A response to How Wrong Is PUNISHER #3?

>> I agree with your Punisher review, Ennis screwed up bigtime. But the fact is that the man has publicly stated his distaste for costumed heroes and this series demonstrates a lack of research into the histories of both Daredevil and the Punisher. <<

I hadn't heard that about Ennis, but it makes sense. He could've tried to explain away the Daredevil flaws, but he didn't even try.

His whole take on the Punisher is wrong, of course—as you noted before. Where does Marvel go from here with the character? The next writer has to either continue the slaughter or come up with a reason why the Punisher stops killing indiscriminately, why Marvel's heroes don't hunt him down, etc.

When this happened the first time, in the Punisher's initial run, Marvel explained his mania as a drug-induced psychosis. Will they go to the well with that explanation again? I suppose they can always say a Space Phantom, Dire Wraith, or clone replaced the real Frank Castle.

>> He has admitted that he only threw Daredevil in because it seemed traditional that the two should clash in a Punisher series. As he puts it, "the Punisher makes Daredevil his bitch". <<

The conflict would've been good if Ennis had allowed both characters to have their moments. That is, if he allowed the reader to actually question or doubt Castle's holy jihad. As it is, he transparently stacked the deck against Daredevil.

>> Ennis is much better off writing his own characters so there is no question of history, research or respecting another creator's work. Unfortunately for true Punisher fans, he seems to have firmly established the new dispensation of playing the character for laughs. It's selling and that's Marvel's bottom line. So much for history. <<

Yep. We can only hope that the short-term profits lead to long-term failure. As they've done with so many "hot" ideas and marketing stunts in the past.

Related links
PUNISHER #3's moral dilemma—reversed

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