Fans of Frank Castle’s Punisher are being treated to a ton of the antihero character lately, with an emphasis on him appearing as a guest character, largely in synergy-heavy Spider-Man comics. For example, Black Cat recently ran over Punisher’s dog in G. Willow Wilson’s ongoing Black Cat run, while Deadpool and Punisher’s Big Guns crossover event is “igniting a relentless clash of bullets, bloodshed, and mayhem” this September.
Before then, however, Benjamin Percy’s ongoing Punisher run is introducing a new villain for a two-part arc that has already commenced with the launch of The Punisher #6.
Teased in April, when its solicitation came out, The Punisher #6 has finally debuted Collateral Damage, a brand-new Punisher antagonist who appears to basically be a mechanized version of the Daredevil villain Bullseye, at least in his modus operandi. This character’s marksman skills are equally remarkable, with three would-be muggers or assailants, who were miles apart in Hell’s Kitchen, Chinatown, and Queens, being slain by a single, large-caliber bullet.
In Union Square, Collateral Damage even kills three pigeons and an elderly woman with this one bullet.
The trick, which we learn by the end of the issue when it penetrates Punisher’s hand (the second time his hands have been impaled in the span of two issues, with the first impalement thanks to The Punisher’s skin-robbing Jigsaw) and whizzes throughout New York City before returning to Collateral Damage’s gun, is that this unique, blue-tinted corkscrew rifle bullet is remote-controlled. This allows Collateral Damage to target multiple victims and kill them almost simultaneously, while also leaving no trace that he or the bullet was ever there.
If the bullet is fully remote-controlled with little to no effort on Collateral Damage’s part, that would make him inherently less impressive as a marksman than Bullseye. Nonetheless, it’s a neat trick that is certainly efficient, and the character himself is sure to have many more technologically advanced gimmicks.
The Punisher’s Collateral Damage is incredibly interesting, rooted in him being another victim of Punisher’s rampaging brutality. But The Punisher #6 only barely teases the character, as well as their confrontation with Punisher in The Punisher #7, and what little we know about him so far is derived from solicitations from these issues, as well as what Percy has divulged:
“Opposing forces are beginning to gather and make plans of retribution. That includes this new character — Collateral Damage — a former victim of Frank’s who wants The Punisher gone. For his sake. And the city’s. I’m paired up with artist Farid Karami on this story, and he is absolutely destroying every page he hands in. His character design for Collateral Damage is fantastic — an exoskeleton pinned painfully into infected skin that allows him to overcome his spinal paralysis.”
The Punisher #6 is out now.
- Video Game(s)
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The Punisher (1990), The Punisher: The Ultimate Payback!, The Punisher (1993), The Punisher, The Punisher: No Mercy
- Cast
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Jon Bernthal, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ben Barnes, Amber Rose Revah, Deborah Ann Woll, Jason R. Moore, Paul Schulze, Daniel Webber, Michael Nathanson, Jaime Ray Newman, Josh Stewart, Floriana Lima, Giorgia Whigham, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Rob Morgan, Dolph Lundgren, Thomas Jane, Ray Stevenson
- Created by
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Gerry Conway, John Romita Sr., Ross Andru
The Punisher franchise follows Frank Castle, a former Marine turned vigilante after the murder of his family. Operating outside the law, Castle wages a one-man war on crime using lethal methods and military tactics. Known for its gritty realism and moral ambiguity, the franchise spans comics, films, television series, and video games, making The Punisher one of Marvel’s most enduring antiheroes.