Space: Punisher by author Frank Tieri, Illustrations Mark Texeria
Space: Punisher, as in, Space, colon hard stop it’s the title and Punisher is the subheading and not the other way around. Space: Punisher is an odd title for an odd concept but author Tieri and artist Texeria went way harder than they had to and I love them for it.
Punisher is in space doing his normal Punisher thing. He’s trying to get revenge for his family that was murdered, just this time in space. Good grief that sounds dumb. I was fully expecting this one to be a silly throwaway but somehow it isn’t. Honestly the weird experimental limited runs are often my favorite in Marvel.
The story is traditional Punisher, honestly I don’t know when I’ve read about him doing anything else at all. It is right in his title, he punishes. But never ever moves on from his family. Even in space he conjures up a robot son to replace the one he lost. It’s one of the many things in this book that somehow tipped into emotional instead of cheesy.
It doesn’t hurt that the art is spectacular.
The lovely watercolors that make up this book really lend it to a more serious tone than I was expecting but it’s ethereal and it works. It gives a different kind of sci fi feel. One reminiscent of 70s pulp sci fi novel covers instead of primary color psychedelica. It also helps it stand out from every other Punisher comic book. This one is a true standalone.
In addition to the art the writing is solid. It’s heartfelt but also action packed and even humorous. I laughed at its wit when I was expecting to laugh at its cheese. But it’s not some B comic, it’s actually substantial! It has everything you’re looking for in a comic book and you don’t need to be really familiar with the Punisher to follow along.
It’s one of my favorite things when creators get handed projects like this and they run with it full force. We didn’t need a brilliant Space: Punisher comic. I’m not sure we deserve one. But we got one anyway!
It really makes me want to check out this duo’s other works. I want to see what else they went full assed on. If you have any suggestions please mention them in the comments.
Space: Punisher is an unexpected treat. If it’s been sitting in your Marvel Unlimited queue forever now is the time to finally read it. However, you may actually want to buy this one because it’s so pretty to look at the pages must be better than the screen.
4/5 space stars 🌠🌠🌠ðŸŒ
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Buy it here: Space: Punisher
For more Marvel comics in space check out Thanos Rising
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