Two sides of The Punisher
When I was a kid my mother sat me down to have a talk about the Punisher comic.
It’s not hard to see why a parent would have a problem with their adolescent kid reading the adventures of a psychotic ex-Marine systematically and graphically murdering criminals in retribution for the murders of his wife and children.
It was incredibly violent, yes - but she didn’t have much of a problem with my seeing Robocop. I think her problem with The Punisher was that the comic - which for many years was just a horrible train wreck where the writing and even the art were concerned - didn’t depict violence in a way that was real and awful. There was no context. You rarely saw the awful repercusions of the violence. It wasn’t a Martin Scorsese movie. It was a Charles Bronson movie. It wasn’t Platoon. It was Rambo.
Eventually my mom relented and I continued reading The Punisher until I realized it was crap (luckily I got the first few arcs of The Punisher War Zone, which were really very good, in just under the wire).
But Garth Ennis (PREACHER, WAR STORY) has had a brilliant run on The Punisher,which he re-launched under Marvel’s adult-oriented MAX imprint. The book’s been by turns a dark comedy, a stirring drama, a gleefully violent shoot-em-up. Ennis’ PREACHER was one of the first adult-comics I read and is partially responsible for sucking me back into comics after I was disillusioned with them in the late 90s. His stuff - be it superheroes, espionage, crime or war comics, never lets me down.
His upcoming 7-part Punisher storyline, “Widowmaker,” deals with the Punisher’s neverending war on crime in a way of which my mother might have approved — by taking a look at the women and children whose husbands and fathers have been killed by The Punisher, and their plot to kill the man who ruined their lives.
Marvel’s also revived Punisher: War Journal, with Matt Fraction (CASANOVA, THE FIVE FISTS OF SCIENCE) at the helm.
I trust Fraction, but the premise of the comic - The Punisher fights super-villainy in the aftermath of Marvel’s “Civil War” - is already making me roll my eyes a bit. The Punisher will reportedly be squaring off against…Stilt Man.
Yes…Stilt Man.
For my money putting a gritty, real-world, ex-special forces vigilante who slaughters mafia bosses, pimps and drug dealers up against four-color super villains who would usually be battling The Fantastic Four, Captain America and Spider-Man just makes both the hero and villain seem a little dumb. In their own worlds they may thrill us - but when they cross into each others’ it’s hard to suspend your disbelief.
But if anyone can pull it off, it’s Matt Fraction.
FULL DISCLOSURE: Take all this with a gran of salt…I did, after all, like the original Punisher film with Dolph Lungren and Louis Gossett Jr.
2 Responses to “Two sides of The Punisher”
By Ozz on Apr 15, 2008 | Reply
The punisher is ultimately the epitome of diversity in comic book culture. Anything that would seem questionable, or strange to us, would have a greatly entertaining spectacle pulled out of a hat by the end. He may be questioned on many fronts as to his ability to take on villains that usually tussle with superheroes, with super powers, but in the end all of us true punisher fans know, that if anything about Frank is underestimated, it’s his tenacity, his power drawn through hate, and his straight up and down, nothing to lose state of mind.
By Joel on May 1, 2008 | Reply
I liked the Dolph flick as well, even if the director never looked at the comic, and thus did’nt know about the skull on the Punishers shirt. Now that freaked Stan da man out!