(I originally read these comics in late March 2016)
After a meteoric rise in popularity brought about by the character's first limited series in 1986, the Punisher had largely gone out of fashion by 1995. His three simultaneous ongoing titles were cut back to just this one, and it's one of the most bizarre chapters in his history.
Sentenced to die in the electric chair after killing Nick Fury in the 'Over the Edge' crossover (which I read as part of the Peter David Hulk run last year), Frank Castle is spared his fate by an ageing Mafia (not "Maggia"?) don who offers him a proposition: take over the running of his empire and try to make a difference from the inside. Without too much deliberation and against all common sense, he agrees. Stupid, stupid. Writer John Ostrander tries to make the dumb premise work, but it reeks of desperation. It gets worse when Frank starts sporting a "badass" '90s ponytail. Tom Lyle draws the majority of the run and he's one of my most hated artists of the period, with a whole host of visual tics to annoy. However, he unexpectedly makes a decent writer on the two-issue team-up with Spider-Man, even if the visuals are by committee and emblematic of grotesque '90s excess.
The mob storyline comes to an abrupt conclusion in issues # 11 and 12 and from there Frank is pushed into another story as a S.H.I.E.L.D. lackey, his mission to protect a prominent, pro-mutant preacher in the wake of the line-wide 'Onslaught' crossover. The Punisher feels ill-placed in what should otherwise be an X-Men story. Another desperate attempt to get the readership up, no doubt. Anyway, the run ends with Frank as an amnesiac hiding out in an abandoned church. His next appearances were in Heroes for Hire (1997) # 8 and 9, also by Ostrander.
This run remains largely readable during the mob story line at least, but there's little doubt this is a chapter in the life of Frank Castle that's best forgotten.
Spider-Man/Punisher: Family Plot (1996) # 1/2 are collected in:
Softcover:
Punisher (1995) # 11 is collected in:
Hardcover:
Softcover:
