The Punisher leads an ARMY OF NINJAS!

Born of tragedy. Devoted to war. Unstoppable in his rage. Frank Castle has become the most accomplished unaliver the world has ever seen. Now it’s time for him to face his destiny. What shocking secret from Frank’s past will convince him to take the reins of the Marvel Universe’s most notorious clan of assassins? And once he becomes the warlord of the deadly ninjas of the Hand, will it also mean an end for the Punisher? Or a whole new bloody beginning? Join the superstar team of writer Jason Aaron and artists Jesús Saiz and Paul Azaceta for an epic exploration of the dark and violent past - and inevitable future - of the man known as Frank Castle! Never miss an episode by subscribing today! bit.ly/2WYvgkt #punisher #marvel
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ComicPop is a few friends talking about comic books. The ComicPop team brings a bunch of unique points of view to every single discussion about a comic book, graphic novel, character or story arc. You can find full conversations about your favorite titles from Marvel and DC Comics, plus a few pretty key independent comics. If you're looking for a long, funny conversation about Batman or a deep dive into why Spider-Man is so neurotic, check out the hours and hours of amusing, insightful and downright stupid conversations about some of your favorite comic books over the years. If you're a longtime comic book reader or just starting out, make sure to subscribe right now!
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[@comicpop]

Buy the first volume of Punisher here! amzn.to/3JL9EE9

[@Vergil7553]

you heard the man.

[@marasenna781]

I’m buying the shit out of the rest of this series for as long as it goes thanks to you guys!

[@Just_Some_Guy_with_a_Mustache]

Every future hero who leads The Hand can use "Ah. But is it as bad as when Daredevil ran you" as an excuse for running it however they want.

[@blacktrack1014]

They don't even have to say that 😂 If any of them are being chewed out by the Hand, all they have to do is say "Daredevil" and that would instantly shut up the room

[@morlath4767]

"From our data that we've gathered from being ninjas..." I swear, Sal says some of the greatest lines deadpanned.

[@bZman]

My favorite this time was “the beast doesnt pop up like ‘eeeeey’”

[@SuperEasywalker]

So these three are from 3 NINJAS movies

[@NilFox]

Someone needs to animate the best jokes from back issues episodes.

[@GothamCityCritics]

I also like how the Maria being into it is teased back when they first met and she was enthralled by him seeing him play hockey.

[@ray.0409]

anyone else notice the Mallrats reference? when Sal mentions Wolverine, he goes "snickety snickety snoiy" like Jay does when imitating Wolverines berserker rage 🤣

[@mr.goblin6039]

Yeah, this book is awesome. It’s wild as hell. Maria being so into Frank that she goes “yeah, I don’t wanna fix him; I’m into it” is probably one of my favorite moments. 😂

[@marlonreynolds5422]

"You owe me $50, Larry" made me laugh out loud at work.

[@Omar-wq9dz]

The Punisher video game tie in from 2005 was really good too

[@Sicod79]

Frank needs to be in the Fast and the Furious movies because it is all about family....and murdering criminals. Eh close enough.

[@chopinthehouse1438]

Does he drive the Van in these movies?

[@mattgenta4585]

Kkk

[@Ducaso]

He even brings his own vehicle.

[@pickedceasar1216]

Yeah but Franks family usually dies in some horrific way

[@chopinthehouse1438]

@@pickedceasar1216 that’s what is gonna make him drive Fast……and Furious…..

[@galahadscomics2598]

“Just write 6 books then! BENDIS DID IT!” - Sal

[@thewilhelmscream7912]

I'm only in the first like 15 minutes of this video but I would just like to say how much it pleased me to see sal identify the imperial Royal guards versus what Ben said for Palace guards and the "um actually" nerd moment was pretty delicious haha!!!

[@steventimmer7028]

It's so nice to see Sal excited and enjoying a comic. No asterisk just pure enjoyment, I love it.

[@fragile4408]

Oh Lady Bullseye is an actual character. I thought she was just made for the Hit-Monkey show. As one of the 8 people who watched that show. I'm excited for season 2

[@digdugdoggy]

Sal is another level of nerd for knowing the name for martial arts in Star Wars. Respect.

[@zakkmylde1712]

Oh, it's not just a martial art in Star Wars, there's more to that joke. Specifically one of the worst fighting games of all time.

[@ChristopherZubin]

As yes, Wolverine's classic catch-phrase; "Snikty-Snikty Wow!"

[@cjlevin4622]

Did EMS for over a decade. I will say that scene where EMTs roll up was fun. Responsive to pain is actually part of the Glasgow coma scale which you use to assess people's level of alertness and cognitive impairment. Anything less than 15 is abnormal. So "responsive to pain" is a legit callout that EMS would use to assess patients, particularly if rapidly assessing trauma patients.

[@SuperCliffReviews]

Ben - That Iron Fist show Sal - What show?

[@LtDragonfruit]

one of my favourite lines didn't get brought up, but its Ares monologuing before finishing "Welcome to church."

[@NovemberXXVII]

"The Hand can make a Fist just by changing how it's shaped." Slow down there, Sun Tzu.

[@jonfrombuckland_3784]

It's poppin time! Let's learn all about Frank and his time with the Hand!

[@thedukeofchutney468]

I like how back issues can cover weird stories like this. While I’m much more of a Spider-Man guy, it’s nice to have verity.

[@Shortyd17]

As someone who is reading Daredevil but not Punisher… thank you for this

[@shadowanderson2004]

SAME

[@izzythefizzy4]

Punisher is such a fascinating and frustrating character, always excited about a new back issues! Also, I like Sal's button up!

[@spoonlolol2]

The episode is definitely a new favourite

[@sergioruiz733]

This High Priestess just reminds me of Edna Mode lol Also "I guess, she's not wrong, you owe me 50 bucks Larry." 🤣

[@robertmathews7971]

Tried to pick up the first issue when it was described on Off the Rack. Local store didn't have it, eventually slipped my mind. Seeing this video (and a link to the trade) was a nice suprise. Thanks, dudes, from me and the soon to be filled slot on my shelf.

[@Ricrayn]

1:12:57 I can't believe they missed a perfect opportunity for a "You keep what you kill" reference here.

[@halfmettlealchemist8076]

Oh shit, is the Hand just Necromongers?

[@allnewforty2360]

7:38 I see you almost went into the story of Frank getting surgery to become black

[@comicpop]

Correct lol

[@vfxninja5503]

'Lois Lane/Punisher doing blackface together' has definitely been at least a joke crossover pitch in some office somewhere

[@samwise419]

Picked up this book from Sal’s recommendation on Off the Rack. So glad I did. This book is amazing.

[@flywheelshyster]

Sal sold me on this from mentions on Off the Rack, excited for this!

[@daelen.cclark]

“Frank Castle flew a *kite* yesterday…”

[@GetUpGetUpGetUp]

This is really awesome. great energy on the couch and really interesting take on the Punisher!

[@williamgazca6641]

The cover for issue three finally made me say "alright....let's see what's goin on with punisher..." glad I did it's been a lot of fun to read.

[@Grievousish]

I kinda dig the new logo. It doesn't beat the classic look but it's pretty solid

[@elderrusty541]

I think the horns look stupid but other than that it’s alright, I’d rather he not use a logo or stick with the original logo

[@Charleshudspeth]

They should have never changed it. It's a logo. Who cares if people use it. It's not a swastika or something. Middle age fat men use it lol like it's not a huge deal.

[@mothhra]

I haven't read much Punisher but this sounds really good ! Surprised how much I had fun hearing it unfold 😭

[@JD-iu6rv]

I haven’t read this run yet but I figured they’d go back to the old logo at some point. I mean the skull logo is currently shown on Disney+ for Christ’s sake

[@Yoshimitsu4prez]

This run is way better than I ever could’ve expected lol

[@orsimerband1132]

Kingpin gets buttraped in prison in Jason Aron’s max run

[@thanamechanges]

God this series is good, glad you spotlight it! I usually buy any Punisher series, got more then a couple of volumes. Gotta say besides becoming cosmic ghost rider I enjoy him being the leader of the hand. What marvel is doing for the punisher is awesome.

[@loganthomas2421]

Great episode as always. Please do Ennis’ run if you plan to do more Punisher backissues

[@I_shot_Nice_Guy_Eddie]

Yes! I’d love to see that

[@playboicardigan]

Another great episode. Thanks ComicPop crew!

[@dn22pkkdd476]

"BUT HE WAS ABDUCTED BY NINJAS! *NINJAS!* CALL THE COPS!

[@TheClitCommander530]

I can't help but groan and roll my eyes everytime I see a punisher logo on someone's jacked up truck.

[@GothamCityCritics]

Prepped for this one when I saw the pictures!

[@TheShitsux1337]

The pain when 5 minutes into a new back issues you realise this story is worth reading Thus delaying the watching of the video untill the comic is read I will return

[@jaredfromcomicsleague7906]

Guarantee you Marvel will go back to the old logo at the end of this.

[@Martin_TheCollector]

I didn't exactly love Aaron's Punisher Max run but might buy a hardcover collecting these recent stories.

[@Martin_TheCollector]

@@aaronbood1999 I greatly enjoy those lol. I've got all the omnis, including one for Aaron's run.

[@ShawnWeeded510]

The story is a modern classic imo. It adds so much to his lore that is executed perfectly.

[@comixproviderftw_02]

“The reality is, the people who are upset are people who don’t read comic books.” -Sal, 2023 Statement of the year

[@dn22pkkdd476]

Pretty much. Fuck' most of the "comic channels" on youtube don't read comics. ( *Cough* comicsgators *Cough* )

[@spectacleHD]

@@Ivan-fg8fo they were as prominent in those decades, they just featured less people that weren't white, male and straight and talked about things that fit in their time frame instead of ours, so you don't read them as political anymore. I honestly know barely any comics that genuinely handle political issues today, the utter majority is as apolitical as a slice of white bread, they just happen to feature minorities sometimes, more often in minor supporting roles than anything else. Read Green Lantern / Green Arrow, Watchmen, Dark Knights Returns, V for Vendetta, Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, Busiek's Marvels, Nocenti's Daredevil honestly a lot of Spider-Man from the time, any Green Arrow book or basically any X-Men run and tell me how it is not political. Before you say 'exceptions', I listed some of the most prominent and popular books from the time. Compare that to the major books out on the shelve now. The only one with genuinely applicable political themes that I can think of is Zdarsky's Daredevil, you know one of the most critically acclaimed and fan beloved books out right now, that is at like 40 issues at this point, where most Marvel series end way sooner. Meanwhile ASM is bad, but has not a grain of politics to be found. Some of the X-titles are kinda political but that is their default, X-Men was literally made to be political and honestly none of the politics in current X-books are actually real political ideologies, it is mostly politicking in the universe itself more than anything. But I guess if the word political means 'minority' to you, a lot of books are political.

[@deltaprime3509]

Oh man I missed a lot of these time to watch a ton of comic pop

[@twilightlorule]

The awesome part of Ares wearing Frank's skull is that it replaces the various skulls that Ares has always worn on his black tank top in the comics.

[@bensneb360]

While personally I’m not a fan of the logo change, Jason Aaron is a safe bet when it comes to cool runs on a character, and the Punisher is one of my favorites, so this should be interesting

[@halfmettlealchemist8076]

Aaron’s been pretty hit-or-miss lately - it’s fascinating to see the gap in quality between this book (which is fresh and fun and unique) and his current run on Avengers (which is just an absolute slog.) I don’t think he’s a bad writer by any means, but I feel like he has his pitfalls and tropes that he relies on from time to time. Sometimes this works in his favor, and sometimes it doesn’t.

[@WhoaBusterBrown]

I remember Sal thinking this back issues was going to piss people off, but i saw the thumbnail and got hyped. I LOVE THIS RUN!

[@takeruneverborn4740]

1:07:44-1:08:24 is the start greatest paraphrase sal has ever constructed about the events of the hand shadowing frank and his family for past 2-4 months to the day of the family actual murder

[@gregjackman1635]

Great episodes guys lots of fun! I believe Ares has wore the punisher logo in dark reign before this at least I’ve seen him wear it in the dark reign puzzle quest game on ps3 haha.

[@bennyblanco89]

I would love to see a Punisher vs Predator now

[@shadowanderson2004]

I would like to point out that the punisher logo being worn by l a few people in US military was originally started by a guy who was just a really big comic book fan who’s family sent him punisher books and he thought the logo just looked cool. The stuff with the police department was after he died in duty. I do think it’s sad that the bad apples in the police department have made the punisher logo a bad thing. Like I feel embarrassed to wear my punisher shirt and I’ve never felt embarrassed about wearing comic book logos before.

[@kennyryuken]

Love Jesus Saiz's art His Run on Swamp Thing it Goated

[@qliphalpuzzle5453]

I mean Frank Castle is the sort of character who’s in between being too realistic and too comical that no matter how good or bad his comic is I’ll probably enjoy reading it

[@fcm3d]

As a son of a soldier the only part I can't believe is the house was ever a mess.

[@edmaldonado8207]

I see a street level character being covered and I can't help but to click. I'm a simple man. EDIT: Man that sounds dope! I'm definitely gonna buy this when I get the chance!

[@batfreeze56]

What an incredible story. I'll have to join in for those last few issues.

[@oskarkristensen4653]

a small detail that I dont think you guys mentioned is that Ares logo is ALSO A SKULL which for me makes it so much better, in a way he is acknowledging Franks superiority even more, great episode guys, love ya

[@amanzeihedioha]

I'm still waiting for the teens with radical attitudes to fight Shrud- I mean Punisher😂

[@johnnieriot13]

I hope they make a figure of this version of the punisher

[@HMAN_121]

Punishers new skull is just Hawkeyes mask and skull

[@fabritz1891]

Nice to hear from someone who likes this series. I’ve only heard negative things from other KZbin channels

[@maxvickrey4357]

Well now I just want a story where spider man leads the hand that are now his army of spider ninjas

[@JasonLopezII]

Ever since reading this run my desire for an action figure of God of War Frank rose higher as the book went on.

[@choicedecision]

I can't tell if Sal was gonna reference @7:54 whether Frank became literally Frankenstein's Monster, OR the time He underwent an operation that made him look like a Black Man. Jeez, Marvel can really miss reading the room

[@olliedavis6191]

One of my new favorite episodes! Just a fun time :)

[@paulmccreery7027]

Wow was not expecting this to be so awesome!

[@highlander1154]

This is definitely among my favor episodes. When Sal really digs a story, he's not only better at telling it, I seem to have more fun watching it. It's a weird emotional transferance that, logical or not, enhances my fun.

[@nickrottkamp4933]

I dropped this book after three issues. It was great but there was just too much else at the time I was reading. Now after this back issues, I’m going back and picking me up every issue

[@ThePandaSupreme]

Dude this is a dope punisher story haha I need this as punisher season 3 haha

[@NelsonStJames]

Why do I get Death Note vibes from this iteration of Frank Castle? He’s basically become Kira except he doesn’t need the book.

[@Ka_Five]

Hell yeah ten minutes in and we get a Teras Kasi reference EDIT: Yo this is sick. It made me interested in Punisher again!

[@zakkmylde1712]

I haven't read Punisher outside of some tie ins in years, this is gonna end up being the story that brings me back. This sounds really effin good.

[@ItsTheFizz]

I'm surprised Warner Bros never sued Marvel for stealing Shao Khan's likeness for Punisher's new logo

[@codystork3008]

Do you think Frank knew she snuck out at night to go to the bars? He wakes up to ninjas outside at night but never noticed her leaving? Not a dig it could be just a hint at his inabillity to protect his family or that Frank fully trusts in Maria. I hope Aaron addresses it.

[@Mycatsnameiswednesday]

Ah yes, Wolverines famous catchphrase. “Snikity snikity snaw”

[@Puck_Ringz]

I really didn’t expect to like this book so much lol! Saying that I think when he’s done with the hand, he should become the next God of War! I think it would be fun since he doesn’t believe in any of that shit, he’s bestowed the title God of War.

[@trevorghalt1881]

Yeah this was a ton of fun and Ares was a fun villain in this also rip nerd homie, he was a hero

[@EnoughMold]

As someone who has been reading Punisher comics for years and is a big fan of the character I think this story is awesome! The people complaining definitely have no idea what they're talking about and I'm really glad you guys did this episode.

[@pay7232]

I’m so glad you’re covering this. I Don’t read too many monthly comics these days, except for ASM and DD. I saw in upcoming solicits that Punisher is back to playing a big role in Zdarsky’s DD run. Looks like Frank has been through some stuff since the beginning of Zdarsky’s DD run. Sal and the gang, you guys rock 🫶✌️

[@Depthcharge2030]

Ennis did tackle Frank in a oneshot back in the day called The Tyger, it also like the rest of his run is pretty heavy. I'm glad to see Aaron tackle Frank again on his own terms this time, though its funny to see Frank being so invested in his wife and family in this run, a nice little inversion of the twist during his Max run

[@ItsOver9000Productions]

Ok imma have to watch this one tommorow because i JUST started this book yesterday and i wanna finish this goodness first. BUT MARK MY WORDS. I'LL BE BACK TO FINISH THIS. Ok I'm back. This series rocks and this episode is great!

[@morganweinstock167]

I’m a huge fan of this story, but I really wish that this was a What If instead. The contestant wild retcons of the Hand being in Frank’s life almost from the beginning is something that is inevitably going to be retconned out again-but damn, is this story good.

[@crazydude610]

I feel like all the backstory add-ons in this book are just loose enough and plausible enough that no-one is going to seriously retcon them. The only thing that is definitely stated is that his first kill was at ten years old. The hand is just loose enough in his backstory, threatening to fully interfere with his life, but not actually deciding the course of his life is very well executed

[@halfmettlealchemist8076]

I like the retcons, if only because it subverts that same idea that Hand had shaped Frank’s life from the start, and instead all their influence amounted to was them creepily showing at his doorstep all the time and ranting about prophecies before Frank just tells them to fuck off. Frank became the Punisher because of his own choices, no-one else’s, and the Hand is now just trying to take credit for something they really only had a superficial level of control over.

[@pillsburydoughbane2618]

This is awesome!

[@captaincomics3626]

This was soooo dope and you sold me on jason Aaron's punisher. And I dig the new logo just as much as the classic logo.

[@valiantshadowproductions]

The worst thing about this book isn’t this book, it’s how Chip Zdarsky clearly hasn’t read this book, so anytime Frank shows up in Daredevil, he acts like a completely different character, one who he clearly has no regard for, and it’s immensely frustrating. Love this series, though. Great episode, everybody.

[@ozzyalbor8292]

The bois are back, let’s goooooooooo!

[@juk3boxh3r0]

Ok so now that Punisher is all in and the leader of the Hand, Daredevil is the leader of The Fist, and Shang-Chi is the master of the ten rings and leader of the ten weapons society… can we do something with all that? That sounds like an unintentional “street level” event

[@robertonline6543]

I always envision the punisher to be more like...the middle finger of the hand ✋️.

[@pbjoey703]

Every time a marvel character goes to Japan it’s always a fun time!

[@alberto1583]

1:19:25 Hey Sal you brought some good points about supporting comics by pre-ordering them. You have a big enough following, can you make a video or something to bring that to light? Recently I've been catching up on some of your Elseworld's Exchange and Off the Rack videos and I've only recently understood just how important and effective it is to pre-order comics in order to support them. I always assumed even if you bought the book a few weeks after they are released that it would be the same as supporting them on initial release. I'm not sure if its common knowledge that the sales that the publishers consider the most are the ones sold on initial release. Love your content guys, I feel like you're a great source on how to understand and contribute to this medium!

[@Dusty_B]

Never been really pulled into a Punisher story, but this is dope

[@IzzysIssues]

The first five minutes of this were already immaculate

[@The_Texorcist]

It’s all about getting people talking about punisher. Some people don’t like it, it gets press. Disney jumps on that press by changing the symbol, it also gets press. People are outraged over the change, it gets press. It’s like the saying… there is no such thing as bad press. Now ya have a character that people don’t talk about as much as others now a hot topic character because the whirlwind of BS around it because of all that. Disney then can sell limited edition figures, shirts etc with that logo and once the hype/outrage has gone away they will just revert it back to the classic. It’s all about press and money… and that’s not a bad thing, they are a company and a companies main reason for being is to make money.

[@blabablu9293]

Oh God damn it! The moment I saw this I knew I could not watch it, had the last few issues on a stack of back issues to read 😂😂😂