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As a long time reader of Punisher MAX, I can definitely tell you that including an explanation of the “Achilles Heel” in this issue wouldn’t have really meshed with flow of the story at that point, plus the entire Achilles Heel is a reference to a previous storyline anyway, so recapping it would have taken more explanation than necessary to set up the story at the point where it was.

Basically, the widows realize that the Punisher really fucking hates white slavery/prostitution rings (as established in The Slavers) and they set up one of their number as a fake prostitute to lure him into an ambush. I believe this all happened in the third part of the 7-part storyline, and she was killed in the first few pages of fourth part, so this point the Achilles heel was moot for about half the storyline.

His name is the Punisher. I find this “every comic should be written as if it were someone’s first comic” mentality very irritating. The intro recap page is more than enough. When I was in fourth grade I started reading Captain America, in the middle of a six part storyline. Characters were introduced, the past was alluded to, and hey, I stuck around. I used common sense and context clues to figure out what was going on, and rode with it.
This Punisher comic was the last part in a six part storyline, which had foundations built in early parts of the run. It’s written for people who follow it pretty much month to month, and that’s just fine. If every comic started with another big recap of how Punisher’s family died, or Spider-man was bit by a spider and Uncle Ben died, god, how tedious. The very nature of comics is that they have a huge back story. This is Punisher #49. Anyone picking it up should be well aware that they are coming in very late, and adjust accordingly. The kid late to class doesn’t always get make up work. And if that seems uninviting and indicative of the status of comics in popular culture and why they remain a bit of a niche interest, well, that’s how they were designed. People that care will read them, and lazy people can do something else.

I’m not sure why you’re so angry, Lorin. The whole point of the column is to see how the book would work for a person who’s never picked up a comic book in their lives. I’m not saying Ennis should completely recap WHY he’s the Punisher or even give us his real name (which isn’t the Punisher, no matter what you say), I’m just pointing out some places where a new reader might be confused. This is a pretty good example of a book giving you enough information so you can follow it, actually. I’m just mentioning something from a very specific point of view, and not one that I necessarily share. If I reviewing this book as “myself” (as in someone who has read his share of comics), I’d have a different take on it. But that’s not the point of the column. No need to get mad.

But superhero comics are serious shit, Greg!

I apologize if my tone came across as angry. I guess I’m just tired of the idea of “what if this were someone’s first comic”. It seems like an easy way to pick at a comic, and many critiques done in a similar fashion work from an idea that not only is this the readers first comic, but the readers first anything, and I think it fails to take into account normal human understanding and common sense. I really enjoy this site, but this one area continues to peev me off. Inaccessible to the casual comic reader, ok, you might have something, like that last issue of JLA. But otherwise I feel like you might as well be looking at every comic as if it were the first thing anyone had ever read ever, which strikes me as pointless. Are these reviews attempting to strike at the reasons why comics aren’t growing as a interest even as comic movies and such gain more headway in the mainstream? Then maybe the question isn’t so much the presentation as it is the format. “Lost” is a confusing show that requires a lot of back story and knowledge to fully follow and enjoy. It’s a big hit. It’s also a TV show. Maybe the problem isn’t that the comics aren’t accessible enough, but more that people just don’t like comics that much. Which, we’ll all agree, is too bad.

Hopefully I don’t sound angry this time.

Keep in mind, Lorin, that “What if this was someone’s first comic?” is kind of the whole point of this particular feature.

With regard to the latest issue of JLA, the inaccessibility of it was one of the minor criticisms – basically, the entire comic just sucked. I understand what you’re saying, and I don’t think I do too much of that around here, but with this column, I’m on a bit of a word count, so I pare it down to the bone. With my posts about old comics, I get into accessibility, sure, but also how well the comic makes you want to come back, which isn’t completely about accessibility. The reason I get annoyed with regular superhero comics is because those are the most visible ones, so more people will find them. Also, if you’re having a crossover with another title (like Outsiders and Checkmate), you have to assume people who don’t read the one title will pick it up. Winick did a pretty lousy job, in my opinion, of bringing readers of Checkmate (like me) up to speed on his team. Rucka didn’t do a perfect job, but he was better than Winick was. Winick’s awful writing made me not want to pick up the book anyway, but if his writing had been decent, I still might have stayed away because the characters weren’t introduced terribly well. That’s all I’m saying. With this latest issue of The Punisher, Ennis does a pretty good job and bringing us into the book. I just had a few minor criticisms about a few minor points, that’s all.

If I’m complaining about accessibility more often, feel free to call me on it. I too jumped right into superhero comics and had to find my way, and I did all right. As usual, I wonder if because back in the late 1980s writers did a better job with making things clearer. I don’t know.

I started reading in the 90′s and was able to figure it out… I think if you’re at the right age, there’s just something cool about people with powers fighting each other, so you don’t mind having to piece it together.
It was only when I realised that not everything fit into a grand scheme that I got really annoyed with long running subplots (x-men in the 90′s… once you realised it wasn’t going anywhere, there just wasn’t a point).
That said, I was excited when I first read an issue where the characters did nothing but sit around and talk, so who knows.