Punisher
SDCC ’10 | Marvel Studios regains film rights for the Punisher
“Frank Castle is under the roof of Marvel Studios now and we hope to bring him into the fray shortly.” As our sister site Spinoff is reporting, that’s what Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige announced to the crowd during the Marvel movie panel at the San Diego Comic-Con last night. This appears to mean the Punisher is now as much a potential part of the Marvel “Cinematic Universe” as Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Thor, and the rest of the Avengers gang.
Previously, film rights to the Punisher had belonged to Lionsgate, which made two Punisher movies — 2004′s The Punisher, starring Thomas Jane, and 2008′s Punisher: War Zone, starring Ray Stevenson. The latter film was the source of much behind-the-scenes controversy, with Jane departing the franchise and rumors of strife with director Lexi Alexander. Like the Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, Blade, and Daredevil films, Lionsgates’ Punisher movies were made outside of the control of Marvel proper. (As was, of course, the infamous Roger Corman-produced, Dolph Lundgren-starring version from 1989.)
Feige’s brief statement appears to be the only info about the Punisher making his Marvel that’s out there, so it remains to be seen exactly how and when he’ll join the fray.
- July 25, 2010 @ 07:01 AM by Sean T. Collins
What Are You Reading?
King City #9
Happy Comic-Con week, and welcome to What Are You Reading? This week our special guest contributors are Jim Demonakos and Kyle Stevens from the Seattle nerd rock band Kirby Krackle. The band, whose newest video features Wolverine, is currently in Florida for Nerdapalooza, and will be in San Diego later this week at booth #1803. So stop by and say hi if you’re going.
See what the boys from Kirby Krackle, as well as the rest of the Robot 6 crew, have been reading lately after the jump …
- July 18, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by JK Parkin
Straight for the art | Jim Rugg draws my childhood
by Jim Rugg
This weekend’s HeroesCon will feature an art auction, and artist Jim Rugg is showing off his submission — featuring everyone from Lobo and Hellboy to the friggin’ Road Warriors — on his blog.
On an unrelated note, why the hell do I not have this convention in my travel plans every year?
- June 3, 2010 @ 10:30 AM by JK Parkin
C2E2 | A roundup of day one news
Shadowlands
The news and announcements flowed freely on the first day of the brand new C2E2 convention, as well as at the Diamond retailer’s summit on Thursday. Here’s a quick summary, in case you missed anything …
- At the Diamond retailer’s summit, Diamond polled retailers on the possibility of moving from a Wednesday to a Tuesday ship date for comics. This would put them in line with DVDs, music and books.
- Marvel kicked off the con with a lot of announcements, not the least of which was two different Captain America mini-series. First up, Steve Rogers jumps into action in Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier, a four-issue miniseries by Ed Brubaker and artist Dale Eaglesham that kicks off in July. Eaglesham will no longer be drawing Fantastic Four as a result.
- That same month brings Captain America: Patriot, by Karl Kesel and Mitch Breitweiser. The four-issue series stars Jeff Mace, the former Patriot who took on the uniform while Rogers was frozen in a block of ice.
- Marvel also discussed the long-talked about Shadowland, a five-issue series by Andy Diggle and Billy Tan during their Mondo Marvel panel and their retailer presentation on Thursday. “You’re going to see a ton of heroes from Spider-Man and Wolverine to Luke Cage…some are fighting to keep New York safe, and some are fighting to keep it unsafe due to Daredevil’s takeover of the ninja organization The Hand,” said Editor Steve Wacker.
- April 16, 2010 @ 10:45 PM by JK Parkin
Frankachu, I choose you (and please don’t eat me)
Frankachu
You might remember the promo image that Marvel released a few weeks back that shows the Punisher being turned into some sort of Frankenstein’s Monster. Well, now you can build your own Frank Castle … or at least give him a head. Head over to Marvel.com to download the template, add a head, then upload your creation to the Flickr set Marvel’s set up, where you can see such ungodly creations as Frankachu (above) and FrankenQuesada.
- August 28, 2009 @ 11:02 AM by JK Parkin
The Fifth Color | Man Made Monster
There it is. Bask in its glory. There is so much in so little that this teaser image can be dismissed as cheap marketing, stringing readers along, chasing after a dead horse in the form of the zombie bandwagon, even vaguely familiar. But, the longer you look at it, the more you start to see and if you really think about it, turning Frank Castle into some sort of sewn together undead abomination is simply what’s left, America.
- August 7, 2009 @ 02:55 PM by Carla Hoffman
Jason Aaron, Steve Dillon confirmed on relaunched Punisher MAX [Updated]
Punisher MAX #1
Today’s episode of G4′s Attack of the Show confirmed what’s been rumored for more than two months: that writer Jason Aaron and artist Steve Dillon will take on Marvel’s Punisher.
According to “Fresh Ink” host Blair Butler, the two creators will relaunch Punisher MAX with a new No. 1 issue in November. The current mature-readers title, the awkwardly named The Punisher: Frank Castle MAX, appears to be ending in September.
The new series reportedly will feature the debut of Bullseye and Kingpin in the MAX universe — can that be right? — with the first story arc focusing on the rise of Wilson Fisk through the ranks of the criminal underworld and the role Frank Castle plays in his ascent.
Word of the Aaron-Dillon teamup began circulating in early May after colorist Matt Hollingsworth listed “Punisher starting with issue #75,” along with the creators’ names, under the “Current Comics Work” header.
Dillon previously worked with Garth Ennis from 2001 to 2003 on the Marvel Knights imprint version of The Punisher, and later drew the Bullseye: Greatest Hits and Punisher vs. Bullseye miniseries. Aaron, who’s best known for his work on Scalped, Wolverine and Ghost Rider, wrote last year’s Punisher MAX X-Mas Special.
Update: You can watch the “Fresh Ink” segment here.
Marvel.com now has more details in an interview with Aaron: “The [Marvel Universe] Bullseye doesn’t work in the MAX Universe. You can’t have a guy running around in a costume killing people with toothpicks and playing cards. We’re not going to see that, but it’ll still be true to what we know about Bullseye.”
- July 16, 2009 @ 04:31 PM by Kevin Melrose
Naked Kill puts the (pornographic) pun in Punisher
Punisher MAX: Naked Kill
The “Explicit Content” warning on Marvel’s MAX titles has long covered a multitude of sins: profanity, graphic violence, sex scenes, “adult situations.”
Now add to the list a string of puns, of the pornographic variety.
Before we go any further, let me offer a warning of my own: This post contains words — really just one word, used repeatedly — that may offend some readers. There’s also a panel from the comic in question that clearly shows that word. I’ll hide everything after the break.
Last night, CBR posted a preview of Punisher MAX: Naked Kill, a one-shot by horror novelist Jonathan Maberry and artist Laurence Campbell that sends Frank Castle on the trail of a “murderous snuff-film ring.” An adult situation, certainly.
On the first page we see a group of men — “a bunch of mooks on the distribution end of a torture porn ring” — watching one of the movies, which appears to star a … luchador? Sure, why not.
- May 29, 2009 @ 04:56 AM by Kevin Melrose
Aaron and Dillon preparing for the Punisher?
Punisher
Are writer Jason Aaron and artist Steve Dillon on their way to The Punisher?
Colorist Matt Hollingsworth updated the Current Comics Work page on his website, and one of the projects he lists is The Punisher, starting with issue #75, “with Jason Aaron, Steve Dillon, Sebastian Girner and Axel Alonso.”
Although Marvel responded with a “no comment” when asked about it, it wouldn’t be the first time either creator worked on the character. Dillon worked with Garth Ennis on the character for about two years, and also drew a Punisher/Bullseye mini-series. And Aaron wrote last year’s Punisher MAX X-Mas Special. Based on his work on Scalped and Wolverine, Aaron seems like a natural choice for the title.
Thanks to Robot 6 reader “TC” for the tip.
- May 6, 2009 @ 10:20 AM by JK Parkin