor and super-strength) and his even more forgettable counter-counter-part U.S. Agent (some lesser Captain America doppleganger). Instead of a trio being formed, separate strands of narrative furl and unfurl themselves first across, and then briskly into eachother. Darning together a fleshy tale, both figures of the supporting cast do their battles; in some cases, and their co-ops, in others. However, without a sufficient degree of characterization, even when the action is white hot and generally well-illustrated, I couldn’t care because without something more to care about, we’re still stick with the moral equivalency of the Golden Age (of Comics) : Good guys win, Bad guys lose – The End. Boooring!
And you know what? For a character that has been so supremely well developed, its mildly enraging to believe that he used to be just another cookie-cutter super-hero production. For Batman (DC’s effective counterpart) will always retain Batman-ness and thus, no matter how good the spin, will always remain a bizarre fantasy of a rich man who dons his underwear at night to fight crime. The Punisher (well at least post-Ennis era) conversely, is something for more real – eschewing the silly white gloves, boots, and accompanying black body suit for something far more realistic, so too does the Punisher gain by destroying the puerile cling-ons of yesteryears gone past. Seemingly shedding the skin of young days gone past, a far more mature vision can be seen in the nooks and crannies here.
April 23, 2025
First time I've read this in a long while. Short and sweet Punisher story with a lot of what I've always enjoyed in the character. There's a "supe" sent to bring him in, there's a powered bounty hunter on his tail and the Mafia, oh Maggia, are out to get him. He violences his way through it. The end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 25, 2014
The comic book features The Punisher doing things The Punisher does. Two other heroes show up: Paladin and U.S. Agent. The Punisher straight-up unloads an entire clip into Paladin at point-blank range, and later punches his square in the crotch. Then U.S. Agent throws his Captain America-knockoff shield and breaks Paladin's legs. The entire thing ends very suddenly.
The most notable thing about this comic is that there are some accidentally very great drawings of The Punisher saving a family from a burning building.
The most notable thing about this comic is that there are some accidentally very great drawings of The Punisher saving a family from a burning building.
July 7, 2019
Quando lessi questo one-shot la prima volta conoscevo bene il Punitore, avevo una idea di chi fosse Paladin ma ancora non sapevo dell'esistenza di U.S.Agent e della caratterizzazione del personaggio. Ricordo che fu questo a colpirmi maggiormente, nell'albo.
Dopo anni posso dire che l'idea alla storia non era male, tanto che si contano a dozzine oramai i tentativi dello stato federale di fermare Frank Castle usando super eroi o simili, ma questa ancora si distingue per il tentativo di confronto tra i 3, e l'analisi delle loro motivazioni. I disegni erano appena sufficienti all'epoca, e lo restano ora.
2 stelle e mezza.
Dopo anni posso dire che l'idea alla storia non era male, tanto che si contano a dozzine oramai i tentativi dello stato federale di fermare Frank Castle usando super eroi o simili, ma questa ancora si distingue per il tentativo di confronto tra i 3, e l'analisi delle loro motivazioni. I disegni erano appena sufficienti all'epoca, e lo restano ora.
2 stelle e mezza.
February 1, 2019
It's the Punisher, U.S. Agent and Paladin in a somewhat convoluted yet overly simplistic tale of revenge and retribution. Frank Castle (as the corniest character to emerge from the 80's "war on crime") goes after organized crime families or something. The criminals are bombing each other, I guess.
U.S. Agent is supposed to apprehend the Punisher. Paladin is supposed to nab the Punisher due a $10 million bounty. Microchip does his magical computer hacks. Everyone fights. Tears are shed. Life continues.
U.S. Agent is supposed to apprehend the Punisher. Paladin is supposed to nab the Punisher due a $10 million bounty. Microchip does his magical computer hacks. Everyone fights. Tears are shed. Life continues.
August 12, 2018
Drab, under developed tosh. The cover tells you the entire story, pretty much.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews