3. The Punisher #1 by Nathan Edmondson and Mitch Gerads (Marvel)
I love the Punisher. Or more accurately, Garth Ennis made me love the Punisher thanks to his legendary Punisher MAX series, and Jason Aaron, another writer whose work I adore, managed to rise to Ennis' level and produce 4 incredible books that killed off the old Vietnam vet Punisher. So Nathan Edmondson has some big boots to fill. Thankfully, the first issue of his run is actually really good! Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, is doing what he does best, taking down organized crime. Tackling the drug problems on the west coast of America, Frank takes the fight to the drug producers in Mexico and following the trail back to America, leaving corpses behind in his wake the Punisher is back, alright! The tone of the series isn't as grim as other Punisher stories there are even some moments where Frank's grinning! and he's grown his hair out too, but it's still a comic with an edge as Frank goes beyond the realm of most Marvel superheroes by killing guys, one by one (but they're scumbags so you're still rooting for Frank). The killings are quite imaginatively done with Edmondson using Frank's surroundings to dictate his method rather than have Frank simply pulling out a gun and popping a guy in the head. There's no sign of Micro (thank god!), there's a new cop character Frank's friendly with, and there's a group of old, somewhat familiar Marvel army characters that're gunning for Frank, so Edmondson's Punisher series feels fresh and exciting, getting off to a brilliant start with this issue. That's two street level characters Black Widow and the Punisher Nathan Edmondson has successfully rejuvenated! One of the supporting characters puts it best: "We need the Punisher around... because everyone isn't afraid of the Avengers".