The Punisher: Frank Castle
Encyclopedia
The Punisher: Frank Castle (titled The Punisher prior to issue #66, sometimes referred to as The Punisher MAX) is a comic book
ongoing series
published under the MAX
imprint
of Marvel Comics
, featuring vigilante
anti-hero
, the Punisher
.
, also writer of the 2000 and 2001 Punisher series, wrote issues #1-60 of the series. Also like the earlier series, Tim Bradstreet
provided the covers for those issues. Continuing his run on the character, Ennis used the freedom of the MAX imprint to write more realistic and hard-edged stories than had previously been seen. Ennis also wrote two miniseries accompanying the main series, The Punisher Presents: Barracuda
and The Punisher: Born
. Several one-shots were also produced, some written by Ennis and some by other writers.
With issue #61, Gregg Hurwitz
replaced Ennis as writer joining artist Laurence Campbell
to do a five-issue story arc
. With issue #66 released on January 21, 2009, the series was retitled Punisher: Frank Castle, with writer Duane Swierczynski
and artist Michel Lacombe
coming to the series. Victor Gischler
came onboard for the storyline "Welcome to the Bayou" in issues #71-74 before the title finished with issue #75, a double-length issue with stories by Thomas Piccirilli
, Gregg Hurwitz, Duane Swierczynski, Peter Milligan
, and Charlie Huston
.
The title was relaunched as PunisherMAX
in late 2009, with writer Jason Aaron
and artist Steve Dillon
.
like the Marvel Universe
, and that the Punisher ages in real time. Promotional art for the cover of Punisher vol. 6, #44 (March 2007), gives his birth date as February 16, 1950, but that was removed for the published issues. The imprint depicts the Punisher as having been active for almost 30 years, with issue #19 specifying that he has killed approximately 2,000 people. The Punisher: Born also establishes that the Punisher's service in the Vietnam War
is still in MAX continuity.
Another major difference is the complete lack of superhero
es and supervillain
s in the series, although non-superpowered characters from the Punisher's past, most notably Microchip
, do make appearances. Nick Fury
also makes several notable appearances. However, the character Jen Cooke, a social worker, appeared in the Marvel Knights
storyline "Hidden". She then appeared in the MAX storyline "Slavers". The character Yorkie Mitchell made appearances in both the Marvel Knights and the MAX Punisher comics.
In the Civil War Files comic, just before the "Civil War
" took place, Iron Man
talked about events in the Punisher’s past from the Marvel Knights and MAX comic:
Whereas the traditional Punisher stories remained within the United States and involved antagonists and settings of conventional domestic crime, stories of the MAX Punisher often focus on current events, ranging from corporate fraud
to sexual slavery
, and the War on Terror
. Many characters are past or current intelligence and military operatives from governmental agencies like the CIA
, KGB
, Secret Intelligence Service
, SAS
, militaries and militias from the Balkans
and Middle East
, also including the IRA
, all with agendas rooted in past conflicts like the Cold War
or the Yugoslav wars
.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
ongoing series
Ongoing series
The term "ongoing series" is used in contrast to limited series , a one shot , a graphic novel, or a trade paperback...
published 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
Imprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...
of Marvel Comics
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...
, featuring vigilante
Vigilante
A vigilante is a private individual who legally or illegally punishes an alleged lawbreaker, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to an alleged lawbreaker....
anti-hero
Anti-hero
In fiction, an antihero is generally considered to be a protagonist whose character is at least in some regards conspicuously contrary to that of the archetypal hero, and is in some instances its antithesis in which the character is generally useless at being a hero or heroine when they're...
, 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,...
.
Publication history
Garth EnnisGarth Ennis
Garth Ennis is a Northern Irish comics writer, best known for the Vertigo series Preacher with artist Steve Dillon and his successful nine-year run on Marvel Comics' Punisher franchise...
, also writer of the 2000 and 2001 Punisher series, wrote issues #1-60 of the series. Also like the earlier series, Tim Bradstreet
Tim Bradstreet
Timothy "Tim" Bradstreet , is an artist and illustrator, best known for his work on comic books , book covers, movie posters, roleplaying games and trading cards.-Career:...
provided the covers for those issues. Continuing his run on the character, Ennis used the freedom of the MAX imprint to write more realistic and hard-edged stories than had previously been seen. Ennis also wrote two miniseries accompanying the main series, The Punisher Presents: Barracuda
Barracuda (comics)
Barracuda is a fictional American comic book character owned by Marvel Comics who opposes the Punisher. He is a mercenary gangster of great physical strength, endurance, fighting ability, and exceptional intelligence...
and The Punisher: Born
The Punisher: Born
Born is a four-issue comic book limited series featuring the Marvel Comics character Frank Castle a.k.a. the Punisher. The series was released in 2003 written by Garth Ennis and penciled by Darick Robertson.-Synopsis:...
. Several one-shots were also produced, some written by Ennis and some by other writers.
With issue #61, Gregg Hurwitz
Gregg Hurwitz
Gregg Hurwitz is a writer of crime novels and comics.-Biography:Gregg Hurwitz is the critically acclaimed, internationally bestselling author of The Tower, Minutes to Burn, Do No Harm, The Kill Clause, The Program, Troubleshooter, Last Shot, The Crime Writer, and Trust No One...
replaced Ennis as writer joining artist Laurence Campbell
Laurence Campbell
Laurence Campbell is a British comics artist best known for his work in 2000 AD, but he has also recently received attention from his work for Marvel.-Biography:...
to do a five-issue story arc
Story arc
A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...
. With issue #66 released on January 21, 2009, the series was retitled Punisher: Frank Castle, with writer Duane Swierczynski
Duane Swierczynski
Duane Louis Swierczynski is an American crime writer who has written a number of non-fiction books, novels and also writes for comic books.-Early life:...
and artist Michel Lacombe
Michel Lacombe
Michel Lacombe is a Canadian comic book artist.- Biography :Born in Montréal in 1973, Michel Lacombe is the creator of the self-published comics One Bloody Year, a four-episode vampire romance...
coming to the series. Victor Gischler
Victor Gischler
Victor Gischler is an American author of hard-boiled crime fiction.-Biography:Gischler's debut novel Gun Monkeys was nominated for the Edgar Award, and his novel Shotgun Opera was an Anthony Award finalist. His work has been translated into Italian, French, Spanish and Japanese. He earned a Ph.D....
came onboard for the storyline "Welcome to the Bayou" in issues #71-74 before the title finished with issue #75, a double-length issue with stories by Thomas Piccirilli
Thomas Piccirilli
Tom Piccirilli is an American novelist and short story writer. He has sold over 150 stories in the mystery, thriller, horror, erotica, and science fiction fields. Piccirilli is a two-time winner of the International Thriller Writers Award for "Best Paperback Original" . He is a four-time winner of...
, Gregg Hurwitz, Duane Swierczynski, Peter Milligan
Peter Milligan
Peter Milligan born in London, a British writer, best known for his comic book, film and television work.-Early career:Milligan started his comic career with short stories for 2000 AD in the early 1980s. By 1986, Milligan had his first ongoing strip in 2000AD called Bad Company, with artists Brett...
, and Charlie Huston
Charlie Huston
Charlie Huston is an American author of crime novels and superhero comic books. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, the actress Virginia Louise Smith...
.
The title was relaunched as PunisherMAX
PunisherMAX
PunisherMAX is the second comic book ongoing series published under the MAX imprint of Marvel Comics featuring the vigilante anti-hero the Punisher.-Publication history:...
in late 2009, with writer Jason Aaron
Jason Aaron
Jason Aaron is an American comic book writer, known for his work on titles such as The Other Side, Scalped, Ghost Rider, Wolverine and PunisherMAX.-Early life:Jason was born in Jasper, Alabama...
and artist Steve Dillon
Steve Dillon
Steve Dillon is a British comic book artist, from Luton, Bedfordshire, best known for his work with writer Garth Ennis on Hellblazer, Preacher and The Punisher.-Biography:...
.
Differences with mainstream Punisher
The series makes it explicit that it does not use a floating timelineFloating timeline
A Floating timeline is a device used in fiction, particularly in comics and animation, to explain why characters age little or not at all over a period of time - despite real-world markers like notable events, people and technology appearing in the works and correlating with the real world.A...
like the Marvel Universe
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
, and that the Punisher ages in real time. Promotional art for the cover of Punisher vol. 6, #44 (March 2007), gives his birth date as February 16, 1950, but that was removed for the published issues. The imprint depicts the Punisher as having been active for almost 30 years, with issue #19 specifying that he has killed approximately 2,000 people. The Punisher: Born also establishes that the Punisher's service in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
is still in MAX continuity.
Another major difference is the complete lack of superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
es and supervillain
Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
s in the series, although non-superpowered characters from the Punisher's past, most notably Microchip
Microchip (comics)
David Linus "Microchip" Lieberman is a fictional comic book character in the Marvel Universe. Created by writer Mike Baron and artist Klaus Janson, he first appeared in The Punisher #4 as an ally of The Punisher for many years. He assisted the Punisher by building weapons, supplying technology...
, do make appearances. Nick Fury
Nick Fury
Colonel Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury is a fictional World War II army hero and present-day super-spy in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee, Fury first appeared in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 , a World War II combat series that portrayed the...
also makes several notable appearances. However, the character Jen Cooke, a social worker, appeared in the Marvel Knights
Marvel Knights
Marvel Knights is an imprint of Marvel Worldwide, Inc. that contains material taking place within the mainstream Marvel Universe .-Production:...
storyline "Hidden". She then appeared in the MAX storyline "Slavers". The character Yorkie Mitchell made appearances in both the Marvel Knights and the MAX Punisher comics.
In the Civil War Files comic, just before the "Civil War
Civil War (comics)
Civil War is a 2006-2007 Marvel Comics crossover storyline built around a self-titled seven-issue limited series written by Mark Millar and penciled by Steve McNiven, which ran through various other titles published by Marvel at the time...
" took place, Iron Man
Iron Man
Iron Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, first appearing in Tales of Suspense #39 .A billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer,...
talked about events in the Punisher’s past from the Marvel Knights and MAX comic:
- "Captain Frank Castle, sole survivor of the Firebase Valley Forge massacre."
- "Although recently Castle has escalated his war on crime even further, with record-breaking body counts, he is paradoxically now rarely encountered in the field by any super hero save DaredevilDaredevil (Marvel Comics)Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood...
." - "It’s almost like he inhabits two worlds, one where heroes can capture him and one where they can’t, and he can slip from one to the other with ease."
Whereas the traditional Punisher stories remained within the United States and involved antagonists and settings of conventional domestic crime, stories of the MAX Punisher often focus on current events, ranging from corporate fraud
Accounting scandals
Accounting scandals, or corporate accounting scandals, are political and business scandals which arise with the disclosure of misdeeds by trusted executives of large public corporations...
to sexual slavery
Sexual slavery
Sexual slavery is when unwilling people are coerced into slavery for sexual exploitation. The incidence of sexual slavery by country has been studied and tabulated by UNESCO, with the cooperation of various international agencies...
, and the War on Terror
War on Terror
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
. Many characters are past or current intelligence and military operatives from governmental agencies like the CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
, KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
, Secret Intelligence Service
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
, SAS
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
, militaries and militias from the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
and Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, also including the IRA
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
, all with agendas rooted in past conflicts like the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
or the Yugoslav wars
Yugoslav wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of wars, fought throughout the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1995. The wars were complex: characterized by bitter ethnic conflicts among the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, mostly between Serbs on the one side and Croats and Bosniaks on the other; but also...
.
Trade paperbacks
| Title | Material collected | Year | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vol. 01: In the Beginning | The Punisher MAX #1-6 | 2004 | |
| Vol. 02: Kitchen Irish | The Punisher MAX #7-12 | 2005 | |
| Vol. 03: Mother Russia | The Punisher MAX #13-18 | 2005 | |
| Vol. 04: Up Is Down and Black Is White | The Punisher MAX #19-24 | 2005 | |
| Vol. 05: The Slavers | The Punisher MAX #25-30 | 2004 | |
| Vol. 06: Barracuda | The Punisher MAX #31-36 | 2006 | |
| Vol. 07: Man of Stone | The Punisher MAX #37-42 | 2007 | |
| Vol. 08: Widowmaker | The Punisher MAX #43-49 | 2007 | |
| Vol. 09: Long Cold Dark | The Punisher MAX #50-54 | 2008 | |
| Vol. 10: Valley Forge, Valley Forge | The Punisher MAX #55-60 | 2008 | |
| Vol. 11: Girls in White Dresses | The Punisher MAX #61-65 | 2009 | |
| Vol. 12: Six Hours To Kill | The Punisher: Frank Castle MAX #66-70 | 2009 | |
| Vol. 13: Welcome to the Bayou | The Punisher: Frank Castle MAX #71-74 | 2009 |
Hardcovers
| Title | Material collected | Year | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volume 1 | The Punisher MAX #1-12 | 2005 | |
| Volume 2 | The Punisher MAX #13-24 | 2006 | |
| Volume 3 | The Punisher MAX #25-36 | 2007 | |
| Volume 4 | The Punisher MAX #37-49 | 2007 | |
| Volume 5 | The Punisher MAX #50-60 | 2009 | |
| Volume 6 | The Punisher MAX #61-74 | 2011 |