Punisher

Conway was inspired by The Executioner, a popular book series created by author Don Pendleton, in which a Vietnam veteran, Mack Bolan, becomes a serial killer of criminals after the Mafia-related deaths of his family.Serving as a Q type figure, he would supply the Punisher with high-tech vehicles and equipment such as armored combat "battle vans" specially built and customized.Over the next decade, the Punisher would be shown fighting virtually every known criminal organization, including the Italian Mafia, the Russian Bratva, the Japanese yakuza, the Colombian and Mexican drug cartels, the Aryan Brotherhood, the Chinese Triads, Jamaican Yardies, the Irish Mob, biker gangs, street gangs, gunrunning militias, muggers, killers, rapists, psychopaths, violent racists, sadists, pedophiles, and corrupt city officials.Due to the Punisher's homicidal nature, few of his foes became recurring antagonists, the most notable of these being the severely-scarred enforcer Jigsaw and the brutal sadistic mercenary Barracuda.In addition, heroes such as Spider-Man, Captain America, Daredevil, Ghost Rider,[36] the Hulk, Wolverine,[37] Nick Fury, and Moon Knight[38] – and, on at least two occasions, the preadolescent team Power Pack[39] – would appear.A 12-issue miniseries by writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon, again titled The Punisher (April 2000 – March 2001), under the Marvel Knights imprint, revived the character's popularity.[42][43] Ennis has stated that he would "like to see less superheroes";[44] this desire is reflected in the gritty, realistic tone and the anti-heroic portrayals of both the title character and Nick Fury, who made two guest appearances in the series.The miniseries Born by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson further examines Castle's roots, tracing them back to his third tour of the Vietnam War, where he undergoes a psychological and possibly supernatural transformation into the Punisher to survive a massive assault on his fortification by the combined forces of the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army.[48] Following this, the main Punisher series was renamed FrankenCastle and featured a Castle who is resurrected by Morbius and the Legion of Monsters as a patchwork, Frankenstein-like creature.[52] A violent gang war resulted in the murders of nearly 30 people at a wedding reception, including the groom, leaving the bride, U.S. Marine Sergeant Rachel Cole-Alves, a widow just hours after getting married.[69] After Earth-616 has been restored, Frank Castle returns from the dead and comes back to New York City, to continue his personal war against criminal organizations and enterprises.Not just the Axis victory in World War II, but bringing back all of the dead as a result of Hydra like Rick Jones, Jack Flag, and Frank Castle's family.[76] Some time after the events of Secret Empire, Nick Fury Jr. gives The Punisher access to the War Machine armor in order to combat a rogue state using old S.H.I.E.L.D.The story ditched the War Machine armor, but kept the idea of the Punisher operating at the international level, dealing with an ill-fated battle against Baron Zemo.[80] Following the conclusion of the previous series, a new Punisher volume began publication in November 2023, written by David Pepose, illustrated by Dave Wachter, with covers by Rod Reis.He is also highly proficient at hand-to-hand combat, and has been trained in multiple forms of martial arts such as Chin Na,[38] Hwa Rang Do,[38] Krav Maga,[90] Muay Thai,[90] Nash Ryu Jujutsu,[38] Ninjutsu, Shōrin-ryū Karate[38] and Systema.For a time after the absence of Jim "Rhodey" Rhodes because of Thanos,[95] the Punisher would be offered the War Machine armor by Nick Fury, Jr. to apprehend a rogue S.H.I.E.L.D."[109] After members of the Detroit Police Department were seen wearing the Punisher skull during the George Floyd protests in 2020, Conway and others called on Marvel and its parent company Disney to take legal action to prevent law enforcement from using the logo.A 'Nam vet driven by his family's murder to punish all criminals by death, it's perhaps not unsurprising that the dark, disillusioned '70s was the decade that saw a brutal, uncompromising psychopath (for that's what Castle is, no debate) become a fan favourite.[137][138][139] Dan Phillips of IGN gave Punisher #1 a grade of 7 out of 10, asserting, "Because the main feature of the series is so simple and fast-moving, there's not much else to say about this issue other than I found it entertaining.In this continuity Trevor Castle lost his family when they were caught in a gang war, which led him to become the Punisher and eventually marry Diana Prince, with whom he had a son named Ryan before they separated.Using existing Marvel stories as a starting point, the series examined scenarios in which, for example, Frank Castle's family has not died or he had killed Daredevil in their first encounter.[170] The Punisher also featured in a number of more extended looks at alternative universes and lives such as the Age of Apocalypse's Frank Castle (as a man who fled genocide to become a monk).[volume & issue needed] In the alternative universe House of M, Castle appears as a media vigilante nicknamed the "Punisher" and is recruited after his arrest by John Proudstar to join and be the other human in the strikeforce known as the Brotherhood.The Army of Darkness, Frank takes advantage of the fact that the heroes and law enforcement officers are busy with zombies and he hunts and shoots down the super-villain leadership of New York City, known as the Kingpin, The Owl, and Hammerhead.[volume & issue needed] In the alternative universe Marvel Mangaverse continuity, Sosumi Brown is Tokyo's Punisher, who fights the crime family of Skang Kee Ho.Chained to posts in a stadium and in full view of a crowd, the new Punisher and Daredevil are gruesomely dispatched by carnivorous dinosaurs as they ask after the imprisoned Ashley.[177] In the reality of Marvel Ruins, following his interview with Rick Jones at his apartment in Chicago, Phil Sheldon trips over the corpse of the Punisher in the snowfall.[volume & issue needed] Later, following a failed counterattack against a large cannibal army led by an infected Hulk, the Punisher, Deadpool, and Captain America save a badly injured Wolverine, who lost his arm in the battle.[volume & issue needed] They are soon confronted by Spider-Man, who offers Frank and the remaining human survivors safe passage out of the city in exchange for returning his wife to him from Kingpin.