Frank Castle’s had a rough couple years. Blame the misappropriation of his iconography by police and their white supremacist admirers. Still, it put Marvel in a bind. It tried to get out of it by introduing a new Punisher, an ex-SHIELD agent named Joe Garrison, and turning Frank into an agent of The Hand complete with a new symbol that didn’t quite work.
But hey, Frank Castle has been a Frankenstein and an angel of vengeance and a Ghost Rider, so he was never going to stay down for long.
Marvel on Friday announced a new five-issue Punisher miniseries debuting in September by the Hellverine team of writer Benjamin Percy and artist Julius Ohta. Percy is known for writing some of Marvel’s more over-the-top violent characters, like Wolverine and Ghost Rider, so this oughta set things to rights. And it will be a Red Band series, meaning it will be even more violent, though maybe not quite Punisher MAX violent. But still. Violent.
Check out covers by Marco Checchetto, E.M. Gist and Mike Zeck, plus lettered preview pages, and keep scrolling for the basic deets.
Frank Castle’s brutal war on crime is reignited this September in PUNISHER: RED BAND! The five-issue limited series will be by writer Benjamin Percy and artist Julius Ohta, currently delivering twisted horror together in Hellverine. Polybagged for explicit content, the Red Band series promises to be the most violent in Punisher history, as Frank Castle–freshly resurrected and back in his classic costume—is allowed to fully unleash his brutal brand of justice on the criminal underworld.
Reread and reload, True Believers – Frank Castle is BACK. With no memories, a full clip and a thirst for wrathful vengeance, his violent search for answers could only be chronicled in a Red Band series! Bullets will fly, blood will flow, and the citizens and criminals of New York City alike will fear the name THE PUNISHER!
“Frank Castle—that dark-hearted, vengeance machine, that monster who fights monsters—is one of my all-time favorite characters, and Punisher is a series I’ve been gunning to write for a long, long time,” Percy shared. “Not only is Frank back in black, but this is a Red Band book. You know what that means. I’m going to lean in fully and push the very limits of my favorite genre: hairy psychopaths. This is going to be as gritty and bloody as it gets. Street-level mayhem awaits you. And Julius Ohta—who I collaborated with previously on Hellverine—is bringing all the blood and fire and rage to the page with his beautiful, terrifying art.”
Check out covers by Marco Checchetto and E.M. Gist along with a Hidden Gem cover by industry legend Mark Zeck. Plus, get your first look at Punisher’s new chapter with a lettered preview. Stay tuned for more news and preorder PUNISHER: RED BAND #1 at your local comic shop today!
Dan Grote is the editor and publisher of ComicsXF, having won the site by ritual combat. By day, he’s a newspaper editor, and by night, he’s … also an editor. He co-hosts The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with Matt Lazorwitz. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids and two miniature dachshunds, and his third, fictional son, Peter Paul Winston Wisdom. Follow him @danielpgrote.bsky.social.
