Punisher Max, Volume 4: Up is Down and Black is White Book

Score: 4.33 out of 5
Grade: 87% (A) | Awesome

This book hits the ground running, but now the tables have turned - Frank is the target and Nicky Cavella is the slightly disturbed man gunning for him. Although the story contains some awesome characters and a spectacular beginning, it becomes a little disjointed towards the end and doesn't quite stick the landing. But nonetheless, there is still tons of bloody good fun to be had with this one. Here is my review of The Punisher MAX Vol. 4: Up is Down and Black is White:





The Good:

We finally get a solid sense of continuity in this series with the return of a few interesting characters. Who else do I start with other than Nicky Cavella. This man's upbringing certainly wasn't normal by any stretch of the imagination. Unpredictable, crazy and willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done, he is easily one of Ennis' best villains yet and one of my favourites. And don't even get me started on Auntie Mo (crazy old hag)! You begin to sympathize with Cavella despite all of his wild antics.





This book had fantastic supporting characters including O'Brien and Pittsy's sister, Teresa. Both these women were not to be messed with unless you wanted a serious ass kickin'! Pittsy's sister is basically a female version of Pittsy (from volume 1) and I thought it was hilarious. She's a tough and mean women, but every once in a while, she wants Nicky to slip her the beef. As for O'Brien, at first I wasn't totally sold on her, but as the book progressed, I became more and more invested in seeing her come out on top.





I also really enjoyed the art in this one. As I continue reading on, the art in this series keeps on getting better and better. Most notably, the panels with Frank are amazing! There are certain sequences of panels that capture his brute demeanor and it's marvelous to stare at.





This book happens to be quite funny too. Rather than the one-liner jokes that we're used to, it's nice to see these characters (which Ennis has done a fantastic job building) thrown into awkward/humorous situations. To some degree, they're normal humans like you or I, but it's just hilarious to see how they react to certain things.





The Bad:

Although I loved the character of Nicky Cavella, his final tilt with the Punisher was resolved too quickly which I felt cheated on. I think it was a case of me really liking the character, despite the character not really doing much - besides stirring the pot, and oh boy does he! I also loved the way his story ended. Word to the wise - never make things personal with Frank Castle.





Something that bothered me to a small degree was how the story unfolded. The first chunk of the book is amazing! It lays down the groundwork for a truly spectacular read. However, with such a strong beginning, the subsequent chapters of the story weren't able to maintain the high level of consistency. The pacing of the book felt slightly off at times especially when it began to juggle all the characters' stories.





Conclusion:

Overall, the story was great and the characters were awesome. I feel like some characters were underutilized and the story dwindled down towards the end, but I still had a great time with this. Although I'm just a few books deep on Ennis' run, I haven't felt any Punisher fatigue. This series has been a lot of fun so far and I owe it to the character development. If you're looking for a violent, vulgar and well-written comic, this series is definitely for you. Don't believe me? Just look at how happy Frank is below! That's him on a good day…