PunisherMAX



Punisher: Frank Castle is published by Marvel Comics under the MAX imprint. Current price per issue is $3.99.

Last Issue

 * PunisherMAX #1: 11 Nov 2009

Current Issue

 * PunisherMAX #2: 09 Dec 2009

Next Issue

 * PunisherMAX #3: 13 Jan 2010

Status
Ongoing monthly series. Title changed to Punisher: Frank Castle with issue #66. Will end with issue #75, to be replaced by a new Punisher MAX series. The Punisher also appears monthly in the Marvel series Punisher.

Main Characters

 * Frank Castle/The Punisher - After his family died who were killed by the mob when they witnessed a Mafia gangland execution in New York City's Central Park, Vietnam vet Frank has dedicated his life to killing every mobster & gangster. - wikipedia

PunisherMAX #2
This is the current issue, and therefore no story information will be posted about this issue. Please check your local comic shop for copies of this issue.

Girls in White Dresses
Issues #61-65.

Valley Forge, Valley Forge
Issues #55-60.

Long Cold Dark
Issues #50-54.

Widow Maker
Issues #43-49.

Man of Stone
Issues #37-42.

Barracuda
Issues #31-36

The Slavers
Issues #25-30.

Up Is Down and Black Is White
Issues #19-24.

Mother Russia
Issues #13-18.

Kitchen Irish
Issues #7-12.

In the Beginning
Issues #1-6.

Trade Paperbacks

 * Punisher MAX, vol. 1: In the Beginning - Collects #1-6. "Frank Castle's old associate Micro is back, and he's after Frank. But first, he's got an offer for Frank that he'd better not refuse." - WorldCat - ISBN 0785113916


 * Punisher MAX, vol. 2: Kitchen Irish - Collects #7-12. "When a bomb explodes in a Hell's Kitchen pub, Frank Castle embarks on a deadly mission that pits him against two rival gangs. One thing is certain: The Punisher won't be pulling his punches!" - WorldCat - ISBN 0785115390


 * Punisher MAX, vol. 3: Mother Russia - Collects #13-18. "Nicky Fury's got a job that needs doing - in Russia. The kind of suicide mission any sane man wouldn't ponder for a second. And that's exactly why he needs the Punisher. Searching for a deadly retrovirus whose sale on the black market could bring the world to its knees, Frank Castle penetrates a Russian nuclear silo...and comes face-to-face with the Mongolian!" - WorldCat - ISBN 0785116036


 * Punisher MAX, vol. 4: Up Is Down and Black Is White - Collects #19-24. "Uber-gangster Nicky Cavella is back with a vengeance -- this time hitting Frank Castle where he least expects it -- right in the black pit of his hardened heart. With one unspeakable act, Nicky will go right to the top of Frank's 'to-do' list -- and there's nowhere he'd rather be." - WorldCat - ISBN 0785117318


 * Punisher MAX, vol. 5: The Slavers - Collects #25-30. "On a pitch-black Brooklyn night, in a dead-end alley, Frank Castle brutally dispatches a crew of Albanian thugs menacing a young woman. Her name is Viorica, she's from Moldavia, and when she tells Frank her story, that's when the real killing starts!" - WorldCat - ISBN 0785118993


 * Punisher MAX, vol. 6: Barracuda - Collects #31-36. "Jigsaw, Ma Gnucci, the Russian - Frank Castle's faced some fearsome foes in his day, but none as stone-cold rotten to the bone as the Barracuda. He's big, he's mean, and the last thing on earth you want is to see him smile." - WorldCat - ISBN 0785120238


 * Punisher MAX, vol. 7: Man of Stone - Collects #37-42. "The last time General Nikolai Alexandrovich Zakharov encountered Frank Castle, the two men were playing chicken with a dozen nuclear warheads over Moscow. Since then, well, let’s just say Zakharov’s not the type to forgive and forget. When a mutual enemy of Castle comes with the perfect plan to lure Frank out of his hole, Zakharvo is all ears. That man is Rawlins. His bait? His former wife and sometime Castle flame: O’Brien." - WorldCat - ISBN 078512165X


 * Punisher MAX, vol. 8: Widowmaker - Collects #43-49. "Five women linked by tragedy and obsession. The Punisher killed their husbands -- put them down like dogs -- and shattered their lives. Now, they want payback, and they’ve hatched the perfect plan to get it. To bring the wolf to their door, all they need is bait." - WorldCat - ISBN 0785124543


 * Punisher MAX, vol. 9: Long Cold Dark - Collects #50-54. "The Punisher's wildest foe is back! Left gut-shot in shark-infested waters, Barracuda's got a major score to settle with Frank Castle. But Barracuda's no dummy. Charging in with guns blazing is for suckers. He's got something serious planned. Something that's going to hit Frank where he hasn't been hit in years: the black pit that used to be his heart." - WorldCat - ISBN 078512814X


 * Punisher MAX Vol. 10: Valley Forge, Valley Forge - Collects #55-60. "Thirty-five years ago, the Fifth Cavalry disgorged their troops on an isolated Vietnamese hilltop and was met by a scene of utter devastation. The final body count ran to well over seven-hundred — almost 200 hundred of them American soldiers. Standing alone amidst the carnage, a sole survivor: Captain Frank Castle, who years later would be known as the most fearsome vigilante to walk the Earth — the Punisher. Now, the Punisher is about to face his stiffest test: He’s hunted big game in his day, but none as big as this. Five men with unlimited resources. Men who’d put anything between themselves and the Punisher’s bullet. Men who know exactly who he is — and how to fight him." - WorldCat - ISBN 0785127550


 * Punisher MAX: From First to Last - Collects three one-shots. "Three dark tales of the Punisher’s past, present and future. THE TYGER: As a 10-year-old boy on the streets of Brooklyn, Frank Castle was no stranger to violence. On the eve of his first kill as the Punisher, Castle remembers a far-off summer filled with fear, intimidation and revenge. THE CELL: Deep in the bowels of Riker’s Island lurk five evil old men, with a secret so terrible that even they can’t begin to comprehend it. But a new inmate has arrived: the Punisher, convicted of a hundred murders, determined to find those five old men no matter what. And finally, THE END: In the near future, in the ruins of a world destroyed by nuclear fire, there is still evil — and so there must be punishment. A dying Frank Castle stalks the mass graves of New York City, determined to carry out one final, dreadful task." - WorldCat - ISBN 0785117156


 * Punisher MAX: Girls in White Dresses - Collects #61-65 & Hunted. "In black vans and under cover of night, they descend on the little Mexican town of Tierra Rota, abducting its women and returning them days later like broken dolls. And no one can stop them. That is, until one brave soul approaches Frank Castle with his heart in one hand and a bag full of money in the other. Now Frank's no bounty hunter, and definitely no hero, but there are some things the Punisher just can't abide." - WorldCat - ISBN 0785129847


 * Punisher: Frank Castle MAX - Six Hours To Kill - Collects #66-70 & Force of Nature. "The Punisher always knew he'd die on the job. But he didn't know he'd have an expiration date. After busting up a slave ring in downtown Philadelphia, Frank Castle has been tricked, trapped, gassed, strapped to a table, and injected with a serum that will turn him into a 220-pound corpse by dawn - six hours from now. The people who grabbed him want him to do a simple little job and then they'll give him the antidote - simple, right? Guess again! The Punisher is nobody's errand boy! There's only one thing he wants to do before he dies: Take as many bastards as he can with him!" - WorldCat - ISBN 0785131825


 * Punisher: Frank Castle MAX - Welcome to the Bayou - Collects #71-75? "Traveling the Louisiana back roads with something awful stored in his trunk, Frank Castle stops at a service station on the edge of the bayou…and steps into a world of unspeakable horror. Patrolling the depths of hell, the Punisher has crossed paths with plenty of unsavory characters, but nothing has prepared him for the unspeakable depravity of the Geautreauxs. Plus: Vette’s little black book is a treasure chest of dark secrets. Movie stars, politicians, gangsters — they all pay to play. Tonight, she is making a house call — and the Punisher is riding shotgun. Because one of the names in that book is Carlos Ramirez, a powerful Miami drug lord who hides in an impenetrable fortress, and Vette is the Punisher’s best ticket inside. Before the night is through, Vette will learn a thing or two about what really lurks in the hearts of men, about the difference between dogs and wolves." - WorldCat - ISBN 078513378X

Hardcovers

 * Punisher by Garth Ennis Omnibus - Collects Punisher (2000) #1-12, Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe, Marvel Knights Double Shot #1, and Punisher (2001) #1-7, 13-37. "Stripped of sidekicks, spiritual directives and other excess baggage, the vengeance-crazed vigilante hits the mean streets of New York City with a renewed sense of purpose." - WorldCat - ISBN 0785133836


 * Punisher MAX, vol. 1 - Collects #1-12. "In 'In the Beginning,' Frank Castle is already years into killing members of the Italian mob, and is surprised by the reappearance of former partner and armorer, Micro Chip, who has an offer for Frank to join the CIA's operation in the War on Terror. In 'Kitchen Irish,' After having been present at a bombing of a restaurant, Frank Castle fights Irish gang members at war with each other, while being assisted by two MI6 agents." - WorldCat - ISBN 0785118403


 * Punisher MAX, vol. 2 - Collects #13-24. "In 'Mother Russia,' Frank Castle is recruited by Nick Fury to infiltrate Russia and recover a girl injected with a specialized virus and antidote in her bloodstream while accompanied by a Delta Force member. In 'Up is Down, Black is White,' Nicky Cavella assumes control of the scattered mafia after having desecrated the Castle family remains, with the Punisher exacting vengeance on Cavella, as well as learning of a CIA agent's role in a botched suicide raid in Russia." - WorldCat - ISBN 078512022X


 * Punisher MAX, vol. 3 - Collects #25-36. - "In 'The Slavers,' Frank Castle brutally dispatches a crew of Albanian thugs menacing a young woman on a pitch-black Brooklyn night, in a dead-end alley. Her name is Viorica, she’s from Moldavia, and when she tells Frank her story, that’s when the real killing starts! And in 'Barracuda,' the Punisher meets his match! Jigsaw, Ma Gnucci, the Russian – Frank has faced some fearsome foes in his day, but none as stone-cold rotten to the bone as the Barracuda. He’s big, he’s mean, and the last thing on earth you want is to see him smile." - WorldCat - ISBN 0785119817


 * Punisher MAX, vol. 4 - Collects #37-49. - "In 'Man of Stone,' two new players arrive to work out a lethal grudge as British Special Forces and Taliban insurgents face off in the Afghan highlands. One is Frank Castle, the man they call the Punisher. The other is General Nikolai Alexandrovich Zakharov, Soviet war criminal, known as the Man of Stone. Neither will stop until the other is dead – and Zakharov has brought not only a platoon of elite shock troops, but CIA traitor Rawlins, blackest of black operators. Castle has allies of his own, but this is old, bad, bloody country. You go to war in Afghanistan... and everybody dies. And in 'Widowmaker,' five Mafia widows are going to try what so many of their menfolk failed at: They're going to take the Punisher down. But they're not the only ones out for revenge. You spend your life married to organized crime, you end up with things in your past you'd rather forget. And for these women, the past is coming back in the worst way possible. Armed. Deadly. And hungry for justice." - WorldCat - ISBN 0785128670


 * Punisher MAX, vol. 5 - Collects #50-60. "Barracuda's back. The most dangerous foe the Punisher has ever faced has found a chink in his enemy's armor, one even Frank Castle himself doesn't know about. Heart full of blackest hate and loving every minute of it, he's out to crush the vigilante to pulp – and take his time over killing what remains. But Castle has a lifetime of slaughter behind him, and who knows how lethal he might yet become? Then, watch as Garth Ennis concludes his seminal run on Punisher in style. Thirty-five years ago, the Fifth Cavalry disgorged their troops on an isolated Vietnamese hilltop and was met by a scene of utter devastation. The final body count ran to well over seven-hundred — almost two-hundred of them American soldiers. Standing alone amidst the carnage, a sole survivor: Captain Frank Castle. Now, the Punisher is about to face his stiffest test: He’s hunted big game in his day, but none as big as this. Five men with unlimited resources. Men who’d put anything between themselves and the Punisher’s bullet. Men who know exactly who he is — and how to fight him." - WorldCat - ISBN 0785137823


 * Punisher MAX: From First to Last - "Collecting three deadly one-shots! THE TYGER: Long before he waged a one-man vendetta against organized crime, long before he was young lieutenant waging war in the jungles of ‘Nam, Frank Castle was a 10-year-old boy growing up on the mean streets of Brooklyn. When a classmate commits suicide in the aftermath of an unspeakable act, young Frank uncovers a secret dark enough to blacken the purest of hearts. Thus begins his first journey on the road that will eventually turn him into the man known as the Punisher, a journey that will bring him face to face with the Tyger: a creature not made by God, but just as vital to the world as anything He created. THE CELL: From the darkest bowels of Riker’s prison, the old men preside over their empire. Nothing goes down without their say-so; no one draws a breath without their permission. And when a riot explodes, they need only fortify their defenses and ride it out. But someone else is weaving his way through the bloodstained halls, their newest neighbor: Frank Castle. THE END: Legendary artist Richard Corben joins definitive Punisher writer Garth Ennis for Frank Castle’s last stand! In a world gone mad, the Punisher just might be the sanest man on Earth. Now he’s heading home, to the place it all began, and heaven help anyone who stands in his path." - WorldCat - ISBN 0785122761

Creative Team

 * Writer (#1-60): Garth Ennis.
 * Artist on "Barracuda": Goran Parlov

Publishing History
This is the sixth volume of Punisher. It started in 2004.

Volume five was published from 2001-2004 under the Marvel Knights imprint for 37 issues.

Volume four was a twelve-issue maxi-series, published under the Marvel Knights imprint, from 2000-2001.

Volume three was published from 1995-1997 as a Marvel Edge title, issues #1-18.

Volume two was published from 1987-1995, issues #1-105.

Volume one was a five issue mini-series, published in 1986.

Order Codes
These are the order codes and prices as provided by Diamond Distribution. Your local comic shop should be able to order these for you.

Future Publication Dates
Dates subject to change at the whims of the publisher or distributor. Please see the Diamond Shipping Lists for current information.


 * PunisherMAX #3: 13 Jan 2010
 * PunisherMAX #4: 10 Feb 2010
 * PunisherMAX: Butterfly: 03 Mar 2010
 * PunisherMAX #5: 10 Mar 2010

News & Features

 * 10 Dec 2009 - Valerie D’Orazio Writes Punisher MAX Comic
 * 17 Jul 2009 - Jason Aaron Takes Punisher to the MAX
 * 17 Jul 2009 - Jason Aaron is Bringing the Punishment w/ Punisher Max
 * 29 Apr 2009 - Swamp Things: Gischler Talks Punisher MAX
 * 16 Jan 2009 - Swierczynski On Frank Castle: Punisher
 * 05 Dec 2008 - Marvel Memoir: The Punisher
 * 03 Dec 2008 - Silent Night, Deadly Night: Aaron Talks Punisher MAX X-Mas Special
 * 25 Nov 2008 - Duane Swierczynski: Martial Arts, Mutants, Werewolves... Oh My!
 * 30 Sep 2008 - Tim Bradstreet - 20 Years, Part 5 - Meeting The Punisher
 * 25 Jul 2008 - SDCC '08 - Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon Talk Punisher
 * 02 Jun 2008 - WW Philly: Garth Ennis Q&A
 * 19 Apr 2008 - NYCC: Punisher MAXes Out with Three Writers
 * 06 Mar 2008 - Victor Gischler Tackles Punisher in Little Black Book
 * 14 Aug 2007 - Annual Punishment: Talking to Mike Benson & Laurence Campbell About The Punisher
 * 11 Jul 2007 - THE LONG, COLD DARK: Garth Ennis Talks Punisher #50