One of the most lethal vigilantes in the Marvel Universe is known as the Punisher, but little is known about his other identity as an avenging angel. When the Punisher comic book series needed some updating, the writers chose to overhaul his story arc using a horror genre plot.
This alternate avatar was first featured in 1988. The Punisher, who Christopher Golden and Tom Sniegoski created, assumed a meaner and deadlier guise as the “Avenging Angel,” an immortal entity endowed with superhuman abilities from heaven. Let us delve deeper into this less well-known Punisher variation and examine the comic books that featured the Avenging Angel!
Exploring the comic book story arc featuring Avenging Angel
In a comic storyline in 1988, the “Avenging Angel” alter ego of The Punisher was examined. The fourth volume of the Punisher comic book series, “Punisher: Purgatory,” was made up of four issues.
The first issue of the “The Harvest” series opened with a sight of the Brooklyn alley where Frank Castle killed himself. The impoverished and homeless frequented the alley since they had nowhere else to go, and it eventually became a shrine for them. One of them was “Lucy Mellace,” who frequently visited the location to pray for Frank. Frank was only known as a storied urban bogeyman after his death. Young children were sometimes forced to live in fear of their violent stepfathers and other criminals because of the city’s abundance of crimes.
A number of individuals labored in a laboratory to create death and sell it to children as one such terrible enterprise that had taken over the city. Despite the fact that everyone was aware of this situation, neither the police nor the neighbors dared to ask any questions. When the Punisher bursts through the lab doors one day, the men were still selling murder to young children. His eyes and forehead were ablaze with red light, and his speech was cold and lifeless. He looked like a corpse and smelled like smoke and the ground. The men panicked and drew their weapons in response to the Punisher’s use of unusual, previously unseen weapons.
The Punisher kills the men one by one, and he himself feels strange sensations in his own body. As his bullets tear into the flesh of these men, the Punisher feels these men die in his own body, and he remembers what he is. He does not seem to remember much, except for a few things such as ‘the punishment must fit the crime.’ He cannot recollect where he got the guns and weapons from, but he does remember that he has the equipment to start a fire.
The Punisher sets the place ablaze, while one of the men manages to escape and beg the Punisher not to kill him. He begs that he has a family to care for and asks the Punisher to escape the place with him before it all burns down. The Punisher replies to him by throwing him off the building, and then he himself feels his surroundings changing from the building into a fiery pit. Frank Castle finds himself tumbling into hell while firefighters rush to the scene and try to put out the fire.
As the Punisher lies there, he gets flashes from a different life that seem like puzzles he needs to put together. He thinks of his life after returning from the war and remembers his happy days with his wife and children. He then recollects their murders and also remembers all the murders he committed in order to seek vengeance for them. He manages to put these fragments of life together but still struggles to remember how exactly he died. The Punisher soon regains his sense of surroundings and walks out of the fire.
In a different part of New York, at the Church of St. Tarcissius, the evil ‘Olivier’ launches an attack on the angels ‘Esphares’ and ‘Tariel.’ Olivier used to be the prince of the archangels, but he had forsaken heaven to side with Lucifer and his counterparts in hell.
Olivier had then become the lord of a realm in the Netherworld. Olivier feeds on Esphares’ spirit, and we later learn that he is doing so in order to become stronger and seek revenge on Lucifer, Satannish, Mephisto, and other such demons. After joining forces with Lucifer, Olivier was cast out of hell and sent to live a life trapped inside a human body. However, Olivier is now feeding on the spirits of angels to grow stronger and finally get his revenge.
Meanwhile, Lucy Mellace returns home at night and her husband ‘Tony’ tries to hit her for coming so late. The Punisher intervenes and threatens Tony never to hit her again. Lucy asks Frank if this is really him, and we learn that they used to know each other from their childhood. Lucy was the younger sister of Frank’s childhood friend, and he recollects these memories from the past.
Frank later visits his shrine and wonders why he cannot remember his death. While Frank ponders over his life, he sees his family in the shadows and follows them in the streets. They tell him that there is something he needs to see, and they take him to a rooftop where Esphares lies injured. The angel apologizes for luring Frank by using his family and tells him that he needs his help in getting rid of Olivier.
Frank asks him who he is, and Esphares tells him that he is a Grigorian angel who was sent to Earth to look over humans. Esphares further tells Frank that Gadriel should have already told Frank about all these things and that they need to act fast. He further states that though Frank had died once already, he is at risk of dying again if Olivier isn’t stopped. As Esphares burns into flames and dies, he tells Frank to find Gadriel at a bar called ‘Miltons,’ which will help him find some answers.
Frank ends up visiting the bar two hours later and finds Gadriel drinking away at the bar counter. Gadriel seems very upset about the death of Tariel and Esphares when Frank approaches him in haste. Frank immediately demands answers from Gadriel and even punches him in the mouth.
The Punisher demands to know how he was dead and then alive, and Gadriel replies by revealing that it was him who brought Frank to life from hell to give him a chance at redemption. Frank asks him to elaborate, and Gadriel explains that he was supposed to be Frank’s family’s guardian angel and protect them. However, he was negligent in his role and failed to prevent the death of Frank’s wife and children. Gadriel asks for forgiveness, while Frank looks at him with anger in his eyes and removes his gun. As the segment comes to an end, Frank orders Gadriel to ‘pray’ and then points his gun at him.
The next issue, titled ‘The Mark of Cain’, begins with the crowd at Milton’s running out of the place in a hurry. Though they had seen many strange things over the years, they had never witnessed anything like the Punisher’s fury. Inside the bar, Frank holds Gadriel at gunpoint and is furious at the angel for not keeping his family safe. He finally shoots his gun at Gadriel, but the angel cannot be easily killed.
Gadriel tells Frank that he could have died only if Frank truly wanted to kill him and that these weapons respond to the one who wields them. Gadriel tells Frank that he used to be heaven’s weapons master before becoming a guardian angel, but he failed at all these jobs and is now looking for redemption. Gadriel then reveals his wings and tells Frank that he didn’t give him access to these weapons so that he could kill the weapon master. Gadriel even asks Frank to give him a chance to explain why and how he brought Frank back to life.
Gadriel tries to talk about Frank’s mission, but Frank shoots at him and then walks away. He seems disinterested in the war between heaven and hell and says that he has been a soldier for way too long. Frank believes that he has nothing left to fight for when Gadriel returns to life and insists that this is far from true.
Gadriel then explains that he gave up a part of his angelic essence and own soul to bring Frank back to life. He tells Frank to consider this purgatory since he cannot pass through the gates of heaven and reunite with his family without Gadriel’s help. Gadriel further tells Frank that this war between heaven and hell is eternal and that it has already worsened if Olivier is already killing angels.
In a different side of the city, Olivier resides in a flat in Manhattan when a stalker tries to get in touch with him. The intruder tells Olivier that the attack on ‘Hellstorm’ is underway, and he even brings the head of the angel ‘Hafaza’ as a present for Olivier. Olivier feeds on the angel’s head and gets even more potent. He experiences flashes of his human life as ‘Frankie Costa,’ and he states that this body was just a shell for his real demonic self.
In Brooklyn, Hellstorm struggles to fight off the demons when Gadriel appears at the scene and offers to help him. Though Hellstorm is a demon lord, he and Gadriel seem to be friends, and Gadriel tells him that Olivier seems to be preparing for an attack on the Netherrealms.
Gadriel finds himself in a tough spot with one of the demons, but the ‘Avenging Angel’ shows up at the scene in the nick of time. He fights the demons along with Hellstorm and Gadriel, and the three of them strike in unity by using powers from both heaven and hell. They get rid of the demons, and Darkstorm sets off to visit the Netherrealms before Olivier captures the place.
While this situation deescalates, Lucy Mellace has to take care of Tony, who is admitted to a hospital after Frank attacks him. While Tony complains about his injuries, Lucy is lost in thoughts about Frank, and she is grateful for his help in dealing with Tony.
At Olivier’s apartment in Manhattan, the demons tell Olivier about Frank Castle and how he helped Gadriel and Hellstorm. On the other side of the city, Frank pays a visit to Gadriel, who seems to have captured an unknown man. The man appears to have some crucial information, but he refuses to open up. Frank offers to talk to him instead of Gadriel, and the man greets Frank and tells him that he thought he was dead.
Frank asks him if they know each other, and the man tells him that he should have a good look at the faces of his victims before killing them. Gadriel tells Frank that he does not need to listen to this, and he kills the man, who is then revealed to be a demon. As the issue comes to an end, Gadriel tells Frank that demons aren’t capable of anything but lies, and Frank wonders if it’s the same with angels as well.
The third issue of the series was titled ‘A Gathering of Angels’, and it begins with Frank and Gadriel walking down the streets of New York. Gadriel tells him all about his life as an angel and all the mistakes he made in heaven before being sent to Earth as a Guardian Angel. Frank is quite bitter about Gadriel not performing his duty as a Guardian Angel too. Gadriel retaliates by saying that he brought Frank back to life and gave him a chance at redemption and that this must at least account for something.
Frank asks him about the demon that Gadriel killed earlier, and Gadriel tells him that he will soon find everything out. In the meantime, Gadriel takes him to a place where all the guardian angels known as ‘Grigori’ have gathered together. He introduces Frank to Sariel, Azazel, Armaros, and Ezekeel, who are all worried about how to deal with Olivier.
The Grigoris tell Frank that just in the past week, Olivier’s stalkers have taken away four of the angels, and the heavens have also refused to help the Grigori with this situation. They have all gathered to find a solution themselves when a bunch of Olivier’s stalkers break into the room and launch an attack on the Grigori.
In the meantime, Olivier attacks the realm of Satannish and puts it under siege. Olivier’s plan to conquer hell one realm at a time seems to be finally in motion, and he even has special programs to feed on the lords of these realms in order to get their powers and become even stronger. Back on Earth, Lucy visits the graveyard to have a look at Frank’s grave. She places roses on the empty grave and says she needed to talk to him but didn’t know where else to go.
Meanwhile, Frank and the Grigori fight off Olivier’s stalkers, and one of them especially pursues Frank. This stalker has a past history with Frank and is quite agitated to know that Frank does not remember him. He manages to defeat Frank in battle and then tells him that he will soon remember him. The stalker almost kills Frank but then leaves him alone because Lord Olivier wants him alive.
As Frank falls to the ground, he once again has flashes of memories from the alley where he shot himself. He finally remembers his death and has a faint memory of being resurrected by Gadriel and getting some of his divine essence. After Gadriel brought Frank back to life, the Avenging Angel rose out of his grave and wandered the city. He then visited a place he knew from wartime, collected a bunch of weapons, and stepped out on the streets as the ‘Punisher.’
Frank regains his consciousness and finds himself trapped in Olivier’s apartment along with Gadriel. The two of them bicker when Olivier makes an entrance, and Frank immediately demands to know why Olivier wanted him alive. Olivier tells him that he only wanted to know how Frank returned back from the dead, and he approaches Frank closely. Olivier then realizes that Frank has the scent of an angel and that he could be of some use.
Frank then asks Olivier who he really is, and Olivier replies by morphing his face into that of Frank Costa’s. Frank Costa was the man responsible for killing Frank Castle, a.k.a. the Punisher’s family. Frank looks at Olivier with a bewildered look as the demon admits to having killed his family. As this issue comes to an end, Olivier even says that, in a way, he is even responsible for creating the Punisher.
The final issue of the Avenging Angel arc was titled ‘The Hour of Judgment,’ and it starts with a flashback to Frank’s life with his family. He was out on a picnic with his wife and children when they accidentally witnessed a mafia shootout. The mob spotted Frank’s family hiding behind the bushes and killed his wife and children while Frank managed to escape. Frank’s family had died before his eyes, and that is what caused him to turn into the ‘Punisher’ and seek vengeance.
Olivier reveals that after being outcast by the fallen angels and demons of hell, he sought to have a weapon that would kill for him. He was sent to Earth in the body of a stillborn baby with no memories from hell, but he was luckily born into a mob family. Since he grew up around blood and killings, his memories from hell returned to him very soon, and he bid his time while being trapped in a human body. He then carefully devised an entire plan to kill Frank’s family to complete a ritual, by means of which the Punisher was created. Olivier then used the Punisher as his weapon, an engine that would provide him with death and sacrifice.
Frank tells Olivier that he never killed for him; instead, he always killed for his family. Olivier retaliates by asking Frank about the face on his chest and points out that Frank has always been killing for him. Moreover, the Punisher had killed Frank Costa to avenge his family. In doing so, the Punisher sent Olivier back to hell after killing his human form. After this, every time the Punisher killed a human, it unknowingly gave more power to Olivier as all the dead men were sent to Olivier’s hell. Olivier then created an army of stalkers out of these dead men, and his power kept increasing. He became strong enough to start a war in hell and even assumed a physical form.
Olivier takes a break from addressing Frank and then turns his attention to Gadriel. He asks Gadriel where he was the day Frank Castle’s family was murdered and revealed that Gadriel was hanging out with women and neglecting his duties. Frank is furious over the fact that his family would be alive if not for Gadriel’s negligence, but the angel asks Frank for forgiveness and tells him that this is the only way he can ever get back into heaven.
Olivier tries to incite Frank into fighting Gadriel and asks him if he hates heaven more or hell. Frank replies by saying that it does not matter and that both heaven and hell have used him. He refuses to be a pawn in this game any longer and breaks free from the trap.
Frank then pulls out his heavenly weapon and declares that he will kill Olivier. Olivier orders his stalkers to kill Frank, and these stalkers surround Frank. One by one, they tell him how he killed them all and sent them to hell as the Punisher. He had shot one of these stalkers and left them to bleed, while he cut another one’s throat and left his corpse to be discovered by his daughter.
Finally, one of the stalkers wields a weapon from hell and tells Frank that this fight has to end now finally. Frank’s weapon from heaven and the demon’s weapon from hell make a clashing noise like that of Armageddon, and their clash causes a tiny hole to break wide open. Olivier created this hole in his apartment to have some access to hell, and it breaks wide open, thereby forming a massive hole to hell right in the middle of the room.
Olivier and Gadriel had been fighting each other, and Olivier drags Gadriel through this door to hell. Frank follows the two of them, and Olivier tells him to give up since this is his dimension and Frank cannot harm him here. However, Olivier does not notice a strange creature creeping up on him from behind, and this creature tears Olivier’s entire body apart while the fallen angel boasts about being the master of this realm.
Frank then uses his weapon from heaven to shoot at this creature and saves Gadriel from this realm. Gadriel finally declares that it’s time he started acting like an angel, releasing what little was left of his angelic essence in an explosion. As the angel disappears, Frank sits by himself and quietly forgives Gadriel.
He then makes a striking return as the Punisher and goes back to becoming the legend we know as the urban bogeyman.
As the comic issue comes to an end, the Punisher becomes a demon for some while acting as an angel for others. While it had been about vengeance all this time, the Punisher now works for redemption.
What makes Avenging Angel a unique form of Punisher?
As the Avenging Angel, Frank Castle was handed special weapons with mystical powers. These weapons were unlike any other guns or machines wielded on Earth, and they had the ability to even kill divine beings. Moreover, these weapons worked according to the will of the owner, and Frank could only kill anyone with these weapons if he truly wanted them dead.
The angel ‘Gadriel’ who resurrected Frank was also the same angel who had created these weapons. Moreover, Gadriel had given up a large part of his own angelic essence in order to bring Frank to life, and this essence gave Frank many divine powers besides those as the Punisher. These supernatural powers that enhanced Frank’s fighting abilities were later taken away when he was no longer the ‘Avenging Angel,’ making them unique to just one of his personas.
Conclusion
The Avenging Angel was a notable story arc for the Punisher and made for an exciting comic storyline. The horror concept was indeed well-planned, but it certainly had the potential to become something bigger. Though this arc lasted for only four issues, the Avenging Angel persona of the Punisher was quite a breath of fresh air and is most definitely an intriguing read!