Meet the new guy
Punisher is a 2023 comic book limited series from Marvel Comics. It's written by David Pepose with art by Dave Wachter and color art by Dan Brown. The series is the fourteenth volume of The Punisher.
The series, set in the shared Marvel Universe, stars a new character as the titular Punisher, Joe Garrison, and follows Joe's own quest for revenge.
Following the events of Punisher (2022), Frank Castle has gone missing. However, when a mysterious man rampages through an Inner Demons safehouse sporting a familiar symbol, has Frank returned? Or is this new man someone different and yet so very familiar? This is the story of Joe Garrison, a former Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. turned vengeful hunter.
The first issue was published on November 08, 2023.
Punisher (2023) provides examples of:
- Back from the Dead: The Offer, a villain that appeared in the lead up to Death of Wolverine and was supposedly killed by Sabretooth, makes his return. Though his return is treated as an Unexplained Recovery, Joe muses that he must have given Death an offer so powerful that even Hell didn't want him.
- Back for the Dead: The one-off Daredevil villain Shock, now going by Fearmaster, reappears in Issue #3, which ends with her being killed by Joe.
- Clear My Name: Averted. His ally Triple-A suggests hunting down and bringing in The Sokovan to reveal that he didn't kill his family, but Joe refuses that, suggesting he's now a Death Seeker.
- The Dreaded: Before becoming the new Punisher, he was the Gravedigger of S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Fatal Family Photo: Detective Linus brings up Detective Ward's daughter right before Ward is killed by Fearmaster.
- History Repeats: Like Frank Castle, Joe Garrison is on a quest for revenge for the deaths of his wife and children, donning powerful weaponry and using a familiar skull-like shield.
- Legacy Character:
- Joe Garrison is initially mistaken for the previous Punisher, Frank Castle, due to the symbols on his armor. They're on a similar quest for vengeance, and he embraces the identity.
- Issue #2 introduces a brand new Doughboy, in this case a bullied teenager named Dennis Hogart.
- Subverted with Jigsaw, the terrorist group that killed the Garrisons. Despite the name and motif, it has no apparent connection at all to the original Punisher's archenemy, Jigsaw.
- Mythology Gag:
- Shock rebranded herself as Fearmaster, which is the same alias that was used by The Punisher 2099's Arch-Enemy.
- Joe paraphrases Dolph Lundgren's famous response from The Punisher (1989) when asked whether he's gotten any fulfillment or accomplished anything meaningful from his crusade.
Jigsaw: Without your family, you'll never be whole again. So tell me, Punisher...does it feel like you've really won? (Five years, dozens of men dead... what do you call that?)Joe: ....no. But it's a start. (Work in progress) - Not Me This Time: An interesting variant: Joe believes his family was targeted by assassins because of his work. As it turns out, the real target was his wife, as she constantly flagged bad banking transactions and someone finally caught on.
- Piano Drop: The Offer had his own piano bar, which proved fortuitous for Joe when he was able to use the piano against Bushwhacker.
- Quirky Miniboss Squad: The Offer has a new group of lackies that consists of Bushwhacker, Eel, Finesse, and a new Doughboy.
- Salt and Pepper: Detectives Linus (pepper) and Ward (salt).
- The Worf Effect: Joe's first major foe is Mister Hyde, who has gone toe-to-toe with the likes of Thor and the rest of the Avengers. However, he becomes Joe's first major kill. In a case of Curb Stomp Cushion, however, Hyde has control of the fight the entire time and only dies due to Joe shoving a mouthful of Mutant Growth Hormone into his mouth, causing him to majorly overdose.
