A ninja or shinobi was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included espionage, deception, and surprise attacks. Their covert methods of waging irregular warfare were deemed dishonorable and beneath the honor of the samurai. Though shinobi proper, as specially trained spies and mercenaries, appeared in the 15th century during the Sengoku period, antecedents may have existed as early as the 12th century.
Ninjutsu (忍術), sometimes used interchangeably with the modern term ninpō (忍法), is the strategy and tactics of unconventional warfare, guerrilla warfare and espionage purportedly practised by the ninja. Ninjutsu was a separate discipline in some traditional Japanese schools, which integrated study of more conventional martial arts (taijutsu) along with shurikenjutsu, kenjutsu, sōjutsu, bōjutsu and others.
The Punisher is a fictional antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. The Punisher made his first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129.
Bullseye is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. A psychopathic assassin, Bullseye uses the opportunities afforded by his line of work to exercise his homicidal tendencies and to work out his own personal vendetta against Daredevil. He is also an enemy of the Punisher. Although he possesses no superpowers, Bullseye is able to use almost any object as a lethal projectile, be it weapons like shuriken and sai or seemingly harmless objects like playing cards and pencils. His marksmanship is uncanny, at a nearly supernatural level.
The Thunderbolts are a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team consists mostly of reformed supervillains.
The Hand is a fictional supervillain organization appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Hand first appeared in Daredevil volume 1 #174 and was created by writer/artist Frank Miller.
Carl Potts is an American comics artist, writer, teacher, and editor best known for creating the series Alien Legion for the Marvel Comics imprint Epic Comics.
Ninjak is a fictional superhero appearing in comic books published by Valiant Comics. Created by Mark Moretti and Joe Quesada, the character first appeared in Bloodshot #6 as Colin King and in Bloodshot #7 as Ninjak, and quickly gained his own series. In both his original and reboot incarnations published by Valiant Entertainment, the character is Colin King, a British heir of wealth who becomes a master ninja, intelligence operative, and altruistic mercenary. In the Acclaim Comics version of events, the character is Denny Meechum, a teenager who plays a video game called Ninjak and then accidentally unlocks a puzzle that gives him the title character's abilities.
"Civil War" is a 2006–07 Marvel Comics crossover storyline consisting of a seven-issue limited series of the same name written by Mark Millar and penciled by Steve McNiven, and various other tie-in books published by Marvel at the time. The storyline builds upon the events that developed in previous Marvel storylines, particularly "Avengers Disassembled", "House of M", and "Decimation". The tagline for the series is, "Whose Side Are You On?"
The Plunderer is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character exists in Marvel's shared universe, known as the Marvel Universe.
The Gorgon is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Jinichi Kawakami (川上仁一) b. 1949, head of Banke Shinobinoden, claims to be the second last sōke and only heir to authentic ninjutsu. He says he is the 21st head of the Koga Ban family, a mercenary, and the honorary director of the Iga-ryu Ninja Museum. In 2011, he was specially appointed a professor at Mie University to research ninjutsu at the university's research cooperation center.
Old Man Logan is an alternative version of the Marvel Comics character Wolverine. This character is an aged version of Wolverine set in an alternate future universe designated Earth-807128, where the supervillains overthrew the superheroes. Introduced as a self-contained story arc within the Wolverine ongoing series by writer Mark Millar and artist Steve McNiven, the character became popular with fans. After the Death of Wolverine, X-23 took the Wolverine mantle but an Old Man Logan from the similar Earth-21923 was brought in to serve as an X-Man and featured in his own ongoing series.
Modern schools of ninjutsu are schools which offer instruction in martial arts. To a larger or smaller degree, the curriculum is derived from the practice of ninjutsu, the arts of the ninja; covert agents or assassins of feudal Japan.
The Punisher was a comic book ongoing series published under the MAX imprint of Marvel Comics, featuring vigilante and antihero the Punisher.
Olivier is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as an enemy of the antihero the Punisher. Olivier was created by Bernie Wrightson, Christopher Golden and Thomas E. Sniegoski, and first appeared in The Punisher Vol. 4, #1 as a reimagined depiction of an already existing individual: Frank Costa was created by Tony DeZuniga and Archie Goodwin, and debuted in Marvel Super Action Vol. 1, #1.
"Shadowland" is a 2010 comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics, centering on Daredevil and other "street-level" superheroes in the Marvel Universe. The storyline started in the Daredevil comic and was expanded upon in the Shadowland five-issue mini series as well as four tie-in mini series, four one-shots, and two issues of Thunderbolts. The storyline was collected into seven individual hard cover and soft cover Trade paperbacks in 2011.
The Punisher is a Marvel comic book series featuring the character Frank Castle, also known as the Punisher, written by Greg Rucka. This series of The Punisher continues the tradition of Matt Fraction's War Journal series and Rick Remender's previous Punisher series and places the character firmly in the ongoing Marvel Universe inhabited by superheroes such as the Avengers and Spider-Man.
Saracen is a fictional character, a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Mike Baron and Erik Larsen, the character made his first appearance in The Punisher Vol. 2, #22. He is an enemy of the Punisher.
The Amazing Spider-Man#129, with its subtitle being "The Punisher Strikes Twice!" is a 19-page-long single issue of the American comic book The Amazing Spider-Man, published by Marvel Comics in 1974. The issue is well known for being the first appearance of the character called the Punisher, who at that point in time was portrayed as an antagonist of Spider-Man but would later become one of Marvel's most popular and successful characters. The issue is also the first appearance of the Jackal, a supervillain who would go on to become one of Spider-Man's main adversaries and an integral part of the infamous mid-90s Spider-Man storyline the Clone Saga.
