“A pretty good Punisher story, but is there anything that overshadows the Punisher, strapped to a chair, drowning in a bag of pee that’s put over his head?
If you read the things I do here on Goodreads, you might think I’m making that up. It DOES sound like something I would make up because, haha, nobody would go that far.
This book absolutely goes that far.
I’ve decided to start putting “The Punisher is problematic” right up there with “I can’t believe Ms. Marvel is dead!” and “Bruce Wayne could do more with his money than be Batman,” in the “Tell me you don’t read comics without telling me” Hall of Fame.
Punisher spends very little time in the comics blowing away street level drug dealers. Take Intruder: He’s hunting down a HUGE drug operation that killed an entire family because they fucked up.
If I can make a Breaking Bad analogy, Punisher kills the Gus Frings of the world, not the Jesse Pinkmans.
Pinkmen?
It’s totally fine to not be a Punisher fan, and it’s totally fine to have your own opinion on the books, such as Punisher being something you don’t enjoy reading.
But if you’re using the word “problematic” with the Punisher, without the modifier “personally,” you can save it.
A) That essay has been written. Many times.
B) I see that as a significant portion of the point of MANY Punisher books: Is killing criminals an okay thing to do?
C) Punisher is a very different kind of hero.
Punisher is one of the few Marvel characters that is not meant to be seen as a model for young people. While a lot of comic book heroes would be described as “heroic,” or “swashbuckling,” or “adventurous,” words commonly used to describe Punisher are more in the realm of “dangerous,” “insane,” and “monstrous.”
And it’s that last one that really interests me (although “swashbuckling” is probably an underused term on dating apps).
Punisher is always described as big, intimidating, scary, and kind of awful. Like, NOBODY is happy to see Punisher coming. Nobody is like, “Gee, glad you swung into action on this one, Frankie!”
Criminals are like, “Fuck, Punisher is here.”
Cops are like, “Fuck, Punisher is here.”
Other heroes are like, “Fuck, Punisher is here.”
Punisher is generally depicted as having a “base” that’s a shithole warehouse with a bare mattress on the floor.
His name is PUNISHER. He doesn’t want to stop crimes, he doesn’t want to create a world of peace. His goal is to punish people who do bad things.
Saying that Punisher is problematic is like saying Patrick Bateman from American Psycho is problematic. Yeah, duh. You read the blurb on the back, then?
It’s easy. It’s lazy.
But the real issue I take with it is that it treats fictions with real-world rules.
Something being an issue in the real world, like billionaires not doing smart things that help people, do not apply to Batman.
Treating fiction with real-world rules always results in handwringing that commits the ultimate internet sin: It’s boring.
If you’re saying Punisher is being problematic, you’re being boring on the internet.”