Essential Punisher Volume 4

Frank Castle's war on crime continues as Microchip returns! The Punisher takes on rapists, drug lords, serial killers, Neo-Nazis, Yakuza, kidnappers, baby-snatchers and more - and even ends up embroiled in a Middle Eastern conflict! But when the Kingpin sets his sights on the Punisher, Frank Castle ends up sentenced to 30 years in prison - right next to old foe Jigsaw! A prison break becomes a nightmare when Jigsaw takes his revenge by slicing up Frank's face - and Microchip's solution for patching up his pal leads to the strangest change of all! Guest-starring Nick Fury, Daredevil and Captain America! Collecting PUNISHER (1987) #41-59 and ANNUAL #4-5.

"The Punisher's earliest appearances from Amazing Spider-man, Captain America, Daredevil & more!"--Cover.

Contains Punisher #21-40 & Punisher Annual #2-3.

Collects Punisher MAX Annual 2007, Punisher: Force of Nature, Punisher: Little Black Book, Punisher (2004) #61-65, Punisher: Frank Castle MAX #66-75. Tales of death, depravity and destruction — Punisher-style! Frank Castle’s relentless war on crime leads him to Mexico, Philadelphia and Louisiana. But when he’s left with six hours to live, that only means he has time to kill! The Punisher will face unspeakable horrors, and ride shotgun with a lady whose little black book is filled with dark secrets. He’ll cut through New York’s seedy underbelly in search of the one gang member that got away. And he’ll be a force of nature on the high seas. But he’ll never escape his past, as five stories take an unflinching look at what really happened the day Frank Castle’s family died and the Punisher was born!

A by-the-numbers drug bust is about to take Frank Castle by surprise...and he HATES surprises. The horrible fallout threatens to send The Punisher into the heart of darkness, but Castle won't make that journey alone: A DEA agent is on his trail and attempting to get into his head...but what horrors will she find there, and will she survive the experience? Writer Becky Cloonan and quintessential Punisher artist Steve Dillon are forcing Frank Castle out of his comfort zone and taking him to the edge of the world he thought he knew! COLLECTING: THE PUNISHER (2016) 1-6

Nick Fury has a dangerous mission for the Punisher: break into a Siberian nuclear missile silo and steal a lethal retrovirus. But Castle's mission soon sets off a chain reaction that will bring him into conflict with a ruthless Russian General - and take the world to the brink of war. Then, mobster Nicky Cavella returns to plague the Punisher, but when his scheme unleashes a wave of violence that rocks New York to its core, other predators start to emerge from the darkness. COLLECTING: PUNISHER (2004) #13-30.

Collects Punisher MAX #71-74. Celebrated crime novelist Victor Gischler takes on Marvel’s greatest vigilante! Traveling the Louisiana back roads with something awful stored in his trunk, Frank Castle stops at a service station on the edge of the bayou and steps into a world of unspeakable horror. Patrolling the depths of hell, the Punisher has crossed paths with plenty of unsavory characters, but nothing has prepared him for the unspeakable depravity of the Geautreauxs. Plus: Vette’s little black book is a treasure chest of dark secrets. Movie stars, politicians, gangsters — they all pay to play. Tonight, she is making a house call — and the Punisher is riding shotgun. Because one of the names in that book is Carlos Ramirez, a powerful Miami drug lord who hides in an impenetrable fortress, and Vette is the Punisher’s best ticket inside. Before the night is through, Vette will learn a thing or two about what really lurks in the hearts of men, about the difference between dogs and wolves.

Since the Punisher's first appearance in the pages of Spider-Man #129, the character has become one of the most popular and controversial figures in Marvel's vast universe. The Punisher represents one of the most recognizable types of anti-heroes. His iconic skull insignia stands for a unique type of justice: protecting the innocent while violently eliminating everyone he sees as a villain. This collection examines the Punisher from philosophical perspectives about morality and justice. Essays critique the character through the lenses of gender and feminism; consider the Punisher's veteran status in relation the Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq wars; and examine how politics and gun violence connect the Punisher's world with the real world. Many iterations of the Punisher are examined within, including the Netflix release of Marvel's The Punisher, comics series such as Punisher: MAX, Marvel Knights, and Cosmic Ghost Rider, and several fan fiction stories.