Origin

Joe Garrison was once known as the Gravedigger of SHIELD, doing the agency's dirty work. When he fell in love with Stephanie, he promised to leave that work behind him. He settled down, got married, and had a couple of kids. Unfortunately, his family was killed when his suburban house was bombed. Because he wasn't among the bodies, he was considered the number one suspect. With his old handler, Triple-A, they broke into a safehouse of the now defunct SHIELD and armed himself with leftover tech so he could hunt the people responsible. Because his ballistic armor looked vaguely like a skull, he was mistaken for Frank Castle early on.

Creation

Joe Garrison first appeared in Punisher (2024) #1 by Dave Wachter and David Pepose. Despite being called The Punisher, Garrison never chose the name for himself and is indifferent to everyone else's usage. Fans consider him an attempt at fixing The Punisher brand after it was co-opted by white supremacists and wannabe militias.

Major Story Arcs

Vengeance

Garrison immediately hunted the man who planted the bomb in his house, a terrorist known as The Sokovian. After killing him, he sought out the fixer, The Offer. Garrison believed he would have access to the information on who killed his family. Unfortunately, The Offer did not know who ordered the hit, but he did know that the hit wasn't on Garrison but his wife. She was a secretary for some shady people and caught money going to the wrong people. She had to be silenced. The Offer's best lead was a warehouse on the pier.

At the warehouse, he found another operative, Fearmaster, who had plans for an attack on the Symkarian-Bagalia Peace Summit. He was able to overcome Fearmaster's fear toxin, but he was still missing information on the mastermind. All he had was a name: Jigsaw. Unfortunately, Jigsaw was on to him and had his men kidnap Triple-A as leverage against Garrison. Garrison decided to stop the attack anyway, with help from the NYPD detective, Paul Linus, assigned to his family's murder.

When Jigsaw uses Fearmaster's toxin on the crowd, turning the ambassadors of Symkaria and Bagalia against each other, Garrison would attack with nonlethal force to stop them from tearing each other part. Meanwhile the detective would free Triple-A. After stopping the riot, Garrison would tackle Jigsaw through a window, impaling him on an art installation outsider the building's lobby.

Triple A would add Garrison to the list of dead at the peace summit on the coroner's computer, ending the manhunt for him. Paul Linus would hand him all the open cases related to Jigsaw's activity, including serial killers, corrupt corporations, and super assassins to keep Garrison busy.

Madripoor

Garrison heads to Madripoor on the hunt for the Maggia, including Crossbones, but he finds Crossbones fighting Elektra. He interrupts their fight and manages to get Elektra's Maggia contact killed. The criminal organization had invited Elektra to Madripoor to take Garrison out. She had turned over a new leaf as Daredevil, refusing to kill people. She formally accepted the job so she could confront Garrison about possible collateral damage.

Once Garrison was confronted by Elektra, the Maggia tried to take them both out. Garrison ended up teaming up with Elektra, raiding the Maggia headquarters and chasing Nefaria and Silvermane, who escape via helicopter. Garrison was about to shoot it down, until Elektra stopped him. Unimpressed with Elektra's new morality, he abandoned her in Madripoor.

Equipment & Skills

Arsenal: Garrison has access to a number of guns and ammo. He is an expert marksman.

• Rail Gun Rifle: With magnetic round capabilities.
• Reaper Bullets: Bullets with tracking signals

Transportation: Garrison's primary vehicle is a motorcycle

SHIELD Tech: Thanks to his former SHIELD handler, Garrison has access to a number of state-of-the-art SHIELD tech.

• Ballistic Chestplate: bullet proof fest that vaguely looks like a skull
• Smart Lenses: Contacts with HUD display
• Stunchucks: Electrified antipersonnel batons