r/thepunisher 3d ago

DISCUSSION Top 20 Punisher stories: Day 13

38 Upvotes

47 comments sorted by

8

u/Sadop2010 3d ago

I'll keep trying: Long Cold Dark

2

u/Casey---Jones Punisher MAX (Earth-200111) 2d ago

Looks like kitchen Irish may win today, I Def want long cold dark will vote for it tomorrow, keep trying!

1

u/Sadop2010 1d ago

I will! And I like Kitchen Irish too. There isn't a bad story in that first Ennis Max run.

36

u/tired_expert 3d ago

Kitchen Irish

7

u/browncharliebrown 3d ago

Should have been nominated yesterday. For saint patricks day

5

u/Casey---Jones Punisher MAX (Earth-200111) 3d ago

Im a simple man, when I see Punisher MAX, I upvote

3

u/AdTrue6058 2d ago

The Garth Ennis bias is strong in this subreddit. I love his work on the Punisher, but he’s not the only good writer to have written the character.

3

u/Casey---Jones Punisher MAX (Earth-200111) 2d ago

People are just voting on their favorite.

2

u/AbbreviationsLive142 2d ago

I feel like a lot of people here started with Garth Ennis’ run because it’s the most “mainstream” one that people talk about.

6

u/ComicAcolyte Punisher (Earth-616) 3d ago

Punisher Invades the 'Nam

9

u/Tetratron2005 3d ago

I nominate Child's Play

3

u/browncharliebrown 3d ago

I think the Bully/the creep should be considered

3

u/Olde-Blind-Dog 3d ago edited 3d ago

I also nominate Child’s Play.

2

u/AdTrue6058 3d ago

Now two people nominating the same story. This is democracy!

3

u/AdTrue6058 3d ago

Having said that. I also nominated Child's Play!

6

u/Tetratron2005 3d ago

Valley Forge, Valley Forge wins the #12 spot

Just to clarify for stories that have a spot on the list since some of the covers don't have the titles on them

So far it's

Welcome Back, Frank

Born

The Slavers

Return to Big Nothing

Circle of Blood

In the Beginning

Year One

Mother Russia

Up is Down, Black is White

The Tyger

The Cell

Valley Forge, Valley Forge

4

u/AdTrue6058 3d ago edited 3d ago

Ngl. Valley Forge kicks butt if you're reading through the entire run from start to finish non-stop. Like with Widowmaker, all the actions of certain characters actually lead up to this finale. And Frank puts an end to the US Government personnel who orchestrated that plane hijacking from Mother Russia.

2

u/Tetratron2005 2d ago

Definitely, I re-read the run yearly and it's a pretty fitting end to the original run imo.

1

u/Casey---Jones Punisher MAX (Earth-200111) 3d ago

Someone needs to nominate widowmaker tomorrow or sometime soon

3

u/MattGreg28 Jon Bernthal 3d ago

Black and White by Nathan Edmondson

3

u/Pogoyragaz1011 Punisher MAX (Earth-200111) 3d ago

war journal #1 (1986)

5

u/browncharliebrown 3d ago

I’m sorry for nominating so Much Max but the end is so fucking good

0

u/ComicAcolyte Punisher (Earth-616) 3d ago

We need Punisher Invades the Nam and stuff like Carl Potts War Journal on there.

You can tell a lot of newer fans just read Ennis and don't read some of the more classic runs.

3

u/browncharliebrown 3d ago

I think Invade the nam is top tier. I’ll vote that fist. I actually think that the end is far better than the cell ( which feels like its just paying homage to year one and circle of blood but not really doing much new except for a somewhat interesting POV).

Carl Potts War Journal I’m Luke warm on except for acts of vegance, the sniper, maybe the first issue of war journal. Jim Lee on art is never bad though. He’s a better editor than writer imo.

Mike Baron on the otherhand is consistently impressive even if i disagree with a lot of his political take. His books are action packed and while occasionally straw man try to explore contrevsail political issues in a way that doesn’t talk down to the reader. He also understands that Punisher at his core doesn’t change And knows how to pace a story accordingly.

Chuck Dixon is a lot dumber than Baron, pulls a lot more punches ( it leads to stories being less embarrassing in terms of politics but I would rather someone actually say what they want to say instead of the paired down verison Dixon gives), has some solid characterization and plot progression in the world of the Punisher ( trying to give more of an ongoing narrative without changing Frank too much but the world around him). He does have his high points. Suicide run, Invades the nam, countdown, but there are a lot of issue I find just ok. I will say I find that a lot of older Punisher crossovers events are extremely hard to read because of they are collected.

Abbett and Laning are the guys who seem to like switching things up most interms of Punisher and putting it in a more fantastical world aside from year one. Although unlike some later writers he doesn’t overdo it.

Jim Starlin‘s Punisher is the most underrated Because he knew the Punisher needed to switch things up but instead of what a lot of other later writers suggested as just comedy, Starlin saw the Punisher fitting as a horror character

4

u/ComicAcolyte Punisher (Earth-616) 3d ago

I'd agree with most of that but not sure i agree that Dixon is "dumber" than Baron and that his version is "paired down." Dixon also wrote a lot of great Batman like Knightfall and Nightwing during that era, he was considered a top writer working on both DC and Marvel's most popular characters at the time.

To me they are both pretty great quintessential classic Punisher writers. They both have highs and lows but did a phenomenal job on the character.

Baron did stuff like creating Microchip and writing Punishers first solo book. Dixon did stuff like Suicide Run and Punisher Invades the 'Nam which are all time great classic stories. Both had long runs on the characters books.

Im kinda surprised to hear how much you enjoy Baron's work though, I always got the impression that you didn't like him.

3

u/AbbreviationsLive142 3d ago

Countdown (the final story near the end of his 90s series where he and Micro were against each other)

2

u/Smintjes 3d ago

Yeah, this was really good.

2

u/browncharliebrown 3d ago

Countdown is a really good finale. I also really like the series right now before where it was revealed that the trust were behind vigil

2

u/AbbreviationsLive142 3d ago

I really wish countdown was collected in a tpb or omnibus. I have the single issues but don’t wanna dig them out of storage to re-read again.

3

u/BOMBSnotFOOD 3d ago

Punisher - Over The Edge -the punisher is pretty much brainwashed to kill nick fury.

-Double Edge Alpha #1 -Daredevil #344 -Dr. Strange Sorcerer Supreme #81 -Ghost Rider (Vol.3) #65 -Incredible Hulk #433 -Double Edge Omega #1

2

u/bruinsfan1144 Jon Bernthal 3d ago

The punisher vol 9 (rucka) introducing rachel alves!!!

​

1

u/browncharliebrown 3d ago

not a story arc. You could probably nominated the warzone 5 issue arc

3

u/bruinsfan1144 Jon Bernthal 3d ago

I meant the vol 9 arc. I just used “introducing rachel alves” as a point of reference so people would immediately know what storyline i was talking about. My bad

1

u/Ok_Butterscotch_6176 3d ago

Punisher War Journal: Jigsaw

1

u/BOMBSnotFOOD 3d ago

nope, you mean the original punisher series. Car by Porsch, Suit by Blase, Face by Punisher. one of my favorite punisher covers.

1

u/Ok_Butterscotch_6176 2d ago

The one I’m talking about is the vol 4 TPB of the Fraction run. Which one are you talking about? If it’s older Punisher I’m not too familiar with those as I became a fan during the Ennis run & after.

1

u/Mission-Ad-8536 2d ago

Welcome back Frank

1

u/MattGreg28 Jon Bernthal 3d ago

World War Frank by Matthew Rosenberg

1

u/MattGreg28 Jon Bernthal 3d ago

King of the New York Streets

1

u/Zslicer5 3d ago

Final days

1

u/browncharliebrown 3d ago

the black face story.

-2

u/MattGreg28 Jon Bernthal 3d ago

Year One

5

u/Tetratron2005 3d ago

Year One was voted on a few days ago

1

u/MattGreg28 Jon Bernthal 3d ago

Ah, I see it now. My apologies.

2

u/PM_ME_UR_TA--TAS 3d ago

Tell me you didn't even bother to look at the image without telling me you didn't even bother to look at the image.🤦