MARVEL UNIVERSE VS. THE PUNISHER #1
In a post-apocalyptic Marvel Universe, the Punisher must save the world from a world gone insane. A pathogen is released that was developed during the Cold War so humans can adapt to changes from nuclear and biological warfare. The Punisher gets a major dose that makes him immune that transforms everyone on Earth into cannibal predators where their aggressive and survival instincts are heightened.
Punisher narrates the tale of the post-apocalypse striking the Marvel Universe. Now he is hunting “Patient Zero” who leads a tribe of cannibal predators including Tarantula, Black Widow, and Spider-Woman. Punisher finds an uninfected human killed by a knife wound with his feet and hands webbed to the ground. Zero wanted him to know that there are survivors out there. The Punisher will save a world that he killed to regain salvation.
Writer Jonathan Maberry describes the Punisher finding a “high degree of control and personal satisfaction” when he is killing bad guys. Maberry allows us into the Punisher’s head and detailing what he has in-store for us. He adds a bit of humor into the story midway to lower the tension of the story before picking it up for the final page. Goran Parlov artwork from Garth Ennis’ Punisher Max series carries over to this 4-issue limited series. Terrific issue for this self-contained series.
RECOMMENDED – 4 OUT OF 5
