Thus far in the series, Garth Ennis has explored Punisher as an actor on the world stage: The arcs had him interacting with FBI, CIA, IRA and SHIELD. In this, the fourth arc, he gets back to his street crime roots.
Nicky Cavella, a junior Mafioso with ambition, figures out how to hurt Frank Castle: By digging up the graves of his family and literally pissing on their remains. Which causes Punisher to go on a rampage against not just the mafia but the street gangs who were also involved.
The aftershocks of this tale reverberated for a few more story arcs, notably with the NYPD’s “anti-Punisher” initiative, after Castle gets framed for beating up two cops. “Up is Down and Black is White” is the most complex storyline so far, with several subplots, terrific character development of both the hero and the various villains and foul-mouthed, sex-crazed FBI Agent O’Brien, from “Kitchen Irish,” who finally gets to find out if Punisher has a big dick. Even Fernandez, whose art I didn’t much care for in the “Kitchen Irish” arc, brings his “A” game. It may be the best Punisher tale of all time. I’ve probably said that about more than just this one story from Ennis’ run and, depending on the day, I’m probably right. They’re all great.
Also, we find out in issue #19 that Punisher has been on the job for thirty years and his body count is over 2K. Neat statistic!
This is the most fun of all of them. I know a lot of you will disagree, but the story and subplots here are deeper—even if it lacks the emotional hit of Slavers or the balls-out ridiculousity of Barracuda.
Best dialogue: O’Brien: “I gave the cup with the balls in them to the nurse at the E.R. Figured they could sew them back on or something.”
Roth: “You can’t sew balls back on, O’Brien!”
O’Brien: “How would I know? The only thing I know about balls is how to bust them.”
English (US) · 