''Punisher: The Platoon'' is a 2017
war comic
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
book
limited series Limited series may refer to:
*Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series
*Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered
*Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...
published by
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 ...
under the
MAX imprint, the series centered around the character of
Frank Castle
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 ...
during his first tour in
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
as a young man. It is written by
Garth Ennis
Garth Ennis (born January 16, 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 Dari ...
who has previously worked extensively on the character of Frank Castle (the Punisher), under the
Punisher Max line and in mainstream Marvel comics.
Development
The series serves as a prequel to Ennis' earlier series ''
Born''.
Publication history
The first issue of the series was published with three variants; one with a cover by Andre Brase, another with a Marco Checchetto cover and the final being a "How-to-Draw Variant". The second issue received a variant cover by Scott Hepburn and Ian Herring.
Plot
The series focuses on Frank Castle as a young man during his first tour in Vietnam, with a framing narrative of both American soldiers in Castle's platoon and an NVA General being interviewed in the modern day. As the interview goes on, Frank's mindset emerges as the forerunner of later Punisher way to fight crime; his own men, now older, recognize that. During the tour, Castle antagonizes a young Vietcong girl, who sets out to take revenge on him, almost succeeding.
Reception
The series holds an average rating of 8.4 by sixteen professional critics according to
review aggregation
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website Comic Book Roundup.
[https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/12/10-excellent-comics-that-flew-under-the-radar-in-2017/ https://archive.today/20180121121150/https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/12/10-excellent-comics-that-flew-under-the-radar-in-2017/]
Prints
Issues
Collected editions
Notes
References
External links
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{{Garth Ennis
2017 comics debuts
2018 comics endings
Marvel Comics set during the Vietnam War
Marvel Comics limited series
Punisher titles
Comics by Garth Ennis
Comics about the United States Marine Corps