Punisher

The Punisher is a fictional antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artist John Romita, Sr., with publisher Stan Lee providing the name. The Punisher made his first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 (cover-dated Feb. 1974).

The Punisher is a vigilante who employs murder, kidnapping, extortion, coercion, threats of violence, and torture in his war on crime. Driven by the deaths of his wife and two children, who were killed by the mob during a shootout in New York City's Central Park, the Punisher wages a one-man war on the mob and all criminals in general by using all manner of conventional war weaponry. His family's killers were the first to be slain. A war veteran of the U.S. military, Frank Castle is a master of martial arts, stealth tactics, guerrilla warfare, and a wide variety of weapons.

The Punisher's brutal nature and willingness to kill made him a novel character in mainstream American comic books in 1974. By the late 1980s, he was part of a wave of psychologically troubled antiheroes and at the height of his popularity, was featured in three monthly publications, including The Punisher War Journal, The Punisher War Zone, and The Punisher Armory. Despite his violent actions and dark nature, the Punisher has enjoyed some mainstream success on television, making guest appearances on Spider-Man: The Animated Series and The Super Hero Squad Show, where the depiction of his violent behavior was toned down for family viewers. In feature films, Dolph Lundgren portrayed the Punisher in 1989, as did Thomas Jane in 2004, and Ray Stevenson in 2008. Jon Bernthal will portray the character in the second season of Marvel's Daredevil, set to premiere in 2016.

Frank Castle

Frank Castle was an English Olympic Games sprint trialist, rugby union and professional rugby league footballer of the 1940s, '50s and '60s, playing club level rugby union (RU) for Coventry R.F.C., and playing representative level rugby league (RL) for Great Britain, and England, and at club level for Barrow, playing at wing, i.e. number 2 or 5.

Playing career

International honours

Frank Castle won caps for England (RL) while at Barrow in 1951 against France, in 1952 against Other Nationalities (2 matches), and Wales, in 1953 against Other Nationalities, and won caps for Great Britain (RL) while at Barrow in 1952 against Australia (3 matches), and in 1954 against Australia.

Frank Castle also represented Great Britain while at Barrow between 1952 and 1956 against France (2 non-Test matches).

Challenge Cup final appearances

Frank Castle played Left-wing, i.e. number 5, in Barrow's 0-10 defeat by Wigan in the 1951 Challenge Cup final during the 1950–51 season at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 5 May 1951, in Barrow's 21-12 victory over Workington Town in the 1955 Challenge Cup final during the 1954–55 season at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 30 April 1955, and played in Barrow's 7-9 defeat by Leeds in the 1956–57 Challenge Cup final at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 11 May 1957.

Andra and The BackBone

Andra and The BackBone is a rock band from Indonesia and the solo project of Andra Ramadhan, guitarist of the band Dewa 19. Ramadhan also formed part of fellow Dewa band member Ahmad Dhani's Ahmad Band project.

In addition to Ramadhan, the band also consists of Deddi Suryadi, Stevie Item.

The band released its self-titled debut album in 2007 on EMI Indonesia. The album was also released in Malaysia but with different artwork.

The album's first single, "Musnah", became a big hit in Indonesia, reaching the top of many national radio playlists. The video clip also received heavy rotation on MTV.

Discography

Studio albums

Andra & The Backbone (2007)

Andra & The Backbone is the first music album from the group. Released at 2007, with the main single Musnah.

Track listing

Season 2 (2008)

Season 2 is the second album, released in 2008.

Thomas Jane

Thomas Jane (born Thomas Elliott III; February 22, 1969) is an American actor, screenwriter, director, producer, and comic book writer. He has appeared in films such as Padamati Sandhya Ragam (1987), At Ground Zero (1994), The Crow: City of Angels (1996), Boogie Nights (1997), The Last Time I Committed Suicide (1997), Thursday (1998), The Thin Red Line (1998), Deep Blue Sea (1999), Dreamcatcher (2003), The Punisher (2004), The Mist (2007) and Mutant Chronicles (2008).

Jane's television roles include Mickey Mantle in the television film 61* (2001) and starring in the HBO series Hung (2009–2011). He is the founder of RAW Studios, an entertainment company he uses to release comic books he has written, the first of which was Bad Planet. He made his directorial debut with the crime thriller Dark Country (2009), in which he also starred.

Early life

Jane was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Cynthia, an antiques dealer, and Michael Elliott, a genetic engineer. In 1987, he graduated from Thomas Sprigg Wootton High School. At age 18, he moved to Hollywood to pursue an acting career. He was initially homeless and lived out of his car, often doing street performances to earn money: "I had two songs in my repertoire that I hammered to death, "Hey Joe" and "Knockin' on Heaven's Door". People used to pelt me with change just to shut me up."

Russian (comics)

The Russian is a fictional supervillain, and enemy of the Marvel Comics antihero the Punisher. He was created by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, and first appeared in The Punisher Vol. 5, #8 (November 2000).

Publication history

The Russian debuted off-panel in The Punisher Vol. 5, #8, was fully introduced in the following issue, and appeared in every subsequent one up until his death in Issue #11. In the following series, the character was resurrected as a cyborg, and was featured in The Punisher Vol. 6, #1-5.

The Russian received profiles in Marvel Encyclopedia #5, All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #9, and Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #9

Fictional character biography

The earliest known sightings of the Russian occurred while he was vacationing in Afghanistan in the 1980s. He subsequently travelled the world, inserting himself into various conflicts for fun and profit; locations he is said to have fought in include Lebanon, Iraq, Rwanda, East Timor, Chechnya, the Balkans, and Belfast (where he consumed a man on a bet). The Russian's activities led to him being wanted (dead or alive) by numerous law enforcement agencies, as well as criminal organizations such as the Yakuza.