Frank Castle is back, and this time, he's hitting the road in an all-new Punisher. Marvel recently introduced Punisher #1, teasing a storyline that brings the vigilante back to the streets of New York.
However, the Punisher won't remain in New York for long, because there's a mysterious new synthetic drug that's hit the streets: the drug turns its users into super soldiers. As if that isn't bad enough, those soldiers become unstable, creating chaos wherever they go.
So, Frank has to start a new journey in search of who or what is behind this new drug. What he finds comes as a surprise: it's someone he knows from his time spent in the military.
Punisher #1 comes from writer Becky Cloonan (Gotham Academy, Southern Cross) and artist Steve Dillon (Hellblazer, Punisher, Preacher).
"When I first started thinking about what kind of story I wanted to tell, I kept thinking about a few of my favorite characters from film: Rambo and Jason Voorhees," said Cloonan to Marvel.com. "Both of these dudes share some very similar characteristics to Frank, and different aspects of this have inspired some of the ideas for this series. I guess you can argue that Jason isn't a 'dude' really, but just to make it easier I'm just gonna go with it. Cool?"
Marvel promises that the pages of Punisher #1 begins a "blood-soaked" journey through the northeast U.S. as Frank does what he does best: punishing criminals, mobsters, drug runners and villains.
He, will, however, meet others along the way during his journey in this new ongoing series.
"The Punisher works alone, but that doesn't mean he won't run into some interesting characters along the way," said Cloonan. "I'm not sure if you can say any of these characters really support him, but they all affect his journey and the course of his actions, for better or for worse. It's gonna be a fun time!"
Cloonan also mentioned that, although she looks for inspiration outside of the Punisher universe in the new comic, she still wants to have the character "ring true" for fans of the superhero. The Punisher is, historically, a brutal character who isn't afraid to use kidnapping, extortion, violence and torture to take on crime.
The Punisher #1 hits comic book stores and online in 2016.
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