Frank Castle is currently doing Hydra’s dirty work during the “Secret Empire” event but once all of that is said and done we’ll see ‘The Punisher’ returning to New York in issue 14 and right in the middle of a blackout affecting the entire city. Becky Cloonan is penning this tale with guest art by Kris Anka. With Castle out of New York, it is clear that the street level crime lords have been recruiting and organized crime is about to get a wake-up call, with a bullet, which will put them to sleep forever. Okay, that came out wrong, but you know what I meant! The Punisher is back in the Big Apple, and it is open season on the mafia.

It doesn’t help that the entire city is dealing with a blackout and part of his arsenal against crime has gone missing.

It isn’t the police that are the ones throwing him a homecoming according to Cloonan:

“Frank is welcomed back home by a bunch of criminals, who have no doubt missed him very much! He’s no sooner back in the comfort of his own home, [when] he finds a piece from his arsenal has gone missing—and that’s how it starts. So before he does anything, he’s gotta find that gun.”

Cloonan is vague as to what piece of Frank’s weaponry is missing, so it is unclear if he is hunting down an actual weapon or even a person that has been aiding in his war on crime. Either way, you know that we’ll have plenty of action to look forward to. Which will be shown off with how exactly this issue differs from the first 13 of the series as:

“This is The Punisher at his best, on home turf with the whole city at his disposal. He has to overcome new challenges and villains every issue, but that’s not to say he won’t see a familiar face from his time on the road…”

As to how New York’s criminal element will differ from what we’ve seen in the past:

“Bad guys are crawling out of the woodwork! They are like cockroaches; if you see one, you can be sure there are a hundred more lurking just out of sight. Frank’s got his hands full with everything from bored teenagers to career criminals, robbers and thugs—maybe even a serial killer for good measure! There’s certainly enough crime in the Big Apple to keep Frank busy.”

Of course, nothing ever works against Castle:

“What would seem like an edge for the bad guys ends up being [an] advantage [for] Punisher. His main upper hand is the fact that the criminals think they have the upper hand. Frank uses this to his advantage. Oh, and since he wrecked his van on the last road trip, he had to get a new car. It’s a lot of fun!”

It sounds like we’re going to be spending some time in New York for quite awhile and it’ll be fun seeing The Punisher at home once again. Not only that, but it will include some of the style of wars against crime which will have a more familiar feel to long time fans of Castle.

Are you looking forward to The Punisher cleaning up the Big Apple? Do you hope any particular villains from Frank’s past might be making an appearance? Share your thoughts below True Believers!

‘The Punisher’ #14 will be out on July 26th, 2017!

Source: Marvel