The Punisher will get a five-issue series this January from Scott M Gimple (AMC’s The Walking Dead) and Mark Texeira (Punisher War Journal, Jonah Hex) entitled Punisher: Nightmare.
In Nightmare, Frank Castle connects with another ex-soldier named Jake Niman, who, after returning home from Afghanistan, loses his family in a mob hit gone wrong. Needless to say, Castle identifies with his situation and goes on the hunt for the guilty parties.
“Jake’s put into a coma from his injuries, but just like Frank, he survives the attack,” Gimple revealed on Marvel.com. “While Frank is hunting down Jake’s family’s killers, he learns more about Jake from his blog entries during his time serving in Afghanistan. Jake’s story is complicated, and it forms the picture of someone very different from Frank in many ways, but in other, frightening ways, very much the same.”
The “central baddie” of the series will be a new introduction to the Punisher’s rogue gallery, Johnny Nightmare. He’s a thug with regenerative powers; Castle’s various forms of exacting justice seem to only make him stronger. Will our anti-hero survive? We’ll find out through weekly installments beginning in January.