The new Punisher battles some Inner Demons in a tense preview of the new series

Art from The Punisher #1 — (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

Frank Castle may be currently missing in action, but there will always be a need for a Punisher in the Marvel universe. Enter Joe Garrison, a former S.H.I.E.L.D. black ops agent who is hell bent on fulfilling a bloodthirsty mission of vengeance against the criminals that killed his family.

Written by David Pepose and drawn by artist Dave Wachter, the new Punisher is a fresh start for one of Marvel's most famous - or perhaps infamous - characters. We've got an exclusive gallery of pages from the first issue right here, which include our first look at Garrison in action. It's not gonna end well for those goons, is it?

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Marvel's official solicitation for the first issue reads:

"Is this the return of Frank Castle - or the start of something else?

Frank Castle has disappeared, but evil will always need to be punished. With all-new threats rising to claim innocent victims, criminals will need to beware of a dangerous vigilante hunting them from the shadows. Who is the new Punisher? What put him on his path of vengeance? And when the smoke clears, will he even make it out alive?

It's John Wick meets The Fugitive in this action-packed new saga from Ringo Award-winning writer David Pepose (Savage Avengers, Moon Knight: City of the Dead) and Eisner and Harvey Award-nominated artist Dave Wachter (Planet of the Apes, X-Men Legends), as the Marvel Universe meets the next generation of punishment!"

The cover for The Punisher #1 — (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

When the new character was first announced David Pepose said that he wanted to "introduce the Danny Ketch to Frank's Johnny Blaze," referring to the two human forms of Ghost Rider.

Although no longer the Punisher, Frank Castle is not dead, just otherwise engaged. At the end of last year's Punisher #12 he was captured by the Avengers who debated to decide his eventual fate. Before they could pass judgment, however, he vanished, leaving Dr Strange to declare, "He is no longer within this plane of existence." An epilogue revealed that he had in fact been transported to Weirdworld, where he now appears to be acting as a protector rather than a punisher.

Punisher #1 is published by Marvel Comics on November 8.

David Pepose is also currently writing horror comic The Devil That Wears My Face - and it's terrifying. Find out more in our interview here.

Will Salmon is the Streaming Editor for GamesRadar+. He has been writing about film, TV, comics, and music for more than 15 years, which is quite a long time if you stop and think about it. At Future he launched the scary movie magazine Horrorville, relaunched Comic Heroes, and has written for every issue of SFX magazine for well over a decade. His music writing has appeared in The Quietus, MOJO, Electronic Sound, Clash, and loads of other places too.