If you want to read the punisher, but you're just not sure where to start,
then this is the video for you!
WOOF WOOF! Hey guys, it's me Marcus aka the Maddogg and we're back with another video!
Now the first book that i'm going to recommend was actually the first that i read for this character
because it's punisher born and it's pretty much seen like a prologue to the punisher max run which
was written by garth ernie since spoiler alert the majority of this list is actually written by garth
ennis but you get to see frank castle before he becomes the punisher and you see him for the eyes
of somebody that worked alongside him in the army so it's set due in vietnam and you get to see this
great inner monologue of this character who's just trying to understand who frank castle is
and there's all these little hints that frank castle maybe isn't all put together before he
even went back home and his family were killed spoiler relate if you didn't know the origin
of the punisher but this is a really interesting four issue mini series that has art from derrick
robertson so you've also got the same creative team that work together on the boys and it might
be the case that you've already got the opinion that the punisher is just somebody that goes out
and kills and that's pretty much all there is to his stories then i'd recommend this as just a
short little reset so that you can then get into some of those later runs but since i've already
said his name i might as well recommend the next book on the list which is punisher max by garth
ennis this is pretty much the quintessential punisher title if it is you don't want those
wider connections to the marvel universe max was an imprint that was built for people who
didn't want to be bagged down with any kind of continuity or didn't want to have to read four
other series to understand what was happening it's why i recommended other series like alias wanted
me where to start marvel comics but this one is just so good and it's quintessential punisher's
storytelling throughout this run there was some great stuff with the irish mafia the russians and
pretty much knew enough every type of gang that existed in new york like when i was reading this
in the complete collections it was just a really great time so this is a much longer run it went on
for a good number of years and somebody even took over it when garth ennis left but the beauty of
this one is that you can just go by the individual story arcs and just stop when you want to so even
though a lot of people hold this in high regard you don't have to worry if you're a new reader and
you want to just jump into punisher max next up in sticking with the max line in case it is that
you like the sound of a punisher title that isn't really set in continuity but you don't really want
something that's 60 issues long in which case you can go one of my personal favorite runs by jason
aaron yes the writer is currently taking over the punisher once again even though it has got
that god-awful logo and i understand the politics behind that but i personally yeah i'm gonna get
into a little mid-video rant i think instead of retiring the original punisher logo because of a
few people that had to ruin it for everybody why not make a story where the punisher goes after
those people i don't know that makes more sense to me but in the slim chance that marvel's watching
i will gladly write that story for you but yes jason aaron's original take on the character
was phenomenal i loved this and it was exactly everything that i wanted because it's the punisher
going up against the kingpin i also think this has one of the best representations of wilson
fisk and there's other characters that do exist in the marvel universe that crop up throughout this
but not in the way that you're used to seeing them in the 616 universe this is only about 20
or so issues long i really hope that they reprint this omnibus so some of you guys can get it and
i sped through this the first time that i read it because even though it's got sort of smaller
story arcs it does just feel like one complete story and with a character like the punisher
especially because of the fact that you will kill his villains near enough as soon as he sees them
it is difficult to have that continuing arc going over but jason aaron managed to do it definitely
recommend this one if you can get your hands on it and i think i am do a re-read of it soon but maybe
you want the exact opposite of that concept maybe you know about the marvel universe and you want
to just pick up the punisher in which case i would definitely recommend his civil war tie-in that was
written by matt fraction that then continued in to punish a war journal i was so disappointed a few
years ago when they printed the first volume of a complete collection of this series and then just
decided to not continue with it this is a very underrated run which seems to be the theme with
matt fraction titles that were coming out from marvel during that time yep i'm still talking
about the invincible iron man but especially the civil war part of this run which was my
introduction into matt fraction i really like this yes it is pretty much textbook punisher because of
the fact that it's just him going out and finding people that need to be killed but because you've
got the backdrop of the entire marvel universe going up against each other because they don't
know whether they should be registered or not it's just great because frank castle is pretty much
the last guy who would ever sign the superhero registration act but it then continues with this
run that still equally as enjoyable and at that point you will be able to understand the punisher
a little bit better because you've had the backdrop of civil war i do hope marvel rethinks
things and they decide to print this book again i'd love to read the conclusion of this run but
i do think this is the punisher series it would be great for people who are already aware of the
marvel universe but if you wanted to punish a run that is also integrated with other marvel heroes
but doesn't take place primarily in someone else's title i would recommend punisher by greg rocker
this is a very underrated series that a lot of people seem to have forgotten about but i remember
absolutely loving this when i picked it up in single issues greg rocker is one of those creators
that understands every intricacy of the character that he's writing and this series in particular
was great because it had a crossover with the punisher daredevil and spider-man but at the same
time it is still great for new readers because of the fact that you're following the punisher on yet
another mission to kill someone but why i think greg rucker's run is great is because of the fact
that it feels like it's evolved with modern times so this isn't just about enjoying watching frank
castle going about and killing people but instead it's about the ramifications of what happens when
he does kill someone so throughout his journey he's encountered by situations or people who have
been affected directly by him or maybe even some of the people that he's killed since then and it
give this respect because even though it had its own little mini crossover with denny it didn't
get bogged down by any of the events that were happening at the time so if you want to punish
a title that isn't set apart from the main marvel universe but you still want it to be focused on
frank castle then i think that this would be the best bet for you maybe it's the case so that that
doesn't even appeal to you and you want something that is set in the main marvel universe but takes
into consideration all of the events that are happening at the same time and if for some reason
the map fraction run didn't interest you then i would recommend punish it by recommending no yes
recommender is known more now for his image comics works but when he was at marvel he did some good
things in particular i love recommenders first story arcways just thrown feet first into it all
because it's a dark rain crossover but he's trying to assassinate norman osborne this almost feels
like it's the punisher going back to his glory days if it isn't sounded like the greg rooker
run might be a little bit too serious for you this did then eventually become franken castle because
of a crossover with another person in the marvel universe and it's just got this wacky goofy sci-fi
tone to it that a lot of people might not enjoy if you do want a pure punisher story but if you want
something a bit abstract and you don't want to just jump into all the doom and gloom of him going
against mafias then punisher by recommender might scratch the itch that you've got at the moment but
it's a shame because this is another omnibus that isn't currently available but i know that
marvel is doing a lot of reprints and they're also bringing out a lot of new content and if you're
looking to pick up any of them i'd recommend our channel sponsor organic price books they've got
great packaging fast shipping and amazing customer services and if you want frank castle to shoot two
dollars off your order then make sure that you use code wolfwoof at the checkout and just a little
secret between you and me you can use that code as many times as you like i've been doing where to
start now for nearly two years and when i've been recommending characters in the past i've tried to
stay away from the original stories because i just don't really think it's a great jumping on point
for a new reader to read something that might be 60 years old but the punisher isn't that old of a
character and he had his origins as a spider-man villain that's why i'd recommend some of his
earlier mini series i think all of them are still quite enjoyable and accessible for a new reader
and i know for a modern first time reader we often just want something that is quite recent but
there's still a lot of hidden gems in the early years of the punisher's run speaking of which the
next title that i'd recommend is punisher warzone i only started reading this title in the last year
because i was doing research for my jim lee top five notable works but i think this was the first
time where they really found the feat with this character and even though this could feel dated
for a mod and read it i still think it's worth giving a go it's got some crossovers and story
arcs but it's not built in the same way that a series would be done now and you might want that
you might want a long run that you can dip in and out of asm when you please and it's got a great
run of artists throughout and the issues that i've read of this i did really enjoy so i'd recommend
it to you no i'm not here to just recommend comics because i understand that the other type of media
that we've got are great ways to get introduced to a character i don't feel like you should ever
feel ashamed for learning about a character for a different way other than comics and i would
definitely recommend netflix's season 2 of the punisher now yes you might be wondering why i want
to recommend in season 1 but i personally just didn't rate it that much whereas punisher season
2 i feel like they used the 13 episodes better all you have to do is watch the trailer because this
is one of my favorite trailers for any comic book property but yeah unfortunately the batman did bt
but punisher season 2 kind of feels a little bit set apart from the rest of the netflix
marvel universe there's a lot of heart there's some great action and the punisher is still very
much the punisher in this where other characters might try to decide how they can go around an
enemy frank castle's just gonna shoot them and yes i know some people don't like the netflix
punisher because he isn't as sadistic as he is in the comics but his core values pretty much stay
the same so i would definitely recommend checking this out if you haven't seen it another curveball
and this might be a spoiler if you haven't read some donnie kate's stuff but i'm gonna recommend
cosmic ghost rider yep this might not seem like the best entry route for a punisher fan but people
get into comics in different ways and this is a more modern run and he is set outside of the main
earthbound continuity of marvel he delves into that cosmic side and that might be something that
you enjoy it's almost like the polar opposite of punisher max but at the same time it's
very enjoyable and it's just got this goofy sci-fi twist to it that i think a lot of people would get
a kick out of and at the end of the day the main character is still frank castle and that's who
i'm recommending today and as well i've already done a video where i talk about the cosmic ghost
rider on the boss the contents that are in it and if you're going to be double dipping so feel
free to check that out if you're confused but the last non-garth news recommendation that i've got
i'm going with the savage avengers i'm a little bit disappointed that more people aren't jumping
onto this title because i only got these single issues because of job lot of comics and i sat
down and ready because of the fact that i saw that conan was on the cover of the second issue and i
really enjoyed this and the thing is that the punisher's one of those characters that it's
difficult to recommend a team-based book shui's been involved in a few in the past alongside
characters like ghost rider but i think this is the best most recent run that you can get that
features the punisher where he's a character within a team you've just got a great range of
characters in this you've got wolverine you've got elektra you've got venom and you've even got conan
the barbarian and if it is that you don't want to jump into something that's frank castle centric
then i think that this would be the way to go now we're my final couple of picks and first up we've
got the punisher kills the marvel universe if you want a recommendation that isn't going to take up
a large amount of your time you want it to just be quick easy and done with then this is definitely
the title that i'd recommend for you i fortunately got it as part of this marvel knights omnibus and
it was one of the highlights of this run i think i said that i was going to do a separate video
on it and i've still got that planned just hasn't happened yet but this is one of those comics that
does exactly what it says in the title it is the punisher killing the marvel universe yes it pretty
much is a what if book i think i even included it in the top 10 crazy of what if titles but the same
time you do get to see how frank castle operates and now we would take on teams like the x-men the
avengers and the fantastic four and i just think it's silly dumb fun so if you don't want to really
dark and gritty punish a book even though there are some gruesome kills this would be the one
for you and yes of course it was written by garth ennis who also wrote the marvel knights run i did
a review of this early last year and it was one of my favorite books of 2021. there's just so much
energy and pace and there's so many great story arcs even though i do feel like it was much
better at the beginning of the boot rather than at the end it's still enjoyable for all 40 or so
issues that were in it you've also got the entire saga with the russian and he's also on this weird
tropical island where there's some kind of atom bomb and it's just impressive because of the fact
that the punisher wasn't really a well-liked character before this if this weird mystical
turn which fortunately didn't last for long but garth ennis managed to redefine the punisher's
reputation the majority of the arts also done by steve dylan so you've got the same creative team
as preacher and this was just a phenomenal book it was really quick easy reading and it's got
that perfect balance between having a serious punisher book but also having a lot of fun with
the storytelling talent and that's why my last recommendation is going to be the first story
arc in this book which is welcome back frank this is the most important punisher book that's
probably ever existed because of the fact that everything rested on this if he had a second bad
series in a row people weren't going to continue reading the character so garth ennis gave us one
of the greatest punisher stories of all time it's about 12 issues long so it's not too long and it's
not too short and it's just about frank castle going against the mafia you've got more ganuchi
at the top of the hierarchy and frank's gonna do everything that he must do to get to it even if
that includes punching a polar bear i absolutely love this storyline i think it's one of the best
that you could read if you've never looked at the punisher before and out of all the books on this
list that i've recommended i think this and jason aaron's run would probably be top of the list but
that's the video hopefully you enjoyed it if you could do me a massive favor share this video where
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next time just make sure that you stay safe and stay mad all you dogs woof roof see the next video