Comments on: ‘Punisher: War Zone’ – Three strikes, yer out!

By: Ronn

Ronn — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 03:13:53 +0000

i remember that issue David. i started collecting comics around that period and i have most if not all of the punisher comics from that run which is for the most part not that memorable like david pointed out.

after i finished college i started reading comics again and in 2000 i think Garth Ennis started writing punisher. i picked up the first few issues and was blown away. i knew ennis was a good writer from his stuff on Preacher and hellblazer. during ennis’s 8 year run on the comic he tackled such issues as the irish mob,russians,young women being sold off as prostitutes and a recent storyline where all the widows of the mob bosses went after the punisher. when marvel decided to move punisher to their max line of mature comics is when it was at its best it was gritty and pretty much anything was game. Ennis has been writing a new book called ‘The Boys’ which is being optioned for a movie as well and for ayone that was offended by ‘preacher’ they might not want to read this book.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 22:29:24 +0000

dang, too bad they didn’t bring back Thomas Jane to be Frank Castle again

By: cftoto

cftoto — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 22:22:31 +0000

Interesting … and far more intriguing than anything in the first three “Punisher” flicks.

By: David A.

David A. — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 21:34:03 +0000

Around 1991, I resumed collecting comics, including The Punisher titles, for a few years

Most of the titles/issues were unmemorable. He was a vigilante, but judicious and of fairly sound mind. That is, the bad guys got what was coming to them but the good guys he didn’t touch.

However, there was one particularly interesting issue that touched on the undeclared sociopathy of the character.

As best as I can recall, this is how it went.

In a fairly well-t0-do man’s home, a teenager is babysitting the man’s toddler/infant when a home invasion occurs. For some reason, the Punisher is around and he dispatches the thugs, while the girl is in terror.

It turns out that the infant/toddler’s father set up the home invasion (maybe for insurance purposes).

Days later, the Punisher walks into the man’s office and kills him.

The man may have been blackmailed or something, but there was something mitigating the man’s actions. He meant no harm to the girl–maybe she wasn’t supposed to be there. Something went wrong.

And the man had a little kid to take care of (I don’t remember if there was a wife–I doubt it).

It would have been best for the man to have lived, so that the child had a father, especially if he was being forced to stage the home invasion.

But, Castle had a code–no exceptions.

In all of the other issues, the dividing line between who met swift justice and who didn’t was quite clear.

In this case, it wasn’t.

It was the only time I saw the character as a true sociopath.

It was the only time I was fascinated with the character, wondering what was going on his head.

If anyone else remembers this issue, let me know what I got wrong.

Thanks.