This was indeed a very good treatment for the Punisher character. Marvel has this new (well, new to me) series of alternate settings for their Marvel characters in a noir era, the 1920s to 1930s or so. This Punisher volume is my first foray into it, and it was very good. The Punisher is just made for a time when mobsters ruled the land. After all, Frank Castle's quest is his war against organized crime, and this era was sort of a Golden Age for the mob. The dark gritty art complements the story very nicely. In this setting, Frank Castelione is a veteran of the Great War trying to hold on to his small family business, a grocery store that is barely staying afloat. To make things worse, his wife has terminal cancer, and he may be losing his son to the local gangs. And if things were not bad enough Dutch Schultz wants him to pay "protection" money. What is a man like Frank to do? He takes justice into his own hands of course. Fans of the series will be happy to see familiar villains like Jigsaw and Barracuda in a new light, and there is even a twist or two to make this a very good revenge tale. Only sad thing for me is that it was only four issues (this volume brings the four issues together). I did find myself wishing there was more coming. In the meantime, I may look up other volumes in the series. If you enjoy The Punisher, or you are a Marvel fan, you need to read this. Fans of noir fiction and revenge tales may appreciate this even if they are not comic book fans. It definitely maintains that noir essence.

As another note, in terms of appeal factors, readers who enjoyed graphic novels like Road to Perdition, or even A History of Violence might enjoy this volume as well. ( )

I'm a big fan of "what-if" retellings of classic superheroes, so Punisher Noir seemed right up my alley. Taking place in Manhatan in 1935, Punisher Noir is the story of a lone vigilante, Frank Castle, killing mobsters. They work in various elements of Punisher iconography such as the skull logo and all of that stuff.

When someone does a "retelling" like this, I more or less expect them to play with the elements of the story, but be loyal to the essential pieces of the legend. Noir gets quite a few things wrong, and it bugs me. First, Frank Castle the war veteran comes home from the war and runs a shop, but mobsters keep trying to shake him down for protection money. He refuses, which gets the mob pissed off at him. But then they kill him, and his SON, Frank Castle Jr. becomes the Punisher. The war veteran and skull-on-chest logo belong to Sr., the rest of the punisher mythos belongs to Jr. What annoyed me most was that they didn't preserve what I consider the crucial element to the story: Frank Castle punishes the guilty because his wife and children were killed. Jr. turns to vigilantism because his father is killed, it just doesn't feel like The Punisher.

Castle Jr. also isn't trying to "punish the guilty", he's on a quest of direct vengeance. One of the keys to the Punisher is that, even after he kills those responsible for his family's murder, he still is compelled to kill criminals. It's not about vengeance, it's about punishment. Noir gets this wrong, with Castle specifically looking to kill the three hitmen who took out his father, along with the guy who ordered the hit.

But the strangest moment comes when we see the reimagined version of The Russian. Castle Jr. blew him up many years ago, but he survived and came back as... a transvestite. This is handled so awkwardly, and it seems so random and strange, it ratchets up the "WTF" factor to unbearable levels.

Overall, the book is enjoyable and I'd recommend it to Punisher fans, but it never feels quite right as a Punisher story, even a re-imagined what-if version. ( )

A good shot at relocating the Frank Castle legend. Interesting, good atmosphere. Art a little shaky at times. Overall enjoyable but like a lot of the Noir universe, just didn't quite hit the right spot. Good, but not brilliant. ( )