Another Punisher book?
Yes.
What makes this one different? John Romita, Jr. and Klaus Janson. That’s pretty cool.
Anything else?
Well, I guess its got more of a long-form feel. In fact, it’s hard to break the first year’s worth of comics into chunks. But I did group these first three issues because they show how this series is different from the other two (even if, in many other ways, it’s fairly similar).
Complete A-list talent. Stories that are not done-in-one. And a boldness announced on that amazing, wrap-around cover at the top of this post.
Another reason is character work. And the third reason is the story. It begins with Microchip having issues with enabling so much killing at the hands of Punisher, so he quits to go see a therapist. Left alone, Punisher goes about his usual business but, when taking down a smallish illegal enterprise, learns the Carbone family is trying to take over the hole in organized crime left by the fall of the Kingpin in the pages of Daredevil.
So, this story will be about Punisher taking on the new crime lord family. And it continues, as I said, for the first year’s worth of issues
In many ways, this sows the seeds for the transformational Punisher work Garth Ennis will do at the top of the next century.
At the same time, this is more of Punisher catching, torturing, and killing bad guys.
Sometimes with ice cream.
So at its core, this isn’t all that different. It’s just done better.