Ultimate Comics Avengers 2 #1
Writer: Mark Millar
Penciler: Leinil Francis Yu
Inker: Gerry Alanguilan
Colorist: Laura Martin
Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99
Release date: April 28, 2010

And we have a new winner for most unwieldy title ever. Not that it has anything to do with the quality of the book, but Marvel should really drop the “Comics” part from their Ultimate titles. I’m just saying. Anyway, let’s talk about the actual issue — Ultimate Comics Avengers 2 #1.

Nick Fury continues to assemble his team of black ops super-heroes, and this issue he goes after the Punisher. We see him do his thing in brutal fashion, until Fury is able to trick the Punisher and arrest him. The Punisher is then offered a choice, join the Avengers, or go to jail, and I think we all know what Punisher’s answer is, (otherwise, we’d have a pretty boring series).

I’m kind of surprised Mark Millar hasn’t written more stories featuring the Punisher before. He seems like the perfect character for Millar’s style of over the top violence, and Millar makes good use of him here. This is a Punisher who is the best at what he does, and what he does is shoot the crap out of a ton of people. The first eight pages of this issue are an orgy of violence, and are filled with classic Punisher action. It’s a Millar-written story, so it’s not surprising that the action is well done.