10 Punisher Graphic Novels You Must Read Before You Die

6. The Slavers

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Marvel Comics

After the ridiculous heights of his Marvel Knights run, it was time for Garth Ennis to take the Punisher back to his roots. Again.

Punisher: MAX did away with (most of) the comedy, the Marvel superheroes and brought us a pocket universe of extreme violence, sex, swearing and punishment. So much punishment.

After its inaugural story arcs, Punisher MAX really came into its own with The Slavers, in which Castle tackles a white-slavery ring, depicted with horrifying realism and grit by Ennis and artist Leandro Fernandez. To date, The Slavers holds the distinction of being the darkest, nastiest Punisher story ever told, going all-in on the nihilism and brutalism which would come to typify Ennis' run on Punisher MAX.

Contributor
Contributor

A film critic and professional writer of over ten years, Joel Harley has a deep and abiding love of all things horror, Batman and Nicolas Cage. He can be found writing online and in print, all over the Internet and in especially good bookstores.