25 Things You Need to Know about The Punisher on Netflix

20. Garth Ennis (‘Preacher’) Wrote Punisher’s Most Acclaimed Comics

Garth Ennis remains one of comic book’s most acclaimed authors. He wrote Judge Dredd from 1991 to 1993, did terrific work on Hellblazer (John Constantine) from 1994 through 1999, and created Preacher in 1995. However, in between Hellblazer and Punisher, Ennis and his artist partner Steve Dillon revitalized The Punisher in 2000.

Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon started out with “Welcome Back Frank,” a 12-issue series that lasted from April 2000 through March 2001 and just ignored the entire avenging angel storyline to take Frank Castle back to his roots in a story grounded in reality instead of in costumed heroes and supernatural mumbo-jumbo.

“Welcome Back Frank” introduces The Punisher back into his New York City mob-hunting lifestyle. In this series, the police pretend to chase Frank but secretly let him run wild to eliminate the criminals they can’t bring in. This comic series also introduced side characters like Joan the Mouse, Mr. Bumpo and Spacker Dave – characters that also appeared in the Thomas Jane Punisher movie.

After that, Ennis drove The Punisher back to the top of the charts, with a 37-issue series from 2001 to 2004, a Punisher MAX mini-series, and another volume from 2005 to 2008, before finishing up with Punisher: War Zone in 2009, marking an impressive eight-year run on the character.