''The Punisher War Zone'' or ''Punisher War Zone'' is a

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

spin-off title featuring the

Punisher The Punisher (Francis "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 Punisher ma ...

, a fictional character published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. The 2008 Marvel film, '' Punisher: War Zone'' was loosely based on the series.

Publication history

The first installment of the series ran for 41 issues and two 64-page annuals. Multiple writers contributed to this series during its three-year run from 1992 to 1995. The series served mainly as a vehicle for longtime Marvel artist

John Romita Jr. John Salvatore Romita (; born August 17, 1956) is an American comics artist best known for his extensive work for Marvel Comics from the 1970s to the 2020s. He is the son of artist John Romita Sr. Early life John Romita Jr. was born August 17, ...

, who had returned to Marvel after a lengthy hiatus from drawing a monthly title. In 2009, Marvel published a 6-issue

limited series In the field of comic books, and particularly in the United States, a limited series is a comics series with a predetermined number of issues. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is finite and determined ...

under the same title. The storyline was called "The Resurrection of

Ma Gnucci Isabella Carmela Magdalena "Ma" Gnucci is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is an enemy of the Punisher. Publication history Created by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, the character made her first appe ...

Volume 1

The first series was the third different ''Punisher'' title published and the second spin-off based on the character.

Volume 2

This series was written by long-time ''Punisher'' writer

Garth Ennis Garth Ennis (born 16 January 1970) is a Northern Irish-American comics writer, best known for the Vertigo series ''Preacher'' with artist Steve Dillon, his nine-year run on Marvel Comics' ''Punisher'' franchise, and '' The Boys'' with artist Dar ...

and drawn by long-time ''Punisher'' artist

Steve Dillon Steve Dillon (22 March 1962 – 22 October 2016) was a British comic book artist, best known for his work with writer Garth Ennis on ''Hellblazer'', ''Preacher (comics), Preacher'' and ''The Punisher''. Early life Dillon was born in London i ...

. The series is a follow-up to Ennis's other Marvel Knights ''Punisher'' series.

Volume 3

This series was written by

Greg Rucka Gregory Rucka (born November 29, 1969) is an American writer known for the series of novels starring his character Atticus Kodiak, the creator-owned comic book series '' Whiteout'', '' Queen & Country'', '' Stumptown'' and '' Lazarus'', as well ...

and is a follow-up of Rucka's previous ''Punisher'' series from 2011. It was written to complete the story which Rucka did not get to do in the main title due to its cancellation.

Collected editions

* ''The Punisher: War Zone, Vol. 1'' (collects ''The Punisher War Zone'' #1-6), September 2002, * ''The Punisher: Barbarian with a Gun'' (collects ''The Punisher War Zone'' #26-30), November 2008, * ''The Punisher: River of Blood'' (collects ''The Punisher War Zone'' #31-36), December 2005, * ''Punisher: War Zone - The Resurrection of Ma Gnucci'' (collects ''Punisher: War Zone'' vol. 2, #1-6), April 2009, (HC), August 2009, (TPB) * ''Punisher: Enter the War Zone'' (Collects ''Punisher: War Zone Vol. 3'' #1-5), June 2013,

References

External links

* * * Comics set in New York City {{Marvel-title-stub