SuperHeroBooks - Punisher MAX: Born
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List Price: $13.99
Our Price: $7.37
Your Save: $ 6.62 ( 47% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Marvel Comics
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 741
EAN: 9780785110255
ISBN: 0785110259
Label: Marvel Comics
Manufacturer: Marvel Comics
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 112
Publication Date: 2006-01-25
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Studio: Marvel Comics
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Wickedcool
Comment: Hmm. The title of this review says it all: BORN is wickedcool. It is a perfect addition too Garth Ennis' amazing and amazingly brutal Punisher MAX series. Shame he is bowing out after issue 55 (which will be trade paperback volume 10). Little point reading after that, b/c it doesn't get any better than this.
Not for the faint-hearted.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Frank's inner demons
Comment: Frank Castle, the man who would one day be known as The Punisher, is on his third tour of duty in Vietnam when something terrible starts creeping into his psyche as his bloodthirsty nature gets the better of him in this trade paperback entitled BORN. I enjoyed it a lot, and I would love it if Garth Ennis took it upon himself to write more tales starring a younger Punisher who is still learning the ropes and coming to grips with who he is and what he will eventually become. BORN appealed to me because it centers around the notion that the death of Frank's family was not the catalyst that gave birth to The Punisher, but that the vigilante side has lurked beneath the surface ever since Frank's last tour in 'Nam, when he made a deal with something or someone that feeds on death and bloodshed. This allowed him to survive long enough to become the world's fiercest vigilante, but at a terrible price. I adore Robertson's art (check out Ennis and Robertson's other project The Boys for similar brilliance) and the covers of the individual issues by Wieslaw Walkuski are absolutely amazing. Punisher shows that even during his early years no one was safe from his wrath as he punishes Vietnamese and fellow soldiers alike in typically violent ways in trademark Ennis style. I loved the plot and the overall realization that some dark entity inspired the Punisher, and it makes for an interesting read at the end of the day. I gave it four stars because the comic turned out to be a tad more predictable than Ennis' ongoing Punisher MAX series, and it felt as if I had seen something like it before somewhere (a man in dire peril makes a deal with a devil or whatever to become something inhuman that serves the devil's needs, almost like Ghost Rider). What is different here though is that Frank Castle enjoyed killing and just needed an excuse to go on an endless rampage and become what he always wanted to become. Even when he moralizes with fellow officers his inner voice or demon refutes his claim that he wishes to be 'saved'. Throughout the book Frank is portrayed as a man in love with death, and though he is presented with a choice the reader gets the feeling towards the end that we know which path Frank will take, since he is obviously destined to become Marvel's quintessential vigilante, so the comic basically just shows you how the situation in which Frank makes the choice came about. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who has read the MAX series or even Ennis' earlier Preacher comics, it won't disappoint.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Thinly Plotted But Pretty Good
Comment: Punisher Born shows that Frank Castle was a hard bitten US Marine in the Viet Nam War, dispensing his own brutal justice long before he became The Punisher.
Darrick Robertson's art is nicely done, albeit with a few major blunders. For example, his opening scene of a US C-130 is not well drawn and later on he shows a US airstrike that first depicts a pair of F-8 Crusaders that mysteriously transform one panel later into a pair of F-4 Phantoms. That is way too big of a blunder.
The coloring is excellent, especially in the jungle scenes. It's a solid piece of the Punisher puzzle but I think Garth Ennis could have plotted it more thickly.
Customer Rating:
Summary: not good enough
Comment: I think that this subject, the birth of the Punisher, or the background for his birth, should be one of the best possible chances any writer will ever have to be creative and violent in his storytelling. Alas, this story is only violent. There is no creativeness. The Vietnam setting dosen't really get used in the story, the action far too much resembles that of Platoon, and the story is only about half as long as it should be.
I must applaud the interaction between Frank Castle and Death though. I don't, as another reviewer does, see it as unlikely or out of character. It's a psychological twist to the character that would become the Punisher. It gives him that sort, in lack of better words, mental dysfunction, that one would expect from a man as brutal and determined as the Punisher.
Overall, I don't think justice has been done to the subject of the birth of the Punisher, but there are a few good things in there.
Customer Rating:
Summary: excellent comic book
Comment: This is a great comic book! If you're interested in why The Punisher started punishing criminals, you should read this. Garth Ennis' style is awesome, and the book has a realistic feel. The story line is great as well.
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Editorial Reviews:
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The year is 1971. With mounting casualties and a rising anti-war sentiment, America's time in Vietnam is coming to a close. Yet in the isolated Valley Forge Firebase on the Cambodian border, Captain Frank Castle is one of the few soldiers still committed to the fight against the enemy. With dwindling reserves, Castle must stand against an impending Viet Cong attack that threatens to wipe out the entire American platoon. To survive the battle, what grim decision must he make that will forever alter the course of his life? In this acclaimed tale, superstar Garth Ennis reveals the never-before-told story of the horrors Castle was forced to face to come home fromVietnam alive, ending in a shocking twist that will forever change how readers see Marvel Comics' most famous urban vigilante. Collecting BORN #1-4.
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