Hello friends, I have finally finished the first issue of Punisher Origins. Mind you I do not have an artist. So for now I'm just posting a handful of pics that go along with what the story says. Thanks for reading, and please enjoy Punisher Origins #1.
The year is 1965, a young United States marine named Frank Castle awakes in a dark room. He hears a noise and quickly turns his head around. "Have no fear, dear friend!" a kindly voice said from behind. "I come to dress your wounds" it said again as the voice came closer. "Who, who are you?" Frank stuttered out. "A friend to be sure, but they call me Kanshou Ren" the man replied "allow me to help you. I am here to care for your wounds." Kanshou stepped into the moonlight which was shining brightly from a makeshift window in the wall. Frank could see the light reflecting off of his face and could make out that the man was indeed Chinese as his accent had previously indicated. "Where am I" Frank promptly asked "Last I remember, I, I was in the jungles and then..." Frank paused as Kanshou stooped down and began to dress Frank's wounds. "Rest, rest my friend" Kanshou said softly "and tell me all that has transpired." Frank began to relay all that had happened to him the two days before.
"I was a part of the United States Marine Corps, we came here from America. I trained for months back in the states and even more when I arrived here. When we finally arrived a few months ago, the war really started to pick up. I, I got a lot of experience in the field with my troop. I've grown to love them over the past few months." Frank paused in silence as if he was remembering something. "Until two days ago, we, we were ambushed by the Viet Cong. We stood our ground and fought to the death. By the end of our heroic stand, there was only three of us left. We looked around, we saw piles of bloody mangled bodies mixed with the beautiful landscape of the country. It was ironic, such a beautiful land ravaged by so much death. As we turned our heads around looking for a way out, we spotted something in the distance. Out of the ordinary and coming closer, a body, a living body. With pale white skin unlike any Viet Cong foe we had faced. With yellow green eyes and jet black hair, and dark tattoos creeping up his neck and chin. In each hand he carried long silver blades, and hanging from the middle of his black armored chest was...a symbol, a symbol of a skull....As he approached we readied our weapons, and prepared to face him. We called to him as he came within ten feet of us, and asked if he be friend or foe. He gave no reply, only smiled cruelly and held up his blades. We opened fire on him yet his cunning with a sword is unlike any I've ever seen. As he was able to deflect every bullet we sent his way. He dodged and evaded our gunfire, until he was at point blank range stabbing both of my partners to the ground. I took a swing at his face and caused his lip to bleed, large drops of crimson red flowing from his mouth. He readied himself again and swung at me, which I dodged with care and evaded his attacks. I quickly grabbed my partner's heavy gun and tried to shoot, but the ammunition was gone. I used it as a type of sword of my own and faced him yet again. This time, he hacked the gun in half and then impaled me through the abdomen. Driving his blade all the way through me, I fell to my knees for a few quick seconds. But in a rush of adrenaline I charged at him and tackled him to the ground where he promptly ran me through again with his other blade. I was so enraged, I began wailing on his face without end. He quickly grabbed his last dagger from his leg and stabbed it through my gut as well. A few seconds later, I could see pools of blood lying around me. My own blood, I could see my enemy's face staring up at me, still with that same cruel smile. Everything started to go blurry, and then it all faded to black. Then I woke up here...."
Frank paused and let out a deep breath "I don't know, who, who he is." He continued "But I think now, I can take a good guess where I am now." Kanshou smiled again "You are in the prison camp of the Viet Cong." Frank sighed "I knew it." He muttered "But who was it, why did he take me here?" Kanshou took a deep breath as his face went from friendly to solemn "I know of who he is" he said slowly with a hint of pain in his voice "His true name is not known to anyone but himself, but he makes himself known as Sphiller Krovi. Which if interpreted into your tongue means 'the one who spills blood'. The skull he wears is the symbol of an ancient cult that ruled the Indus Valley over three thousand years ago. They called themselves the Danda Dēnā. They were the primary force of law enforcement for their time. The Danda Dēnā believed that they were a special group of people ordained by the universe itself to be a force of nature. A force of nature that exacts punishment on those who do wrong. However, they made a point of drawing a clear line between true punishment and simple revenge. They viewed themselves as messengers of a pure universe. Vengeance is considered to be an impure motive, an impure feeling." Kanshou paused for a moment of deep silence and then continued "The Danda Dēnā soon grew in numbers, became no longer a small cult but a secret organization that would spread across the entire continent of Asia over the next few thousand years. Even to Sphiller Krovi's homeland of Russia..." Kanshou sighed and then said "Well, I think that is enough." Frank was so enthralled and intrigued by the story "No wait! What happened?" He demanded "Tell me what happened to Krovi." "No, no I must not" replied the old man. "No, no please tell me." Frank pleaded for Kanshou to continue. Kanshou sighed and then reluctantly finished the tale of Sphiller Krovi. "Krovi's parents were devout members of the Danda Dēnā, however members were never supposed to love or marry." Said the old sage "But the two were so madly in love, they couldn't resist. They had to keep their affair a secret, so they pretended that he was an orphaned boy off the streets. And decided to take the child with them to be raised in the temple of the Danda Dēnā. He grew up there, under the watchful eye of his father. Never knowing his true parentage. Krovi grew up feeling alone and it was as if he knew that his history was dark and full of sin. Krovi grew very masterful in the Danda Dēnā art of killing. Also showing much promise in the realm of swordsmanship. Krovi went through life every day wondering and asking about his true family. Until one fateful day, his master revealed to him the entire story about his mother and father. For the next two years Krovi managed to keep it secret, and loved his parents without anyone knowing so. Until one day the grand master learned from his spies in the city that Krovi had been communing with his parents. The master concluded that he knew who Krovi's true parents were, and that they had broken the code. And for that they must be punished. Krovi was held back and forced to watch in horror as his family was murdered, right before his eyes. Sphiller Krovi grew incredibly vengeful, and in a fit of rage killed the grand master and everyone else in his temple. He then donned the skull imprint, and painted it crimson red as a sign that he had grown to hate the Danda Dēnā. While the grand master of that temple may have done a horrible thing, sometimes that is necessary to achieve true justice. Krovi swore an oath to destroy all of the Danda Dēnā...." Kanshou's eyes began to fill with tears "Tis such a sad thing, once a promising child. Now wears the symbol and perverts everything it stood for. He seeks revenge for what the organization once did to him, he has twisted everything that we once stood up for in a mad quest for vengeance. Due to Krovi, we are all but extinct." The wise old man wiped away his tears as he stood and walked out. "Wait!" said an intrigued Frank Castle "What do you mean 'we'" He asked. "That is not for you to know" Kanshou replied "Frank, think on all of these things I have spoken of, and consider them wisely dear friend!" The old man then walked out of the moonlight and soon faded into the darkness.
Frank was still so deeply intrigued, he tossed and turned for hours pondering everything the old man spoke to him about. At some point during the night, Frank decided to begin planning a method of escape. He walked around his dark cell, searching for things he might use for his escapade. He discovered two small wooden planks filled with splinters resting just outside his cell. He also realized that this entire time he had been sleeping on an army cot. Frank instantly knew exactly what he was going to do. He ripped up the cot and tied all the pieces of fabric together into a makeshift noose. He planned his escape and soon faded off into sleep. The next day he awoke, and heard a guard coming with a small plate of food. Frank saw him step into the room, and as the man bent down to set down the plate. Frank quickly jumped up and wrapped his makeshift noose around the guard's neck, all the while covering his mouth and strangling him to death. Frank stood up and looked down at the body, and grabbed the fork off of the plate and the two planks and made off down the next hallway. As he was traveling down to the next hall, he realized he was in a rocky cave-like structure. As Frank approached the end the hall, he heard multiple voices coming from the next corner. He hunkered down and peered around the corner, to see four Viet Cong guards guarding the entrance to his dark prison. Frank charged out violently and broke one of the planks over the first guard's head, effectively killing him. He then quickly pinned the next guard to the wall by running him through with the plank and then ripping it out, leaving it covered in blood. Frank charged towards the third guard and knocked his machine gun out of his hand to the other side of the room, then threw him to the ground. Frank turned around and hacked the next guard to death with the bloody stick. The last guard stood up and looked Frank straight in the eye. Soon both of their eyes turned to the other side of the room where the machine gun lie in wait for a user. Both charged towards it, and tackled each other to the ground in the process. The two exchanged blows and brutally brawled it out for a while, until Frank reached for the fork he had stolen and gouged the guard's eyes out. The guard screamed in agonizing pain as Frank picked up the gun and shot him in the head. He then ventured out into the prison yard and counted thirteen men, "I can do it." He told himself "But then again." He questioned "Ah! What the hell!" he said as he took aim at a group and took out five men in a barrage of gunfire. Shots were returned as Frank dove across the yard and took cover behind a pile of sandbags. He reloaded and took aim at a group of three coming towards him, killing all three. "Eight down" he said as he ran toward a large building on the other side "Five to go." Frank took cover behind a wooden box as a Viet Cong soldier came up behind him with a knife, a bullet to the face took care of him as Frank quickly dodged a pistol shot from behind. Frank grabbed the man and the pistol, knee'd him in the gut and punched him out. Three more men stood atop the building, the one in the middle climbed higher up to the very top of the nearby rocky cliff as the other two rained down gunfire on Frank Castle. Frank shot forward and hid behind the eave of the stone building, and ventured inside. On the inside another soldier stood guarding a flight of stairs. Frank shot him and quickly advanced up the stairs to meet the the remaining two soldiers on the roof of the building. He grabbed them by their shirts and knocked their two heads together. He quickly followed the final soldier across the rocky hill. At the top he saw the last soldier with his back turned.
The man turned around revealing his face, it was Sphiller Krovi himself. Frank lifted his pistol and prepared to face Krovi in combat yet again. He shot Krovi's left blade out of his hand and swiftly kicked his right blade out of the next. What followed was a long and painful fight which consisted mostly of punches and kicks. Until finally, Frank punched Krovi in the face knocking him backward. Krovi looked before him, no more than two inches from his face did his sword lie on the ground. As Frank walked forward, Krovi grabbed the sword and twirled around stabbing Frank straight through the chest. Frank was so deeply wounded, he fell to his knees in anguish. Krovi pulled the blade out of Frank's chest. As Frank lie in pain, his entire life seemed to flash before his eyes. Krovi lifted his sword and prepared to strike yet again, Frank dropped his head in agony. Until he heard a loud gunshot. He looked up as Krovi grabbed his chest, Frank looked to his left and saw his caretaker Kanshou Ren standing with rifle in hand. Frank looked on to see that Kanshou's brown robes were opened, revealing the symbol of a skull. But the skull wasn't red like Krovi's, it was pure white. Krovi darted forward in rage and ran Kanshou through the throat just before Frank came up behind him and pushed him off the rocks. Down, so far down into the ravine Krovi fell. Frank knelt on the ground next to his friend. "Why?" said he "why did you come to my aid?". The wise old sage looked him straight in the eye and told him this. "I never worked for the Viet Cong Mr. Castle, I sneaked in and cared for your wounds because I knew you would need strength for the upcoming day. I came to you, because I am now the last of the Danda Dēnā. It was foretold in a vision, foretold that on this very day, in this very place, I would find the one that would keep our sacred beliefs alive. I found you Frank, you are soon to be the greatest of the Danda Dēnā. Take this..." The old man said as he lifted up a black cloak with the Danda Dēnā skull hanging from the chest. "Take it, dear friend, and think of all that I have told you of. With that final swipe of the blade, and your final push. The Danda Dēnā are no more, unless you keep our legacy alive!" The old man said as he slowly slipped on into the afterlife.
Frank picked up the cloak, and began his journey through the jungle. After many hours of traveling, Frank finally stumbled upon an American base camp. He barely made it alive as he all but fainted when he entered into the camp. A few hours later Frank awoke inside the infirmary tent, he heard a noise and a dignified general stepped into the room...
Well, what do ya think?