The Punisher #11

By Nathan Edmondson, Mitch Gerads & Matthew Wilson

The Punisher is one of Marvel’s strongest ongoing series and it’s great to see that #11 has continued its fine form. Los Angeles is in chaos with the fall of Dos Soles and the distinct lack of the Punisher, and to make matters worse, Officer Stone is suspended from duty following her killing of a perp in the middle of a robbery. Lou is also in trouble as well, having been beaten by gang members.

We open in Costa Rica, with the Punisher inside a prison interrogating one of its occupants. It sets the tone for a mostly action packed issue that is split between multiple narratives, not only do we follow Frank’s adventures but we spend some brief time with his supporting cast, with both Lou and Officer Stone also featuring. To say that it’s pretty packed is an understatement, as each page has something to tell and the narrative flows very strongly over the course of the book. Edmondson has established his run on The Punisher to great success over the previous ten issues, and hopefully he can continue the fine form that he’s developing so far here.

Mitch Gerads’ artwork is spectacular as usual, with a very cinematic feel. Both his colours and pencils are awesome and with colouring assistance by Matthew Wilson, the book has never looked better, managing to keep up a great level of consistency. All the action sequences are never dull and Gerads is in great form right now, so it’ll be interesting to see what he comes up with next.

There’s a distinctive lack of any information dumps in this issue allowing the plot to progress at a fairly quick pace. The supporting cast is balanced well and you never feel like Frank is becoming a guest star in his own book with the split in narrative focus being executed well with Edmondson never allowing for any dull moments, with each thread being just as gripping as the next.

Punisher fans will also be pleased by an appearance from Rachel Cole, who is handled so well that Edmondson makes her both accessible to newcomers and veteran fans alike, and you don’t need to be familiar with her character to know what’s going on, although obviously long-term fans will get more out of her appearance.

With a largely plot-heavy issue, Nathan Edmondson’s eleventh outing in The Punisher is another awesome read with rarely little put wrong. If you’re not reading this book then you really should be, because each new issue is excellent and this one is no different.