Marvel’s New Punisher Revealed at Comic-Con

Marvel Comics has made a number of major announcements at this weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con, but it looks like the publisher has made its most unexpected reveal yet. On Friday, during the MARVEL: Heroes, Hulks, and Super-Soldiers panel at the convention, it was announced that a new character, a retired S.H.I.E.L.D. black ops agent by the name of Joe Garrison, will be stepping into the mantle of The Punisher. Garrison’s adventures in the mantle will be told in a new The Punisher series, written by David Pepose (Savage Avengers, Moon Knight: City of the Dead) and drawn by Dave Wachter (Planet of the Apes, X-Men Legends), with covers by Rod Reis.

Marvel previously showcased the new The Punisher costume earlier this month, but kept the character’s identity a secret, prompting a lot of speculation about who would succeed Frank Castle in the role. Joe Garrison is far from the latest additional character to take on The Punisher mantle, with Lynn Michaels, Jimmy Pierce, Jake Gallows, Carlos Cruz, and even Frank’s son, Frank Castle Jr., stepping into the role at one point or another.

What Is Marvel’s New The Punisher Series About?

In The Punisher #1, Frank Castle has disappeared, but evil will always need to be punished. With all-new threats rising to claim innocent victims, criminals will need to beware of a dangerous vigilante hunting them from the shadows. Who is the new Punisher? What put him on his path of vengeance? And when the smoke clears, will he even make it out alive?

Did The Punisher Retire?

The most recent run of The Punisher, which was written by Jason Aaron with art by Jesús Saiz & Paul Azaceta, followed Frank Castle’s most recent stint as the character. The run was filled with surprising changes, including a new logo and a change in Frank’s policy on guns. In the run’s final issue, The Punisher #12, Frank eliminated himself from Marvel’s main “plane of existence” in order to avoid a potential life sentence in the Avengers’ hidden prison. In actuality, Frank transported himself to Weirdworld, where he works to protect the children of the realm while wearing his new symbol.

“This is a story I’ve wanted to tell for many years, and I am grateful to all involved at Marvel Comics for making it happen,” Aaron wrote in the final page of the issue. “Since the character’s first appearance in 1973, the ideas and symbols of The Punisher have come to mean Many things to Many different people. Some of those I agree with. Some I very much don’t. At the end of the day, despite the complicated nature of the character, despite the changing times and disparate viewpoints, the story of Frank Castle is fundamentally one very simple thing: A tragedy.”

What do you think of Marvel’s new Punisher? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

The Punisher #1 is set to be released wherever comics are sold on November 8th.