''The Punisher War Journal'' or ''Punisher War Journal'' is the title of two

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...

featuring the character Frank Castle, also known as 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 made ...

. The first volume, published from

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, was spun off of a self-titled series featuring the vigilante's exploits. After this, the character went through a number of incarnations in Marvel's imprints, such as

Marvel Knights Marvel Knights is an imprint of Marvel Comics that contained standalone material taking place inside the Marvel Universe (Earth-616). The imprint originated in 1998 when Marvel outsourced four titles (''Black Panther'', ''Punisher'', '' Daredevil ...

and MAX, that were outside of regular Marvel continuity. The second volume of ''War Journal'', published between 2007 and 2009 by writer

Matt Fraction Matt Fritchman (born December 1, 1975), better known by the pen name Matt Fraction, is an Eisner Award-winning American comic book writer, known for his work as the writer of '' The Invincible Iron Man'', '' The Immortal Iron Fist'', ''Uncanny ...

, placed the character firmly in the ongoing Marvel Universe inhabited by superheroes such as the Avengers and Spider-Man, and super-villains such as Doctor Doom and the

Masters of Evil The Masters of Evil is a supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first version of the team appeared in '' The Avengers'' #6 (July 1964), with the lineup continually changing over the years. Publication ...

. This was reflected in the series by tying into

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

events of the Marvel Universe proper, including "

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

", "

World War Hulk "World War Hulk" is a comic book crossover storyline that ran through a self-titled limited series and various titles published by Marvel Comics in 2007, featuring the Hulk. The series consists of five main issues titled ''World War Hulk'', wi ...

", and "

Secret Invasion "Secret Invasion" is a comic book crossover storyline that ran through a self-titled eight-issue limited series and several tie-in books published by Marvel Comics from April through December 2008. The story involves a subversive, long-term in ...

Publication history

Volume 1

The first volume of ''The Punisher War Journal'' ran 80 issues, cover-dated November

to July

. Originally written and

penciled A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations, usually in collaboration with other artists, who provide inks, colors ...

Carl Potts Carl Potts (born November 12, 1952) is an American comics artist, writer, teacher, and editor best known for creating the series '' Alien Legion'' for the Marvel Comics imprint Epic Comics. Early life Born in Oakland, California, and raised in t ...

, and inked by

Jim Lee Jim Lee (Korean 이용철; born August 11, 1964) is a Korean American comic-book artist, writer, editor, and publisher. He is currently the Publisher and Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics. In recognition of his work, Lee has received a Harvey ...

, who soon became series penciler, it changed creative teams with issue #25 (December 1990) to writer

Mike Baron Mike Baron (born July 1, 1949) is an American comic book writer. He is the creator of ''Badger'' and the co-creator of ''Nexus'' with Steve Rude. Biography Mike Baron entered the comics industry with an illustrated text piece in ''Weird Trips ...

and penciler-inker

Mark Texeira Mark Texeira () is an American comic book artist. Classically trained as a painter, he broke into the comics field in the early 1980s. Career Mark Texeira was born and raised in New York City. He attended Manhattan's High School of Art and ...

. Chuck Dixon took over as writer with #38 (January 1992), continuing with it to the final issue, except for #65-74 (April 1994 – January 1995) which were written by Steven Grant. Others associated with the title include multi-issue pencilers Tod Smith,

Ron Wagner Ron J. Wagner is an American comics artist who has drawn for titles such as '' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'', '' The Punisher'', '' Nth Man: The Ultimate Ninja'', and '' Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight''. He is also an animation storyboard ...

, John Hebert, Hugh Haynes,

Melvin Rubi Mel Rubi is an artist best known for his comic book work. Bibliography Interiors Pencils Interior pencilling work includes: * '' Aliens vs. Predator Annual'' (1999) * '' Aliens vs. Predator vs. The Terminator'' #1 – #4 (2000) * '' Aliens vs. P ...

, and penciler-inker Gary Kwapisz.

Volume 2

The series was relaunched the following decade, titled simply ''Punisher War Journal'', beginning with a new #1 (January 2007). The initial creative team was writer

and artist

Ariel Olivetti Ariel Olivetti (born November 15, 1967) is an Argentine comic book penciller best known for his work on American comic book titles such as ''Daredevil'', ''X-Man'', ''Space Ghost'' and ''Punisher War Journal''. Career Olivetti studied Graphic D ...

, with subsequent artists including Cory Walker, Scott Wegener, and

Howard Chaykin Howard Victor Chaykin (; born October 7, 1950) is an American comic book artist and writer. Chaykin's influences include his one-time employer and mentor, Gil Kane, and the mid-20th century illustrators Robert Fawcett and Al Parker. Early life ...

. Later, writer

Rick Remender Rick Remender (born February 6, 1973) is an American animator, comic book writer and television producer who resides in Los Angeles, California. As a comic book creator, he is best known for his work on '' Uncanny X-Force'', ''Venom'', ''Captain ...

joined as a co-writer until the title was canceled to make room for a new ongoing volume of ''

'' that would be exclusively written by Remender.http://comicsalliance.com/ask-chris-64-how-to-read-everything/ https://web.archive.org/web/20170404103625/http://comicsalliance.com/ask-chris-64-how-to-read-everything/ The series had one annual, named ''If I Die Before I Wake'' released in January 2009 Simon Spurrier and drawn by Antonio Fuso and Lee Loughridge.

Collected editions

The Punisher
Epic Collection ''Marvel Ultimate Collections''/''Complete Collections'', ''Complete Epics'' and ''Epic Collections'' are large, full-color Trade paperback (comics), trade paperback collections of previously published Marvel Comics, Marvel comics, typically cont ...
s

* * * ''Punisher Epic Collection Vol. 3 - Kingpin Rules'' (collecting "Punisher" Vol. 3 (1987) #11-25, "Annual" #1-2, 2019, 496 Pages, * ''Punisher Epic Collection Vol. 4 Return To Big Nothing'' (collects "Punisher" (1987) #26-34, "Punisher Annual" (1988) #3, "Classic Punisher" (1989) #1, "Epic Graphic Novel: Punisher - Return to Big Nothing" (1989), "Marvel Graphic Novel: Punisher - Intruder" (1989), "Punisher: Kingdom Gone" (1990), July 21, 2021 TPB

The Punisher War Journal

* ''Punisher: An Eye For An Eye'' (Vol. 1 series, collects "The Punisher War Journal" #1-3), January 1992, (TPB) * ''The Punisher/Wolverine: African Saga'' (Vol. 1 series, collects "The Punisher War Journal" #6-7), April 1992, (TPB) * ''The Punisher War Journal Classic, Vol. 1'' (Vol. 1 series, collects ''The Punisher War Journal'' #1-8), August 2008, (TPB) * ''The Punisher War Journal by Carl Potts and Jim Lee'' (Vol. 1 series, collects ''The Punisher War Journal'' #1-19) September 2016

Punisher War Journal

* ''Punisher War Journal, Vol. 1: Civil War'' (collects ''Punisher War Journal'' vol. 2, #1-4), April 2007, (HC), August 2007, (TPB) * ''Punisher War Journal, Vol. 2: Goin' Out West'' (collects ''Punisher War Journal'' vol. 2, #5-11), December 2007, (HC), March 2008, (TPB) * ''Punisher War Journal, Vol. 3: Hunter Hunted'' (collects ''Punisher War Journal'' vol. 2, #12-17), April 2008, (HC), July 2008, (TPB) * ''Punisher War Journal, Vol. 4: Jigsaw'' (collects ''Punisher War Journal'' vol. 2, #18-23), December 2008, (HC), April 2009, (TPB) * ''Punisher War Journal, Vol. 5: Secret Invasion'' (collects ''Punisher War Journal'' vol. 2, #24-26, ''Annual'' #1), February 2009, (HC), May 2009, (TPB) * ''Punisher War Journal The Complete Collection by Matt Fraction, Vol. 1'' (collects ''Punisher War Journal'' vol. 2, #1-12), January 2019, (TPB)

In popular culture

The book is referenced in

Mallrats ''Mallrats'' is a 1995 American buddy comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith and starring Jason Lee, Jeremy London, Shannen Doherty, Claire Forlani, Ben Affleck, Jason Mewes, Joey Lauren Adams, Michael Rooker, and Smith as Silent Bob. ...

when Brody tells Renee that Issue #6 is one of the three items (along with his copy of Fletch and the

remote control In electronics, a remote control (also known as a remote or clicker) is an electronic device used to operate another device from a distance, usually wirelessly. In consumer electronics, a remote control can be used to operate devices such a ...

to his

VCR A videocassette recorder (VCR) or video recorder is an electromechanical device that records analog audio and analog video from broadcast television or other source on a removable, magnetic tape videocassette, and can play back the recording. ...

) he left at her house.

References

External links

Grand Comics Database: ''The Punisher War Journal''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Punisher War Journal, The 1988 comics debuts 2007 comics debuts Punisher titles Comics by Matt Fraction Comics by Jim Lee Comics by Howard Chaykin Comics by Rick Remender Comics set in New York City