The Punisher #6

By Nathan Edmondson & Mitch Gerads

The Punisher has been one of the most consistently good All New Marvel Now books since its creation, and six issues in and it’s failed to disappoint, with Nathan Edmondson really bringing his A-Game to this book, and the amazing artwork from Mitch Gerads really brings the book to life.

One of the main enemies of Frank Castle for the past six issues has been Electro, and Edmondson has written the battle between him and the Punisher very well. This issue serves as a great action packed blockbuster, with some entertaining fight scenes backed up by some brilliant artwork from Gerads. One complaint with this series is that the Howling Commandos weren’t utilised as well as they could have been but Edmondson corrects that with this issue, handling their entrance onto the series very well indeed. Whilst the ending of one plot thread in this issue felt a little too sudden for this reader’s tastes, the rest of the book proved to be very enjoyable indeed.

The Howling Commandos stepping into the forefront as Frank’s main villain really works here, with Edmondson making the wait worth it, delivering an action packed thriller that really impresses, and making the reader stick around for more books to come.

The book handles the various different parts of the Marvel Universe well – you aren’t just limited to Punisher’s rogues, as Edmondson drafts in a variety of factions from across the Marvel U. A.I.M show up, as well as, of course, Electro and the Howling Commandos, who all normally are opponents for other superheroes – anybody mildly interested in Spider-Man for example will know Electro is one of his rogues thanks to Jamie Foxx’s portrayal of the character in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Mitch Gerads handles the book very well, doing both the colours and the pencils and combining to really create a fantastic atmospheric feel that adds to the action packed tension, bringing the Punisher’s world to life and handling Edmondson’s thrill ride very well. Gerads was certainly the right artist to handle this book – just as much Edmondson was the writer.

So, in short then – The Punisher #6 is another strong instalment from Edmondson and Gerads. There’s very little that this book puts wrong and it’s constantly proving why it deserves a lot more attention than it’s currently getting, and like the past five issues, this one comes highly recommended – this is a Marvel book that you’ll want to be reading.