Born (comics)
comic book limited series
Born is a four-issue comic book limited series written by Garth Ennis, illustrated by Darick Robertson, and published by Marvel Comics through the adult-oriented MAX imprint in 2003.
Publication history
The miniseries was released through Marvel's MAX imprint, though the events of it are regarded as canon to the main Marvel Universe in Civil War Files, an in-universe spin-off of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe in which Iron Man notes that the Punisher is "the sole survivor of the Firebase Valley Forge massacre."
Ennis announced in 2013 that he would be writing another Punisher limited series, and two years later expanded on this statement by revealing that the miniseries would be a Born prequel titled Punisher: The Platoon.
Plot
Born documents Frank Castle's time serving as a captain in the United States Marine Corps during his final tour in Vietnam in 1971. The story is told primarily through the eyes of Stevie Goodwin, a young Marine counting down the days of his service and Frank Castle, a tough Captain with a finely honed killer instinct and survival skills who is described as being "in love with war". The story chronicles a crucial 4-day period of the platoon stationed at Firebase Valley Forge, a remote strategic outpost on the South Vietnamese-Cambodian border.
Valley Forge is an outpost on its last legs; half of its Marines are addicted to heroin and its commanding officer is an apathetic alcoholic who pretends to have malaria whenever someone comes to inspect the base. Goodwin simply wishes to return home safely, and realizes that sticking close to Castle is his best option. Castle, despite being at home in the jungle, maintains an internal dialogue with a voice that continually goads Castle into justifying his endless thirst for combat. Castle receives news that Valley Forge will be abandoned, amidst increasing opposition to the war on the home front. Castle is displayed as exceptionally ruthless; first he tricks a visiting general into wandering into sniper fire for threatening to close down the base, then he drowns a member of his platoon who raped a female Vietcong sniper.
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Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Nov 1, 2024. The linked authority identifier is Q948477. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2003, 2013 and 1971.
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