Punisher War Journal vols. 4 & 5: Jigsaw & Secret Invasion

These are the last two volumes of the series before it re-launched as just plain “Punisher” with Rick Remender taking over full writing duties from Matt Fraction.  I know that sounds like a particularly pointless bit of info, but that’s how this series has felt to me.  Aside from some clever bits like the Stilt-Man funeral and “World War Hulk” crossover issues, as well as the last issue of the series (collected in vol. 5), “War Journal” never really found its footing as the middle ground between Garth Ennis’ funny (in “Marvel Knights”) and serious (in “MAX”) takes on the character that it so wanted to be.  The funny was never quite funny enough and the serious parts were more dull than anything else.  As it is, the series as a whole is something that I’d recommend to fans of the character rather than the general public at large.