NotTheGuyYouKill
Member
So with the release of the Daredevil Season 2 Trailer, there's bound to be more talk, discussion, and questions about one of the more violent protagonists in the Marvel universe.
So let's get started!
Er...
...
Let's get started (Thanks Platy)
So for those of you not familiar with Frank Castle, in short, he is a former Vietnam-era United States Marine captain who dedicates what's left of his life to hunting down and exterminating criminals after his family is murdered in a mafia crossfire. Utilizing his military skills and tactical mind, he has mounted a one-man war on crime since 1974, when he first appeared in Spider-Man #129 as an antagonist:
His willingness to use extreme methods such as murder(!) made him pretty popular, and he guest-starred a lot in other series. Daredevil sort of became a really solid anti-thesis to him cause of Miller's The Man Without Fear run where Daredevil began to get a lot more darker and fucked up.
Anyways, he eventually gets his own mini-series called Circle of Blood:
This leads to him getting like three series in the 90s cause the 90s is when everything was grimdark and all the heroes were violent sociopaths, so Frank was having a grand old time!
And then all three series got canceled due to overexposure.
Side note: During this period they released Year One, a depiction of Frank's origins in the MU. Very good miniseries:
And then, they tried to bring him back as Angel Punisher, where he accidentally killed an innocent, committed suicide, and then became a supernatural enforcer of justice.
It was FUCKING TERRIBLE
SUCH GARBAGE.
Okay, so that was a quick primer of the first 25ish years of The Punisher's history. The 90s series weren't half-bad. The depictions of Frank ranged from dark pulp vigilante to more Commando-style action hero, depending on who was writing him. He got some recurring antagonists here, but only really this guy:
Jigsaw was around long enough to be memorable cause Frank tends to kill his antagonists quite quickly.
Anyways, the reason I raced through the 70s, 80s, and 90s so quickly is because we should get to the guy who pretty much redefined The Punisher for the 00s and on: Garth Ennis.
Now, in 2000, Ennis resurrected Frank from the dust bin of the Marvel Universe and brought him back in a big way.
He started with a 12 issue mini-series entitled Welcome Back, Frank. This led to a 36 issue ongoing series under the Marvel Knights banner. Under Ennis' tenure, Punisher stories were written in a darker, black comedy style. This Tarantino levels of violence and black humor crossed with Full Metal Jacket.
He retained Frank's Vietnam-era backstory, but he radically changed his depiction. Frank went from someone with semi-heroic intentions to sometimes being as bad as the people he killed. He became a war junkie that would never stop. This fundamental shift in his character and depiction led to Frank's current reputation in some circles as a shallow, monstrous character (though Ennis actually wrote incredibly good, and subtle stories involving the character).
*I was trying to find the page where he and Joan talks about how kills criminals cause he hates them, but I couldn't*
Anyways, Ennis' success with the MK series led to Marvel's MAX imprint: An adults only imprint where writers and artists were free to go crazy with violence, sex, themes, etc. Essentially, Marvel's Vertigo.
Now, I'm gonna be straight with you: In my opinion, Punisher MAX is the best comic book crime saga I have ever read. It is dark. It is violent. It is brutal and unflinching and it is a depiction of the worst that humanity has to offer. It is completely disconnected from the Marvel Universe. It's basically Frank operating in "the real world". He faces off against mobsters, rapists, serial killers, war criminals, and you see all of this horrific stuff. Frank himself is a total war junkie who won't let his war ever end. His targets are the stuff of nightmares. It is a very bleak comic series. It is also some of the best comic book stories I've ever read. These stories involve war, the ramifications of the cold war, geopolitics, the nature of crime in urban centers, etc. Much more adult in theme.
Ennis ran MAX for sixty issues plus some amazing specials, including Born, a story of Frank's final tour in Vietnam:
The Cell, a story about Frank going to prison:
and The Tyger, a story about Frank's childhood:
Now, I want to talk about the three above stories for just a moment. Born, The Cell, and The Tyger essentially are MAX Frank's origin story. If you ever read just three Punisher stories in your entire life, read those three. It will give you a full understanding of what it takes to make a man like Frank Castle. They are dark, well-written stories with gorgeous art. From a story about the horrors of Vietnam, to a dark fucked up vengeance tale to a story of innocence lost, these are required reading for fans of good stories in general.
Ennis finished his run with Issue 60 of Punisher MAX. After that, there were a few arcs by notable crime writers, and after that Punisher MAX came under Jason Aaron's hand. Under Aaron's tenure, he reintroduced some classic characters into the MAX universe.
There was Kingpin:
Bullseye:
and Elektra:
Aaron wrote a long form story that lasted about thirty issues before closing the Punisher MAX series out permanently. After this, they basically reintroduced Frank to the MU full-time (though he had solos going on in the MU simultaneously, and we're gonna talk about those below!)
Okay, so that covers Ennis, Aaron, and their version of Frank Castle. Now, I'm gonna spend a bit of time running down the post-Ennis MU Frank Castles. There are a few to note:
So, during the Civil War years in the Marvel universe, they got Matt Fraction of Hawkguy fame to pen a Punisher title:
It was garbage. Seriously, he completely mis-characterized Frank and totally missed the point. He had interesting ideas, but the execution was awful. He even later admitted he didn't get the character, so I don't hold anything against Fraction personally, but it was a garbage series.
He's the one who brought us Captain America Punisher:
God that was a bad series.
After Fraction, there was Rick Remender's run on Punisher. Now, his was interesting, and a lot of Punisher fans hated it. He started out alright enough in the Dark Reign years by trying to off Norman Osbourne:
But then he killed Frank:
Wolverine's son Daken killed him btw. Dude's a tool.
Oh, and then he resurrected him as a Frankenstein monster and teamed him up with the League of Monsters:
Okay, here's the thing: A lot of Punisher fans hated Frankencastle. I did not. I love Frankencastle. It's one of my favourites, and here's why:
It's a goddamned good story. It doesn't sacrifice the heart of the character in its depiction of him. Yes, it takes a gritty and urban character and shoves him into a science-fiction and supernatural story, but it does it properly. Frank is still Frank. His actions make sense. There's a fantastic antagonist. The art is utterly GORGEOUS, and the final issue takes the cake:
An entire issue in a lovely Universal Monsters poster art style. There's a fantastic finale to the series. All the characters are relatable. This is not only a good story, it's a good Punisher story because it feels consistent with how the character is best depicted: semi-heroic, noble, dangerous, violent, and accepting of death as long as he takes a few monsters with him to the end. I think newbies should read Frankencastle. It's fun! Some comic book fans remain too static.
Okayokayokay, we're nearing the end. Two more!
Alright, so the best non-Ennis run was by Greg Rucka. Seriously.
This series and its five issue miniseries conclusion are a must-read. This is Frank as an eternal soldier, a silent vengeful shadow. After a massacre at a wedding, he essentially winds up with a protege and it tracks their short partnership. It's more Rachel's story than it is Frank's at times, but its well-paced and told with beautiful art. Very much a story about loss, revenge, and the cost of violence on the human soul.
And then the five issue mini-series forces Frank to battle the Avengers, its great. It shows why Frank is not someone to trifle with.
And now, we're nearing the end with the most recent Punisher run, by Nathan Edmondson:
Here's the thing about Edmondson: He seems to have really wanted to write a fun, action-hero type Frank. There's nothing at all wrong with that. I was excited when I heard what he was doing! Giving Frank a new mandate, target criminals too big for cops, too small for supes. Move him to LA which is under-protected. Throw him up against a conspiracy!
And then Frank spent most of the run getting his ass kicked, there was some disturbing fetishization of the police and military, and it comes off as sort of tone deaf?
The art was mostly beautiful and the premise and ideas were great, but like with Fraction, the execution was fucked. I get what he was going for, but I find it really hard to recommend this one to a newbie. It's honestly, not a great run for Frank and it's not a well-written story. I defended it for a while, but it eventually got indefensible how sucky it was.
Which brings us to the present. There's a new Punisher run starting next month, written by Becky Cloonan with art by Steve Dillon. I've got high hopes!
Steve Dillon's art:
Cloonan says her depiction of Frank is much closer to Jason Voorhees, but for criminals! I like that idea.
I could have talked about the movie, but to be honest, they aren't very good. People's opinions on them vary. I mean, they can be fun. War Zone did give us:
Wow, that was long. And it was mostly pictures. But hey, let's talk Punisher. The above is mostly musings and random, disconnected thoughts, but there's a lot to Frank Castle. He has a lot of great stories, guest appearances, etc. There's some great alt-universe minis, regular minis, etc. The best stories deal with the cost of revenge, violence and its impacts on the human psyche, loss, fighting evil with evil and the inevitable abyss, stuff like that. Some writers have done great work tackling these subjects using The Punisher.
So let's get started!
Er...
...
Let's get started (Thanks Platy)
So for those of you not familiar with Frank Castle, in short, he is a former Vietnam-era United States Marine captain who dedicates what's left of his life to hunting down and exterminating criminals after his family is murdered in a mafia crossfire. Utilizing his military skills and tactical mind, he has mounted a one-man war on crime since 1974, when he first appeared in Spider-Man #129 as an antagonist:
His willingness to use extreme methods such as murder(!) made him pretty popular, and he guest-starred a lot in other series. Daredevil sort of became a really solid anti-thesis to him cause of Miller's The Man Without Fear run where Daredevil began to get a lot more darker and fucked up.
Anyways, he eventually gets his own mini-series called Circle of Blood:
This leads to him getting like three series in the 90s cause the 90s is when everything was grimdark and all the heroes were violent sociopaths, so Frank was having a grand old time!
And then all three series got canceled due to overexposure.
Side note: During this period they released Year One, a depiction of Frank's origins in the MU. Very good miniseries:
And then, they tried to bring him back as Angel Punisher, where he accidentally killed an innocent, committed suicide, and then became a supernatural enforcer of justice.
It was FUCKING TERRIBLE
SUCH GARBAGE.
Okay, so that was a quick primer of the first 25ish years of The Punisher's history. The 90s series weren't half-bad. The depictions of Frank ranged from dark pulp vigilante to more Commando-style action hero, depending on who was writing him. He got some recurring antagonists here, but only really this guy:
Jigsaw was around long enough to be memorable cause Frank tends to kill his antagonists quite quickly.
Anyways, the reason I raced through the 70s, 80s, and 90s so quickly is because we should get to the guy who pretty much redefined The Punisher for the 00s and on: Garth Ennis.
Now, in 2000, Ennis resurrected Frank from the dust bin of the Marvel Universe and brought him back in a big way.
He started with a 12 issue mini-series entitled Welcome Back, Frank. This led to a 36 issue ongoing series under the Marvel Knights banner. Under Ennis' tenure, Punisher stories were written in a darker, black comedy style. This Tarantino levels of violence and black humor crossed with Full Metal Jacket.
He retained Frank's Vietnam-era backstory, but he radically changed his depiction. Frank went from someone with semi-heroic intentions to sometimes being as bad as the people he killed. He became a war junkie that would never stop. This fundamental shift in his character and depiction led to Frank's current reputation in some circles as a shallow, monstrous character (though Ennis actually wrote incredibly good, and subtle stories involving the character).
*I was trying to find the page where he and Joan talks about how kills criminals cause he hates them, but I couldn't*
Anyways, Ennis' success with the MK series led to Marvel's MAX imprint: An adults only imprint where writers and artists were free to go crazy with violence, sex, themes, etc. Essentially, Marvel's Vertigo.
Now, I'm gonna be straight with you: In my opinion, Punisher MAX is the best comic book crime saga I have ever read. It is dark. It is violent. It is brutal and unflinching and it is a depiction of the worst that humanity has to offer. It is completely disconnected from the Marvel Universe. It's basically Frank operating in "the real world". He faces off against mobsters, rapists, serial killers, war criminals, and you see all of this horrific stuff. Frank himself is a total war junkie who won't let his war ever end. His targets are the stuff of nightmares. It is a very bleak comic series. It is also some of the best comic book stories I've ever read. These stories involve war, the ramifications of the cold war, geopolitics, the nature of crime in urban centers, etc. Much more adult in theme.
Ennis ran MAX for sixty issues plus some amazing specials, including Born, a story of Frank's final tour in Vietnam:
The Cell, a story about Frank going to prison:
and The Tyger, a story about Frank's childhood:
Now, I want to talk about the three above stories for just a moment. Born, The Cell, and The Tyger essentially are MAX Frank's origin story. If you ever read just three Punisher stories in your entire life, read those three. It will give you a full understanding of what it takes to make a man like Frank Castle. They are dark, well-written stories with gorgeous art. From a story about the horrors of Vietnam, to a dark fucked up vengeance tale to a story of innocence lost, these are required reading for fans of good stories in general.
Ennis finished his run with Issue 60 of Punisher MAX. After that, there were a few arcs by notable crime writers, and after that Punisher MAX came under Jason Aaron's hand. Under Aaron's tenure, he reintroduced some classic characters into the MAX universe.
There was Kingpin:
Bullseye:
and Elektra:
Aaron wrote a long form story that lasted about thirty issues before closing the Punisher MAX series out permanently. After this, they basically reintroduced Frank to the MU full-time (though he had solos going on in the MU simultaneously, and we're gonna talk about those below!)
Okay, so that covers Ennis, Aaron, and their version of Frank Castle. Now, I'm gonna spend a bit of time running down the post-Ennis MU Frank Castles. There are a few to note:
So, during the Civil War years in the Marvel universe, they got Matt Fraction of Hawkguy fame to pen a Punisher title:
It was garbage. Seriously, he completely mis-characterized Frank and totally missed the point. He had interesting ideas, but the execution was awful. He even later admitted he didn't get the character, so I don't hold anything against Fraction personally, but it was a garbage series.
He's the one who brought us Captain America Punisher:
God that was a bad series.
After Fraction, there was Rick Remender's run on Punisher. Now, his was interesting, and a lot of Punisher fans hated it. He started out alright enough in the Dark Reign years by trying to off Norman Osbourne:
But then he killed Frank:
Wolverine's son Daken killed him btw. Dude's a tool.
Oh, and then he resurrected him as a Frankenstein monster and teamed him up with the League of Monsters:
Okay, here's the thing: A lot of Punisher fans hated Frankencastle. I did not. I love Frankencastle. It's one of my favourites, and here's why:
It's a goddamned good story. It doesn't sacrifice the heart of the character in its depiction of him. Yes, it takes a gritty and urban character and shoves him into a science-fiction and supernatural story, but it does it properly. Frank is still Frank. His actions make sense. There's a fantastic antagonist. The art is utterly GORGEOUS, and the final issue takes the cake:
An entire issue in a lovely Universal Monsters poster art style. There's a fantastic finale to the series. All the characters are relatable. This is not only a good story, it's a good Punisher story because it feels consistent with how the character is best depicted: semi-heroic, noble, dangerous, violent, and accepting of death as long as he takes a few monsters with him to the end. I think newbies should read Frankencastle. It's fun! Some comic book fans remain too static.
Okayokayokay, we're nearing the end. Two more!
Alright, so the best non-Ennis run was by Greg Rucka. Seriously.
This series and its five issue miniseries conclusion are a must-read. This is Frank as an eternal soldier, a silent vengeful shadow. After a massacre at a wedding, he essentially winds up with a protege and it tracks their short partnership. It's more Rachel's story than it is Frank's at times, but its well-paced and told with beautiful art. Very much a story about loss, revenge, and the cost of violence on the human soul.
And then the five issue mini-series forces Frank to battle the Avengers, its great. It shows why Frank is not someone to trifle with.
And now, we're nearing the end with the most recent Punisher run, by Nathan Edmondson:
Here's the thing about Edmondson: He seems to have really wanted to write a fun, action-hero type Frank. There's nothing at all wrong with that. I was excited when I heard what he was doing! Giving Frank a new mandate, target criminals too big for cops, too small for supes. Move him to LA which is under-protected. Throw him up against a conspiracy!
And then Frank spent most of the run getting his ass kicked, there was some disturbing fetishization of the police and military, and it comes off as sort of tone deaf?
The art was mostly beautiful and the premise and ideas were great, but like with Fraction, the execution was fucked. I get what he was going for, but I find it really hard to recommend this one to a newbie. It's honestly, not a great run for Frank and it's not a well-written story. I defended it for a while, but it eventually got indefensible how sucky it was.
Which brings us to the present. There's a new Punisher run starting next month, written by Becky Cloonan with art by Steve Dillon. I've got high hopes!
Steve Dillon's art:
Cloonan says her depiction of Frank is much closer to Jason Voorhees, but for criminals! I like that idea.
I could have talked about the movie, but to be honest, they aren't very good. People's opinions on them vary. I mean, they can be fun. War Zone did give us:
Wow, that was long. And it was mostly pictures. But hey, let's talk Punisher. The above is mostly musings and random, disconnected thoughts, but there's a lot to Frank Castle. He has a lot of great stories, guest appearances, etc. There's some great alt-universe minis, regular minis, etc. The best stories deal with the cost of revenge, violence and its impacts on the human psyche, loss, fighting evil with evil and the inevitable abyss, stuff like that. Some writers have done great work tackling these subjects using The Punisher.
