"With Heckler and Koch"
This issue was collected in the Punisher: Very Special Holidays trade and to be honest, its the only good story from there. The other two stories are disappoint Punisher stories from Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray. Stories that felt like they wrote them as generic action stories and just used the Punisher because that was the contract they could collect with. Andy Diggle succeeds because this story is a Punisher story. There is no Romance, just vengeance.
Andy Diggle is one of the better writers when it comes to heavy weapons, he is the man who re-imagined The Losers after all. If you are a fan of gritty violence from either Diggle's work on The Losers or just high powered weapons working in the real world Punisher stories then this is a book you may enjoy.
The Premise is standard Punisher. Punisher punishes bad guys. What is nice about this issues is the build up. Diggle gets Frank to lure out a major crime boss by being very lucky and very creative. Yes, the cover is not miss leading, Frank does dress up as Santa. I am a huge Hellblazer fan and I think Diggle has Santa issues. In Diggle's Hellblazer run, John does the unthinkable with Santa's dead bones. In this story, Diggle has the Punisher warp kids minds by having Frank be a vengeful Santa in front of orphans.
Diggle's language and the visual layouts from Kyle Hotz work perfect together, you can say "suddenly they line up and it makes it easy for me." Diggle, just has a better sense on how a kill would really work and that is why comparing his single to both of Jimmy and Justin's, Diggle wins hands down. For example, Diggle used Claymores as a trap. Jimmy and Justin magically tie people under plane tires for landing.
Even not comparing Diggle to anyone else, this is a solid Punisher story. Not the best story ever, that would be asking too much from a punisher story. But it is enjoyable.
Happy Holidays, Cheers!
- Silkcuts