Differences With Mainstream Punisher
The series makes it explicit that it does not use a floating timeline like the Marvel Universe, and that the Punisher ages in real time. Promotional art for the cover of Punisher vol. 6, #44 (March 2007), gives his birth date as February 16, 1950, but that was removed for the published issues. The story Valley Forge, Valley Forge corroborates this date, referring to Frank Castle as being "a twenty one year old Captain" in April 1971. The imprint depicts the Punisher as having been active for almost 30 years, with issue #19 specifying that he has killed approximately 2,000 people. The Punisher: Born also establishes that the Punisher's service in the Vietnam War is still in MAX continuity.
Another major difference is the complete lack of superheroes and supervillains in the series, although non-superpowered characters from the Punisher's past, most notably Microchip, do make appearances. Nick Fury also makes several notable appearances. However, the character Jen Cooke, a social worker, appeared in the Marvel Knights storyline "Hidden". She then appeared in the MAX storyline "Slavers". The character Yorkie Mitchell made appearances in both the Marvel Knights and the MAX Punisher comics.
In the Civil War Files comic, just before the "Civil War" took place, Iron Man talked about events in the Punisher’s past from the Marvel Knights and MAX comic:
- "Captain Frank Castle, sole survivor of the Firebase Valley Forge massacre."
- "Although recently Castle has escalated his war on crime even further, with record-breaking body counts, he is paradoxically now rarely encountered in the field by any super hero save Daredevil."
- "It’s almost like he inhabits two worlds, one where heroes can capture him and one where they can’t, and he can slip from one to the other with ease."
Whereas the traditional Punisher stories remained within the United States and involved antagonists and settings of conventional domestic crime, stories of the MAX Punisher often focus on current events, ranging from corporate fraud to sexual slavery, and the War on Terror. Many characters are past or current intelligence and military operatives from governmental agencies like the CIA, KGB, Secret Intelligence Service, SAS, militaries and militias from the Balkans and Middle East, also including the IRA, all with agendas rooted in past conflicts like the Cold War or the Yugoslav wars.
Read more about this topic: The Punisher (Max)
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