I've been thinking about asking for recommendations on the Punisher myself recently and haven't largely because it's difficult to define what I like about the character without running the risk of eliminating aspects that hadn't occurred to me.

The same team behind Circle of Blood (well, for the first four issues anyway) returned for the hardcover one-shot Return to Big Nothing.  I don't have enough experience with the character to know whether or not this was Zeck's only other work on the Punisher but I suspect that aside from covers, portfolios, and posters, this is it so far for work his done on interiors.  I liked the story though it operates on a much smaller scope than Circle of Blood.  It's more of The Punisher getting from Point A to B in interesting ways as opposed to running the unpredictable gauntlet that the former tale had him doing.

I've picked up some issues of War Journal cheap recently and really enjoyed most of them (these would be issues from round about 1991/92).  They're mostly self contained stories that frequently contain surprising amounts of introspective foresight on Castle's part pertaining to who he realizes he'll eventually become.  There's an acknowledgement on Castle's behalf that he isn't doing his psychological wellbeing any favors through his actions and it's often through his attempts to distance himself from the turmoil that being the Punisher demands, that serve as the set-up for some of these stories.

There's also greater variety to the plots than the character usually gets credited for.  One issue might have him thrown from a plane without a parachute and forced to rely on his wits to survive, another might have him impersonating a temperamental French chef to infiltrate a mob wedding.  Throughout though, his partnership and even friendship with Micro remains a constant.  It's strange to realize that as beautifully as the Punisher works as a solo character, he can be made to work just as perfectly with a partner with the right circumstances.  Eventually (I believe it's with Punisher: War Zone 1) Micro will realize just how far gone Castle is, but seeing how a remorseless killing machine behaves when he's got his mind on other things is pretty neat. 

May 6, 2015 16:41:14 GMT -5 thwhtguardian said:

What's Catwoman Vol.3 like after Cooke leaves?

Great until Cam Stewart leaves, then it kinda crashes and burns. In fact, I'd rate the Brad Rader and Cam Stewart issues as better than Cooke's. Sadly, after Stewart leaves, Paul Gulacy comes on, and while that's usually a good thing, it's a completely different aesthetic than what the book had presented before. Plus, some elements from the Halle Berry Catwoman movie get thrust upon Brubaker, who handles them admirably but you can tell his heart's not really in it anymore.

I definitely recommend the series to the end of Stewart's issues.  I'm not as keen on the Gulacy issues, but there's certainly worse comics out there.