The Punisher (MAX line) in the context of Gerry Conway

⭐ Core Definition: The Punisher (MAX line)

The Punisher (Francis G. "Frank" Castle, born Castiglione) is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru.

The character is a vigilante who employs violence and killing in his campaign against crime. Driven by the deaths of his wife and two children, who were killed by the mob for witnessing a murder in New York City's Central Park, the Punisher wages a one-man war on all criminals. Castle is a veteran U.S. Marine Corps Scout/Sniper in Force Recon. The stories initially place his military service in the Vietnam War, but this was much later updated to the Gulf War and then to the fictional Siancong War. Castle is skilled in hand-to-hand combat, guerrilla warfare, and marksmanship. He is known for the skull motif on his chest. The symbol has since become widely controversial after becoming appropriated by United States military personnel and law enforcement, as well as far-right organizations. The character has been analyzed as an expression of ambivalence in American culture regarding the legacy of the Vietnam War as well as controversies about the proper response to violent crime. While he typically fights and kills networks of organized crime, his archenemy is Jigsaw.

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The Punisher (MAX line) in the context of Line (comics)

A line is a concept in Western comic books which denotes a specific group of publications by a publisher, sometimes taking place in a separate continuity or more loose continuity (such as Vertigo by DC Comics) or exploring a kind of subject matter or genre which the publisher does not want to involve in their main franchise or so called "universe".

Often lines which explore more "realistic" or "dark" subject matters are published under a companies sub imprints (such as Ultimate Marvel or MAX by Marvel Comics) to distinguish it from their main superhero lines. Sometimes a line can be published under an imprint but not always be part of a larger continuity within their imprint (such as The Punisher MAX line which is not in continuity with most other Marvel Max titles). A line can consist of several different titles, ongoing series, limited series, one-shots, annuals, specials or trades and be by many different artists but are advertised and marketed as part of the line. So called crossover events are often followed by a line of tie-in comics to the event miniseries from other unrelated titles to connect them.

View the full Wikipedia page for Line (comics)

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