The Punisher is a fictional vigilante and anti-hero in the Marvel Comics Universe. Created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita, Sr. and Ross Andru, he first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 (Feb. 1974).The Punisher is a vigilante who considers murder, kidnapping, extortion, coercion, threats of violence and torture to be acceptable crime fighting tactics. Driven by the deaths of his wife and children, who were killed by the mob when they witnessed a gangland execution in New Yo