Punisher (Marvel NEW)/Issue 1

The first issue of the Marvel NEW Punisher series kick starts the two-part "Where Do I Begin?" story arc, as well as explaining a bit more about Frank Castle's origin.

Synopsis
The Punisher speaks with a therapist and explains some things about himself.

Plot
Frank Castle sits down on a chair and begins looking at things on a table in front of him. A therapist asks him to not touch anything, with Frank obliging. The therapist reveals that he's been reading Frank's files and that he believes Frank is "interesting" to put it lightly, going on to claim he wants to know what made Frank so "interesting". Frank asks himself where does he begin before claiming the best place is most likely the beginning.

Frank reveals that his father was a doctor who specialized in genetics and that his mother was a lawyer. He then states that he was a part of a pair of twins and that his brother was going to be named Michael. Sadly though, only Frank was born that day, Michael was stillborn and his mother died shortly after giving birth to him. After this, his father became extremely distant from him, Frank believing he blamed him for the death of his mother and brother. He grew up with two older siblings: a sister named Esmeralda ("Esse" as Frank called her) and a brother-in-law named Louis, though they were both much older than him and weren't home a lot since Louis had kids and Esee was a spokesperson for Stark Industries back when Howard Stark owned it, in fact, he's not sure what they're up to these days.

Not much of importance happened until he was in high school since that was when he honestly started to try and improve himself, focussing on science in an attempt to get his father's attention. Sadly, this didn't work very well and Frank's grades started slipping. By the time Frank was fourteen, his grades were so horrible his father and he got into an argument about it, during which his father constantly brought up his mother as some form of emotional manipulation. The sad part is that it worked since whenever he did Frank would just suddenly stop talking and look at the floor in silence. They would get into a few more arguments after this one about his grades and in each one, the same thing would happen.

Eventually, his father's depression would take it's final toll, as he became unable to do his work and was fired. He turned to alcohol because of this and became even more distant from Frank than he ever was. Because of this, Frank, now seventeen, took a walk through the street to clear his mind. He bought a pack of gum from a shop and was ready to come home when he heard screaming from inside. He ran back in and saw a man with a gun, a man who would later be known as Mac Gargan, the Scorpion. Gargan was robbing the shop and kept demanding money, apologizing over and over for what he was doing. Frank says he isn't sure what came over him at that moment, but before he even knew what was happening he took off and tackled Gargan to the floor, repeatedly striking his head.

Frank's moment was a short one though, as Gargan managed to shoot Frank in the stomach. Frank grasped his stomach as he fell over and blacked out. He eventually came to in the hospital, the doctor calming him down and reminding him of what he did, calling him a hero. Frank asks what happened to the mugger, the doctor revealing that Frank did enough damage to Gargan to knock him out, though he was knocked out for a week or two after the gunshot. The doctor ends his ramble by stating Frank and his story was on the news. Frank looks around and asks where his father is only to be crushed when he found out his father never even stepped foot into the hospital.

Frank walked all the way back to his home, where his father was suddenly giving Frank the attention he always wanted. At first, Frank was overjoyed. That is until his father revealed he wanted Frank to do a faked news report with a woman and had written an entire script for it. This made Frank realize that his father was only showing him attention because of his sudden fame and, in response to his father's request, Frank smashed the news woman's camera before once again leaving the building. He wasn't sure where he was going or what he'd do, but as long as he was nowhere near his father he was happy.

Frank spent the final two years of his teenage life as a nomad, drifting from town to town, helping people along the way. One of the people he helped was a small group of what the world would call hippies, who were peacefully protesting the mayor of a town, who had become allies with Darren Cross, the head of the corrupt Cross Technological Enterprises. The mayor had ordered the chief of police to drive them out by any means necessary, leading to an attempted violent assault on the group. Frank managed to fend off the police off and, thanks to his rather large size, intimidated them enough to force them to retreat. Realizing that his hight and build was rather intimidating to people, Frank used this to his advantage to force the mayor to sever ties with Cross.

As a thank you for saving them, the hippies took Frank in, revealing that they all had similar pasts as him. Frank grew to know these people as his own family. There names where Harold, Lew, and Maria, the last of which Frank became extremely close with. During a visit to a small farm, Maria confessed she had grown feelings for Frank over the past few years. Frank wasn't sure how to feel at first but one thing led to another and Maria became Frank's first.

Everything seemed great, Frank felt as if he had finally gotten his life together. That is until he received a letter in the mail: he had been drafted. Others volunteered to take Frank's place, but he was set on doing this himself, not wanting any of his friends to die. Frank managed to pass his training far faster than his peers, beating all of them in the courses and tests they took. Frank was eventually let out into the field, joining a small group of military agents who Frank grew to know while in the war. According to Frank, he became the defacto leader of the team, who he dubbed the Punishers as a way of showing no one should mess with them and the name stuck.

The Punishers where basically joined at the hip, so when one of their members was shot and killed they fought to be sent on a mission to avenge him. Eventually, they won out and were sent to Africa to take down The Monkey, a high ranking enemy commander, who was known for kissing a monkey skull he had for good luck. Their mission didn't go well at first, as most of the Punishers where captured, but Frank managed to get away safely. He painted a white skull on to his chest as a way of mocking The Monkey as he took down his men one by one. Frank alone managed to murder every person in the base before bursting in on The Monkey and beating him to a pulp before shooting him in the skull. Frank freed the Punishers and they continued to fight the war together until its bitter end. They were all sent home, Frank being given a new name and identity to protect himself, as he had made so many enemies during the war the government was actually worried for him.

Frank found out the hippies who took him in had taken on new lives. Lew had a family with a Turkish woman he met thanks to the group and Harold had moved on to an entirely new group of hippies after the old one's disbanding. However, the one he cared most about was Maria. He asked around and eventually found out Maria had married an oil tycoon and lived in Boston. Frank visited her just to catch up. The two luckily still recognized each other, though Frank had obviously changed a lot due to the war. They caught up, Frank finding out quite a bit about her life. However, she suddenly went quiet when he asked about her marriage. It became clear why when the tycoon came down screaming at her about inviting Frank over. Frank attempted to leave, but he demanded him to stay. He continued to scream at Maria, who just sat there letting him. It ended in him trying to smack Maria, only for Frank to grab his hand and twist it before throwing him into the table, knocking him out. Frank asked Maria why she was still with him, telling her she doesn't need to be with him, asking her to come with him.

Luckily, Maria was convinced by Frank's words and the two ran off together. She divorced the tycoon and married Frank, having two children with him named Lisa and Frank, Jr. Once again, Frank's life was great. Frank then suddenly becomes unhappy and claims that the therapist probably already knows what happened next. The therapist states that Frank became a police officer and his family tragically died in a crossfire. Frank confirms this and tells the therapist that his family's death is the reason he does what he does, the reason why he became the Punisher. A clock suddenly dings, with the therapist telling Frank that their time is up. Frank thanks him, stating that telling someone about this actually helped him. The therapist then claims that the story helped him realize quite a few things about Frank too. He then states he doesn't think Frank would kill an innocent man, with Frank claiming that the therapist seems to be the only one. Out of nowhere, a group of police burst into the room and arrest Frank, who is revealed to be wearing a prisoner's uniform.