This deluxe hardcover collects Punisher MAX Vol. 5: The Slavers and Punisher MAX Vol. 6: Barracuda, plus extras. In The Slavers, Frank Castle brutally dispatches a crew of Albanian thugs menacing a young woman on a pitch-black Brooklyn night, in a dead-end alley. Her name is Viorica, she's from Moldavia, and when she tells Frank her story, that's when the real killing starts! And in Barracuda, the Punisher meets his match! Jigsaw, Ma Gnucci, the Russian - Frank has faced some fearsome foes in his day, but none as stone-cold rotten to the bone as the Barracuda. He's big, he's mean, and the last thing on earth you want is to see him smile. Collects Punisher #25-36.

This deluxe hardcover collects Punisher Max Volume 7: Man of Stone and Punisher Max Volume 8: Widowmaker, plus extras. In Man of Stone, two new players arrive to work out a lethal grudge As British Special Forces and Taliban insurgents face off in the Afghan highlands. One is Frank Castle, the man they call the Punisher. The other is General Nikolai Alexandrovich Zakharov, Soviet war criminal, known as the Man of Stone. Neither will stop until the other is dead - and Zakharov has brought not only a platoon of elite shock troops, but CIA traitor Rawlins, blackest of black operators. Castle has allies of his own, but this is old, bad, bloody country. You go to war in Afghanistan...and everybody dies. And in Widowmaker, five Mafia widows are going to try what so many of their menfolk failed at: They're going to take the Punisher down. But they're not the only ones out for revenge. You spend your life married to organized crime, you end up with things in your past you'd rather forget. And for these women, the past is coming back in the worst way possible. Armed. Deadly. And hungry for justice. Collects Punisher #37-49.

A white skull on a field of black.

In the Marvel Universe, no symbol inspires fear in the hearts of criminals like the stark calling card of the Punisher. His wife and children killed in a mob shootout, former serviceman Frank Castle wages a one-man war on crime, and he won't stop until he's won no matter how many bullets it takes.

Originally a character who rose to popularity in the law and order Reagan 1980s, The Punisher has made a spectacular and astonishing return to the top of the comic book charts. Reinterpreted through the eyes of visionary creators Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon the masterminds behind DC's Preacher this ultra violent urban vigilante is taken over the top in stylish, Tarantino-esque fashion. This time around, the mountains of ammunition are heavily sprinkled with black humor and stinging social commentary that Ennis and Dillon have become famous for.

The story is pure mythic archetype, with a several post-modern twists. After a long absence, the Punisher has returned to the streets of Manhattan, and a criminal elite that has grown over that time is set on guard. In particular, Ma Gnucchi and her crime family have been targeted by Castle. Can one man take down an entire criminal organization with heavy armament alone?

After he watched his family murdered by the Mafia, ex-Marine Frank Castle vowed to use his skills to eliminate all criminals from the face of the Earth as the one-man army known only as the Punisher. Now, the deadly vigilante attempts to cleanse the entire world of thugs, traveling from the jungles of South America to the war-torn streets of Northern Ireland. In a time when people are hungry for justice, the Punisher satisfies by taking the fight directly to the evil men that threaten life around the world.

Writer Garth Ennis – whose classic but contemporary take on the Punisher serves as one of the strongest influences for the upcoming Punisher feature film – tells more tales of vigilante Frank Castle’s bloody and unending war on organized crime. In "Brotherhood," the Punisher has to deal with corruption in the police force. And in "The Underneath," The Punisher finds something horrible in the tunnels beneath Manhattan

The planet Thanagar, home to a predatory, militaristic civilization, has long found itself in opposition with Rann, a world devoted to the unending pursuit of knowledge.
For year, they have endured an uneasy, unsettled peace.
But now, in a cruel twist of fate, Rann finds itself teleported into the Thanagarian planetary system, threatening the existence of both worlds and inflaming age-old hatreds.
As tensions evolve into an all-out war, heroes from both worlds - Hawkman and Adam Strange - unite to prevent genocide. If they fail, the conflict threatens to engulf other worlds in interstellar chaos.
Alliances will be forged, friendships will be tested, and the balance of galactic power forever changed as the fate of two worlds is decided.

This massive book is the finale to the saga of the death and rebirth of Superman, including the final fate of the four impostors who attempted to take his place, including Steel and Superboy. This is the definitive volume for all fans of Superman.

When a medieval scroll disappears from a Paris church, Doctor Julien Sauniere investigates, uncovering a series of horrific ritual murders and an ancient secret society. Julien cannot let these shadowy figures retreat into the darkness, lest they take up their killing once again. His investigation turns into a one-man quest into the bizarre secrets of the Catholic Church.

From a disgraced order of knights to the secrets of a neoclassic painter, Julien Sauniere follows a trail of conspiracy that extends all the way to the walls of Jerusalem during the first crusade. In a Europe where sorcerers stalk the streets and the Catholic Church reigns supreme, Julien pursues a truth that could change the world forever. Powerful forces have dedicated themselves to ensuring he does not succeed.

"Wake up, sir. We're here." It's a simple enough opening line—althoughnot many would have guessed back in 1991 thatthis would lead to one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comics of the second half of the century.In Preludes and Nocturnes, Neil Gaiman weaves the story of a man interested in capturing the physical manifestation of Death but who instead captures the King of Dreams. By Gaiman's own admission there's a lot in this first collection that is awkward and ungainly—which is not to say there are not frequent moments of greatness here. The chapter "24 Hours" is worth the price of the book alone; it stands as one of the most chilling examples of horror in comics. And let's not underestimate Gaiman's achievement of personifying Death as a perky, overly cheery, cute goth girl! All in all, I greatly prefer the roguish breaking of new ground in this book to the often dull precision of the concluding volumes of the Sandman series. —Jim Pascoe

This volume of Neil Gaiman's THE SANDMAN book series features the first appearance of Death, the Sandman's older sister. As Clive Barker says in his Introduction, ". . . there is a wonderful willful quality to this mix . . .slapstick comedy, mystical musings, and the grimmest collection of serial killers this side of Death Row." Eighth printing. Graphic novel format. Mature readers.

The third book of the Sandman collection is a series of four short comic book stories. What's remarkable here (considering the publisher and the time that this was originally published) is that the main character of the book—the Sandman, King of Dreams—serves only as a minor character in each of these otherwise unrelated stories. (Actually, he's not even in the last story.) This signaled a couple of important things in the development of what is considered one of the great comics of the second half of the century. First, it marked a distinct move away from the horror genre and into a more fantasy-rich, classical mythology-laden environment. And secondly, it solidly cemented Neil Gaiman as a storyteller. One of the stories here, "A Midsummer Night's Dream," took home the World Fantasy Award for best short story—the first time a comic was given that honor. But for my money, another story in Dream Country has it beat hands down. "A Dream of a Thousand Cats" has such hope, beauty, and good old-fashionedchills that rereading it becomes a welcome pleasure. —Jim Pascoe

In many ways, Season of Mists is the pinnacle of the Sandmanexperience. After a brief intermission of four short stories (collected as Dream Country) Gaiman continued the story of the Dream King that he began in the first two volumes. Here in volume 4, we find out about the rest of Dream's Endless family (Desire, Despair, Destiny, Delirium, Death, and a seventh missing sibling). We find out the story behind Nada, Dream's first love, whom we met only in passing during Dream's visit to hell in the first book. When Dream goes back to hell to resolve unfinished business with Nada, he finds her missing along with all of the other dead souls. The answer to this mystery lies in Lucifer's most uncharacteristic decision—a delicious surprise.There is something grandiose about this story, in which each chapter ends withsuch suspense and drive to read the next. This book is best summed up by a toasttaken from the second chapter: "To absent friends, lost loves, old gods, and theseason of mists; and may each and every one of us always give the devil hisdue." —Jim Pascoe