Hey guys. I have a buddy who is a pretty big fan of the Punisher character. Using the 2012 Marvel Chronology book, and some help from Wikipedia, I've got a pretty good list of Punisher's appearances and collected editions going in chronological order. What I'm having some trouble with is placing some of his first series and spin-off's. They were all being released at the same time, and all ended in 1995. I'm trying to help my friend find a good read order for the issues, even if they are not collected. If someone could help me place them in the list in correct order for me, it would be greatly appreciated. Also, if anyone has anything to add, I would love to hear it. I'm not including the Max series right now because I think he's more interested in the 616 Version at this time. I'll try to get him into Max once he's caught up with the current stuff. Here is my list so far and thank you all in advance.

The Punisher: Year One (Year One #1-4)

Essential Punisher Vol 1 (Punisher 1-5)

Punisher Circle of Blood (Punisher 1-5) (This is also contained in Essential Punisher 1)

Essential Punisher Volume 2 ( (1987) 1-20, Annual #1)

Punisher War Journal Classic Vol 1 (PWJ 1-8)

Essential Punisher Vol 3 (21-40, annual 2-3)

Essential Punisher Vol 4 (41-59, annual 4-5)

(Here is where I'm having trouble... the Essential Punisher volumes only contain his main series...and I don't know where to fit in War Journal, Magazine, Armory, and War Zone....)

Punisher 1987 – 104 issues July 87-July 95

Punisher War Journal – 80 issues Nov 88- July 95

Punisher Magazine – 16 issues Nov89- Sept 90

Punisher Armory – 10 issues 1990

Punisher War Zone -41 issues March 92-July 95

Punisher: River of Blood (pwz 31-36)

Punisher: Marvel Edge – 18 issues 1995-1997

The Punisher: Purgatory (also in 4 issue series with Wolverine)

Punisher: Welcome Back, Frank

Punisher War Journal: Civil War

Punisher War Journal: Goin’ Out West

Punisher War Journal: Hunter Hunted

Punisher War Journal: Jigsaw

Punisher War Journal: Secret Invasion

Punisher: Dark Reign

Punisher: Dead End

Punisher: Franken-Castle

Punisher: In the Blood

Punisher War Zone: The Resurrection of Ma Gnucci

Punisher by Greg Rucka Vol 1

Punisher by Greg Rucka Vol 2

Punisher by Greg Rucka Vol 3

Punisher War Zone 1-5 mini (2012)

Thunderbolts Volume 1: No Quarter

Well you pretty much said everything, thing most difficult is to find the early books (Punisher, War Journal and War Zone). The Essentials like you said belong to the main ongoing.

You don't have to worry about the three series ( Punisher, War Journal and War Zone) because there are specific arcs that need to tie-in with each other and that's the sequence you will follow.

I would skip Punisher: Purgatory because it's bad. Your friend will learn nothing, just bad writing.

You forget to mention all Garth Ennis stuff in 616, after "Welcome Back, Frank" in Punisher vol.5 there are 37 issues. It's from 2001.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Punisher_%282001_series%29

It's the best stories after the early ones (in my opinion). It's very difficult to find the TPB or the Omnibus but you can try.

Punisher War Zone: The Resurrection of Ma Gnucci i would place immediatly after this books.

And then your sequence is right.

Punisher War Journal and so on...

I can recommend:

Ultimate Avengers 2 (1-6);

Punisher: Nightmare (1-5);

Punisher: Noir (1-4);

Spider-Man: Anti Venom ( relevant appearence of the Punisher ,during Dark Reign)

Deadpool Suicide Kings( relevant appearence of the Punisher, during Dark Reign);

Marvel Universe vs The Punisher.

I hope it helped a bit.

That definately helped a whole lot. Thank you so much. Did you mean Ma Gnucci should come right after the Garth Ennis run? Or did you mean after something else. Also I put the two Dark Reign books you mentioned right after Punisher: Dark Reign, since it seems to be at the same time... is there a correct order to those appearances, or does it not matter?

Also, I have a few other appearances that I need help placing.....

Hulk Visionaries: Peter David Volume 8

Spider-Man: The Ben Reilly Epic

Spider-Man: Crime and Punisher

Deadpool Classic Volume 7

Deadpool Team-Up Volume 1: Good Buddies

Moon Knight Volume 5: Down South

I'm assuming the Deadpool Team-Up is happening during the Franken-Castle arc, since it says Deadpool teams up with Franken-Castle... but I'm not sure if this should go right after the Franken-Castle arc, or if I should have my friend read it right in the middle of it or what... and if any of these new ones are totally unnecessary books to get for Punisher appearances, please let me know. Thank all of you that answer for your help. I'm finding these boards are a lot more friendly than the other comic forums I"ve visited in the past. People just seem more willing to help.

Yes, makes more sense to place Ma Gnucci at the end of Garth Ennis run.

The order of Dark Reign is correct... "Dead End", "Franken-Castle" and "In The Blood".

If you friend is a collector try only to buy separate issues ( Punisher appearences) instead of the whole TPB, if he only cares about the Punisher of course.

The books you mentioned don't have enough Punisher to make you buy it, try to find the issues instead of buying the whole book.

what about the ones you mentioned? should I get the whole trade for those? or should I just do single issues for those too?

and will my friend be able to understand what's going on in the book by just getting the single issues with Punisher in it instead of the whole story arc?

The ones i mentioned you can buy all the trade. Normally it's the beggining of an story. The others i don't know the names of the stories, but the one with Deadpool teaming up with Franken-Castle you can buy it the single issue, no problem.

Hey, thanks a bunch. I've updated the list a little to include the things that we've both added, and made some of the changes you mentioned...

The Punisher: Year One (Year One #1-4)

Essential Punisher Vol 1 (Punisher 1-5)

Punisher Circle of Blood (Punisher 1-5)

Essential Punisher Volume 2 ( (1987) 1-20, Annual #1)

Punisher War Journal Classic Vol 1 (PWJ 1-8)

Essential Punisher Vol 3 (21-40, annual 2-3)

Essential Punisher Vol 4 (41-59, annual 4-5)

Punisher 1987 – 104 issues July 87-July 95

Punisher War Journal – 80 issues Nov 88- July 95

Punisher Magazine – 16 issues Nov89- Sept 90

Punisher Armory – 10 issues 1990

Punisher War Zone -41 issues March 92-July 95

Punisher War Zone: Volume 1 (PWZ 1-6)

Punisher: Barbarian With a Gun (PWZ 26-30)

Punisher: River of Blood (pwz 31-36)

Punisher: Marvel Edge – 18 issues 95-97

The Punisher: Purgatory

Wolverine Mini (with Purgatory Punisher) (Not sure what this is called...)

Deadpool Classic Volume 7 (Punisher issues only)

Punisher: Welcome Back, Frank

Punisher: Army of One

Punisher: Business as Usual

Punisher: Full Auto

Punisher: Streets of Laredo

Punisher: Confederacy of Dunces

Punisher War Zone: The Resurrection of Ma Gnucci

Punisher War Journal: Civil War

Punisher War Journal: Goin’ Out West

Punisher War Journal: Hunter Hunted

Punisher War Journal: Jigsaw

Punisher War Journal: Secret Invasion

Punisher: Dark Reign

Spider-Man: Anti-Venom (Full book)

Deadpool: Suicide Kings (Full book)

Punisher: Dead End

Punisher: Franken-Castle

Deadpool Team-Up Volume 1: Good Buddies (only the Punisher issue)

Punisher: In the Blood

Punisher by Greg Rucka Vol 1

Punisher by Greg Rucka Vol 2

Punisher by Greg Rucka Vol 3

Punisher: Enter the War Zone

Punisher: Nightmare (Not sure if this is before or after Thunderbolts Volume 1)

Thunderbolts Volume 1: No Quarter

These are the ones I'm still having trouble placing....only single issues or not, just not sure about where they would go....

Hulk Visionaries: Peter David Volume 8

Spider-Man: The Ben Reilly Epic

Spider-Man: Crime and Punisher

Moon Knight Volume 5: Down South (I think this has something to do with Dark Reign, cause durring it, Moon Knight is in hiding from Norman Osborn...)

Any further help is greatly appreciated....thanks again.

Didn't know if you would be back on tonight. Did a little more research on dates that certain issues were released and found what looks to be a proper order for the books you listed for me...along with some of the ones that I had added. Found the dates for most of them, and tried to put them in a general chronological order. Was wondering if you could take another look to see if I have any errors.

The Punisher: Year One

Essential Punisher Vol 1

Punisher Circle of Blood

Essential Punisher Volume 2 ( (1987) 1-20, Annual #1)

Punisher War Journal Classic Vol 1 (PWJ 1-8)

Essential Punisher Vol 3 (21-40, annual 2-3)

Essential Punisher Vol 4 (41-59, annual 4-5)

Punisher 1987 – 104 issues July 87-July 95

Punisher War Journal – 80 issues Nov 88- July 95

Punisher Magazine – 16 issues Nov89- Sept 90

Punisher Armory – 10 issues 1990

Punisher War Zone -41 issues March 92-July 95

Incredible Hulk #395-396 (From Hulk Visionaries Vol 8) July-Aug 1992

Punisher War Zone: Volume 1 (PWZ 1-6)

Punisher: Barbarian With a Gun (PWZ 26-30)

Punisher: River of Blood (pwz 31-36)

Punisher: Marvel Edge – 18 issues 95-97

Spider-Man/Punisher: Family Plot (1996) (Put this here cause I didn't know if I should stick it between the Marvel Edge issues or not... I'll try to work it in later.)

The Punisher: Purgatory

Wolverine Mini (with Purgatory Punisher) (Do you have any idea what this mini was called?)

Punisher: Welcome Back, Frank

Deadpool #54-55

Punisher: Army of One

Punisher: Business as Usual

Punisher: Full Auto

Punisher: Streets of Laredo

Punisher: Confederacy of Dunces

Punisher War Zone: The Resurrection of Ma Gnucci

Punisher War Journal: Civil War

Punisher War Journal: Goin’ Out West

Punisher War Journal: Hunter Hunted

Punisher War Journal: Jigsaw

Punisher War Journal: Secret Invasion

Amazing Spider-Man #577

Punisher: Dark Reign

Moon Knight: Down South

Deadpool: Suicide Kings

Punisher: Dead End

Spider-Man: Anti-Venom

Punisher: Franken-Castle

Deadpool Team-Up #894

Punisher: In the Blood

Punisher by Greg Rucka Vol 1

Punisher by Greg Rucka Vol 2

Punisher by Greg Rucka Vol 3

Punisher: Enter the War Zone

Punisher: Nightmare

Thunderbolts Volume 1: No Quarter

I also realize that you had said that I shouldn't worry where to read the three original Punisher series. I do partially see what you are talking about...how there were some crossover stories where it would tell you to bounce between series. But what about the times when you weren't bouncing between them? Is there an order he should be following at that point. I want him to be able to get a comic box, and be able to put the single issues in read order, so I'm not quite sure what to do on that situation. Again, thanks for all the help you've given me thus far. I appreciate your kindness and patience with my ridiculous amount of questions.

It's not ridiculous, i do like to read in order too. Well the older books got dates mentioning the month that were released so you can follow that order.

Family plot is well placed maybe in-between Marvel Edge, but you don't miss a thing if you read at the end.

The Punisher(purgatory) and Wolverine crossover it's called Revelation. ( it's not too good, it's the same as the series "Purgatory".

The order is fine.

ok. so going by release day is fine? I figure just put multiparters in the same month so I don't break up the flow of the story then? Thanks again. :)

@moonknightfan3: You got for example the month the issue was released and you have just to follow that..

Ok, cool. I'll see what I can come up with. I'll get back to you when it's all set to see how it looks.

Ok, no problem.

uh....ran into some BIG trouble. Was at my LCS last night and was looking through the Punisher stuff for my buddy. Came across some stuff I never heard of.. then came on line and found A LOT of stuff I never heard of. Not sure if theese are just story arcs contained within the diffrent series....or these are all different One-Shots...or what... very confused. I'm sorry but this is a huge list of stuff that I have no clue what it is. Any help would be appreciated... (IF anything is non-cannon, please let me know so I can get rid of it... pretty sure the intercompany crossovers are non-cannon...)

Wolverine/Punisher: African Saga (1989)

Punisher: Back to School Special (1992)

Wolverine/Punisher: Damaging Evidence (1993)

Punisher: Origin of Microchip (1993)

Punisher P.O.V. (1991)

Ghost Rider/Wolverine/Punisher: Hearts of Darkness (1991)

Ghost Rider/Wolverine/Punisher: Dark Design (1994)

Wolverine/Punisher: Marvel Knights (2004)

Astonishing Tales: Wolverine/Punisher (2008)

Punisher/Painkiller Jane

Daredevil Vs. Punisher: Means and Ends (Marvel Knights)

Punisher Vs. Bullseye (Marvel Knights, 2006)

Punisher Summer Special (1991)

Punisher: Brotherhood (Marvel Knights, 2003)

Punisher/Captian America: Blood and Glory (1992)

Punisher: Ghosts of Innocence (1993)

Spider-Man Vs. The Punisher (2000)

Batman/Punisher: Lake of Fire (1994)

Punisher/Black Widow: Spinning Doomsday’s Web (1992)

Batman/Punisher: Deadly Knights (1994)

The Punisher Saga (2008)

Punisher, Spiderman, Sabertooth: Designer Genes (1993)

Witchblade/The Punisher (2007)

The Punisher: Intruder (1989)

The Punisher: Countdown (2004)

Punisher: Return to Big Nothing (1989)\

Punisher Invades the ‘Nam (1994)

Punisher: Bloodlines (1991)

The Punisher: Empty Quarter (1994)

Punisher: Blood on the Moors (1991)

Classic Punisher (1989)

Punisher: Assassin’s Guild (1988)

Punisher: The Prize (1990)

Punisher: The Escape (1990)

The Punisher: Kingdom Come (1990)

The Punisher: G-Force (1992)

Punisher: Die Hard in the Big Easy (1992)

Punisher: A Man Named Frank (1994)

Punisher: Bloody Valentine (Marvel Knights, 2006)

Daredevil and Punisher: Child’s Play (1988)

Punisher, Moon Knight and Daredevil: The Big Shots (2011)

Eminem/Punisher (2009)

Space: Punisher (2012)

Came up with one other additional problem. I'm trying to tie the story arcs together to get a good reading order. I put the story arcs together by date released. If I just have him switch between story arcs that were all released around the same time, will he be allright? Or will there be spoilers or messed up continuity doing it that way?

Most of books you mentioned are One-Shot books, it doesn't read with any order specifically. But like i said before organize it by date of release.

-Punisher, Moon Knight and Daredevil: The Big Shots (2011) - This was just an ad to the respective ongoings, it isn't a book or a story.

-Daredevil and Punisher: Child’s Play (1988) It's already in Punisher Essential Vol.1

-Classic Punisher (1989) already in Punisher Essential Vol.1

-The Punisher: Countdown (2004) this was exclusive content from the Punisher film from 2004 with Thomas Jane

-The Punisher Saga (2008) this is more or less 4/5 pages with Punisher history, this comes already with Punisher: Dark Reign TPB

-Wolverine/Punisher: African Saga (1989) This book refers to Punisher War Journal #6 and #7