Frank Castle’s family was gunned down by mobsters in Central Park; he survived and became The Punisher, a vengeance-fuelled killing machine waging a one-man war on organised crime.
If you’re even vaguely familiar with the character then you probably already know his origin story, in which case you don’t need to read The Punisher: Year One. It doesn’t tell you anything new but takes four issues to tell you what I managed in one sentence at the start of this review.
Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning throw in a sleazy reporter character who’s trying to make a buck off of Frank’s tragedy but other than that we simply see what most readers can infer when reading a Punisher comic (there’s usually a flashback or reference to his origins told within a panel or two in most of his stories). It’s such a pointless book.
Some Year One books (which, if you’re new to superhero comics, is translated as ‘Character Name: Origin’) add something to the character, a layer of meaning or something thoughtful. This is why Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s The Punisher: Born is so much better of an origin story, because it takes you back further than that day in the park and places The Punisher’s beginning to the Vietnam War. Ennis manages to build on the character and improve his origins to make more sense. Abnett/Lanning do nothing but regurgitate the somewhat silly accepted origin already known by most readers.
The Punisher: Year One is instantly forgettable, disposable trash - I highly recommend The Punisher: Born as a far better comic and origin story for the character instead.
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