Garth Ennis, The Punisher, and the Road to BABS
From War Journals to Barbarian Chaos
There are certain creators you don’t just read. You follow.
For me, Garth Ennis is one of those guys.
And it all goes back to The Punisher.
Before I knew Garth Ennis by name, I knew his voice.
I knew the tone. The pacing. That feeling that once you opened one of his books, absolutely anything could happen — and probably would.
Then one day it clicked.
This is the guy.
My guy.
The Punisher was never just another character in the rotation for me. He was a lane I stayed in. I bought the books, collected the runs, and still collect him today.
And yes, there’s a copy of The Amazing Spider-Man #129 in the collection.
That issue still hits.
It is more than a key book. It is a moment. You can feel the shift on the page. This is not another bright-costumed hero swinging in to save the day. This is something harder, darker, and far more complicated.
And Ennis understood that better than anyone.
His take on Frank Castle never tried to soften the edges or make the character fit neatly into the traditional superhero world. He leaned into what made him different: stripped down, grounded, relentless, and unapologetic.
Especially with Punisher MAX, where the gloves came off completely.
No clean endings. No moral reset button. Just consequence.
That was the version that stayed with me.
So when I see Garth Ennis attached to something new, I pay attention.
Now he returns with something that feels completely different on the surface, yet somehow carries the same DNA:
BABS: THE BLACK ROAD SOUTH.
A savage, funny sword-and-sorcery series from Ennis, reuniting him with Jacen Burrows and published by AHOY Comics.
The story follows Babs, a sharp-tongued barbarian, and her partner Izzy as a gladiator victory turns into something much larger — and much more dangerous.
It is six issues of action, comedy, violence, and chaos.
And if you know Ennis, you already know it will not play it safe.
On paper, it is a long way from The Punisher.
No war zones. No city streets. No skull on the chest.
But if you have read enough Ennis, you can see the throughline immediately.
Characters thrown into chaos. Violence with consequences. Humor that slices through brutality instead of softening it.
That is his fingerprint.
Whether it is Frank Castle walking through a broken world or a barbarian hacking through one, the core idea remains the same:
No illusions. No filters. Just story.
And here is the thing.
We are suddenly back in a moment where The Punisher matters again.
You can feel Ennis’ influence all over the Netflix interpretation of the character. The grounded tone. The emotional weight. The sense that actions leave scars. Much of that traces back to what he built on the page.
Now, with an upcoming Disney+ Punisher Special Presentation reportedly on the horizon, and fans openly talking about a live-action Punisher and Spider-Man team-up, the timing feels right.
The Punisher and Garth Ennis have not felt this relevant in a long time.
And that is why I am still here for it.
Because this has never really been about genre.
It has always been about voice.
From Preacher to The Boys to The Punisher and now BABS: THE BLACK ROAD SOUTH, Ennis keeps finding new ways to tell stories that do not feel like anything else on the shelf.
And if you have followed him as long as I have, you know exactly what that means.
You’re in.
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