A comiXologist Recommends

Punisher #1

Written by Becky Cloonan

Art by Steve Dillon

Colors by Frank Martin

“That ain’t Frank. That’s the Punisher.”

Punisher #1 is not an origin story.  It opens on a gang arranging a shipment of drugs, then shifts to a few D.E.A. agents preparing for their long-awaited bust.  And we all know how this is going down as soon as we see in a single panel that unmistakable black t-shirt with the skull outline emerging from a shadow. If you were worried this iteration of Punisher would tone down the violence, fear not.  It’s not a Marvel Max book, but the violence will hit you like a round to the chest from Frank’s favorite AA12 fully automatic twelve gauge shotgun, that he named “Deterrence” and probably cuddles at night. This book is not for kids, nor the faint of heart.  And that’s not usually my thing, but when one character suggests trying to reason with Frank and is told, “That ain’t Frank.  That’s the Punisher,” Cloonan had my interest.

I have always wanted to like the Punisher.  In theory, I love antiheroes.  But so often they are used as instruments of aestheticized violence, which I find horribly banal.  By that I mean, they exist to depict violence rather than violence existing as part of their character development or story.  And that’s really too bad, because the most interesting part about antiheroes, the part that makes us care about them, is the no man’s land where the “anti” meets the “hero.”  They aren’t likeable, so they better be compelling.

At this point, I really don’t need to see Frank Castle’s family horribly murdered at the debut of each new Punisher book.  And I don’t want a redemption arc either.  This middle ground has a lot of potential for both the violence and the character.  At this point in his story, somewhere between becoming the Punisher and eventually perhaps reconciling with some peace or humanity, Frank Castle and the Punisher are not the same person.  A book that is willing to explore that relationship is one I want to keep reading.

Tia Vasiliou is a Digital Editor at comiXology. She has never shot an AA12 fully automatic twelve gauge shotgun but she isn’t bad with an M16.