Wow. I can’t believe they did that.
There is no way I can talk about this issue without getting into some really specific plot points, so
Spoiler Warning
Wilson Fisk, the once-Kingpin of Crime, is dead. This isn't a "no body, no crime" comic book death where he can easily resurface in a few issues. This is a "two Uzis emptied into him at close range, with lingering shots of his incredibly bloody body" kind of death. It seems significantly more likely to stick than your average Marvel resurrection.
Man, is Daredevil going to be ticked when he finds out.
All-Points Bulletin
All the players—Frank "Punisher" Castle, Wilson "Kingpin" Fisk, Tombstone and his gang, and the police—converge on a single location, and all hell breaks loose. It’s exactly as the Punisher planned. There’s not much to analyze here; it’s one sprawling, visceral fight scene filled with plenty of blood and fire.
By the time the smoke clears, Fisk is dead, Tombstone is headed to jail, and Castle’s old "friend" Microchip has been reunited with the Punisher. Heaven help him.
Add a Little Violence
This was a solid but unremarkable conclusion to a solid but unremarkable miniseries. Despite the promises made in the solicitations, we never actually received an explanation for how Fisk managed to pull Castle out of Weirdworld—and I suppose no one can ask him now.
However, my favorite aspect of this issue is seeing Frank back in full possession of his marbles. He finally remembers that he isn't just the blunt instrument Fisk tried to use him as; he’s a Marine, a leader, and a master tactician. While he certainly blew up and shot a lot of people, there was real Psy-Ops and strategy involved in getting all the players into the right place at the right time.
I know the Thomas Jane movie version of the Punisher has its detractors, but that was always one of my favorite things about it: Frank was a thinker and a planner, not just a mindless force of nature. Kudos to the creative team for bringing that version of the character back to the forefront.
Men In the Chair
Our creative team is once again Benjamin Percy and Julius Ohta. Percy has been writing the Punisher for a while now, and he’ll be steering the ship for the upcoming ongoing series as well. Now that Castle is finally himself again, I can confidently say Percy has a great handle on the character; as long as the plots become a bit more complex, the new title should be in good hands.
On art, Ohta handles action with expertise, which is lucky since this issue has it in spades. While I still find his rendition of Castle a bit too hulking to be taken seriously, it certainly makes him stand out amidst the chaos. The most important rule for an action-heavy issue is that it must be easy to follow and never boring—Ohta’s work is neither.
As an aside, I think this issue might have used more red ink than both issues of Logan: Black, White, and Blood combined. It definitely earned that Red Band designation. It’s going to be very interesting to see how they tone things down for the ongoing series, considering it won't have that same label.
After-Action Report
Punisher (Red Band) #5, like the rest of the miniseries before it, has some good moments but isn't spectacular overall. The pacing feels paradoxically too fast and uneven at the same time; the blood and gore brought by the Red Band label never feels like anything more than gratuitous. Furthermore, the death of Wilson Fisk feels like it was positioned purely to generate "buzz" for Frank Castle’s return and the upcoming ongoing series.
It also feels uncoordinated with the broader Daredevil office—Fisk’s characterization here doesn’t align with where he was at the end of Saladin Ahmed’s Daredevil run, and now that he’s dead, there’s no way to adjust or fix that discrepancy.
There are some interesting ideas in place leading into the ongoing series, which won't carry the gratuitous Red Band label; perhaps the storytelling will work a little better there. In today’s world, Frank Castle remains incredibly relevant, so it’s definitely the right time to have brought him back. In the words of a much better Punisher story: "Welcome Back, Frank."