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The Punisher (2004 series)

2004 comic book ongoing series

Summary

2004 comic book ongoing series

FieldValue
titleThe Punisher
imagePunisher-FrankCastle1.jpg
captionThe Punisher #1 (March 2004),
cover art by Tim Bradstreet.
scheduleMonthly
ongoingy
publisherMarvel Comics
dateMarch 2004 – October 2009
issues75, plus 1 Annual
main_char_teamThe Punisher
writersGarth Ennis
Gregg Hurwitz
Duane Swierczynski
Victor Gischler
artistsLewis Larosa
Leandro Fernández
Dougie Braithwaite
Goran Parlov
Lan Medina
Howard Chaykin
Laurence Campbell
Michel Lacombe
creatorsGarth Ennis
subcatPunisher
sortPunisher (MAX), The

cover art by Tim Bradstreet. Gregg Hurwitz Duane Swierczynski Victor Gischler Leandro Fernández Dougie Braithwaite Goran Parlov Lan Medina Howard Chaykin Laurence Campbell Michel Lacombe

The Punisher (re-titled Frank Castle: The Punisher after issue #66; sometimes referred to as The Punisher MAX) was a comic book ongoing series published under the MAX imprint of Marvel Comics, featuring vigilante and antihero the Punisher.

Publication history

Garth Ennis, 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 graphic and hard-edged stories than had previously been seen. Ennis also wrote two miniseries accompanying the main series, The Punisher Presents: Barracuda and Born, and several one-shots.

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 re-titled Frank Castle: The Punisher, with writer Duane Swierczynski and artist Michel Lacombe coming to the series. Victor Gischler came on board 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 Punisher MAX in late 2009, with writer Jason Aaron and artist Steve Dillon.

Plot

Differences from the mainstream Marvel Universe Punisher

The series explicitly does not use a floating timeline like the mainstream Marvel Universe, instead presenting a Punisher who ages in real time. Gravestones and other references indicate that his family was killed in 1976. The Punisher has been active for almost 30 years at the time presented in most stories, with issue #19 specifying that he has killed approximately 2,000 people. Born also establishes that the Punisher's service in the Vietnam War is still in MAX continuity.

Promotional art for the cover of Punisher #44 (March 2007), gives Frank's born as Queens, New York, 1947 but that was removed for the published issues. The story "Valley Forge, Valley Forge" corroborates this date, referring to Castle as "a twenty-one year old Captain" in April 1971.

Another major difference is the complete lack of superheroes and supervillains 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, with his characterization echoing Ennis' MAX-imprint Fury stories. 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" storyline was published, Iron Man talked about events in the Punisher's past from the Marvel Knights and MAX comics, which indicated that it did happen in the mainstream Marvel Universe at some point:

  • "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 Daredevil".
  • "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".

Many characters are past or current intelligence and military operatives from governmental agencies like the American CIA, the Soviet KGB and the British SIS and SAS and militaries and militias from the Balkans, the Middle East and the IRA, all with agendas rooted in past conflicts like the Cold War or the Yugoslav Wars.

Prints

Issues

No.Story arcCover dateComic Book Roundup ratingEstimated sales (first month)
#1In the BeginningMarch 20048.0 by one professional critic.last=first=date=title=January 2004 Comic Book Sales to Comic Shopsurl=http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2004/2004-01.htmlaccess-date=December 12, 2017website=Comichronpublisher=The Comics Chronicles}}
#2March 200449,197, ranked 24th in North America.
#3April 200446,383, ranked 34th in North America.
#4May 200447,096, ranked 32nd in North America.
#5June 200434,236, ranked 57th in North America.
#6July 200448,533, ranked 31st in North America.
#7Kitchen IrishAugust 2004last=first=date=title=June 2004 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shopsurl=https://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2004/2004-06.htmlaccess-date=February 5, 2021website=Comichronpublisher=The Comics Chronicles}}
#8August 200447,477, ranked 31st in North America.
#9September 20046.0 by two professional critics.46,885, ranked 30th in North America.
#10October 20048.0 by one professional critic.45,397, ranked 33rd in North America.
#11November 200444,036, ranked 45th in North America.
#12December 200442,661, ranked 36th in North America.
#13Mother RussiaJanuary 2005title=Comichron: November 2004 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shopsurl=https://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2004/2004-11.htmlaccess-date=2024-06-04website=www.comichron.com}}
#14January 200541,512, ranked 42nd in North America.
#15February 200540,359, ranked 37th in North America.
#16March 200539,262, ranked 35th in North America.
#17April 200538,732, ranked 42nd in North America.
#18May 200538,300, ranked 56th in North America.
#19Up is Down and Black is WhiteJune 2005title=Comichron: April 2005 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shopsurl=https://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2005/2005-04.htmlaccess-date=2024-06-04website=www.comichron.com}}
#20June 200538,123, ranked 49th in North America.
#21July 200537,992, ranked 47th in North America.
#22August 200537,804, ranked 49th in North America.
#23September 200537,381, ranked 53rd in North America.
#24October 20059.0 by one professional critic.37,019, ranked 65th in North America.
#25The SlaversNovember 200537,145, ranked 61st in North America.
#26December 200536,427, ranked 50th in North America.
#27January 200636,072, ranked 48th in North America.
#28February 200635,535, ranked 55th in North America.
#29March 200634,696, ranked 50th in North America.
#30April 20069.0 by one professional critic.34,281, ranked 57th in North America.
#31BarracudaMay 200634,500, ranked 68th in North America.
#32June 200634,076, ranked 60th in North America.
#33July 200634,467, ranked 68th in North America.
#34August 200634,162, ranked 65th in North America.
#35September 200634,111, ranked 69th in North America.
#36October 200634,162, ranked 68th in North America.
#37Man of StoneNovember 2006title=Comichron: September 2006 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shopsurl=https://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2006/2006-09.htmlaccess-date=2024-06-04website=www.comichron.com}}
#38November 200633,835, ranked 61st in North America.
#39December 200633,947, ranked 52nd in North America.
#40January 2007title=Comichron: November 2006 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shopsurl=https://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2006/2006-11.htmlaccess-date=2024-06-04website=www.comichron.com}}
#41January 200733,161, ranked 72nd in North America.
#42February 200733,001, ranked 63rd in North America.
#43WidowmakerMarch 20079.0 by one professional critic.33,022, ranked 55th in North America.
#44April 20078.0 by one professional critic.32,945, ranked 61st in North America.
#45May 20077.0 by one professional critic.33,243, ranked 64th in North America.
#46June 20078.0 by one professional critic.33,393, ranked 65th in North America.
#47July 200710 by one professional critic.33,881, ranked 70th in North America.
#48August 20078.0 by one professional critic.33,783, ranked 62nd in North America.
#49September 20078.0 by one professional critic.34,305, ranked 73rd in North America.
#50Long Cold DarkOctober 200710 by one professional critic.36,455, ranked 75th in North America.
#51December 20078.6 by two professional critics.33,735, ranked 72th in North America.
#52January 20087.8 by one professional critic.32,897, ranked 65th in North America.
#53February 200831,753, ranked 78th in North America.
#54March 20089.5 by two professional critics.31,628, ranked 68th in North America.
#55Valley Forge, Valley ForgeMay 20088.4 by two professional critics.31,627, ranked 60th in North America.
#56June 20088.6 by two professional critics.30,789, ranked 65th in North America.
#57July 20088.4 by one professional critic.30,519, ranked 71st in North America.
#58August 20088.5 by one professional critic.29,791, ranked 70th in North America.
#59September 20087.0 by one professional critic.30,058, ranked 82nd in North America.
#60October 20088.1 by three professional critics.title=Comichron: August 2008 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shopsurl=https://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2008/2008-08.htmlaccess-date=2024-06-05website=www.comichron.com}}
#61Girls in White DressesOctober 20086.2 by four professional critics.28,358, ranked 87th in North America.
#62November 20085.1 by two professional critics.26,898, ranked 91st in North America.
#63December 20086.3 by one professional critic.25,930, ranked 106th in North America.
#64January 20096.1 by one professional critic.24,656, ranked 76th in North America.
#65February 20096.8 by one professional critic.23,878, ranked 113th in North America.

As of issue #66, the series was officially re-titled Frank Castle: The Punisher.

No.Story arcCover dateEstimated sales (first month)
#66Six Hours to KillMarch 200922,799, ranked 81st in North America.
#67April 200922,263, ranked 85th in North Americe.
#68May 200922,252, ranked 85th in North America.
#69June 200921,841, ranked 112th in North America.
#70July 200921,864, ranked 91st in North America.
#71Welcome to the BayouAugust 200921,311, ranked 107th in North America.
#72September 200921,035, ranked 100th in North America.
#73October 200920,354, ranked 104th in North America.
#74November 200920,242, ranked 121st in North America.
#75Dolls/Gateway/Ghoul/Father's Day/Smallest Bit of ThisDecember 200922,197, ranked 95th in North America.

Collected editions

;Trade paperbacks

Vol. #Vol. titleMaterial collectedWriterArtistPublication dateISBN
1In the BeginningThe Punisher #1–6Garth EnnisLewis Larosa2004
2Kitchen IrishThe Punisher #7–12Leandro Fernández2004
3Mother RussiaThe Punisher #13–18Dougie Braithwaite2005
4Up is Down and Black is WhiteThe Punisher #19–24Leandro Fernández2005
5The SlaversThe Punisher #25–302006
6BarracudaThe Punisher #31–36Goran Parlov2006
7Man of StoneThe Punisher #37–42Leandro Fernández2007
8WidowmakerThe Punisher #43–49Lan Medina2007
9Long Cold DarkThe Punisher #50–54Howard Chaykin (#50)
Goran Parlov (#51–54)2008
10Valley Forge, Valley ForgeThe Punisher #55–60Goran Parlov2008
11Girls in White DressesThe Punisher #61–65Gregg HurwitzLaurence Campbell2009
12Six Hours to KillFrank Castle: The Punisher MAX #66–70Duane SwierczynskiMichel Lacombe2009
13Welcome to the BayouFrank Castle: The Punisher MAX #71–74Victor GischlerGoran Parlov2009

;Hardcovers

TitleMaterial collectedPublication dateISBN
Volume 1The Punisher #1–122005
Volume 2The Punisher #13–242006
Volume 3The Punisher #25–362007
Volume 4The Punisher #37–492007
Volume 5The Punisher #50–602009
Volume 6The Punisher #61–65
Frank Castle: The Punisher MAX #66–752011

;Complete Collections

TitleVol. #Material collectedPublication dateISBN
The Punisher MAX: Complete Collection1Born #1–4
The Punisher #1–12February 2016
2The Punisher #13–30April 2016
3The Punisher #31–49October 2016
4The Punisher Presents: Barracuda MAX #1–5
The Punisher #50–60
Punisher: The Tyger #1
Punisher: The Cell #1
Punisher: The End #1December 2016
5Punisher MAX Annual #1
The Punisher: Force of Nature #1
Punisher MAX Special: Little Black Book #1February 2017
6Punisher MAX X-Mas Special #1
Punisher MAX: Naked Kill
Punisher MAX: Get Castle
Punisher MAX: Butterfly #1
Punisher MAX: Happy Ending #1
Punisher MAX: Hot Rods of Death
Punisher MAX: Tiny Ugly World #1
Untold Tales of Punisher MAX #1–5August 2017

;Omnibus

TitleVol. #Material collectedPublication dateISBN
The Punisher MAX by Garth Ennis Omnibus1Born #1–4
The Punisher #1–30May 2018
2The Punisher #31–60
The Punisher Presents: Barracuda MAX #1–5
Punisher: The Tyger #1
Punisher: The Cell #1
Punisher: The End #1August 2018

Reception

The series holds an average rating of 7.9 by 38 professional critics on the review aggregation website Comic Book Roundup.

In other media

Film

  • The 2008 movie Punisher: War Zone starring Ray Stevenson is inspired by Punisher MAX, most notably incorporating characters from that series such as Gaitano Cesare, Carmine "Pittsy" Gazzerra, Ink, Cristu Bulat, Tiberiu Bulat and Maginty. The scene where Frank Castle/The Punisher kills Gaitano Cesare and the other mobsters is also taken directly from the storyline "In the Beginning", albeit cutting the head off the former instead of a headshot.

Television

  • The second season of Daredevil loosely adapts the "Kitchen Irish" story arc, while adding in the titular character into the story alongside Frank Castle/the Punisher (portrayed by Jon Bernthal).
  • The first season of The Punisher has William Rawlins as its main antagonist, a character who first appeared in issue #14.

References

References

  1. Brady, Matt. (July 11, 2007). "Max'ing Out the Future: Axel Alonso Talks Marvel MAX". [[Newsarama]].
  2. Creswick, Liam. (February 24, 2007). "PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #4 REVIEW". ComiXtreme.
  3. "''Punisher'' #61 (October 2008)".
  4. (October 24, 2008). "Exclusive Preview: Punisher: Frank Castle #66". [[Newsarama]].
  5. Richards, Dave. (January 16, 2009). "Swierczynski On Frank Castle: Punisher". [[Comic Book Resources]].
  6. Richards, Dave. (April 29, 2009). "Swamp Things: Gischler Talks Punisher MAX". [[Comic Book Resources]].
  7. Rogers, Vaneta. (June 9, 2009). "Welcome to the Bayou, Frank: Victor Gischler on ''Punisher MAX''". Newsarama.
  8. Quesada, Joe. (July 14, 2009). "Cup O' Joe: Thor, X-Factor, Punisher MAX". [[Comic Book Resources]].
  9. {{Cite comic
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  11. "January 2004 Comic Book Sales to Comic Shops". [[The Comics Chronicles]].
  12. "February 2004 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops". [[The Comics Chronicles]].
  13. "March 2004 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops". [[The Comics Chronicles]].
  14. "April 2004 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops". [[The Comics Chronicles]].
  15. "May 2004 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops". [[The Comics Chronicles]].
  16. "June 2004 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops". [[The Comics Chronicles]].
  17. "PUNISHER #9".
  18. "Comichron: July 2004 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  19. "PUNISHER #10".
  20. "Comichron: August 2004 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  21. "Comichron: September 2004 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  22. "Comichron: October 2004 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  23. "Comichron: November 2004 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  24. "Comichron: December 2004 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  25. "Comichron: January 2005 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
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  28. "Comichron: April 2005 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  29. "Comichron: May 2005 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  30. "Comichron: June 2005 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  31. "Comichron: July 2005 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  32. "PUNISHER #24".
  33. "Comichron: August 2005 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  34. "Comichron: September 2005 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  35. "Comichron: October 2005 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  36. "Comichron: November 2005 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  37. "Comichron: December 2005 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  38. "Comichron: January 2006 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  39. "PUNISHER #30".
  40. "Comichron: February 2006 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  41. "Comichron: March 2006 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  42. "Comichron: April 2006 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  43. "Comichron: May 2006 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  44. "Comichron: June 2006 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
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  47. "Comichron: September 2006 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  48. "Comichron: October 2006 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  49. "Comichron: November 2006 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  50. "Comichron: December 2006 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  51. "PUNISHER #43".
  52. "Comichron: January 2007 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  53. "PUNISHER #44".
  54. "Comichron: February 2007 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  55. "PUNISHER #45".
  56. "Comichron: March 2007 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  57. "PUNISHER #46".
  58. "Comichron: April 2007 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  59. "PUNISHER #47".
  60. "Comichron: May 2007 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  61. "PUNISHER #48".
  62. "Comichron: June 2007 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  63. "PUNISHER #49".
  64. "Comichron: July 2007 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  65. "PUNISHER #50".
  66. "Comichron: August 2007 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  67. "PUNISHER #51".
  68. "Comichron: October 2007 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  69. "PUNISHER #52".
  70. "Comichron: November 2007 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  71. "Comichron: December 2007 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  72. "PUNISHER #54".
  73. "Comichron: January 2008 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  74. "PUNISHER #55".
  75. "Comichron: March 2008 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  76. "PUNISHER #56".
  77. "Comichron: April 2008 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  78. "PUNISHER #57".
  79. "Comichron: May 2008 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
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  87. "PUNISHER #62".
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  90. "Comichron: October 2008 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  91. "PUNISHER #64".
  92. "Comichron: November 2008 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  93. "PUNISHER #65".
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  105. Brothers, David. (September 8, 2010). "The Punisher Gets Road Rage in 'Punisher MAX: Hot Rods of Death' [Preview]". [[ComicsAlliance]].
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Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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