Wish Fulfillment Personified -- The Punisher

Marvel's character, the Punisher, is about as basic a character you can get.  Overtly based on Mack Bolan in The Executioner series written by Don Pendleton, the Punisher, in the most basic of terms, is a man whose family is killed by bad guys and because of that he decides to kill all bad guys.

End of story.

The Punisher is a lone wolf.  He listens to no authority, lets no one stand in his way.  He rights the wrongs and does it with finality.  If you are engaged in a crime, he will kill you.  This is teenage male wish fulfillment at its finest.

The idea of doing harm to all the people who have done you wrong ... and then taking it further to make sure no wrong is ever done again is appealing.  The notion that authority, be it law enforcement, your parents or school, cannot contain you is a fantasy second only to sex in a teenage boy's mind.  When the Punisher steps into the fray he becomes symbolic of what every wronged teen boy has imagined at one time or another ... guilt-free, rampant vengeance.  It's part of why he's so popular, and since teen boys grow up to be teen men, he remains popular.

If revenge were all the character had to offer, though, he would be soon relegated to second tier status, and that's being generous.  Through the hands of various writers, however, Punisher has taken on something that goes beyond mere violent masturbation material.  (Excluding, of course, those ill-conceived detours into the realm of angels and pseudo-Frankenstein monsters.)  He has become an almost tragic figure.  A twisted Christ.  He wipes evil from the Earth, but is destined to do so alone (or with the help of a few select friends) and be alone.  He has been resurrected (again, in those horrible storylines).  He has attracted the ire of self-appointed protectors who find his methods too extreme and have punished him for it.  Is he to be worshipped?  Only by the psychotic, but there are plenty of readers who can understand and even sympathize with is actions.

There is something cathartic about ridding your world of evil.  Not just locking it away with the hopes that he or she will be reformed.  Sometimes your problems can only be solved by defenestration or massive explosions.  Were you do to those things in real life, you would be hunted and most likely caught.  You would have to hope a jury of your "peers" would understand that sometimes rapists have to be shot in the face.  And you would hope they have pity on you.  The Punisher has these concerns, but they don't matter much in the grand scheme of things.  His titles sell well enough that readers know he will never truly be reformed or cancelled.  He will live to kill another day ... once again brought back from the dead to show the world the error of its ways.

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

Any good Garth Ennis tale (and by extension that includes artist Steve Dillon) will involve topics like honor, truth and justice ... along with a healthy dose of bullets to the head and jaws blown off.  Such is the nature of the 2003 Punisher story arc called "Brotherhood."

Originally presented in the Marvel Knights imprint of The Punisher, the three issue story is about cops gone bad, coke deals gone bad, priests gone bad, domestic violence (already bad) and how the world views someone based on the actions of a few bad apples.  Frank Castle (Punisher) has vowed to never cross the line and kill a cop, but the two cops he runs into push him to the very edge.  Their addictions have mired them in a world of wife beating, gambling and stealing evidence.  When Castle enters the picture, the cops' world is already spiraling out of control and people are dying.

Before this was a Max title, The Punisher had to watch the language and nudity (nobody really worried about the violence), so this isn't as nasty as it could be.  It still makes its point without the use of words you'd normally find in this sort of tale.  That is the mark of a good group of storytellers, which as we know from Preacher, is exactly what Ennis and Dillon are.

Marvel's 2003 universe is far different from the one of the past few years, and this was its darkest title at the time.  Oddly enough, it was also its most realistic.  If you take the Punisher out of the equation, most of what the creators did was from real life, whether it be drug deals or IRA terrorism.  It was a far cry from the X-Men or Spider-Man, and for that I appreciated it.

"Brotherhood" will never be considered a classic tale.  With Ennis and Dillon, everything they do is grand, but to standout at this point it really needs to be spectacular.  It will, however, be a prime example of a strong tale that will never age.  Someone reading this ten years from now will recognize the themes and issues at hand, and they will in no way be alien to the reader.  Try saying that about some of the other stories we've witnessed as of late.  You can't.  And three issues was all it took.  Concise, but with about three times the dialogue of your average current comic, and well-paced.  It may not be a classic, but it should be studied.

Punishment

Marvel has a real knack for fucking up characters. Whether it's exploiting Wolverine or ruining a classic character like Spider-Man, Marvel has proved time and time again that it can take a decent concept and run it through the wringer all while thinking the outcome was a great idea.

Enter Punisher.

He's been a vigilante ... and that's what he needs to stay. In DC's hands he probably would keep to his role. In Marvel's miserable, miserly mitts, however, he's been an angel, black and a Frankenstein-style creation. What. The. Fuck?

What the powers-that-ruin don't understand at Marvel is that Punisher works best when he's either in his own little world, untouched by the usual Marvel universe fodder, or he's on the outskirts of the Marvel universe. Granted, many of the stories he's been in while in vigilante mode have sucked (that taxi war storyline is a great example), but at least he's true to character. When he's donning tubes, forehead wards, or a "black" nose he's no longer Punisher. He's a cartoon creation. A roadrunner to the criminal coyote. In other words: He's a joke.

Money, obviously, drives Marvel's desire to screw with the character. What Marvel fails to remember, however, is that what really drives up sales for the long term is solid writing with a character that stays true to its roots.

Marvel has done this from time to time and has enjoyed success. It needs to stick with that plan, though. No more gimmicks (and that's all those things are). Readers see through them, and some, like myself, are resentful. Solid stories. Solid characters. No cartoons.

Save that shit for Wolverine.

Discovering Nightcrawler

I don't even think I have this issue of Amazing Spider-Man anymore, but this is the one that made me appreciate Nightcrawler. I don't remember much about the story, either, other than the Punisher was involved and someone on that rollercoaster got shot (and of course there were a few fights along the way). If I had an issue of Uncanny X-Men with the fuzzy elf in it, I don't remember, as it was this story that made him my favorite X-Man.

I don't have a deep answer as to why Nightcrawler is my favorite mutant. It's not that he's a great, interesting character, and nor are his powers that impressive. No, my reasons were much more base.

I just really liked the way he looked.

Nightcrawler is a hero, yet he looks kind of evil. Sharp teeth. Blue, fuzzy skin. A tail. Three fingers and toes. Those eyes. He looks like a demon, which is often mentioned when people reference him.

The second X-Men film got his powers down pretty good, but thoroughly fucked up the look with that scarification. He no longer looked all that scary to me. Instead, he looked kind of goofy, though I know a lot of people liked his character. I can't complain about anything other than the look when it comes to his movie character, though, because most everything else was done right.

Later on, as I read more storylines showcasing him, I became more appreciative of the character's flaws, inner-strength and faith. My focus shifted from looks to actual character, and I ended up liking him even more. Of all the X-Men he is probably the most actualized.

The first Nightcrawler limited series was a bust. His solo series that came out a few years ago wasn't garbage, but it wasn't so hot, either. He remains, however, far more interesting than Wolverine, Cyclops, Emma Frost or Deadpool. Or at least that's my opinion. Wolverine may get all the attention, but Nightcrawler will always be the number one mutant to me.