The Punisher War Journal or Punisher War Journal is the title of two Marvel Comicscomic book series featuring the character Frank Castle, also known as the Punisher. The first volume, published from 1988 to 1995, was spun off of a self-titled series featuring the vigilante's exploits. After this, the character went through a number of incarnations in Marvel's imprints, such as Marvel Knights and MAX, that were outside of regular Marvel continuity. The second volume of War Journal, published between 2007 and 2009 by writer Matt Fraction, placed the character firmly in the ongoing Marvel Universe inhabited by superheroes such as the Avengers and Spider-Man, and super-villains such as Doctor Doom and the Masters of Evil. This was reflected in the series by tying into crossover events of the Marvel Universe proper, including "Civil War", "World War Hulk", and "Secret Invasion".
Publication history
Volume 1
The first volume of The Punisher War Journal ran 80 issues, cover-dated November 1988 to July 1995. Originally written and penciled by Carl Potts, and inked by Jim Lee, who soon became series penciler, it changed creative teams with issue #25 to writer Mike Baron and penciler-inker Mark Texeira. Chuck Dixon took over as writer with #38, continuing with it to the final issue, except for #65-74 which were written by Steven Grant. Others associated with the title include multi-issue pencilers Tod Smith, Ron Wagner, John Hebert, Hugh Haynes, Melvin Rubi, and penciler-inker Gary Kwapisz.
Volume 2
The series was relaunched the following decade, titled simply Punisher War Journal, beginning with a new #1. The initial creative team was writer Matt Fraction and artist Ariel Olivetti, with subsequent artists including Cory Walker, Scott Wegener, and Howard Chaykin. Later, writer Rick Remender joined as a co-writer until the title was canceled to make room for a new ongoing volume of Punisher that would be exclusively written by Remender. The series had one annual, named If I DieBefore I Wake released in January 2009 Simon Spurrier and drawn by Antonio Fuso and Lee Loughridge.
The book is referenced in Mallrats when Brody tells Renee that Issue #6 is one of the three items he left at her house. https://www.moviefanatic.com/quotes/you-have-my-punisher-war-journal-6-my-copy-of-fletch-and-the-rem/
