Punisher Max Vol. 4: Up is Down and Black is White Paperback – January 1, 2006

This is Garth Ennis writing the character he was born to write. He makes the Punisher real and really scarey. This is a story about the mobster Nickey Cavella who makes the mistake that most mobsters do when they go up against Frank Castle. They don't realize who they are actually messing with. This dipstck Cavella actually digs up Frank's family and urinates on their remains. Then he videotapes himself doing it and sends it to the local tv station. That is a death sentence he writes for himself. The artwork is excellent and the scene where Frank is in the bar and the news comes about his family you see the face of punishment itself.I highly recommend this as any of the Punisher stories Ennis writes. I read some of the comics he's wrote about superheroes and its just not his best work. This is his character even though marvel owns the rights. Cool characters,lots of action,and good artwork makes this a must read. Check it out.

This is one of my favorite Punisher Stories. There are some sick and despicable acts in this story. The Punisher guns down endless amounts of gangsters and carves a path of destruction before he finally gets to Nicki Cavella. The way Nicki Cavella begs for his life before he is killed is hilarious! You can't help but laugh and smile. Let's just say what goes around comes around! As far as Nicki Cavella's backstory goes it reminds me a little bit of Oedipus Rex.

There are some REALLY disturbing moments in this book. Whilst I love reading these, it does make one wonder what goes on in that head of Garth Ennis'!! In this collection, gangster Nicky Cavella decides to call out Castle by disinterring Castle's family and urinating on their corpses and videotaping it. Bad, bad, bad idea. There are some things that just aren't wise and this is one of them. As you can well imagine, the body count is apocalyptic. Gallons of blood flow. While I like the fact that many characters are reappearing, it is easy to forget excatly what role they played several books ago. It is nice to see Castle back in the States and not messing around in spy-type stuff. Characters like Cavella, Teresa, and Rawlins keep the book interesting, entertaining, and disturbing. Cavella is the best of all of them in that he really is a fresh take on the mafiosi style gangster.

I have all of the volumes of this series..I refer to it as the Ennis collection...and it's bloody brilliant..because the Punisher is the singular mature character from the Marvel universe from inception of the character. As for this particular volume, Ennis doesn't fail to please...beautifully written, stylistic...character developments (and there are some sick characters here people...be warned)...once you pick it up, the art and story flows seamlessly, you can't put it down, whether you are a hardcore Punisher fan or just an occasional reader...

this graphic novel is the most brutal yet of the Punisher Max series, and Garth Ennis brings it!! artwork is top notch as usual, and as you read through this graphic Novel, you just can't wait to see Nicky Cavella get what's coming to him!!

The entire Punisher MAX series is great. Its gritty, no nonsense and too the point. Great stories, awesome art work and one of my favorite characters written in a very adult fashion. Highly Recommended!

Volume 4 had certainly pushed the boundaries. Interesting how this issue shows what made Nick Cavella the person he was.Although I have to warn some of you that there's very strong sexual content here, this is certainly nothing a true Punisher fan would miss.

Grath Ennis brings us back to the world of frank castle in Punisher max vol 4. Monster boss Nick Cavella works with Rawlins(from vol 1&3) and try to figure out how to make the Punisher disappear. When nicky goes too far with his attempt to draw frank out, castle goes on a psychotic war path. Another good read of course, although I found the ending to be a bit weak...I give this 3.8/5 stars.