Marvel announced that The Punisher is returning. Not the new character from last year who Marvel announced would be replacing Frank Castle. That one is already forgotten and canceled. Frank Castle is coming back without the silly demon skull logo, instead apparently with a new minimalistic look that’s already got eyes rolling upwards. Coming Oct 8th with Jimmy Palmiotti and Dan Panosian, the four-issue mini series script was apparently held for several years and is being released now.

Whether or not current-day Marvel deserves the benefit of the doubt is going to be up to the individual comic reader. As a long-time Punisher fan, it’s hard to forget the character’s treatment by its current stewards. Marvel doesn’t like a gun-toting vigilante because they don’t like guns. They don’t like his iconic skull symbol. And they don’t like that conservatives enjoy the character, especially that police officers and soldiers wear his symbol.

While a vulgarity-laden screed against the poor stewards of such a great character is certainly warranted, instead we here at Fandom Pulse would like to do what we do best: offer up alternatives to the mainstream. Here are several vigilante style tales for fans of The Punisher.

Who better to pen the Rippaverse’s street-level Punisher-style vigilante than one of Punisher’s previous writers: Chuck Dixon. The Horseman was one of the Rippaverse’s one-off characters and quickly became a fan favorite. With art by frequent collaborator Joe Bennett, the graphic novel tells the story of Hector Caballero, a former military special ops soldier busting drug dealers and using their ill gotten money to support his sister-in-law and nephew. He runs afoul of crime lords, crooked cops, and super-powered Nazi bikers. Violence is brutal and bloody, just like you like it. Only the best from one of the Punisher’s greatest steward