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Punisher (2022) (Single Issues)
Punisher: The King of Killers
Born of tragedy. Devoted to war. Unstoppable in his rage. Frank Castle has become the most accomplished killer the world has ever seen. Now it’s time for him to confront the secrets lurking in his past and face his destiny. What shocking event convinces Frank to take the reins of the deadly ninja clan known as the Hand? And will it mean an end for the Punisher — or a whole new bloody beginning? Is he truly the Fist of the Beast, the predestined High Slayer of the Hand? Or is he nothing more than a prisoner of the ninjas’ twisted lies? The all-powerful Ares is coming for Frank with an army of heavily armed Apostles at his back, looking to turn him back into his old self — by murdering his family all over again! But even if the Punisher somehow survives the god of war, other forces are gathering to bring him down once and for all. Tainted by demonic evil, can he withstand the onslaught of Daredevil, Doctor Strange and the whole Marvel Universe? Or will Frank Castle be Punisher…no more? Join the superstar team of writer Jason Aaron and artists Jesús Saiz and Paul Azaceta for an epic exploration of the dark and violent past and inevitable future of one of Marvel’s most iconic characters.
COLLECTING: Punisher (2022) #1-12
COLLECTING: Punisher (2022) #1-12
- GenresComics
400 pages, Paperback
Published March 24, 2026
About the author
Jason Aaron
2,345 books1,703 followersJason Aaron grew up in a small town in Alabama. His cousin, Gustav Hasford, who wrote the semi-autobiographical novel The Short-Timers, on which the feature film Full Metal Jacket was based, was a large influence on Aaron. Aaron decided he wanted to write comics as a child, and though his father was skeptical when Aaron informed him of this aspiration, his mother took Aaron to drug stores, where he would purchase books from spinner racks, some of which he still owns today.
Aaron's career in comics began in 2001 when he won a Marvel Comics talent search contest with an eight-page Wolverine back-up story script. The story, which was published in Wolverine #175 (June 2002), gave him the opportunity to pitch subsequent ideas to editors.
In 2006, Aaron made a blind submission to DC/Vertigo, who published his first major work, the Vietnam War story The Other Side which was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Miniseries, and which Aaron regards as the "second time" he broke into the industry.
Following this, Vertigo asked him to pitch other ideas, which led to the series Scalped, a creator-owned series set on the fictional Prairie Rose Indian Reservation and published by DC/Vertigo.
In 2007, Aaron wrote Ripclaw: Pilot Season for Top Cow Productions. Later that year, Marvel editor Axel Alonso, who was impressed by The Other Side and Scalped, hired Aaron to write issues of Wolverine, Black Panther and eventually, an extended run on Ghost Rider that began in April 2008. His continued work on Black Panther also included a tie-in to the company-wide crossover storyline along with a "Secret Invasion" with David Lapham in 2009.
In January 2008, he signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, though it would not affect his work on Scalped. Later that July, he wrote the Penguin issue of The Joker's Asylum.
After a 4-issue stint on Wolverine in 2007, Aaron returned to the character with the ongoing series Wolverine: Weapon X, launched to coincide with the feature film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Aaron commented, "With Wolverine: Weapon X we'll be trying to mix things up like that from arc to arc, so the first arc is a typical sort of black ops story but the second arc will jump right into the middle of a completely different genre," In 2010, the series was relaunched once again as simply Wolverine. He followed this with his current run on Thor: God of Thunder.
Aaron's career in comics began in 2001 when he won a Marvel Comics talent search contest with an eight-page Wolverine back-up story script. The story, which was published in Wolverine #175 (June 2002), gave him the opportunity to pitch subsequent ideas to editors.
In 2006, Aaron made a blind submission to DC/Vertigo, who published his first major work, the Vietnam War story The Other Side which was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Miniseries, and which Aaron regards as the "second time" he broke into the industry.
Following this, Vertigo asked him to pitch other ideas, which led to the series Scalped, a creator-owned series set on the fictional Prairie Rose Indian Reservation and published by DC/Vertigo.
In 2007, Aaron wrote Ripclaw: Pilot Season for Top Cow Productions. Later that year, Marvel editor Axel Alonso, who was impressed by The Other Side and Scalped, hired Aaron to write issues of Wolverine, Black Panther and eventually, an extended run on Ghost Rider that began in April 2008. His continued work on Black Panther also included a tie-in to the company-wide crossover storyline along with a "Secret Invasion" with David Lapham in 2009.
In January 2008, he signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, though it would not affect his work on Scalped. Later that July, he wrote the Penguin issue of The Joker's Asylum.
After a 4-issue stint on Wolverine in 2007, Aaron returned to the character with the ongoing series Wolverine: Weapon X, launched to coincide with the feature film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Aaron commented, "With Wolverine: Weapon X we'll be trying to mix things up like that from arc to arc, so the first arc is a typical sort of black ops story but the second arc will jump right into the middle of a completely different genre," In 2010, the series was relaunched once again as simply Wolverine. He followed this with his current run on Thor: God of Thunder.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 29, 2026
Jason Aaron has become a writer I always give a chance to, because while not everything he writes works for me, he always brings a fresh take on whatever he's working on. His Punisher run, a 12-issue magnum opus that is a completely new take on the character, is one of his best works. The painted looking art by Jesus Saiz and the gritty work of Paul Azaceta perfectly matches the tone, which is part grindhouse action, part meditation on trauma and violence.
In what was likely an attempt to take back the Punisher skull from cops and white supremacists, Saiz reimagined the Punisher's trademark skull, and Aaron rebuilt him as a mystically-powered head of the Ninja clan the Hand, eventually leveling up to the point where his Beast-given powers allowed him to take on Ares, the God of War. Cameos from Daredevil, Black Widow, Moon Knight, Captain America, Wolverine, and Doctor Strange put it firmly in the Marvel Universe. And while I was uncertain at first of the idea of Frank's murderous vigilante life being the result of who he was since he was 10 years old (or even who he was in Vietnam, an idea first floated by Garth Ennis), I came around to it in this volume.
It's a shame that it didn't take, and that Frank's new life as the bloody savior of Weirdworld reverted to the more predictable "same old costume, same old mission" but that was probably inevitable. And it doesn't change anything about this story being one of the best Punisher stories ever told, even as it doesn't resemble any of the others.
In what was likely an attempt to take back the Punisher skull from cops and white supremacists, Saiz reimagined the Punisher's trademark skull, and Aaron rebuilt him as a mystically-powered head of the Ninja clan the Hand, eventually leveling up to the point where his Beast-given powers allowed him to take on Ares, the God of War. Cameos from Daredevil, Black Widow, Moon Knight, Captain America, Wolverine, and Doctor Strange put it firmly in the Marvel Universe. And while I was uncertain at first of the idea of Frank's murderous vigilante life being the result of who he was since he was 10 years old (or even who he was in Vietnam, an idea first floated by Garth Ennis), I came around to it in this volume.
It's a shame that it didn't take, and that Frank's new life as the bloody savior of Weirdworld reverted to the more predictable "same old costume, same old mission" but that was probably inevitable. And it doesn't change anything about this story being one of the best Punisher stories ever told, even as it doesn't resemble any of the others.
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
I mean I found this under my Christmas tree so you come up with your own conclusion. But yes this is a banger
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews