Spoilers will follow for Punisher #12 from Marvel Comics! Ever since the new Punisher comic was first announced (with Jason Aaron writing and art by Jesús Saiz & Paul Azaceta), with Marvel confirming the character would be dropping his signature logo and even firearms, fans thought something was up. After many years of The Punisher being embraced by certain types of fans and his logo coopted by other, many wondered if Marvel would every do anything to try and distance the character from these things or maybe even remove him from the public eye altogether. Well with Punisher #12, the character’s decades-long “war” comes to an end, and he may be officially retired for good.
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First, some background. The reason Frank Castle took off his iconic symbol and threw down his guns was a simple one, he was tricked by the ninja death cult The Hand. Given the promise of not only an army at his disposal to do what he wished, and the revival of his dead wife and children, Frank was quick to pick up a sword and wear a new symbol for the trade. All of this however has put him on the radar of the Marvel Universe’s biggest heroes for a clash. Not only does this include Daredevil, but also the entire Avengers team.
The final issue of Punisher saw Frank trying to battle not only the High Priestess of The Hand but hold off The Avengers at the same time. Naturally things don’t go how he wants and he ends up without his The Hand powers, and captured by Earth’s mightiest heroes. After being saved from the magic bullets he was shot with, the team that captured Frank enters the room one-by-one to get a read on him and figure out what the heck that should do with him. He’s confronted by Wolverine, Black Widow, Doctor Strange, and even Moon Knight, but the last on to walk through the door is the most damning, his wife, Maria Castle.
Previously brought to life by The Hand, their spell to revive her previously made it so she couldn’t even leave their compound. Doctor Strange has managed to manipulate their magic however to give Maria life full time again. Taking that in to account, and going off the fact that she was planning to divorce Frank before she was killed, she makes a huge blow to Frank’s world. Maria confirms that she sold all of Frank’s safehouses and their contents, taking half of that sum for herself and donating Frank’s half to charities, given in the names of their kids. She then leaves with a new car, bags of cash, and a positive pregnancy test.
Frank’s story however doesn’t end there. Confronted with a potential life sentence in some kind of hidden prison from The Avengers, Frank takes things into his own hands, literally. Using the bullets pullet from his body, which Doctor Strange confirm still possess some magic, Frank says a prayer to The Beast, exploding into a red mist in front of The Avengers. Doctor Strange then confirms the obvious, revealing Frank is no longer “in this plane of existence.” When asked by Wolverine if he’s dead, Strange doesn’t use those words, but adds “The Punisher is no more.”
In a two-page epilogue at the end of the comic we find out where The Punisher is now, and it ties into Jason Aaron’s Marvel history. The page shows off the desolate landscape of Weirdworld, the alternate universe with a deadly fantasy setting that Aaron revived in the Secret Wars Battleworld. Here in Weirdworld however, The Punisher has found a new purpose, finding and saving the young children of Weirdworld, acting as a protector instead of a Punisher. When asked what to call him, he tells the kids: “Frank.” It’s worth noting that Frank is seen once again wearing his new symbol, not the old one.
Now knowing all that though, it seems like Marvel has found a way to take Frank Castle and The Punisher off the board completely. The potential to bring him back however is clearly present, but for the time being it seems like he won’t be making anymore appearances.
In a final page where he talks about the story as a whole, Aaron writes: “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…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.”
