By Comix
If you’ve only acquainted yourself with The Punisher through the movies, then shame on you. Well, not really, the movies were pretty bad-ass, but there is so much more to the man that Thomas Jane’s well toned abs and well timed quips. The Punisher is the original bad-ass of Marvel comics, the first one to forgo the heroes code of “no-killing” by literally killing everything. He inspired creators to push the boundaries of popular comics, to address the horrors of war, violence, and death. Hell, he was the original brooder, a dark knight long before Batman got serious about feeling bad about himself. He has fought in Vietnam, watched everyone he loves die, and waged a one man war on New York City by covering it in blood and gun shells and no one, not even Captain America, could stop him. And believe me, the Cap tried.
Though The Punisher is clearly not a horror title, its definitely a very violent and brutal comic that fits well within the genre of extreme entertainment. If you don’t know the story, let me do a quick background. The Punisher, aka Frank Castle, was just your average, everyday guy who one day left his young wife and family to join the Marines in Vietnam. After a hellish tour, he comes back a broken, but a live man, and decides to take his family out to the park in an attempt to rebuild his life. Unfortunately for him, this was to be his last day with his family, as they are gunned down in the middle of the park. Depending on which version you read, the responsible party is either the mob accidentally killing the family during a turf war or a specific hit on the family by either the mob or a government organization. Either way, Frank Castle promptly declares a war on crime and, donning a skull t-shirt and an outrageous amount of guns, takes out every criminal from the lowliest gangster to villains like the Kingpin.
The character The Punisher was first introduced in 1974 in The Amazing Spiderman #129. He was billed as solo vigilante who was out to kill Spiderman after believing he is responsible for the murder of Norman Osborn (Green Goblin.) He proved to be a huge hit and made several more guest appearances in Spiderman and other superhero comics through the 70’s and 80’s. In 1986, Marvel finally gave The Punisher his own mini-series and opened the door for an ongoing Punisher series that ran for 104 issues. While the series was running, two more Punisher titles launched, Punisher War Journal and Punisher War Zone. Though the mid-90’s killed all three of the titles (as well as almost the entire comic world), Marvel re-launched the character under the new, edgier imprint, Marvel Edge, and The Punisher has been going strong ever since. Marvel Edge has been replaced with Marvel MAX, and The Punisher can now be read in either his own universe in the MAX line or part of the major Marvel universe.
Look, don’t let all that universe/continuity Marvel junk throw you off from reading a fantastic comic. If you like your crime bloody and your pedophiles choking on their own dicks, than this is the comic to go with. The Punisher has clearly stood the test of time and some of the biggest comic writers have lent their talent to his pages. By big, I’m talking Frank Miller, Greg Rucka, David Lapham, and Garth “The Menace” Ennis. In fact, one of the most goriest, mind-fucking, but well received versions of the Punisher is Garth Ennis’s Punisher MAX run, which placed Frank Castle as an old man fighting the Kingpin while dealing with his overwhelming inner demons. Of course, where Ennis goes, Steve Dillon (Preacher) is never far behind and the two made for one skull punch of a read. On top of the MAX line, the Punisher can also still be seen fighting alongside superheroes in the regular Marvel universe and, in one awesome version, killing the entire Marvel universe.
Though you can’t really go wrong with any of The Punisher titles, if you’re looking for a good place to start, I recommend the Punisher MAX line. Ennis and later Jason Arron do an amazing job to adding to the mythos of Frank Castle and his war. Also, some very prominent characters get royally fucked up, so it’s worth it just to watch some of these people go down. There are some mini-series that are also fantastic, like Welcome Back Frank and it’s sequal, Punisher: War Zone. There is also a Punisher noir comic where Frank is a WWI vet and a western version called A Man Named Frank. Of course, if you are a regular reader of Marvel, he tends to pop up everywhere as well, so just keep reading long enough and he’ll show up. If you are a fan of early comics, Marvel Essentials has collected the early Punisher runs in a three volume collection. Which ever you pick, I guarantee you will be hooked.