5 out of 5

Interestingly, the first Punisher MAX arc to be set fully outside of the character’s defining New York homestead is the one where writer Garth Ennis nails the formula of violence, contemplation of violence, and black-minded study of the types of men who commit such violence, that cemented the book and character as the best platform for him to work through his fitful relationship with the world and its people, while also entertaining us and maintaining a minimum on the old-man rants that would plague his later books.  Also: it allowed me to write that really long sentence.

This ‘take Frank Castle out of his NY sandbox’ approach’s success makes sense, as the previous two arcs restlessly tried to establish tone, setting, and m.o. via a method of overload; by removing the burden to flesh out the character of the city itself, Garth can immerse himself in his lead’s mentality.  It also gives him an opportunity to wind in another Marvel favorite of his: Nick Fury.

In Mother Russia, Nick approaches Castle with – if the title wasn’t an indication – a clandestine Russian-based, fully deniable mission: break into a missile silo, rescue a young girl, steal a virus formula.  Which is a little camp, sure, but Garth ‘grounds’ it into his MAX title’s grit with Fury’s motivations: this is the government’s op, he’s just trying to get SHIELD back, and get business running back the way it should be.  In other words: Garth acknowledges the ridiculousness of the setup, pointing the finger at the current regime.  Castle is promised access to a slew of police / FBI / CIA intelligence for assisting, but it’s the memory-haunting aspect of the young girl being endangered that maybe is the key.  We cut to Castle on Russian soil; alas, neither he nor Fury were expecting the government cronies to give him a partner, ‘buddying’ him up with a Delta Force type.

And from thereon out, Garth plays it very, very fair.  Our government is up to no good, but sadly, believably so; the Russians are also up to no good, but it’s six on one hand, half-dozen the other, and they’re presented as much more human than the U.S.  Breaking into the silo is full of bloody fisticuffs, close shaves, and brief, black moments that expose the book’s soul.  Artist Dougie Braithwaite isn’t great at drawing kids, but Bill Reinhold’s weighty inks and Raul Treviño’s cold colors help to maintain the title’s bleak atmosphere.

It all kinda sorta goes the way you think – excepting the way Garth backs Castle out of the corner he’s in, which is brilliant – but that ends up being how the series’ continually mines its narrative gold: by delivering, on its surface, expected antics, and then stuffing it with all sorts of questionable folk with questionable motivations that offer quite the opportunity for a reader to sit and think on what they’ve just read.