The Punisher: The End
Encyclopedia
The Punisher: The End is a one-shot title published by Marvel Comics
under the MAX
imprint as part of their The End
series. The story focuses on the Punisher
's final days in a post-apocalyptic future. The date of the events are described in the opening page of the comic in one word, "soon".
, which began in Iraq
, North Korea
, and Pakistan
, and spread to China
, climaxes with a full-scale global nuclear holocaust. Frank Castle
, who years before was apprehended and incarcerated in Sing-Sing
Prison, survives by taking refuge in the prison's fallout shelter with a handful of other prisoners and prison officers. A year after the bombs fall, Frank leaves the prison and begins his journey to New York City, taking with him Paris Peters, a fellow prisoner who expresses interest in Frank's mission to find another bomb shelter hidden deep beneath the former site of the World Trade Center.
Frank and Paris travel across upstate New York, past the ruined remains of civilization, ignoring the radiation they know will kill them. They locate the Manhattan bomb shelter and gain access, where they fall unconscious. Both awaken in the infirmary, where the doctors reveal they will die within hours of radiation poisoning. Frank murders the doctor and the guards, taking their weapons and shooting his way through the shelter's security forces, arriving in a board room filled with the Coven, a group of generals, senators, oil magnates, and computer billionaires. Frank, having learned about the Coven from a prisoner at Sing-Sing who designed their shelter, blames them for escalating the War on Terror in the name of profit and the resulting global holocaust.
As Frank prepares to execute the Coven, they stop him, revealing that other members, hidden in bases across the world, have self-destructed due to outbreaks of insanity. They reveal that they are the last people left on Earth, but with the resources they control in the shelter, they can repopulate the world, the last hope for humanity. But knowing that these people would doom the world again, Frank kills them. When Paris asked why he doomed humanity, Castle says, "The human race. You've seen what that leads to." He approaches Paris and strangles him, having long known of the man's unintentional killing of several children during an arson attempt.
Frank re-emerges into the irradiated Manhattan wasteland, hair falling out in clumps, fire burning his flesh as he starts walking to New York City's Central Park. In his mind, it is 1976, and he is going to try to arrive in time to save his family from their fate.
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
under the MAX
MAX (comics)
MAX is an imprint of Marvel Comics aimed at a niche 'adults only' audience, launched in 2001 after Marvel broke with the Comics Code Authority and established its own rating system...
imprint as part of their The End
The End (comics)
The End is a line of comic books published by Marvel Comics. They follow possible endings for various Marvel characters, as they are set in the future...
series. The story focuses on the Punisher
Punisher
The Punisher is a fictional character, an anti-hero appearing in comic books based in the . Created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita, Sr., and Ross Andru, the character made its first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 .The Punisher is a vigilante who employs murder,...
's final days in a post-apocalyptic future. The date of the events are described in the opening page of the comic in one word, "soon".
Plot
The third World WarWorld War III
World War III denotes a successor to World War II that would be on a global scale, with common speculation that it would be likely nuclear and devastating in nature....
, which began in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
, and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, and spread to China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, climaxes with a full-scale global nuclear holocaust. Frank Castle
Punisher
The Punisher is a fictional character, an anti-hero appearing in comic books based in the . Created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita, Sr., and Ross Andru, the character made its first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 .The Punisher is a vigilante who employs murder,...
, who years before was apprehended and incarcerated in Sing-Sing
Sing-sing
Sing-sing is a gathering of a few tribes or villages in Papua New Guinea. People arrive to show their distinct culture, dance and music. The aim of these gatherings is to peacefully share traditions. Villagers paint and decorate themselves for sing-sings....
Prison, survives by taking refuge in the prison's fallout shelter with a handful of other prisoners and prison officers. A year after the bombs fall, Frank leaves the prison and begins his journey to New York City, taking with him Paris Peters, a fellow prisoner who expresses interest in Frank's mission to find another bomb shelter hidden deep beneath the former site of the World Trade Center.
Frank and Paris travel across upstate New York, past the ruined remains of civilization, ignoring the radiation they know will kill them. They locate the Manhattan bomb shelter and gain access, where they fall unconscious. Both awaken in the infirmary, where the doctors reveal they will die within hours of radiation poisoning. Frank murders the doctor and the guards, taking their weapons and shooting his way through the shelter's security forces, arriving in a board room filled with the Coven, a group of generals, senators, oil magnates, and computer billionaires. Frank, having learned about the Coven from a prisoner at Sing-Sing who designed their shelter, blames them for escalating the War on Terror in the name of profit and the resulting global holocaust.
As Frank prepares to execute the Coven, they stop him, revealing that other members, hidden in bases across the world, have self-destructed due to outbreaks of insanity. They reveal that they are the last people left on Earth, but with the resources they control in the shelter, they can repopulate the world, the last hope for humanity. But knowing that these people would doom the world again, Frank kills them. When Paris asked why he doomed humanity, Castle says, "The human race. You've seen what that leads to." He approaches Paris and strangles him, having long known of the man's unintentional killing of several children during an arson attempt.
Frank re-emerges into the irradiated Manhattan wasteland, hair falling out in clumps, fire burning his flesh as he starts walking to New York City's Central Park. In his mind, it is 1976, and he is going to try to arrive in time to save his family from their fate.