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The Punisher (2004) (Collected Editions)
The Punisher, Vol. 8: Widowmaker
Five women, linked by tragedy... and obsession. The Punisher killed their husbands - put them down like dogs - and shattered their lives. Now, they want payback, and they've hatched the perfect plan to get it. To bring the wolf to their door, all they need is bait.
Collects Punisher MAX #43-49.
Collects Punisher MAX #43-49.
168 pages, Paperback
First published September 19, 2007
3 people are currently reading
308 people want to read
About the author
Garth Ennis
2,630 books3,184 followersEnnis began his comic-writing career in 1989 with the series Troubled Souls. Appearing in the short-lived but critically-acclaimed British anthology Crisis and illustrated by McCrea, it told the story of a young, apolitical Protestant man caught up by fate in the violence of the Irish 'Troubles'. It spawned a sequel, For a Few Troubles More, a broad Belfast-based comedy featuring two supporting characters from Troubled Souls, Dougie and Ivor, who would later get their own American comics series, Dicks, from Caliber in 1997, and several follow-ups from Avatar.
Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years.
Ennis' first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994, and for which he currently holds the title for most issues written. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run.
Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for God who has abandoned his creation.
While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.
Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include Goddess, Bloody Mary, Unknown Soldier, and Pride & Joy, all for DC/Vertigo, as well as origin stories for The Darkness for Image Comics and Shadowman for Valiant Comics.
After the end of Hitman, Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada that he could write The Punisher as long as he cared to. Instead of largely comical tone of these issues, he decided to make a much more serious series, re-launched under Marvel's MAX imprint.
In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd.
Other comics Ennis has written include War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Pro for Image Comics; The Authority for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and 303, Chronicles of Wormwood (a six issue mini-series about the Antichrist), and a western comic book, Streets of Glory for Avatar Press.
In 2008 Ennis ended his five-year run on Punisher MAX to debut a new Marvel title, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle.
In June 2008, at Wizard World, Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called Battlefields from Dynamite made up of mini-series including Night Witches, Dear Billy and Tankies, another Chronicles of Wormwood mini-series and Crossed both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from The Boys) and a Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon (subsequently specified to be a weekly mini-series entitled Punisher: War Zone, to be released concurrently with the film of the same name).
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis
Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years.
Ennis' first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994, and for which he currently holds the title for most issues written. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run.
Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for God who has abandoned his creation.
While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.
Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include Goddess, Bloody Mary, Unknown Soldier, and Pride & Joy, all for DC/Vertigo, as well as origin stories for The Darkness for Image Comics and Shadowman for Valiant Comics.
After the end of Hitman, Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada that he could write The Punisher as long as he cared to. Instead of largely comical tone of these issues, he decided to make a much more serious series, re-launched under Marvel's MAX imprint.
In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd.
Other comics Ennis has written include War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Pro for Image Comics; The Authority for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and 303, Chronicles of Wormwood (a six issue mini-series about the Antichrist), and a western comic book, Streets of Glory for Avatar Press.
In 2008 Ennis ended his five-year run on Punisher MAX to debut a new Marvel title, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle.
In June 2008, at Wizard World, Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called Battlefields from Dynamite made up of mini-series including Night Witches, Dear Billy and Tankies, another Chronicles of Wormwood mini-series and Crossed both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from The Boys) and a Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon (subsequently specified to be a weekly mini-series entitled Punisher: War Zone, to be released concurrently with the film of the same name).
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
April 16, 2019
Score: 3.64 out of 5
Grade: 73% (B) | Good
Despite the book losing its focus in the final act, there’s a lot of fun to be had with this book. We have some new character standouts, some characters that don’t find their place until the end, and some characters we expected to see a lot more of. Here is my review for The Punisher MAX Vol. 8: Widowmaker:
The Good:
I loved the idea behind this story! All the widows of the bad men that the Punisher has killed come out looking for revenge. Great! It also alluded to how the tragedy of Frank’s family being murdered parallels that of Frank when he takes matters into his own hands and rids the world of bad men. I also appreciate that the widows actually had a plan to kill Frank, rather than the common (and idiotic) plan of just riddling him with bullets.
All the banter back-and-forth between the widows was great. They may have their differences, but one thing they have in common is the goal of killing Frank Castle. I always love some good trash talk! I enjoyed some of the widows more than others, but overall they all had their place. Annabella, the “boss widow”, was one cruel lady.
I really enjoyed She-Punisher! Badass, brutal, looking for her own revenge – you really begin to sympathize with her as a character and she’s definitely the standout in this book. When she throws on the Punisher gear, oh baby, you know people are going to die! I also liked the parallel between her and Frank – they’re more similar than they are different.
There is some great art in this book! Some one-pagers were really well done. There’s even a chapter with some non-linear storytelling which was used effectively. It enhanced the narrative and made things more interesting rather than the normal linear fashion.
The Bad:
The thing I disliked the most was the execution of such a great idea. The last act really missed the mark for me. Everything just happened too quickly and too conveniently. I finished the book feeling underwhelmed and unsatisfied. Most of the widows go down quickly, and the altercation with She-Punisher and Annabella was probably the only part I really enjoyed. It just wrapped up everyone’s story arc, all at once, in a nice and tidy bow.
This also doesn’t even feel like a Punisher book. If anything, Frank is more of a supporting character in this one. Maybe it would have been off-putting to see Frank murder a bunch of women, so that’s why they introduced She-Punisher. But regardless, Frank should have been more involved than he was considering this is part of The Punisher MAX Series. I’m not saying Frank was boring or useless, he had some standout sequences, but he was wounded for most of the story. The Frank Castle that I know wouldn’t let a single gunshot wound slow him down.
For most of the book, I was not a fan of Detective Budiansky. This guy came out of nowhere with very little introduction and I just didn’t care for him. Oftentimes, his character slowed the story down, but it’s when he starts getting involved with the other characters does he suddenly becomes more interesting.
Conclusion:
Despite the execution of a fantastic idea not quite hitting the mark, I still had a lot of fun with this one. It falls apart towards the end and we don’t really get as much Punisher as I would have liked. But She-Punisher more than steps up to the plate. This book has some memorable moments, great art, and some solid writing, but then again, if you’re looking for some Frank Castle punishing, look elsewhere.
Grade: 73% (B) | Good
Despite the book losing its focus in the final act, there’s a lot of fun to be had with this book. We have some new character standouts, some characters that don’t find their place until the end, and some characters we expected to see a lot more of. Here is my review for The Punisher MAX Vol. 8: Widowmaker:
The Good:
I loved the idea behind this story! All the widows of the bad men that the Punisher has killed come out looking for revenge. Great! It also alluded to how the tragedy of Frank’s family being murdered parallels that of Frank when he takes matters into his own hands and rids the world of bad men. I also appreciate that the widows actually had a plan to kill Frank, rather than the common (and idiotic) plan of just riddling him with bullets.
All the banter back-and-forth between the widows was great. They may have their differences, but one thing they have in common is the goal of killing Frank Castle. I always love some good trash talk! I enjoyed some of the widows more than others, but overall they all had their place. Annabella, the “boss widow”, was one cruel lady.
I really enjoyed She-Punisher! Badass, brutal, looking for her own revenge – you really begin to sympathize with her as a character and she’s definitely the standout in this book. When she throws on the Punisher gear, oh baby, you know people are going to die! I also liked the parallel between her and Frank – they’re more similar than they are different.
There is some great art in this book! Some one-pagers were really well done. There’s even a chapter with some non-linear storytelling which was used effectively. It enhanced the narrative and made things more interesting rather than the normal linear fashion.
The Bad:
The thing I disliked the most was the execution of such a great idea. The last act really missed the mark for me. Everything just happened too quickly and too conveniently. I finished the book feeling underwhelmed and unsatisfied. Most of the widows go down quickly, and the altercation with She-Punisher and Annabella was probably the only part I really enjoyed. It just wrapped up everyone’s story arc, all at once, in a nice and tidy bow.
This also doesn’t even feel like a Punisher book. If anything, Frank is more of a supporting character in this one. Maybe it would have been off-putting to see Frank murder a bunch of women, so that’s why they introduced She-Punisher. But regardless, Frank should have been more involved than he was considering this is part of The Punisher MAX Series. I’m not saying Frank was boring or useless, he had some standout sequences, but he was wounded for most of the story. The Frank Castle that I know wouldn’t let a single gunshot wound slow him down.
For most of the book, I was not a fan of Detective Budiansky. This guy came out of nowhere with very little introduction and I just didn’t care for him. Oftentimes, his character slowed the story down, but it’s when he starts getting involved with the other characters does he suddenly becomes more interesting.
Conclusion:
Despite the execution of a fantastic idea not quite hitting the mark, I still had a lot of fun with this one. It falls apart towards the end and we don’t really get as much Punisher as I would have liked. But She-Punisher more than steps up to the plate. This book has some memorable moments, great art, and some solid writing, but then again, if you’re looking for some Frank Castle punishing, look elsewhere.
July 27, 2016
Great premise, poor execution.
I never thought I'd say that about one of Garth Ennis' Punisher stories, but it seems to apply to "Widowmaker". What starts as a tale with a tremendous amount of promise turns choppy and somewhat illogical, and while I felt like a sort of catharsis was attempted I didn't feel this was one of Ennis' better attempts to humanize Frank.
As I said, the premise is intriguing: five widows of mafia figures and gangsters eliminated by The Punisher have banded together with the sole intention of killing Frank Castle. They are careful, patient and methodical, and instead of charging headlong into trouble take the time to carefully review every piece of information they can dig up, searching for clues of what went wrong every time someone else has tried to take him on and searching for the chink in his proverbial armor.
They find one, and before long they lay a deadly trap. But little do they know there's also someone out seeking revenge against *them*...
"Widowmaker" does a fantastic job of illustrating the ramifications of one's actions. That the men Punisher kills would have families of their own and that the cycle of violence would continue to be perpetuated by his actions of course makes logical sense, but in "Widowmaker" Ennis gives that notion a tangible presence and makes it a very real danger, and his point is nicely illustrated in a gruesome prologue where Frank takes down a child pornography ring.
The widows themselves are nicely developed, and there's no doubt this is one of Ennis' more somber tales, but unfortunately after a decent first 3 issues the story loses its way. The main plot seems to come an abrupt halt, the secondary story of Detective Budianski never really goes anywhere, and for all of the excellent character development and great ideas the story just didn't have much impact on me...and I *wanted* it to. The core story being told here is intriguing, but I didn't feel like it really developed.
3 stars, largely on the merit of the setup and the new characters, but in the end this is one of the more forgettable tales in the annals of Frank Castle.
I never thought I'd say that about one of Garth Ennis' Punisher stories, but it seems to apply to "Widowmaker". What starts as a tale with a tremendous amount of promise turns choppy and somewhat illogical, and while I felt like a sort of catharsis was attempted I didn't feel this was one of Ennis' better attempts to humanize Frank.
As I said, the premise is intriguing: five widows of mafia figures and gangsters eliminated by The Punisher have banded together with the sole intention of killing Frank Castle. They are careful, patient and methodical, and instead of charging headlong into trouble take the time to carefully review every piece of information they can dig up, searching for clues of what went wrong every time someone else has tried to take him on and searching for the chink in his proverbial armor.
They find one, and before long they lay a deadly trap. But little do they know there's also someone out seeking revenge against *them*...
"Widowmaker" does a fantastic job of illustrating the ramifications of one's actions. That the men Punisher kills would have families of their own and that the cycle of violence would continue to be perpetuated by his actions of course makes logical sense, but in "Widowmaker" Ennis gives that notion a tangible presence and makes it a very real danger, and his point is nicely illustrated in a gruesome prologue where Frank takes down a child pornography ring.
The widows themselves are nicely developed, and there's no doubt this is one of Ennis' more somber tales, but unfortunately after a decent first 3 issues the story loses its way. The main plot seems to come an abrupt halt, the secondary story of Detective Budianski never really goes anywhere, and for all of the excellent character development and great ideas the story just didn't have much impact on me...and I *wanted* it to. The core story being told here is intriguing, but I didn't feel like it really developed.
3 stars, largely on the merit of the setup and the new characters, but in the end this is one of the more forgettable tales in the annals of Frank Castle.
September 18, 2011
Ever wonder what happens to the partners of the criminals Frank Castle punishes? Well, some of these widows get together in this book to kill Frank for his antics in Book 1 of this series. Meanwhile, a mysterious figure is killing men and on the trail of these femme fatales and a disgraced cop is put into a troubling position.
One of the best things about this series Garth Ennis has introduced into the Punisher world is that Frank can be a catalyst to a much bigger and more interesting story involving regular people. For example, though this is a Punisher book, Frank spends about half of it out of action while the story never once slows down. Instead the focus is on the murderous widows and the mysterious killer and the book is still a fascinating read and unmistakably a Punisher book.
Well written as always by Ennis and superbly illustrated by Lan Medina, "Widowmaker" is a fine addition to a wonderful series and great fun to read.
One of the best things about this series Garth Ennis has introduced into the Punisher world is that Frank can be a catalyst to a much bigger and more interesting story involving regular people. For example, though this is a Punisher book, Frank spends about half of it out of action while the story never once slows down. Instead the focus is on the murderous widows and the mysterious killer and the book is still a fascinating read and unmistakably a Punisher book.
Well written as always by Ennis and superbly illustrated by Lan Medina, "Widowmaker" is a fine addition to a wonderful series and great fun to read.
January 11, 2021
Otra obra maestra de la mejor etapa del Castigador, un relato oscuro, triste y durísimo
January 6, 2009
Maybe not the best work Ennis did with the Punisher but it's an interesting take on the violence the Punisher leaves in his wake, the unseen consequences of his actions . It invokes the idea of the cycle of violence never ending, that he is creating victims just as much as those who killed his family, but sadly those characters on the receiving end of that violence who have lost loved ones at his hands are a bit too depraved to really make it a worthwhile debate. And then the other main character, who is basically decent, idolizes him for "rescuing" her. In the end it's a bit of a straw man argument. Would have loved to have seen a real conflict here, Ennis dealing with a widow he made who is a good person but hates him for killing her family. Would she be justified in wanting to kill him? Would Frank fight back? Show us that story; that's got a bit of meat on its bones. But instead Ennis goes for the easy answers here. It's still a good and surprisingly thought-provoking story; it just could have been more.
October 21, 2018
3.5. You know what this Punisher book was missing? The Punisher! Still, a pretty good story.
May 2, 2017
This story arc deals with widows that are left behind by the Punisher's campaign against crime. There is racism, child pornography, molested women, cancer victims and school shootings. The writer finds time for all of them and it's a sad, gruesome ride to hell.
Five widows of men killed by the Punisher band together to take him down. They research everything they can find about him. They see a pattern in Frank's tendency to respond to damsels in distress, so they lay their trap.
Five widows of men killed by the Punisher band together to take him down. They research everything they can find about him. They see a pattern in Frank's tendency to respond to damsels in distress, so they lay their trap.
October 3, 2018
In the Beginning
Kitchen Irish
Mother Russia
Up is Down, Black is White
The Slavers
Barracuda
Man of Stone
Frank Castle has ruffled a lot of feathers over the years but what about those he left behind? The mothers, the wives, the lovers? What about them? Well, they're here now and they're looking for some payback. And they're going to take the Punisher down. Except....someone else wants a piece of their heads. And she's going to make sure she gets it.
Widowmaker returns us to the Punisher's familiar stomping grounds but this time with a twist. The brunt of the story isn't actually about Frank. Rather its an exploration of what happens to those who are left in the wake of Frank's killings. We've never seen before how his actions affect the lives of others and here we see it in the form of the mob-wives left behind. Each woman has some axe to grind and want their pound of flesh.
The artist for the arc is Lan Medina and overall its good. Medina's art reminds me of a combo of Fernandez and Braithwaite's art, with smooth lines, good colouring and well designed characters, although two of the mob-wives look very similar. Probably could have had a bit more detail to set them apart. Frank's design is okay. It's not as hulking as Goran Parlov's work, but not as worn down as Braithwaite or LaRosa. An okay compromise but not what I prefer.
The story is decent. Like with Kitchen Irish, this isn't a story that's too focused on Frank as a whole. Let's be realistic here. If Frank had been the one to handle this problem, it would have been just another Tuesday night and probably a quick one at that. Frank doesn't kill these people because they're a personal issue with him. They're just part of the crusade. So the focus on another character as a whole to me, felt like a better direction to go in. We also have a side story of a cop whose handling of a school shooter is mirrored up to Frank's methods and while his story is relevant and interesting and it does help the main story along, overall his presence is kind of just there.
But on the note of characters, here's where we get into the meat of the review. The characters across the board are an interesting bunch, although some get more meat than others. The mob-wives as a collective whole are okay but they're not altogether well defined. We have Annabella Gorrini whose major contribution is being the matriarch figure, Barbara Barrucci who fills the role being the dumb bimbo (doesn't help that she's dyslexic), Lorraine Zucca who looks like Barb and is probably the least developed, Bonnie De Angelo whose claim to fame is talking like Elmer Fudd, and Shauna Toomey, the wife to John Toomey and the literal and metaphorical black sheep of the group. As a collective whole, they're okay as villains but the problem is that they don't a lot to contribute overall. It doesn't help that despite being proxy victims of the Punisher, they're all horrible people with little redeeming qualities, something Gorrini herself gets called out on towards the end of the arc.
Detective Budiansky is an interesting figure. A cop whose shoot-first strategy has him marked by the media as a hero and a villain by his fellow coppers. And on that note, he's surprisingly well written. There's always a sense of forboding with Budiansky, like he knows that he's one step away from having a really bad day. His talks with his wife humanise him and while you can sympathise with him, his actions make him a very, very conflicted character.
But it's the real star of the arc that grabs you by the balls: Jenny Cesare. It might be hyperbole, but I would say that Jenny is one of the best characters to come up in Punisher MAX, more than Barracuda. A mob-wife of the Cesare family who has lost everything. Her marriage to an abusive sociopath fuck of a husband, her family to the Cesare family code, her breasts to cancer, her mind to betrayal and her emotions to the entire horrible mess. She picks up blokes in bars and beats them to a pulp, because she feels nothing, sexually or otherwise. All she has left is revenge. And in that respect she's similar to Frank but starkly different. Frank's war never ends, but Jenny's revenge can and will and the end is horrifying and sad.
Widowmaker is not the best story. It's let down by a decent plot with a subplot that feels tacked on and weak villains who feel completely out of their depth and offer no sympathy. Perhaps if the villains had been the children instead - characters who at the time had no concept of their parents' monstrosities - then the story might have been a little deeper. But like with Barracuda, Ennis proves he can take an okay story and make it something better with a well designed character.
It also helps that Tim Bradstreet's depiction of Jenny as the She-Punisher is one of my favourite covers of the series. Bad-fucking-ass.
Next is The Long Cold Dark.
Kitchen Irish
Mother Russia
Up is Down, Black is White
The Slavers
Barracuda
Man of Stone
Frank Castle has ruffled a lot of feathers over the years but what about those he left behind? The mothers, the wives, the lovers? What about them? Well, they're here now and they're looking for some payback. And they're going to take the Punisher down. Except....someone else wants a piece of their heads. And she's going to make sure she gets it.
Widowmaker returns us to the Punisher's familiar stomping grounds but this time with a twist. The brunt of the story isn't actually about Frank. Rather its an exploration of what happens to those who are left in the wake of Frank's killings. We've never seen before how his actions affect the lives of others and here we see it in the form of the mob-wives left behind. Each woman has some axe to grind and want their pound of flesh.
The artist for the arc is Lan Medina and overall its good. Medina's art reminds me of a combo of Fernandez and Braithwaite's art, with smooth lines, good colouring and well designed characters, although two of the mob-wives look very similar. Probably could have had a bit more detail to set them apart. Frank's design is okay. It's not as hulking as Goran Parlov's work, but not as worn down as Braithwaite or LaRosa. An okay compromise but not what I prefer.
The story is decent. Like with Kitchen Irish, this isn't a story that's too focused on Frank as a whole. Let's be realistic here. If Frank had been the one to handle this problem, it would have been just another Tuesday night and probably a quick one at that. Frank doesn't kill these people because they're a personal issue with him. They're just part of the crusade. So the focus on another character as a whole to me, felt like a better direction to go in. We also have a side story of a cop whose handling of a school shooter is mirrored up to Frank's methods and while his story is relevant and interesting and it does help the main story along, overall his presence is kind of just there.
But on the note of characters, here's where we get into the meat of the review. The characters across the board are an interesting bunch, although some get more meat than others. The mob-wives as a collective whole are okay but they're not altogether well defined. We have Annabella Gorrini whose major contribution is being the matriarch figure, Barbara Barrucci who fills the role being the dumb bimbo (doesn't help that she's dyslexic), Lorraine Zucca who looks like Barb and is probably the least developed, Bonnie De Angelo whose claim to fame is talking like Elmer Fudd, and Shauna Toomey, the wife to John Toomey and the literal and metaphorical black sheep of the group. As a collective whole, they're okay as villains but the problem is that they don't a lot to contribute overall. It doesn't help that despite being proxy victims of the Punisher, they're all horrible people with little redeeming qualities, something Gorrini herself gets called out on towards the end of the arc.
Detective Budiansky is an interesting figure. A cop whose shoot-first strategy has him marked by the media as a hero and a villain by his fellow coppers. And on that note, he's surprisingly well written. There's always a sense of forboding with Budiansky, like he knows that he's one step away from having a really bad day. His talks with his wife humanise him and while you can sympathise with him, his actions make him a very, very conflicted character.
But it's the real star of the arc that grabs you by the balls: Jenny Cesare. It might be hyperbole, but I would say that Jenny is one of the best characters to come up in Punisher MAX, more than Barracuda. A mob-wife of the Cesare family who has lost everything. Her marriage to an abusive sociopath fuck of a husband, her family to the Cesare family code, her breasts to cancer, her mind to betrayal and her emotions to the entire horrible mess. She picks up blokes in bars and beats them to a pulp, because she feels nothing, sexually or otherwise. All she has left is revenge. And in that respect she's similar to Frank but starkly different. Frank's war never ends, but Jenny's revenge can and will and the end is horrifying and sad.
Widowmaker is not the best story. It's let down by a decent plot with a subplot that feels tacked on and weak villains who feel completely out of their depth and offer no sympathy. Perhaps if the villains had been the children instead - characters who at the time had no concept of their parents' monstrosities - then the story might have been a little deeper. But like with Barracuda, Ennis proves he can take an okay story and make it something better with a well designed character.
It also helps that Tim Bradstreet's depiction of Jenny as the She-Punisher is one of my favourite covers of the series. Bad-fucking-ass.
Next is The Long Cold Dark.
September 18, 2025
Frank Castle is a man defined by his hatred and violence, but how does that darkness he has made of his life affect people he isn’t even aware of. That’s essentially what this is all about; five widows of men that The Punisher has killed work together to get their revenge. Love all the detail put into how much they research him; the FBI website, police reports, newspapers, documentaries, books, mobituaries; and I especially love how all this positions Frank as a real-life serial killer, had me thinking the guy was out there for a moment.
The cycle of violence never ends as violence merely breeds more violence, with Frank creating as many victims as he is killing criminals. Really love how Jenny Cesare parallels the five mob-wives; the other five all knowing what their husbands do for a living but too caught up in the luxuries to give a shit whilst Jenny was repeatedly beaten and raped by her husband until The Punisher had killed him as he would any criminal. Jenny essentially being “saved” in the same way that the mob-wives became victims. The parallels between Jenny Cesare and Kathryn O’Brien (from the previous arc) are strong with Jenny dying in his arms, the same as Kathryn, the same as Maria all those years ago. “If I could, I’d kill ever single one of them. I’d wipe them out. And you’d never have had to exist at all.”
Really like Paul Budiansky too, a cop being pushed to his limits, who thinks he’s “one bad day” away from being The Punisher, as if the darkness he encounters as a cop will turn him into a hollow shell of a man. Up until he comes face-to-face with Frank at the end as he realises he could never and would never want to be that at all. A lot of critique toxic masculinity throughout Ennis’ entire run on the character but it’s most prominent here, in the ways in which men will ruin the lives of women as a result of their privilege and their violent tendencies shown through the perspectives of the mob taking out their hatred on the women they claim to love, and The Punisher ruining the lives of many wives and children as a result of his thirty-year killing spree.
The stuff with The Punisher going after a child porn ring in the beginning is really great too. Frank reminiscing on the ways he tortured and killed the human traffickers (in The Slavers arc) and just how easy it had all been, as he’s killing pedophiles not too dissimilar to those he went after before. The bit where he kills the two pedophiles who were raping their children is bleak and horrible and perfectly represents the endless cycle of violence of which we see too often in the real world - “The little girl couldn’t have been more than four. She might stand a chance, depending on how much of it stayed with her. Not being an expert, I couldn’t say for sure. The boys looked like the damage was done. I had a sinking feeling - I’d be seeing them again in twenty years. There are times I’d like to get my hands on God.”
“The things my husband did to me. The thing that happened to your wife and children. No one could understand how far into hell it takes you, or how inhuman you become, or how little of you’s left when it’s over.”
The cycle of violence never ends as violence merely breeds more violence, with Frank creating as many victims as he is killing criminals. Really love how Jenny Cesare parallels the five mob-wives; the other five all knowing what their husbands do for a living but too caught up in the luxuries to give a shit whilst Jenny was repeatedly beaten and raped by her husband until The Punisher had killed him as he would any criminal. Jenny essentially being “saved” in the same way that the mob-wives became victims. The parallels between Jenny Cesare and Kathryn O’Brien (from the previous arc) are strong with Jenny dying in his arms, the same as Kathryn, the same as Maria all those years ago. “If I could, I’d kill ever single one of them. I’d wipe them out. And you’d never have had to exist at all.”
Really like Paul Budiansky too, a cop being pushed to his limits, who thinks he’s “one bad day” away from being The Punisher, as if the darkness he encounters as a cop will turn him into a hollow shell of a man. Up until he comes face-to-face with Frank at the end as he realises he could never and would never want to be that at all. A lot of critique toxic masculinity throughout Ennis’ entire run on the character but it’s most prominent here, in the ways in which men will ruin the lives of women as a result of their privilege and their violent tendencies shown through the perspectives of the mob taking out their hatred on the women they claim to love, and The Punisher ruining the lives of many wives and children as a result of his thirty-year killing spree.
The stuff with The Punisher going after a child porn ring in the beginning is really great too. Frank reminiscing on the ways he tortured and killed the human traffickers (in The Slavers arc) and just how easy it had all been, as he’s killing pedophiles not too dissimilar to those he went after before. The bit where he kills the two pedophiles who were raping their children is bleak and horrible and perfectly represents the endless cycle of violence of which we see too often in the real world - “The little girl couldn’t have been more than four. She might stand a chance, depending on how much of it stayed with her. Not being an expert, I couldn’t say for sure. The boys looked like the damage was done. I had a sinking feeling - I’d be seeing them again in twenty years. There are times I’d like to get my hands on God.”
“The things my husband did to me. The thing that happened to your wife and children. No one could understand how far into hell it takes you, or how inhuman you become, or how little of you’s left when it’s over.”
September 3, 2010
Not bad. The weak link in the Ennis run.
April 17, 2020
Jakiś czas temu oglądałem film Wdowy, całkiem niezły zresztą i wyszedłem z założenia, że koncepcja żon, które przejmują schedę po zamordowanych mężach oraz same brudzą sobie paznokcie, jest nad wyraz oryginalna. Aż do teraz. Ennis, draniu, byłeś pierwszy...
Ósmy tom to w głównej mierze opowieść o konsekwencjach. Frank zabija mafiozów, ale co dalej? Przecież oni muszą mieć kogoś bliskiego, na kogo cała ta sytuacja także oddziałuje. I mają, żony. Dzieci się tu nie uświadczy, może i dobrze, ale cała historia i bez tego jest przygnębiająca. Żonki. Śmiem twierdzić, że to równie powalone charaktery jak sami mafiozi. Mamy szefową, niejaką Anabelle, która organizuje spotkanie kobiet, które odniosły taką samą stratę jak ona. Wszystkiemu winny jest Punisher. Trzeba go zabić...
Już samo w sobie, że za motyw zemsty bierze się kilka kobiet jest dobre, ale ich pozycja, zamiary. Sposoby postępowania. Jedna z wdów najszybszy sposób w rozwiązywaniu problemów widzi w zdejmowaniu własnych majtek. Inna to rasowy killer, który potrafi unieść karabin i wypalić w stronę Franka... Z takim przeciwnikiem Castle nie ma na co dzień do czynienia (choć jakąś Panią Gangster Frank pozbawiał kończyn, w serii poprzedzającej MAX), tyle że tym razem Punisher nie będzie działał sam. Mało tego... W zasadzie Castle jest postacią drugoplanową. Ktoś inny wybija się tutaj ponad stan.
Też jest żoną ofiary Punishera, tylko w przeciwieństwie do oponentek ta sytuacja niespodziewanie dała jej wolność, której pragnęła. Tyle, że dalej los był dla niej jeszcze bardziej okrutny. Rak, operacja usunięcia piersi, wyrok rodziny. I ma w sobie tyle z Franka, że ten spoglądając na jej twarz widzi praktycznie swoje oblicze. Jak w lustrze. Ennis stworzył dobrą, tragiczną postać. Tak jak on to potrafi. Dobra, Panie. Są zachwyty, to czemu nie dał Pan pięć gwiazdek?
Poprzednie tomy zazwyczaj kończyły wątki w sposób dla mnie bardzo satysfakcjonujący. Ennis przedstawiał nam portrety zwyroli, którzy zdecydowanie zasłużyli na taki czy inny koniec. Tutaj tak do końca nie jest. Może i się mówi, że zemsta jest słodka, ale ma tutaj wyjątkowo gorzki smak. Tym bardziej, że widok Jenny w charakterystycznej dla tej serii czaszce na klatce jest chyba jednym z lepszych artów z całej serii MAX. Tym bardziej, że jako charakter jest chyba w top 3 postaci w runie Ennisa. Tym bardziej boli pośpieszne pozakańczanie dostępnych wątków.
Mamy jeszcze sprawę detektywa, bodajże Budiansky'iego, ale stylizowanie go jako chłopa na rozdrożu, który potrzebuje tylko impulsu by stać się jakimś wcieleniem Punishera było słabe. Jenny jest w tym dużo lepsza, tym bardziej że tożsame elementy jej życia z Frankiem są widoczne gołym okiem. "Chce tylko coś poczuć". Wow.
Ósmy tom to w głównej mierze opowieść o konsekwencjach. Frank zabija mafiozów, ale co dalej? Przecież oni muszą mieć kogoś bliskiego, na kogo cała ta sytuacja także oddziałuje. I mają, żony. Dzieci się tu nie uświadczy, może i dobrze, ale cała historia i bez tego jest przygnębiająca. Żonki. Śmiem twierdzić, że to równie powalone charaktery jak sami mafiozi. Mamy szefową, niejaką Anabelle, która organizuje spotkanie kobiet, które odniosły taką samą stratę jak ona. Wszystkiemu winny jest Punisher. Trzeba go zabić...
Już samo w sobie, że za motyw zemsty bierze się kilka kobiet jest dobre, ale ich pozycja, zamiary. Sposoby postępowania. Jedna z wdów najszybszy sposób w rozwiązywaniu problemów widzi w zdejmowaniu własnych majtek. Inna to rasowy killer, który potrafi unieść karabin i wypalić w stronę Franka... Z takim przeciwnikiem Castle nie ma na co dzień do czynienia (choć jakąś Panią Gangster Frank pozbawiał kończyn, w serii poprzedzającej MAX), tyle że tym razem Punisher nie będzie działał sam. Mało tego... W zasadzie Castle jest postacią drugoplanową. Ktoś inny wybija się tutaj ponad stan.
Też jest żoną ofiary Punishera, tylko w przeciwieństwie do oponentek ta sytuacja niespodziewanie dała jej wolność, której pragnęła. Tyle, że dalej los był dla niej jeszcze bardziej okrutny. Rak, operacja usunięcia piersi, wyrok rodziny. I ma w sobie tyle z Franka, że ten spoglądając na jej twarz widzi praktycznie swoje oblicze. Jak w lustrze. Ennis stworzył dobrą, tragiczną postać. Tak jak on to potrafi. Dobra, Panie. Są zachwyty, to czemu nie dał Pan pięć gwiazdek?
Poprzednie tomy zazwyczaj kończyły wątki w sposób dla mnie bardzo satysfakcjonujący. Ennis przedstawiał nam portrety zwyroli, którzy zdecydowanie zasłużyli na taki czy inny koniec. Tutaj tak do końca nie jest. Może i się mówi, że zemsta jest słodka, ale ma tutaj wyjątkowo gorzki smak. Tym bardziej, że widok Jenny w charakterystycznej dla tej serii czaszce na klatce jest chyba jednym z lepszych artów z całej serii MAX. Tym bardziej, że jako charakter jest chyba w top 3 postaci w runie Ennisa. Tym bardziej boli pośpieszne pozakańczanie dostępnych wątków.
Mamy jeszcze sprawę detektywa, bodajże Budiansky'iego, ale stylizowanie go jako chłopa na rozdrożu, który potrzebuje tylko impulsu by stać się jakimś wcieleniem Punishera było słabe. Jenny jest w tym dużo lepsza, tym bardziej że tożsame elementy jej życia z Frankiem są widoczne gołym okiem. "Chce tylko coś poczuć". Wow.
June 6, 2025
'Las viudas' parte de uno de los enfoques más originales que se han dado en todo el recorrido de Punisher ¿cual es? Muy sencillo, mostrar las víctimas colaterales que siempre han estado en la sombra, es decir, las mujeres y amantes de los gangsters a los que Castle ha ido liquidando década tras década. Es un relato poderosamente feminista, aunque no se haga eco de ello y cuando digo feminista me refiero al feminismo real y no a la parodia demagoga y nociva que se vende en la actualidad. Sigue siendo una historia sobre la mafia, sigue habiendo vengazas crudas, tiroteos, investigaciones policiales y críticas acerca de la hipocresía y de la doble moral, aunque esta vez hay más personajes femeninos detrás de esos habituales asuntos turbios.
Eso sí, cuando Punisher entra en escena, golpea fuerte y sus reflexiones también son bastante sombrías (especialmente una que involucra a 3 menores de edad). En definitiva, creo que 'Las viudas' es uno de los mejores cómics de este personaje porque cubre áreas que no se habían contemplado anteriormente, se explora la personalidad y las actividades de Castle a través de testimonios frescos de un grupo de mujeres que se la tienen jurada y de una chica solitaria que le admira y que le imita. Es, en general, un gran aporte y una obra imprescidible para los fans.
ENGLISH
'Widowmaker' takes one of the most original approaches in the Punisher's run. What is it? Very simple, it shows the collateral victims who have always been in the shadows, that is, the wives and lovers of the gangsters Castle has been eliminating decade after decade. It's a powerfully feminist story, even if it doesn't echo that sentiment, and when I say feminist, I mean real feminism, not the demagogic and harmful parody peddled today. It's still a story about the mafia, with raw revenge, shootouts, police investigations, and critiques of hypocrisy and double standards, although this time there are more female characters behind those usual shady dealings.
Of course, when the Punisher enters the scene, he hits hard, and his reflections are also quite dark (especially one involving three minors). Ultimately, I think "Widowmaker" is one of the best comics about this character because it covers areas that hadn't been covered before. Castle's personality and activities are explored through fresh accounts from a group of women who wants him dead and from a lonely girl who admires and imitates him. Overall, it's a great contribution to the series and a must-have for fans.
Eso sí, cuando Punisher entra en escena, golpea fuerte y sus reflexiones también son bastante sombrías (especialmente una que involucra a 3 menores de edad). En definitiva, creo que 'Las viudas' es uno de los mejores cómics de este personaje porque cubre áreas que no se habían contemplado anteriormente, se explora la personalidad y las actividades de Castle a través de testimonios frescos de un grupo de mujeres que se la tienen jurada y de una chica solitaria que le admira y que le imita. Es, en general, un gran aporte y una obra imprescidible para los fans.
ENGLISH
'Widowmaker' takes one of the most original approaches in the Punisher's run. What is it? Very simple, it shows the collateral victims who have always been in the shadows, that is, the wives and lovers of the gangsters Castle has been eliminating decade after decade. It's a powerfully feminist story, even if it doesn't echo that sentiment, and when I say feminist, I mean real feminism, not the demagogic and harmful parody peddled today. It's still a story about the mafia, with raw revenge, shootouts, police investigations, and critiques of hypocrisy and double standards, although this time there are more female characters behind those usual shady dealings.
Of course, when the Punisher enters the scene, he hits hard, and his reflections are also quite dark (especially one involving three minors). Ultimately, I think "Widowmaker" is one of the best comics about this character because it covers areas that hadn't been covered before. Castle's personality and activities are explored through fresh accounts from a group of women who wants him dead and from a lonely girl who admires and imitates him. Overall, it's a great contribution to the series and a must-have for fans.
June 12, 2025
Punisher: Widowmaker
MAX, Collects issues 43-49
Five women gather. Shauna, Bonnie, Lorraine, Annabella and Barbi - All widows courtesy of the Punisher. Their goal – kill the Punisher. They plan. Barbi will acquire firearms. Lorraine is bait to entrap the Punisher. Their logic and research indicate Frank is a sucker for a damsel in distress.
Massive shootout. Lorraine emerges from a car’s trunk, claiming to be a brothel employee. Skeptical of her story, Frank and Lorraine arrive at the brothel. Then the shooting starts.
Punisher is wounded. There’s an unexpected rescue by Frank’s # 1 fan. I didn’t see that coming! Lorraine doesn’t make it.
Detective Budiansky and law enforcement arrive. The surviving widows are questioned.
The Punisher’s rescuer and #1 fan is Annabella’s younger sister Jenny. We get her story.
The Punisher killed Jenny’s abusive, mob husband, Tim. The widows, who served as Jenny’s bridesmaids, were aware of Tim’s abuse but turned a blind eye. I was not expecting that! The widows sold her on Tim, “… the Beast was fed it’s meat.”
Jenny survived Tim, a cancer scare, and attempted murder, being dumped off a bridge, and the recent shoot out. Jenny and Frank bond.
Detective Budiansky lays out his suspicions to the surviving widows. The widows hire a hit on Budiansky and his wife Gina. Gina is shot but survives. The shooter doesn’t.
Jenny, clad in Punisher garb, intends to end the widows. She does.
Nice moment between Budiansky and the Punisher.
Best Quotes:
Punisher – “There are times I’d like to get my hands on God.”
Bonnie to Barbi – “We ordered you the sausage.” Read it and you’ll get the joke.
Punisher – “Nobody dies that doesn’t deserve to.”
Jenny – “… the last man who saw this face, this body – He threw up. But you don’t even blink.”
Frank – “I’ve seen scars before.”
Jenny – “I see why you wear this. The looks in their eyes when it started. When they saw what it was had come to get them. That’s my reward.”
Ends up better than I was expecting given the premise. I love Ennis. Jenny’s arc left me feeling sad. Probably, the emotion Ennis wanted. Frank is more of a supporting character this volume.
MAX, Collects issues 43-49
Five women gather. Shauna, Bonnie, Lorraine, Annabella and Barbi - All widows courtesy of the Punisher. Their goal – kill the Punisher. They plan. Barbi will acquire firearms. Lorraine is bait to entrap the Punisher. Their logic and research indicate Frank is a sucker for a damsel in distress.
Massive shootout. Lorraine emerges from a car’s trunk, claiming to be a brothel employee. Skeptical of her story, Frank and Lorraine arrive at the brothel. Then the shooting starts.
Punisher is wounded. There’s an unexpected rescue by Frank’s # 1 fan. I didn’t see that coming! Lorraine doesn’t make it.
Detective Budiansky and law enforcement arrive. The surviving widows are questioned.
The Punisher’s rescuer and #1 fan is Annabella’s younger sister Jenny. We get her story.
The Punisher killed Jenny’s abusive, mob husband, Tim. The widows, who served as Jenny’s bridesmaids, were aware of Tim’s abuse but turned a blind eye. I was not expecting that! The widows sold her on Tim, “… the Beast was fed it’s meat.”
Jenny survived Tim, a cancer scare, and attempted murder, being dumped off a bridge, and the recent shoot out. Jenny and Frank bond.
Detective Budiansky lays out his suspicions to the surviving widows. The widows hire a hit on Budiansky and his wife Gina. Gina is shot but survives. The shooter doesn’t.
Jenny, clad in Punisher garb, intends to end the widows. She does.
Nice moment between Budiansky and the Punisher.
Best Quotes:
Punisher – “There are times I’d like to get my hands on God.”
Bonnie to Barbi – “We ordered you the sausage.” Read it and you’ll get the joke.
Punisher – “Nobody dies that doesn’t deserve to.”
Jenny – “… the last man who saw this face, this body – He threw up. But you don’t even blink.”
Frank – “I’ve seen scars before.”
Jenny – “I see why you wear this. The looks in their eyes when it started. When they saw what it was had come to get them. That’s my reward.”
Ends up better than I was expecting given the premise. I love Ennis. Jenny’s arc left me feeling sad. Probably, the emotion Ennis wanted. Frank is more of a supporting character this volume.
August 31, 2025
At first I thought I would love this storyline. Gathering a lot of widows from Punishers killings in other volumes of this series and they are plotting to kill Punisher. Seems good right?
I love the introduction of these widows, their personalities and how clearly dysfunctional they are.
But there are a few issues that made this story failed a little bit.
1- If regular mobster, Russian ones, Barracuda, etc could not kill Frank, how will these widows do it?
2- Punisher tends to kill a lot of people, but clearly there is a line. I didn't think Frank would have killed women openly on page.
So this leads to the low points of this volume. The execution and making The Punisher a passenger in this story.
Punisher gets side-lined. We get a lot of time with the widows which is really fine, but clearly Frank will not kill them, so lo and behold the introduction of a woman 'Punisher' to handle the situation. While the character of Jenny at first is good I just did not 100% buy the "she-punisher" or however we call her.
The premise seems fine, but as you start to think about it, it just does not make a whole lot of sense and clearly lead into issues that Garth Ennis tried to fix but it just wasn't enough.
In summary, the story is just OK.
I love the introduction of these widows, their personalities and how clearly dysfunctional they are.
But there are a few issues that made this story failed a little bit.
1- If regular mobster, Russian ones, Barracuda, etc could not kill Frank, how will these widows do it?
2- Punisher tends to kill a lot of people, but clearly there is a line. I didn't think Frank would have killed women openly on page.
So this leads to the low points of this volume. The execution and making The Punisher a passenger in this story.
Punisher gets side-lined. We get a lot of time with the widows which is really fine, but clearly Frank will not kill them, so lo and behold the introduction of a woman 'Punisher' to handle the situation. While the character of Jenny at first is good I just did not 100% buy the "she-punisher" or however we call her.
The premise seems fine, but as you start to think about it, it just does not make a whole lot of sense and clearly lead into issues that Garth Ennis tried to fix but it just wasn't enough.
In summary, the story is just OK.
September 14, 2022
Ačkoliv se na první pohled může zdát, že se Ennis neustále opakuje, a i já jsem měl na zpočátku série ten pocit, tak to tak není. Je potřeba si přiznat, že je Punisher dost jednoúčelová postava. Je stvořený k tomu, aby masakroval zm*dy. Ale Ennis se v rámci možností snaží jeho příběhy obměňovat. Takže kromě protivníků mění i lokace a způsob vyprávění. Ve Vdovách je Punisher regulérně vedlejší postavou. Hlavními postavami jsou zde mafiánské paničky. Nebo lépe řečeno mafiánské vdovy. Tato kniha je sondou do života takovýchto existencí.
Zpočátku jsem měl pocit, že ten příběh vůbec nefunguje. Ačkoliv obsahoval více postav, všem se věnoval a dával jim nějakou hloubku, tak to nebylo ono. Moc tomu nepomáhalo ani to, že příběh není vyprávěný úplně chronologický a nebylo vždy úplně zřejmé, kde zrovna vyprávění je. Potom se ale příběh rozjel a začalo to být zábavné. Dobrá je i dějová linka vyšetřujícího detektiva. I tak je ale tato kniha slabší než předchozí díly. Sice oceňuji Ennisovu snahu přistoupit k tomu vyprávění jinak, ale bylo to děsně ukecané a ty hádající se ženské mě brzy začaly s*át.
Kresba a barvy jsou opět prvotřídní. Tahle série má štěstí na dobré výtvarníky.
Zpočátku jsem měl pocit, že ten příběh vůbec nefunguje. Ačkoliv obsahoval více postav, všem se věnoval a dával jim nějakou hloubku, tak to nebylo ono. Moc tomu nepomáhalo ani to, že příběh není vyprávěný úplně chronologický a nebylo vždy úplně zřejmé, kde zrovna vyprávění je. Potom se ale příběh rozjel a začalo to být zábavné. Dobrá je i dějová linka vyšetřujícího detektiva. I tak je ale tato kniha slabší než předchozí díly. Sice oceňuji Ennisovu snahu přistoupit k tomu vyprávění jinak, ale bylo to děsně ukecané a ty hádající se ženské mě brzy začaly s*át.
Kresba a barvy jsou opět prvotřídní. Tahle série má štěstí na dobré výtvarníky.
January 17, 2020
Ennisovy ale už úplne jeblo. Takúto čiernu čiernotu som nečakal. Nejde ani tak o brutalitu, ale tú obrpovskú dávku depresie, ktorá doslova razí z tohto príbehu.. Keď som videl na obálke ženskú verziu Punishera, zasmial som sa. Po dočítaní knihy, sa už nesmejem. Tento raz je tu Castle taká vedlajšia postava, akýsi sledovadeľ udalostí okolo jednej mafiánskej rodiny. Čo mi vlastne ani neprekážalo.
Len uvažujem, aká by bola Jenny po boku Jona Bernthala. Ale keď nad tým uvažujem, na toto by nemal ani Netflix guľe.
Len uvažujem, aká by bola Jenny po boku Jona Bernthala. Ale keď nad tým uvažujem, na toto by nemal ani Netflix guľe.
September 28, 2017
By this far in the run, the formula has set in and this arc suffers because of it. It's fairly paint by the numbers and there isn't anything substantial here at all. It reads like filler, which isn't odd considering that Ennis' run with the character was coming to a close. It isn't terrible, but the characters are stock and bland and the writing doesn't have the flair that earlier stories did.
March 10, 2018
Garth Ennis is kind of sick, I think. This could have been so good. I think I know what he was going for. It had elements I liked. But in the end the exploitation tone just ruined it. It's gross. I'm going to need to take a break from this series for a while. Maybe forever.
March 2018
March 2018
June 20, 2020
The widows of several of The Punisher's victims get together and hatch a plot to kill him, only they didn't figure a loose end from their past coming to settle an old score. Another great tale from Garth Ennis. Excellent story and dialogue along with fantastic visuals.
April 16, 2021
Probably the grimmest story so far from Garth Ennis' run on 'The Punisher'. It's a slow descent into the very deep and dark underbelly of NYC. But the writing really is top notch, as long as you have the stomach for the rest.
February 23, 2024
Frank's being targeted again. This time by the wives of some of the criminals that he's killed. They put together a plan to assassinate Frank, while they themselves are being targeted by another mysterious woman.
Great characters and some great moments. Another strong volume by Ennis.
Great characters and some great moments. Another strong volume by Ennis.
December 3, 2025
inanılmaz bir eser, belki de serinin en iyisi. Her bir karaktere odaklanıyor, mantığını motivasyonunu anlatıyor, ikilemlerinden bahsediyor, her birine ayrı ayrı bağlıyor, özellikle polis ve eşinin ilişkisini çok beğendim. en sonunda da mükemmel bir final yapıyor
October 1, 2017
Beginning was harsh, but i can't say the same for epilogue.
October 9, 2017
This is one of my favorite stories because the stars/villains are so unexpected. Even the twist was well done.
February 16, 2019
mto legal a justiceira mulher
December 1, 2019
The ending was deep
June 4, 2021
good but nothing special
3.6 stars
3.6 stars
April 16, 2024
Masterpiece.
August 10, 2025
Un volumen buenísimo. Una historia de venganza oscura y dura. Unos personajes muy logrados y un arte, a cargo de Lan Medina, chulo chulo.
January 1, 2026
Tremendo comic, creo que el mejor de todos los de esta Saga
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