5. The Trial of the Punisher #2 by Marc Guggenheim and Mico Suayan (Marvel)
Regular Marvel readers will know artists get moved around a lot on titles because of Marvel's insane shipping schedule with one artist doing one issue, a different artist doing the next, and so on, with a series often having around 2, 3, or 4 regular artists. But on a 2-issue micro-series like The Trial of the Punisher, Leinil Francis Yu couldn't draw both issues? Weird. So Mico Suayan steps in for this second, and concluding part, to Frank Castle on trial - though Suayan's art is even more weirdly very Yu-like. The story from
the first issue was that Frank had murdered - or punished - District Attorney Alex Shapiro and turned himself in. Now on trial for his life, will the court find the defendant legally insane or sane and guilty of his crimes - and what is Frank really planning? The question of why Matt Murdock aka Daredevil hasn't made an appearance given that this is set in a New York City courtroom is answered as Matt shows up to give testimony and the two characters share a nice aside in one panel. For a comic set in a courtroom, Guggenheim manages to fit in quick a number of action scenes through flashbacks, as the story reaches a satisfactory finale. I was worried the story might get a bit too abstract for what it's setting itself up for but Guggenheim manages to bring it around in a clever ending wrap-up that's distinctly Punisher-esque. If you love the Punisher, pick up this fun and clever micro-series while we wait for Garth Ennis to
return to the character next year.