There's going to be a new Punisher in the Marvel Universe. With Frank Castle out of action, a brand new character is taking up the mantle and waging a one-man war on crime.
Marvel revealed the first details about its new Punisher comic at San Diego Comic-Con. The new Punisher is a former SHIELD black ops agent named Joe Garrison. Check out the slideshow gallery below to see how the new Punisher compares to the old:
The new volume of Punisher is written by David Pepose (Savage Avengers) and drawn by Dave Wachter (Planet of the Apes), with Rod Reis (Doctor Strange) handling the cover art. We don't know much else about Joe Garrison at this point, though Reis' cover art suggests he'll have access to a more high-tech arsenal than Frank Castle normally did.
“The man might be different, but the punishment remains the same,” said Pepose in Marvel's press release. “I wanted to introduce the Danny Ketch to Frank’s Johnny Blaze.”
Pepose continued, “I asked myself ‘How do we build a bigger table? And how do we invite as many readers as possible?’ For existing fans of the Punisher and for new fans, this is a story that’s not going to sacrifice any of the attitude, any of the action, and we are not letting the pedal off the metal.”
For those who haven't been following Marvel's most recent Punisher comic, the series ended with Frank Castle renouncing his war and his new position as the Hand's Fist of the Beast. Frank is now marooned in the Weirdworld dimension, serving as a protector of children displaced by a terrible war. Frank is apparently done killing, but Joe Garrison is just getting started.
What do you think of Marvel's new Punisher? Is Joe Garrison cut out to finish what Frank started? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
In other Comic-Con news, Marvel is reviving the Superior Spider-Man, while DC and Legendary revealed a crossover comic called Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong. You can also brush up on everything announced at SDCC so far.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
