Untreated, they fester and grow into the diseases of fear, uncertainty and hopelessness. Unaided, the law is blinded by bureaucracy and bound to a justice bent toward the protection even of the criminal. The face of a kinder and gentler nation is destroyed, carved into a harlequin's mask; a grim skull. And the wielders of the scythe laugh, secure in the knowledge that their crimes will go without punishment.They are wrong. In the urban jungle, there is one who stands alone and apart; one who lives not for the law, but only to see justice done. The Punisher reaps a different harvest.Once, he was Frank Castle, loving husband and father. A tour in Vietnam had shown him what war was. Part of him died there, but a precious part stayed alive, determined to return to the family he loved, and the peace and freedom that was his America. Part of him held on to live, until his family died in a hail of mob gunfire, victims of the wrong place and wrong time.Daily, criminals greedily cut their portions from the souls of the weak and weary, the foolish and the frightened. One man senses how the guilty feed like parasites on the heart of the American Dream. One man hears when evil laughs at the law. One man sees clearly that the most powerful criminals have placed themselves above the law. One man has become their judge, their jury.One man has become their Punisher.

    From the ruins of the World Trade Center to the horrors of a small town rocked by terrorism, the star-spangled super-soldier is forced to consider what it means to be the Sentinel of Liberty in an age of incomprehensible new threats. Meanwhile, the man named Redpath has his own American dream, and he orders his Extremists to cleanse the country by force. Only a true patriot, the living embodiment of the United States, can stop them.COLLECTING: CAPTAIN AMERICA (2002) 1-16

    [2] of cover.

    It will have them by the time you finish this sentence, and a moment later, it will have us all. A band of X-Men discovers the truth behind the threat, but is there any time left for Psylocke, Old Man Logan, Bishop, Archangel, Fantomex, Rogue and Gambit? In an action-packed X-epic, they must head to the astral plane in pursuit of...the Shadow King! But in this brain-bending mindscape, not everything is as it seems, and reality is a relative concept. Will this impromptu squad of X-Men be able to contain the chaos from spilling out into the world? COLLECTING: ASTONISHING X-MEN 1-6

    It's a celebration of the world's greatest super hero as some of Marvel's most talented creators spin tales of the original Spider-Man: Peter Parker! With a blizzard crippling New York City, Spider-Man must protect the city - but Aunt May's life is in danger! What is the Black Lodge? And how has Spider-Man been trapped there, surrounded by his deadliest foes? Spider-Man teams up with his old flame the Black Cat to bust an international art thievery ring! A young boy learns that he can't rely on super heroes like Spider-Man to stand up against bullies! Spidey and the Human Torch must stop an apocalyptic future by fighting - the Fantastic Four?! Finally, it's a touching tale as a young child risks his life to save Spider-Man's! COLLECTING: Amazing Spider-Man 700.1-700.5

    BLOODLUST--A race of mystical creatures descends on the Canadian north...hungry for souls. BLOODLUST--The mutant Wolverine, a clawed berserker lost in an arctic blizzard--out of his mind. BLOODLUST-- A dark descent into animal savagery.

    Years ago, Jean Grey died and the X-Men mourned her. Since then, the world has changed, her teammates have lived without her and died without her. And now, when strange events start happening all over the world, those teammates can only come to one conclusion – the one true Jean Grey is back!

    The Fantastic Four are four-closed!Collecting: Marvel Knights 4 1-7

    Four tales of everyone's favorite Merc with a Mouth!When WaterWorld hires Deadpool to protect their theme park, he winds up face to snout with Brute Force: Protectors of the Environment (look 'em up!) in a story written by star of The League and NTSF:SD:SUV:: Paul Scheer and Nick Giovannetti! Then, mysterious foes try to steal Wolverine's DNA to clone him - but Logan's old pals Deadpool and Steve Rogers are on the case! And Ben Acker and Ben Blacker, mad minds behind "The Thrilling Adventure Hour," reveal the Secret of the White Caption Boxes as Deadpool takes on Madcap...with unexpected results! Finally, Deadpool "helps out" Spider-Man by donning his webs...but why doesn't Spidey seem to appreciate it?!Collecting: Deadpool Annual 1-2, Bi-Annual 1; Death of Wolverine: Deadpool & Captain America

    This title collects Fantastic Four number 2, New Avengers: Illuminati number 1 and number 5, and New Avengers number 31-32 and 38-39.

    Gambit may be the only person who can save the city from an undead apocalypse, but he's got bigger problems at the moment: two women, both heartbroken, both angry, and both demanding his head on a platter. Plus: As a thief, Gambit has faced some risky jobs, but this may be his most dangerous yet: He'll have to infiltrate the heavily-fortified home of the world's most powerful mutants. That's right...Gambit's got to swipe something right from under the noses of his teammates, the X-Men!Collects Gambit (2004) #7-12.