Books like The Punisher MAX, Vol. 5: The Slavers

Score: 4.00 out of 5Grade: 80% (A-) | GreatThe last thing I expected from a Punisher story was to reflect deeply on real-world problems. Mix that in with some fatal Punisher executions, we got ourselves a book! Although there were many high points, some of the pacing felt rather slow and some characters weren’t as strong as they should have been. Here is my review of The Punisher MAX Vol. 5: The Slavers:The Good:Frank’s brutal yet brilliant executions are the absolute highlight of this book. The best has to be his gruesome torturing strategy to get Cristu to talk! All I gotta say is I’m glad I ain’t Cristu… but for the most part, that’s the best of the bunch. The other executions were still great, but they never quite reached the same level, I mean, just look at that…ouch!The buddy-cop duo of Parker and Miller were great! They both had no filters so the dialogue and banter between them was fantastic. Every time they popped up, it was a nice break from the dark and mature themes spread throughout this book. Although they may not be the "best of friends”, they’re partners, and partners look out for each other. I appreciate that. The two of them became my favourite characters in this book.It’s always a pleasure to read a Punisher story that balances both his big, scary murdering side and his soft, protective, fatherly side. It makes for a great dynamic throughout this book. He can be both the scariest thing you have ever seen, like the Grim Reaper, or he can be a saviour in disguise, like a guardian angel. But, however good he may be, he’s still a murdering psychopath and I love him for it.There’s a ton of social commentary in this. For the most part, it’s related to the lack of justice on modern-day slavery and prostitution. It was delivered well enough so that it never felt like we were being beaten over the head with these social issues. There was a nice balance of facts and a call to action that really got the reader thinking. It actually got me thinking in terms of how ignorant I can be when I’m given the cold-hard facts, yet do nothing about it. I wasn’t expecting to think deeply about social issues in a Punisher book! But kudos to Ennis on that one!The Bad:The story never really hits its stride until halfway through when Frank starts executing the baddies one-by-one. The first half, for the most part, was a large introduction to what the story was about and I feel like it was a little slow. However, Frank’s executions after the halfway point were brutal, creative and well worth the wait.I was more of a fan of Tiberiu than his son Cristu. Cristu was a businessman, but kind of boring. Tiberiu was a crazy old f*** and entertaining as hell! Cristu’s partner Vera also didn’t do much for me. Sure she’s a horrible person, but every character in the Punisher universe are pretty bad people. I just had a lot more fun with Tiberiu and all the ridiculous shenanigans he was up to.There’s a dumb moment where Frank jumps out of hiding and starts shooting at like 10 goons with absolutely no cover to protect him. I know the Punisher is supposed to be over-the-top testosterone fun, but come on, Frank is a lot smarter than that. Just a dumb moment that was still entertaining nonetheless. Another dumb moment was how fast Frank took down Tiberiu. You want to save the best for last, and the last tilt was just disappointing. I thought the old man would have put up more of a fight. I didn’t really care for the detective and the captain conspiring to take down the Punisher. It was meh, whatever, nothing special. I also felt Viorica’s rant was a little long too. It felt more like a “here’s everything you need to know so that the plot can move forward”. It’s heartbreaking what happened to her baby Anna, but Viorica was basically a plot device so that Frank can kill a bunch of dudes and punish some really bad people. She was around for the beginning then was only mentioned later on; I felt like she was a wasted character.Conclusion:Ultimately, I really enjoyed this book. The second half is a lot stronger than the first half, but overall, this was a great read. All the villains got their just ends and it was a beautiful sight to behold. I’d recommend this book to just about any comic fan, but only if you’re old enough. This book doesn’t shy away from displaying some brutal executions with very mature themes. And in honour of Netflix’s Punisher being cancelled, I end this review with a farewell. R.I.P. Punisher 2017-2019 – you will be missed.