The Punisher: War Machine Vol. 1

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The Punisher MAX begins with Frank sneaking up on the birthday party of the centenarian Don Cesare, shooting him and as many of the invited high-rankers as he can. The resulting power vacuum fuels much of the series. Frank's Ultimate Marvel counterpart is even more fanatic about his crusade than Frank is. Even having the Ultimate Marvel version of Ghost Rider, an agent of Satan, telling him " keep up the good work" doesn't dissuade him from his killing spree. He thinks the message comes from his family, or maybe even God himself. He's also even more suicidal than the regular Frank, to the point that, when he thinks he's accidentally killed an innocent person, he demands to be "Punished". Carol Danvers, the superhero Captain Marvel and a fellow military veteran, has been the primary romantic interest for Rhodes. The two had a relationship leading up to the Civil War II event and Rhodes's death. They reunited following his resurrection and Danvers's return to Earth, with a brief interruption when Danvers went to the future and realized that Rhodes's daughter was not hers. [49] [50] He has also had relationships with other characters, such as Stark Enterprises public relations director Marcy Pearson and Stark's ex-girlfriend Rae LaCoste. [14] In the 2014 Iron Patriot series, Rhodes's father Terrence and his niece Lila are major supporting characters. [32] The death of his sister Jeanette is a plot point in the 2003 series The Crew. [37] Reception and legacy [ edit ] In Circle of Blood inmates attempting to assassinate Castle while he is imprisoned are able to obtain a pistol from a corrupt guard, but end up having to tape a soda bottle to the muzzle, since their limited resources and timetable make acquiring a real suppressor impossible. The "soda bottle silencer" ends up waking up nearby inmates (who were in on the plot anyway) and slows down the bullet's muzzle velocity to the point that Frank's mattress soaks up the shots.

Costello, Matthew J. (2009). Secret Identity Crisis: Comic Books and the Unmasking of Cold War America. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 978-1-4411-0859-3. Noodle Incident: We catch the tail end of Soap describing how he was once handcuffed to a dead sheep. Threatening Shark: A couple of mobsters thought that a big shark in an equally big (and not bulletproof) glass fish tank would be a great addition to their opulent mansion. They eventually learn their lesson just before their messy demise. One-Steve Limit: Averted. Oddly enough, one of the men who killed his family was also named Frank (surname Costa). Revenge Is Not Justice: This is a typical topic of conversation for any person who tries to talk Frank Castle into stopping his vigilante war. Anyone who tries it is wasting their breath; Frank doesn't care about either cause any more. His exact motives vary Depending on the Writer, but it's usually some combination of the following three: he's trying to clean up the world via total war because it's the only method he's really good at, such a Blood Knight that limiting himself to criminals is the only thing stopping him from going full Ax-Crazy spree killer, or just a Death Seeker.Enemy Mine: Very rarely, Frank will team up with a criminal, usually to take out another, worse criminal. This usually ends with both criminals dead, either because You Have Outlived Your Usefulness or trying to pull a gun on Frank. Accidental Misnaming: Detective Martin Soap gets called by the wrong name, and even has to fix the "R" initial on his door to an "M." There's only one way to stop me. You know that. If you haven't got it in you to do it, stop wasting my time." Breakout Character: The Punisher originally appeared as a Spider-Man villain in 1974. He became popular and started to appear on a regular basis, eventually getting his own series in the '80s.

Darker and Edgier: Though pretty mainstream by today's standards, the first Punisher miniseries ( Circle of Blood) was a far cry from most other Marvel Comics products of the mid 1980s. Today, The Punisher: Frank Castle (the MAX imprint title) is the epitome of this trope for Marvel. Never Hurt an Innocent: This is one of the reasons the Punisher is an Anti Hero. He takes great pains to avoid civilian casualties while he's gunning down dozens of goons. Spider-Man has noted that it has been said the Punisher will turn himself in if he ever harms an innocent person, with this attitude one of the main reasons other heroes are willing to work with him when they have to. Frank has also on occasions been shown to dislike killing animals, because an animal can't truly be guilty. That said, Frank's definition of " innocent" can be very narrow, as he would have shot an otherwise innocent drug addict to get to the gangster holding her hostage in New Ways to Live. This, like many of his traits, varies quite a bit by the writer. Premium collector helmet features adjustable straps for best fit for most adult head sizes, as well as detailed interior sculpting and design Stealth Hi/Bye: While Frank doesn't do this much in his own books, it is a fairly common way for him to take his leave at the end of a superhero team up.

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Immune to Mind Control: The Punisher no sells every attempt to control his mind. He's so focused on his mission of killing criminals that nothing can distract him from it. Forget mind control, anyone who tries to extort or manipulate him will find out that he doesn't play along and they're going to wish they'd left well enough alone. Small Name, Big Ego: While Frank usually focuses on street-level criminals rather than the world-threatening supervillains, he tends to look down on the superheroes, believing they don't have the guts to "do what it takes" like he does, which makes them inferior to him. Doctor Strange / Punisher: Magic Bullets (2016) — an Infinite Comics webcomic that teams its two stars against a mafia family who've found something magical and powerful in their basement. Rhodes was initially created as a supporting character for Tony Stark. They began as friends, but their relationship became more acrimonious as they adjusted to Rhodes's status as a superhero. [4] After Rhodes was acclimated to using the War Machine armor, their shared experiences created a sense of trust between them, and Rhodes became one of Stark's closest allies. [15] Rhodes has fought many of Stark's enemies, including Mandarin, Radioactive Man, and Thunderball. [14] War Machine has adopted several of Stark's allies as his own supporting characters, including Suzi Endo and Bethany Cabe. He has also formed alliances with new partners, including Parnell Jacobs, Glenda Jacobs, and Jake Oh. [38] Parnell Jacobs, established as a friend-turned-enemy of Rhodes, acquired War Machine armor and used it as a mercenary. He returned as a supporting character in volume two of War Machine when Rhodes called on him as an ally, given his experience with the War Machine armor. [48] The title of War Machine has also been used by the Punisher, who acquired his armor in the limited series Punisher: War Machine. [34] The Punisher: Purgatory (1998) — A miniseries that Re Tooled the character into a sort-of agent for heaven.

a b c Truitt, Brian. "Armored hero's mettle tested in 'Iron Patriot' ". USA Today . Retrieved 2023-09-10. Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Often justified, as most of the mook criminals he faces don't really have much skills or experience in real combat. Never Bring a Knife to a Gun Fight: When met with an assassin who prefers knives, Frank's inner monologues notes that one must be either insane or really good to use knives. Then he notes that knives are nothing against guns, and blows the guy away.Space: Punisher (2012) — An Alternate Continuity miniseries with a version of Frank avenging his family's murder by a galactic crime syndicate led by some very familiar Marvel characters. James Rhodes grew up in South Philadelphia until he enlisted in the military. [7] While serving in the Vietnam War, Rhodes encounters Iron Man, who had just built his first armor and escaped from his captors, and the two work together to reach safety at the U.S. embassy. [2] As time went on and the Vietnam War no longer corresponded with Rhodes's age, the conflict was retroactively changed to a war in the fictional nation of Siancong. [35] He eventually began working for Stark as a pilot, and the two became friends. [4] When Stark's alcoholism prevents him from fighting the supervillain Magma, Rhodes takes the Iron Man armor and continues the fight. Stark's alcoholism grows worse, and Rhodes takes the armor to become Iron Man. As Iron Man, he resigns from the Avengers and destroys the other Iron Man armors to keep them from being taken by Obadiah Stane. [11]