Recommended 'Punisher' Comics
Image Source: IGN
The Punisher/Frank Castle is one of Marvel Comics’ popular characters of all time.
For those who don’t know who he is, Frank Castle is a man who became a vigilante after he and his family got caught in the middle of a gang shootout.
Frank Castle does sound like your average vigilante, but thanks to many writers, such as Garth Ennis and Chuck Dixon, many comics show he’s more than just your run-of-the-mill vigilante.
With The Punisher getting popular again due to his appearances in Marvel Rivals and the recent Daredevil: Born Again series, along with getting a new comic series from Benjamin Percy and an upcoming MCU Special Presentation, there are a lot of people wanting to read more of Frank Castle.
Here are some Punisher comics/graphic novels worth reading.
One more thing: This list is in no particular order. These comics listed below are all excellent stories.
RELATED:
7. The Punisher: Born
Image Source: Goodreads
After Garth Ennis wrapped up his Punisher Marvel Knights run, Marvel had Garth write more Punisher stories under the Marvel Max imprint, an imprint for darker stories focusing on Marvel characters/teams.
The Punisher: Born is a four-issue miniseries that focuses on Frank’s last tour during the Vietnam War. In it, he deals with soldiers who are ready to head home, Vietnamese soldiers, and the urge to stay in Vietnam so he can continue fighting.
The miniseries does an excellent job of using the Vietnam War to show how it affects not just Frank Castle but also other characters in the story, including a man who just wants to go home and relax.
The art by Darick Robertson and Tom Palmer spectacularly captures the gritty horror of the story and features one of the best comic-book pages of all time.
6. Punisher/Captain America: Blood & Glory
Image Source: Marvel
The Punisher has had numerous crossover stories involving Bullseye, Deadpool, and even Doctor Strange. Out of all of them, Punisher/Captain America: Blood & Glory deserves more attention.
Punisher/Captain America: Blood & Glory is a three-issue miniseries about Captain America and Punisher discovering a conspiracy involving drug trafficking, a corrupt foreigner from South America, and lots of violence.
What could’ve been a generic crossover story is saved by some great moments that explore the minds of Frank Castle and Steve Rogers. For example, the first issue dedicates a good chunk of pages to exploring the differences between the two characters regarding their morals.
Another great aspect of the writing is seeing Frank interact with someone like Captain America. Towards the end of the story, Frank understands why people look up to Captain America and even respects him, which Frank also does in the pages of Matt Fraction’s Punisher War Journal series from the late 2000s.
Klaus Jansen’s art is also incredible, especially during the action scenes.
5. Punisher War Journal Vol. 2: Goin’ Out West
Image Source: Marvel
Matt Fraction’s Punisher War Journal is an odd series.
While The Punisher Max was darker and violent, Matt’s Punisher War Journal series had comedic bits, and Frank interacted with characters like G.W. Bridge and Captain America/Steve Rogers.
I read the entirety of Punisher War Journal Vol. 2, along with the Annual #1 issue, and while it had its share of highs and lows, the “Goin Out West” story arc was one of its highs and a Punisher story I recommend.
The story is quite simple: Frank Castle and Stuart Clarke/Rampage work together to take down a new Hate-Monger and his Nazi organization. However, the story has its share of twists and turns that entertained me, such as Frank mowing down Nazis and G.W. Bridge talking to Tony Stark/Iron Man about letting Frank Castle go despite trying to capture him.
The arc, and even the Civil War tie-in arc, goes more into Frank’s views on Captain America, even to the point of having Frank go after the new Hate Monger who disrespects Captain America’s image by wearing a suit just like his, following the death of Steve Rogers.
The story has a nice balance of action, comedy, and drama, and I recommend this arc.
4. The Punisher Max Vol. 5: The Slavers
Image Source: Marvel
Garth Ennis is quite popular in the Punisher fandom for two things:
Giving Frank Castle/The Punisher great stories again after his popularity declined in the mid-90s, especially after the release of Christopher Golden’s miniseries, where Frank got resurrected and was an avenging angel hunting criminals (I’m not kidding).
Garth Ennis’ The Punisher Max run, especially “The Slavers.”
The Slavers focuses on Frank coming to the aid of a female victim of a human trafficking group known as “The Slavers”, and after Frank finds out about what they did to her, which included killing her child, Frank declares war on The Slavers.
The story not only has terrific action scenes, but it also really shows that Garth Ennis knows how to write a character like Frank Castle. It’s also a story about something that sadly happens in real life: Victims who survived human trafficking have to live with the trauma.
The Slavers is a story that could’ve been generic, but thanks to Garth Ennis’ excellent writing and terrific artwork by Leonardo Fernandez and Scott Koblish, this is a Punisher story worth reading, especially if you want to read Garth Ennis’ take on the character.
3. The Punisher: Welcome Back, Frank
Image Source: Marvel
Before Garth Ennis wrote his Punisher Max run, he wrote a 12-issue comic series under the Marvel Knights imprint. As you can tell by the title, it was about Frank Castle returning to being the vigilante fans know and love and retconning the angel thing I mentioned earlier.
Welcome Back, Frank has colorful and entertaining characters, like The Russian, incredible action setpieces, funny dark humor, despite showing its age a bit, and quiet moments that flesh out Frank Castle and other characters.
A good example of the quiet moments in the story is the conversation between Frank and Joan, a meek woman living in the apartment where Frank rests. Joan tells Frank that she wants to leave NYC and live in a peaceful and secluded area because she is scared of the city, which leads to Frank empathizing with her.
Welcome Back, Frank is the kind of story that The Punisher/Frank Castle needed at the time, and Garth Ennis pulled it off well enough for him to write an ongoing Punisher Marvel Knights series (Tom Peyer wrote Issues 8 through 12) and his aforementioned Punisher Max run.
2. The Punisher: Year One
Image Source: Marvel
Back in the 90s, The Punisher had three ongoing titles running at the same time and several one-shots and minis. However, sales for many of these comics went down due to the oversaturation of dark and gritty comics coming out at the time. But like with the Captain America/Punisher crossover story I mentioned earlier, The Punisher: Year One is a miniseries that I find overlooked and deserves more attention.
The Punisher: Year One explores the aftermath of Frank’s wife and children dying at the hands of a mob shootout, where it was a case of wrong place, wrong time. However, Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning show that the corrupt police system had a role in Frank snapping and becoming The Punisher.
I always thought it was interesting seeing this get used because throughout many Punisher comics, the murder of Frank Castle’s family is what made Frank become The Punisher. Luckily, the corrupt police system angle does enhance the tragedy of Frank Castle.
The comic also sets up recurring events in Frank’s life, such as his “War Journal” and Billy Russo/Jigsaw, who is considered to be The Punisher’s arch-nemesis.
1. The Punisher Vol. 6 #6 AKA “Do Not Fall In New York City”
Image Source: Punisher Comics
As I said about Garth Ennis' Marvel Knights run, it has a mix of dark comedy and profound moments. However, Issue 6 of The Punisher Volume 6 was extremely dark.
After a family man, who also saved Frank Castle’s life during the Vietnam War, snaps and kills his family, Frank searches NYC for him before the authorities capture him.
Throughout most of the issue, Frank monologues about the man who saved his life and comments on how dark NYC is despite having a pretty side to it. The comic does a great job of diving into Frank Castle's mind, especially since he’s a man who has been through a lot.
Just like with “The Slavers”, Garth writes a well-written, but sad story that shows the dark side of the real world and ends on a tragic note. You could even say this is a precursor to the dark storytelling prevalent in the pages of Garth Ennis’ Punisher Max run.
These are just some of my Punisher recommendations, and I’m sure I missed more, but I believe these are still worth reading, especially if you’re new to the character.
READ NEXT:
Source(s): CBR
Latest News
Featured
