Marvel unveils 'Punisher' creative team

Marvel Comics has announced the creative team behind their upcoming relaunch of The Punisher.

At this weekend's C2E2 Expo, the publisher confirmed rumours that former Detective Comics writer Greg Rucka would be writing a new Punisher ongoing series featuring artwork from Marco Checcetto.

The character has undergone a number of controversial changes in recent years, most significantly his temporary death and his transformation into a Frankenstein-type character. However Rucka claimed that he will be keeping the character in his original form.

"There are certain characters to me that need to stay the same," Rucka told Comic Book Resources. "In fact part of their character arc is their inability to change and their unwillingness to grow.

"If you change the Punisher you break him," the writer added.

While Rucka plans to bring the Punisher back to his traditional role of hunting down criminals, he confirmed that various heroes and villains may also appear in the series from time to time.

"I personally feel that I've never been ace at writing the lofty superhero stuff, I don't think that's my forte," Rucka explained. "I can do it and I absolutely love to work with people who do it well, but give me a story where a bullet can kill you and I'm much more at home!"

The Punisher #1 will launch this August as part of Marvel's 'Big Shots' initiative.