Marvel's First Punisher Came Long Before Frank Castle

screenrant.com:

While Frank Castle isn’t the only person to ever take up the Punisher mantle, it was always assumed that he was at least the first one to do so – however, it seems Marvel Comics’ first Punisher came long before Frank Castle.

Frank Castle became the Punisher after his family was caught in the crossfire of a gang-related shoot-out while spending the day in the park. Before suffering such a traumatic loss, Castle was a U.S. Marine who received high praise for his extremely efficient killing ability. After his family was murdered, he put all of the knowledge and training he acquired in the armed forces towards becoming a murderous vigilante, one who wears an intimidating skull on his chest so that the last thing his victims see is the universal symbol of death. While he proved so controversial that Marvel recently redesigned Punisher and made him work with the Hand, he is still an iconic part of Marvel history.

Related: Even Punisher Knows His Time as an Angel Was a Huge Mistake

In Conan the Barbarian #4 by Jason Aaron and Gerardo Zaffino, Conan has finally earned the title of king as was his end goal throughout his life. However, now that he is the ruler of his kingdom, Conan had grown bored and the lack of stimulation was quite literally killing him. Conan longed for the days of quests and battles, but as king, he was kept in the safety of his castle as the kingdom couldn’t afford to lose him in some trivial battle. When Conan couldn’t take it anymore, he decided to sneak out into the night and kill anyone who committed crimes in his kingdom. Since it was forbidden for him to do so as king, Conan concealed his identity by wearing a black bandana with the image of a white skull over his face. Donning this intimidating