In 2001, Marvel Comics shrugged off the censorship of the Comics Code Authority and began printing comics made for adult audiences under a new MAX imprint. The first Marvel comic to bear the MAX logo was Brian Michael Bendis's modern-day classic Alias, which introduced the character of Jessica Jones, a hard-drinking superpowered private investigator with a chip on her shoulder. Fans loved both the comic and the character, making the first MAX series an instant success.
Of the various other MAX comics printed since, none quite stood out as much as Garth Ennis's 2004 Punisher MAX, a grim blood-drenched epic worthy of Frank Castle. Here are five reasons Alias is the best Marvel MAX comic (& 5 why it's Punisher):
10 Alias: The First Word
As the first MAX comic Marvel ever produced, Alias had a lot weighing on its success. It had to make a good impression. Writer Brian Michael Bendis held nothing back, opening strong with an amazing first issue, which featured taboo sex, Captain America's sex life, and strong language.
The most telling part of the first issue is it's first word, as the comic opens by dropping an F Bomb, thus exploding all previous expectations of censorship previously imposed under the Comics Code Authority.
9 Punisher: The First Line
Alias may have a first word, but Garth Ennis's 2004 Punisher comic opens by dedicating the first eight pages to the Punisher reliving his harrowing origin story as fans have to see just how his family died. The first line of internal dialogue goes as follows: "They hated the old man so much they shot him through my family."
What a line! It does not get any easier from there as the Punisher recounts his daughter's face as she saw her organs bubbling out of her broken body and the desperate last look between him and his wife as she died. The opening set the tone for the whole series.
8 Alias: Young, Angry, & Poor
For a long time, women were underwritten in comics. Some superhero women were overly upbeat, bordering on being vapid. Others were pining romantics without agency. Some lacked any defined personalities, such as Jean Grey, who spent years being portrayed as "the Girl" of her team.
From the very beginning, Jessica Jones felt like a real person. She was complex. She was young but not naive. She struggled to pay bills and work for a living, had a fierce temper, and real opinions on a variety of topics. Most importantly, Jessica might not always be likable, but she was relatable.
7 Punisher: Old & Bitter
The Punisher was originally written as a Vietnam veteran, something that feels dated today. To put it in perspective, the Vietnam War ended 45 years ago, while Captain America was frozen in ice for only twenty years and still was described as a man out of time!
In the Max series, Frank Castle is still a Vietnam vet. Rather than being written as a young soldier recently returned from the frontlines, he depicted as an old man who has been killing for decades. This raw, grizzled interpretation of the character is an underdog, going up against younger healthier combatants, and yet a terrifyingly experienced master of death.
6 Alias: Anti-Superhero
Jessica Jones developed superpowers in a tragic accident. Then she did what all superpowered people do: dressed up in a gaudy costume. After a traumatic encounter encounter with the Purple Man, she retired from the superhero life, realizing it was never something she wanted.
The "washed up superhero" was an original idea at the time and suited her character. There are more ways to heroically use superpowers than just dressing in spandex and punching out villains. That Jessica regularly interacted with heroes like Luke Cage, Daredevil, and Carol Danvers made the story--and her decision--stand out as something unique.
5 Punisher: It's So Human
Most Marvel stories focus on superhuman feats of daring. Even unpowered heroes like Iron Man and the Punisher have regular encounters with superpowered enemies--or at least they do in the main Marvel Universe. But MAX comics offered something different for fans. Something darker.
Frank Castle took on organized crime and had shootouts with Russian military personnel. When a shotgun blast destroyed one of his ribs, there was no healing magic. He finished the fight--and spent the rest of his life--missing a rib. Being a regular guy makes every victory and defeat feel even more intense.
4 Alias: Purple Man
Mind control is one of the most terrifying superpowers in comics. It is also a power that the "all ages" nature of most comic book stories tend to avoid taking to the extremes.
The Purple Man is a sociopath who uses his powers to dominate others. There is no taboo he will not cross, and Jessica Jones knows this firsthand. She suffers terrible PTSD as a result of surviving an encounter with him. Only Alias was capable of making the Purple Man into the nightmarish villain that fans know and fear.
3 Punisher: The Villains
Just as Garth Ennis's Punisher series depicts Frank Castle at his most human, so too are his enemies the types of human monsters that haunt the real world. He all but annihilates the New York mafia over the course of several stories, declaring war on them with military hardware. Then turns his attention to other gangs.
Two of the best stories in the series are "The Slavers" and "Barracuda." The first pits Frank against a group of Eastern European mercenaries who have been trafficking women, while in the other, he fights a number of gangbangers whose violence spilled over into the world of corporate crime.
2 Alias: Dialogue
Brian Michael Bendis is one of the greatest dialogue writers of the entire comics industry. In his book on the business and craft of creating comics, entitled Words for Pictures, he discusses his philosophy, believing that every story has been told, but the same cannot be said for every great conversation.
Bendis's creative approach to dialogue writing is a major theme throughout Alias, resulting in several scenes in which he uses the page layout of comics brilliantly to explore the sheer joy of reading a great conversation.
1 Punisher: Ultraviolence
There are not action scenes in Punisher MAX. There are fights. This distinction might seem subtle, but it is important. This comic is not a tale of heroic martial arts maneuvers meant to deliver thrills. It is a story of violent actions that break bodies and end lives.
In the very first issue, Frank Castle uses claymores and an M60 machine gun to kill mobsters, treating his war on crime as a real war. Throughout the series, he shows an artistic creativity for violent innovations. In one memorable scene, he kills someone by throwing them against a bulletproof window. In another, he hides a razor in his arm as a concealed weapon. This comic understands the horrors of war. In its pages, Frank truly earns the skull on his chest.