THE PUNISHER KILLS THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
An Elseworlds-style outing for that fella with the big guns.

Writer: Garth Ennis
Artists: Doug Braithwaite, Robin Riggs, Sean Hardy, Don Hudson, Michael Halblieb, Martin Griffith, John Livesay
Colorists: Shannon Blanchard, Tom Smith
Letterer: Bill Oakley
Prestige format one-shot
Published by Marvel Comics 2000
$5.95

Reviewed by Paul Hanna

Recent years have seen the rise of the anti-fanboy, fans who cannot abide by the immortal mentality of comics characters. By immortal, I mean that the characters simply do not die; they are always resurrected, reconstituted, recycled, reborn, or returned from who-knows-where. Of course, I'm talking about superheroes and their villainous counterparts. If everyone in the world could fulfill the Christlike role of defying death as they have shown, then the world itself is cheapened because it is limited.

"Books like this come as a breath of fresh air to the anti-fanboy: the characters are mortal."

Furthermore, the heroes are put upon a pedestal, always getting the noble treatment, never capable of any wrongdoing, even if by accident. And it becomes monotonous. So, books like THE PUNISHER KILLS THE MARVEL UNIVERSE come as a breath of fresh air to the anti-fanboy: the characters are mortal. Every character. Even the Punisher's hair grays on the sides toward the end of the story, indicating his age.

The story is told in a "What if?" vein, as in, "What if the Punisher's family were killed in the crossfire of a huge superhero battle?" While the X-Men and the Avengers battle a Skrull/Brood hybrid race of aliens in the city park, innocent bystanders are killed. Frank Castle gets wind of the melee and rushes to the rescue of his family, who happen to be there. Only he is too late. Frank snaps and begins to murder X-Men.

A man named Kesserling manages to forestall Frank's trip to prison, providing him sanctuary at an isolated house. Kesserling introduces Frank to a fanatical, pissed-off group of people who, like Kesserling himself, have become deformed or otherwise crippled by being caught in the crossfire of superhero battles. They convince Frank to become the Punisher and vow to annihilate the Marvel Universe.

More than anything else, this book is pure entertainment. It's an enjoyable fight comic. And though it comes off sounding cheap and gimmicky, like some DC vs. Marvel crossover, it is actually well thought out, enough so that it keeps the reader turning pages; the Hulk's death was particularly creative. However, I can see this book causing controversy amongst the more obsessive readers: "Nuh-uh! Wolverine would've kicked his ass!" And so on. To the anti-fanboys, it inspires unsympathetic laughter.

"I can see this book causing controversy amongst the more obsessive readers."

The art serves its purpose well; Doug Braithwaite's work isn't particularly flashy, but nothing to sneeze at. He captures the glitzy, cliche, superheroic figure poses really well, so it is a bit jarring to see a panel showing one of them begging for his life.

The whole work is a fun purging of the Marvel Universe. Those who particularly dislike the Marvel heroes and villains might want to check this out for a cruel laugh. On the other hand, if you slip your copies of X-MEN into mylar bags, you might want to forego this one.

Recommended (with reservations: not for hero-worshippers)

Paul Hanna is a regular contributor to PopImage.

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