Punisher

Waging his one-man war on the world of organized crime, ruthless vigilante-hero Frank Castle sets his sights on overeager mob boss Billy Russoti. After Russoti is left horribly disfigured by Castle, he sets out for vengeance under his new alias: Jigsaw. With the "Punisher Task Force" hot on his trail and the FBI unable to take Jigsaw in, Frank must stand up to the formidable army that Jigsaw has recruited before more of his evil deeds go unpunished.

It was in (Feb 1974) that the anti-hero first appeared, created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita, Sr. and Ross Andru. Since then the character became a template for several of psychologically-troubled and misanthropic antiheroes that began appearing in mainstream comic books; the Punisher was driven by the death of his family to become a vigilante and is not above killing, kidnapping, extortion, coercion, threats of violence and torture as means to fight crime. The ongoing series is a relaunch of the vol. 2 and started with a thematic link to Marvel's beginning-to-get-oppressive Dark Reign storyline. Issue #11, however, heralds the beginning of something new... and definitely over the top...

Once in a while, a writer comes along to a comic book title and then proceeds to make it his own, in the process redefining the principal character and its players, oftentimes elevating the title far beyond the boundaries of the medium. That's what Frank Miller did with and . To a lesser extent, that's what Garth Ennis did with the . It was during his stint with the title published by Marvel's MAX imprint that the definitive characteristics and persona of Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, were realized and it was specifically during his sixty-issue Volume 6 run that the iconic features and mythos of the Punisher were firmly set. When Garth Ennis left after issue #60, and after a veritable carousel of creative teams, Marvel has yet to find that essence that distinguished Garth Ennis and artist Laurence Campbell. Here are all sixty issues, complete, for your enjoyment.

It was in (Feb 1974) that the anti-hero Punisher first appeared, created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita, Sr. and Ross Andru. Since then the character became a template for several of psychologically-troubled and misanthropic antiheroes that began appearing in mainstream comic books; the Punisher was driven by the death of his family to become a vigilante and is not above killing, kidnapping, extortion, coercion, threats of violence and torture as means to fight crime. The ongoing series is a relaunch of the and started with a thematic link to Marvel's beginning-to-get-oppressive storyline. Issue #12 is part 2 of the new and definitely game-changing "Franken-Castle."