The Punisher: Difference between revisions

[[File:ThePunisher28_00.jpg|thumb|300px| [[Take Our Word for It|Trust us]], [[Asshole Victim|the guy]] [[Sociopathic Hero|Frank's]] [[Cold-Blooded Torture|studying up for]] ''[[Pay Evil Unto Evil|really deserves what's going to happen to him]]''.]]

 

 

 

For a while the Punisher appeared mostly in titles starring [[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]. He received his first origin story in ''Marvel Preview'' #2 (April, 1975), again written by Conway. He received another solo story in ''Marvel Super Action'' #1 (January, 1976), a one-shot publication. After that Punisher returned to making appearances in titles featuring Spider-Man, [[Captain America (comics)]], and [[Daredevil]]. In the [[The Eighties|1980s]], Steven Grant and Mike Zeck campaigned for a Punisher mini-series. But Marvel editors were reportedly reluctant. The series eventually did materialize: ''Punisher'' vol. 1 (January-May, 1986). It sold well and consequently Punisher gained his first ongoing series in 1987. The Punisher has since starred in various magazines over the years.

The character himself often suffers from inconsistent writing. Many writers have portrayed him as a good man at heart who sincerely does want to help people and keep them from suffering the same way he did, while other writers have portrayed him as a psychopath with no pity for anyone and no motivation beyond killing criminals. There are two notably different Punisher series: the main Marvel Universe series and a second series created for Marvel's adults-only MAX imprint (originally titled ''The Punisher'' and referred to as ''Punisher MAX'', before changing to ''The Punisher: Frank Castle'' and then PunisherMAX). This latter version, written almost exclusively by [[Garth Ennis]] for four years, features no superheroes and is deeply rooted in "mundane" crime -- [[The Mafia]], Irish terrorist cells, Eastern European sex slavers, gangsters and real-life wars are prominent. It is also considerably less funny than the mainstream Marvel series, though there are touches of black humour here and there. The MAX series is written much more consistently than the mainstream version, due to being almost entirely shaped by Garth Ennis' vision of the character; this series is also notorious for its moral absolutism. The Marvel Universe version may be willing to excuse himself for {{spoiler|killing Stuart Clarke's girlfriend while under the influence of a "hate ray"}}, but the first post-Ennis MAX issue sees Frank on the edge of killing himself after believing that his instinctive shooting had led to an innocent girl's death, declaring to himself that "I must be punished."<ref> Realizing the possibility of a setup is the only thing that lets him live long enough to exhume the body, which he finds was slain with a bullet of a different caliber from what he had been carrying. Turned out that [[Driven to Suicide|it was a setup]] to get him out of the way of a local crime syndicate.</ref>

 

 

There were also several Punisher video games with the most notable being a [[Beat'Em Up]] by [[Capcom]] also featuring [[Nick Fury]], and a ''[[The Punisher (2005 video game)|The Punisher]]'' third-person action game, which is rife with [[The Joys of Torturing Mooks]]

** He actually had a 10-issue series titled "Armory" dedicated to showing off his guns and other equipment.

** In one arc of the MAX series he explains this as force of habit, from his days in Vietnam.

* [[Costumed Nonsuper Hero]]: Close enough to hero for the trope.

* [[Crapsack World]]: The MAX series is the best example.

* [[Everything Is Worse With Bears]]: One of the earlier stories had Frank stranded in Alaskan wilderness and picking a fight with a bear. And there is the infamous moment when he deliberately angered a bunch of polar bears to kill mobsters in a zoo.

{{quote|'''Punisher''': Cuddly. Lovable. Docile. *POW* That won't do at all.}}

** Barracuda was thought to have met his end by one in his first arc in the MAX series.

* [[Exiled From Continuity]]: First MAX series. Second is completely in [[Alternate Universe]] with it's own versions of Kingpin and Bullseye.

* [[Sociopathic Hero]]: [[Your Mileage May Vary|Depending on the reader and writer]] Frank is either this or a [[Villain Protagonist]].

* [[Spoiler Title]]: There's an [[Alternate Continuity]] comic which asks the question "What would happen if the Castle's had been caught in the middle of a Superhero battle instead of a gangland shooting?" It's called {{spoiler|Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe}}.

* [[The Stoic]]: Frank is either calm, detached, and homicidal, or (much more rarely) [[Tranquil Fury|pissed off and homicidal]]. That's it. To quote the videogame (written by Garth Ennis):

{{quote|''* after blasting Bushwacker through a wall* '' I don't smile much. Don't smile ever. But if I did, [[Slasher Smile|this would be one.]]}}

* [[Story-Breaker Team-Up]]: ''[[Archie Comics|Archie]] Meets The Punisher''.

* [[Superhero Packing Heat]]

* [[Sympathy for the Devil]]: Averted or subverted repeatedly. The closest Frank has ever done this trope was listening when general Zakharov gave a [[Motive Rant]] detailing why he [[I Did What I Had to Do|did all of those horrible things]]--and not smashing his face in mid-sentence. He waits until the end. It was a [[Mercy Kill]], but after hearing what Frank did about the general it's doubtful that he would've spared him even if he wasn't dying. But Zakharov's final words ''do'' to seem to touch a nerve in Frank, given how he's a veteran of [[The Vietnam War]], in which he did more than a few horrible things himself.

* [[Vigilante Man]]: He's actually been ''called'' "Vigilante Man" a couple of times.

** Frank also has a disdain for other "amateur" vigilantes as shown when he calls out the "Vigilante Squad" (a trio of Punisher fanboys who don't have as much scruples) for being [[Ax Crazy]] [[Knight Templar|Knight Templars]] before gunning them down.

* [[Villainous Breakdown]]: Cavella and Barracuda break down spectacularly, the first turning into a simpering pants-wetter and the latter turning into a raving lunatic. Finn Cooley's breakdown is more physical than mental, as his face continues rotting with each appearance. Surprisingly averted with Rawlins, though, because even as things repeatedly go to hell for him he can't help but act the smug little weasel he is.

* [[Would Not Shoot a Good Guy]]: Frank doesn't kill honest cops ([[Dirty Cop|Dirty Cops]] aren't so lucky). In fact, the final run of Garth Ennis' take on The Punisher involved Frank being in the sights of a cabal of Corrupt US Army Generals... who use their connections to send a group of honest US Soldiers after him. Frank doesn't kill them, but the soldiers learn the hard way that [[Thou Shalt Not Kill|non-lethal force]] [[Good Is Not Nice|doesn't mean gentle force.]]

 

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[[Category:Better Than It Sounds/Comic Books]]

[[Category:The Seventies]]

[[Category:Marvel Comics Characters]]

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