Punisher Epic Collection: Circle Of Blood (The Punisher (1987-1995) Book 2) Kindle & comiXology

Just to put everyone at ease, this is not a Quad Graphics publication. Mine at least is the previous better quality. I missed most of these stories when i was younger, so I am glad they are available. Shipping was also very quick.

This hefty four hundred pages volume consists of three distinct parts. The first one is the original 1986 limited series. Punisher starts out being led by the guards in a prison. He was caught earlier and now has to pay the price. Of course, he won't stay in the prison for very long, helped by a mysterious cabal of do-gooders called the Trust. This is an excellent start for the character, high octane action highlighted by the stylish Mike Zeck/Scott Beatty art. By the way, the book includes a lot of the pencilled pages in the end, they look just as good or arguably even better in black and white. Steven Grant's Punisher depicted here is like an 80s action movie hero, a Chuck Norris you might say. I would recommend this book just for this part, but the other ones aren't bad either.The second large part is the first ten issues of the "unlimited" run (amusingly, they proclaim that on the cover). Pencilled by Klaus Janson and, later, Whilce Portacio, it has great movies, I mean, stories like the Punisher going after the Doomsday cult and Japanese ninjas in cahoots with the nefarious Wall Street traders. Did I say ninjas? I actually meant businessmen, they were ruthlessly murdering the stock exchange together. I didn't notice that in later portrayals but Mike Baron's Punisher is almost like Richard Stark's Parker at times, calculating, preparing, doing the legwork, and casing the joint with fake IDs and correct slang ready. Janson's art lends to that especially.The third part is the Assassin's Guild novel, also available standalone. This one has a very distinct Jorge Zaffino art, whom I admire from his still mostly undigitized Terror Inc. run. A group of ninja assassins (yes, more ninjas, please, they go well with the Punisher) now works with Castle to off the leader of a group of sinister lawyers. And that Lupin joke at the start never gets old.To sum it up, all the individual parts of the volume are both distinct enough providing some variety, and mesh well together to recommend this book for purchase. I'm keen to see how Mike Baron's run proceeds from here on and I'm firmly behind this depiction of the character.

I bought this in hard copy back in the '80s. It's still a good Punisher story, but it's one that's been told again (IIRC) in the 30 years since.These organized groups of rich guys operating outside the law always want to co-opt lone vigilantes, and if it's not them, it's rogue elements of the government, and in either case, it never really works out.Warning: once Mike Zeck left the limited series, the art went to pieces, IMHO. This includes the first few issues of the regular ongoing series that succeeded the LS, and Klaus Janson does the art on that.

The Circle of Blood storyline was the best out of the Epic Collection; 4 out of 5 stars. The rest was a hodgepodge of mediocrity and I wish I’d stuck to the Treasury Edition (or what er collection just collected the Circle of Blood storyline and nothing else). Took me almost a year to finish because of how reluctant I was to finish it. But I did, and now I never have to read it again. I gave it three stars for the DD issue and COB. Those were the only good ones. If you like this rendition of Punisher, than by all means get this book. I’d rather just stick to Garth Ennis’ run.

Mike Zeck and Jorge Zaffino are the best artists in this collection. The rest looks really unfinished. The stories, like any monthly, run the gamut from good to bad with Jo Duffys Assassin's Guild the best in the collection.

It is a really great comic book it’s realy interesting And I like it a lot from all the comics I have I think that’s the best comic

Colors are good, paper quality is decent vut thinner than previous Epics. This 500 page book is about 2/3 the size of Punisher Capital Punishment Epic because of it. Marvel needs to stop cost cutting on these $40 paperback books! Also, the spine is a little off, with a white line showing on it from the cover art.

This is not a Quad Graphics publication. Great quality and great stories. I read a lot of these at release, but missed quite a few. It's great to have these collected editions.

Don't be confused by this Epic featuring the very first issues of the Punisher's own series and yet being Volume 2 - it appears that, much as they did with the Silver Surfer, volume 1 will be collecting all of Frank Castle's notable previous appearances in other comicbooks for convenience. Here, though, was where his solo campaign truly began - first in a 5-issue limited series and then in a full ongoing.We begin with Castle in prison, although that doesn't last long - he's soon out and dispensing lethal justice on the mean streets again, his more... erratic behaviour in previous appearances written off as having been spiked by a cocktail of drugs. Steven Grant and Mike Zeck craft the initial miniseries, before Mike Baron and Klaus Janson take over for the ongoing, taking Frank around the United States and pitching him against organised crime, private militias, international terrorists and cult leaders.The Punisher was certainly an atypical protagonist even for the relatively gritty pages of eighties Marvel books - there are no superpowers here, and really no recurring characters save for Frank himself and his newly-introduced assistant Microchip - his antagonists certainly don't tend to outlive the stories they first appear in!Also included is the Punisher's crossover with Daredevil and the graphic novel Assassin's Guild, gorgeously wrought by Jo Duffy and Jorge Zaffino. It's amazing how quickly the character of the Punisher slotted into place as soon as he received his own book, becoming the vigilante killer that most people think of when they picture the antihero.Extras are certainly plentiful - six pages of Marvel Age material, two pages of the Punisher's entry from the Official Marvel Handbook, five pages from Mike Zeck's Punisher portfolio, a staggering twenty-one pages of original art by Zeck, Mike Vosburg and Klaus Janson, covers, pin-ups and editorials from Punisher magazine, covers from the Punisher Essentials, cover and foreword from the Circle of Blood TPB, house ads and a new afterword by editor Ralph Macchio. It's hard to think of a more comprehensive collection of Frank Castle's formative solo adventures.

Las primeras historias de EL MATON.Muy divertidas, accion pura y dejando al personaje con sus demonios internos a flor de piel.Dibujo dinamico y muy adecuado para la serie.Magnifica y por el precio esta excelente.

Fantástico volumen recopilatorio de la primera etapa de Punisher. Un clásico.

Punisher wie ich ihn liebe. Rauher 90er Action-Charme.

bought it cause of mike zeck's artwork