Garth Ennis is returning to the infamous Frank Castle character in an upcoming Punisher story that takes place in Vietnam and co-stars Nick Fury. It will likely be released sometime in 2022.
Ennis recently appeared on the Comic Book Couples Counseling podcast to discuss his new Battle Action Special graphic novel. During the interview, Ennis dropped some details about a new Punisher run that's in the works. "I should say there's going to be another Punisher, presumably later this year," he said. "A Vietnam story that will kind of join the events of the Nick Fury series with Born. You'll find out what happened in between and how he ended up at Fire Base Valley Forge."
When discussing the various aspects of what makes Frank such a compelling character, Ennis said the new story might surprise people in how it deals with some of the Punisher's origins. "It might not be what people are expecting," he said. "Frank's competency becoming almost enjoyment of combat is not a straight line. It wasn't as inevitable as people might think, but you'll see that in the story."
Ennis' first title for Marvel Comics was the 1995 one-shot Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe. He continued to write a full Punisher series, illustrated by Steve Dillon, under the Marvel Knights imprint from 2000 to 2001. Ennis later relaunched the character under Marvel's MAX Comics imprint, which allowed him to take the character to some darker places and spawned several shorter series such as Born and Barracuda.
Born largely documents Frank's time in the United States Marine Corps during his final tour in Vietnam. The series is set over the course of a four-day period when his platoon is stationed at Firebase Valley Forge. Castle and his men are surrounded by the opposing side, which forces them to do whatever it takes to survive. "He’s drafted for Vietnam," Ennis said of the character's origins. "He becomes a soldier. He finds out he’s good for it. Then he gets a taste for it. Then he goes essentially too far. It becomes obvious that circumstances are going to conspire to make this not just a tour of duty, but his life."
Ennis also worked on a number of Nick Fury series under the MAX imprint. He began with a six-issue miniseries called Fury in 2001, which he then followed with a prequel called Fury: Peacemaker in 2006 and a sequel called Fury: My War Gone By in 2012.
While waiting to see what Ennis does with the Castle character next, Punisher fans can also begin reading Marvel's new ongoing Punisher series, written by Jason Aaron with artists Paul Azaceta and Jesus Saiz, starting next week. The new Punisher will turn Frank Castle into the Hand's warlord as he ditches his classic skull icon for a new design and uniform.
Source: Comic Book Couples Counseling