Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics | Tagged: marvel, punisher

Is This, Finally, To Be The Punisher No More? (Spoilers)

When Bleeding Cool first reported the current Punisher series by Jason Aaron, Paul Azaceta and Jesus Saiz, it was to be called Punisher No More.

When Bleeding Cool first reported the existence of the current Punisher comic book series by Jason Aaron, Paul Azaceta and Jesus Saiz, we stated that it was to be called Punisher No More. It is possible that Marvel Comics may have considered that a bit of a spoiler, and renamed it to Punisher.

During the series, we have seen that The Punisher has allied with The Hand, to use them as a tool to take down the worst people in the world. While the Hand is using The Punisher to be its Fist, for as yet unseen purposes. It has also been revealed that The Hand were keeping an eye on Frank Castle long before he went to war and long before he became the Punisher. Because even as a child, Frank Castle was committing such works of lethal justice in his neighbourhood.

In order to acquire his services, The Hand brought back his wife Maria Castle from the dead, though her return seems to have spaced her out. And they couldn't bring back the kids. It was the moment in Central Park when his family were gunned down by crossfire of warring gangs that was meant to be the moment of inception for The Punisher, though his role in Vietnam and now as a child has also been brought into play.

We have seen both Frank and Maria looking back at their lives before that fateful moment, and how Frank Castle had already become distant and destructive, playing the part of a devoted family man, while revealing this was little more than a front, he was a psychopath who had created his own theatre.

In today's Punisher, while the superheroes are trying to exorcise Frank Castle from the influence of The Hand, it is Maria Castle who tells the reader that they are looking in entirely the wrong place. Frank Castle was always like this. They were the Walking Dead, playing their part in a world which has abandoned them, it seems.

And Maria Castle, who has remained dead for the entire period that Frank Castle has been The Punisher, gets a chance to catch up with his Life Story. Punisher Life Story, I am sure someone is already on that.

And in those moments before the massacre that lit the fuse that was the Punisher…

…the realisation is that this may have always been an excuse. The Punisher, was always there. he was already doing the very things he would one day be famed for, just without the Skull on his shirt.

And maybe, just maybe, it was a different sense of loss that Frank Castle had experienced that day.

He had lost the game of life. And for a psychopath, that's all it can be seen as, a series of checkboxes, ticks on a list, accomplishments unlocked, trophies on a wall.

And just as Maria Castle wanted to be done by Frank Castle, denied the chance to win her back by the gunmen who were "coincidentally" there… though no doubt, this will be revealed to have been a deliberate act by The Hand to give Frank Castle the push into the Punisher, for Frank maybe it's been a different delusion, a different battle, a different struggle he has been fighting all these years. Anything to blot out his wife's final words.

And now it's her turn to strike back for herself. Seize the agenda. Put the dog down. Is it possible that the title of this series, Punisher, rather than The Punisher, was meant to refer to Maria Castle? For punishing Frank Castle? And what comes next?

Is this to be the end of the Punisher for good?

Bleeding Cool has covered increasing criticism of the use of the Punisher skull by police, army, militia, white supremacist groups, QAnon events, and Sean Hannity on Fox News, even Trump Punisher pins have been popular. And then during the January 6th Insurrection at the Capitol building in Washington, many Punisher skull insignias were seen. This also followed Black Lives Matter protests and a focus on real and fictional police behaviour, including the use of Punisher imagery by the police. Amidst calls for Marvel and Disney to cancel The Punisher as a character, Bleeding Cool observed that this may have happened already and that there had been no published or solicited Punisher comic books since November 2020. There was a collection of Punisher Vs Barracuda – but that series was never completed. It was initially postponed by the pandemic but then abandoned altogether, despite completed issues having been completed.

In July last year, Bleeding Cool ran the news that Jason Aaron was to reinvent The Punisher for a new age, adding the headline story "Jesus Saiz and Paul Azaceta Join Jason Aaron on Punisher No More". Then we ran the official news that Jason Aaron, Jesus Saiz, and Paul Azaceta are indeed launching a new Punisher series in March 2022. And the Punisher as featured seemed to be sporting a different skull. One that Marvel has trademarked.

The Marvel trademark describes thus; "The mark consists of a stylized design of a human skull with a horn design crossing the skull and extending upward from each side of the skull, with curved, pointed tusks extending from and away from each side of the jaw area." while the sign in the areas "Bones, human ; Human skeletons, parts of skeletons, bones, skulls ; Skulls, human" and "Devils ; Horns, persons having" and trademarking it for everything under the sun, including for this festive time of year, "paper party favors; paper party hats; Christmas stockings; Christmas tree ornaments and decorations; snow globes"

No mention of Frank Castle having had to survive of course…

PUNISHER #11
MARVEL COMICS
FEB230856
(W) Jason Aaron (A/CA) Jesus Saiz
Frank Castle has finally embraced the role of Fist of the Beast, the High Slayer of the world's most powerful clan of murderers, the Hand. And the rest of the Marvel Universe has taken notice. If Frank really wants to end his war once and for all, he's going to have to fight his way through some old familiar faces.
Rated T+In Shops: Apr 19, 2023
SRP: $4.99

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!