Greg Rucka's The Punisher

Greg Rucka began a new series of comics featuring Frank Castle — The Punisher — last August, with the first six issues now being collected into the graphic novel The Punisher. The character first appeared in 1974 in an issue of Amazing Spider-Man.

For Frank Castle death comes easy … life is where things gets complicated. The streets of New York City are teeming with more methodical criminals than ever and a police force doing it's best to keep its head above water. The Punisher has returned to serve his own brand of justice with everything's he's got … but can he survive the darkness stored in his own arsenal?

On the Mulholland Books website this morning, Rucka talks about the character and what he seeks to explore with him. [H]ow is it that Frank can continue, can survive, so long after his initial revenge has been exacted? How is it that he hasn't gone mad, committed suicide, come off the rails and started murdering at random? How is it that he has maintained this position as an extraordinary anti-hero and general bad-ass in a universe with Captain America and Spider-Man?

We're a bit confused about the publication date of The Punisher. Most sources list it as March 15th, 2012, but Mulholland Books promises to have an excerpt tomorrow, which it says is the on-sale date.

The Punisher continues to be published as a monthly comic, with issue number eight coming out this month. Greg Rucka, who also writes crime novels, will start a new series retired Delta Force operator, Master Sergeant Jad Bell, this May with Alpha, published by Mulholland Books.