Frank Castle

Punisher
Artwork for the cover of Punisher vol. 6, 1 (Jan, 2004 Marvel Comics). Art by Tim Bradstreet.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	The Amazing Spider-Man #129 (February 1974)
Created by	Gerry Conway (writer) John Romita Sr. (artist) Ross Andru (artist)
In-story information
Full name	Francis "Frank" Castle (born Castiglione)
Team affiliations	United States Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance Marvel Knights Code Red Heroes for Hire Secret Defenders Thunderbolts
Notable aliases	Mr. Smith, Charles Fort, Frank Rook, Johnny Tower
Abilities	Expert in military and guerrilla tactics, marksmanship, close quarters combat, infiltration, and demolitions Special operations training

The Punisher (Francis "Frank" Castle) is a fictional character 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, with publisher Stan Lee green-lighting the name. The Punisher made his first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 (cover-dated Feb. 1974).

The Punisher is a vigilante who employs murder, kidnapping, extortion, coercion, threats of violence, and torture in his war on crime. Driven by the deaths of his wife and two children, who were killed by the mob for witnessing a killing in New York City's Central Park, the Punisher wages a one-man war on the mob and all criminals in general by using all manner of conventional war weaponry. His family's killers were the first to be slain. A war veteran and a United States Marine Corps Scout Sniper, Frank Castle (born Francis Castiglione) is a master of martial arts, stealth tactics, guerrilla warfare, and a wide variety of weapons.

The Punisher's brutal nature and willingness to kill made him a novel character in mainstream American comic books in 1974. By the late 1980s, he was part of a wave of psychologically troubled antiheroes and at the height of his popularity, was featured in four monthly publications, including The Punisher, The Punisher War Journal, The Punisher War Zone, and The Punisher Armory. Despite his violent actions and dark nature, the Punisher has enjoyed some mainstream success on television, making guest appearances on Spider-Man: The Animated Series, and The Super Hero Squad Show, where the depiction of his violent behavior was toned down for family viewers. In feature films, Dolph Lundgren portrayed the Punisher in 1989, as did Thomas Jane in 2004, and Ray Stevenson in 2008. Jon Bernthal portrays the character in the second season of Marvel's Daredevil as a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Bernthal is set to reprise the role in The Punisher, his own self-titled series.