The Punisher: Frank Castle

Who is The Punisher?

Marvel’s Anti-Hero

Frank Castle. Killer, hunter, predator – but never prey, and despite his actions, never evil. While Frank’s motives are always questionable, Castle himself raises more enigmas.

For those of you reading Comic Talk, this time around I talk to you about a personal favourite - in the form of Marvel’s, perhaps darkest hero so far.

To give a little background, Frank Castle is something to be reckoned with. Former Navy SEAL, US army, US air-force … if there’s a military for it, Castle’s probably done it. After three stints in Vietnam (the third illegally after changing his name from Francis Castiglione to Frank Castle), our man here became a little too good at killing. A natural soldier, leader, tactician and survivor of war, Frank made a hell of a name for himself.

Fast track to Vietnam’s end, Frank came back to normal society; something he just couldn’t cope with. A wife, two kids and a family, it was all taken away on a family picnic. Witnessing a mob hit, they were mercilessly gunned down by the gangsters – but Frank lived. After a rapid recovery in hospital, Castle went on a redemption mission. Frank tracked and put a bullet through the head of each and every mobster involved in the murder of his family. The result was a new life mission; to kill every criminal in New York City. Frank became judgement itself; The Punisher.

What makes Punisher interesting is simply this – his lack of emotion. Where every hero abides by a law of conduct, has an emotional response to what they do, Castle has a fixed goal in his mind, and a way to accomplish it. Be it torture for information, or kicking down the door to start blasting down the bad-guys, he knows what he wants to do, and he knows how to do it.

Frank even has an appeal because of who he kills – in some strange sense, despite his distant and aggressive means, and the fact he does it without mercy, you can’t help but feel it to be justified. Forcibly putting a bullet through the head of every lowlife, scumbag and crime lord who ever had the misfortune of walking his way – Frank secures a reputation not as a murderer, but as working justice in a corrupt environment.

His feats are damn impressive, too. Punisher is the type of man who would (and has) put himself into jail just to get rid of a few more people. And then when it’s done? He escapes, and keeps on going.

In a nutshell, ladies and germs, you’re captivated not by the killings, but the overall being  of Marvel’s one-man-army. He has no powers, he has no tricks, he has no super-human traits. Frank’s just a man with a lot of guns, a lot of tactics, and one hell of a pain threshold.

I know this one should have been Deathstroke, but sue me, I figured it’d make more sense to finish the Marvel plots off first, then move on to DC. Comment, subscribe and share this – it’ll be totally worth your time. Wanna hear me talk about particular heroes? Shoot up a comment recommending it, I’ll happily blog about them. Tell me if I’m good, or crap, or whatever you think - all comments are welcome on Comic Talk.

Next time for sure is Deathstroke. I promise. However, until then, Red out. Up, up, and away!

For more Punisher background, click here.

Who is Deadpool?

The Merc With the Mouth

But Who is Wade Wilson?

Welcome back to Comic Talk. First off, yeah, okay, so it's two days late – but I'm a busy student! That said, I promise, next one? Definitely on time. To the subject at hand though, I bring you; Deadpool.

Real name Wade Wilson, Deadpool is Marvel's red-suited merc. Wade is … well, crazy. Breaking the fourth wall, killing innocents and making innuendos; Wilson breaks all the rules comic book heroes have to abide by. He's cold, sometimes a little stoic, and can be pretty heartless. But, what morals he lacks, he more than makes up for in humour. Wade knows he's a comic character, and he talks to his brain. While he stabs a man for taking the last cheeto, he saves another … because. He's a got a heart of gold, but he doesn't know how to accept it.

For more novice comic fans, you'll have seen his place in X-Men:Origins. He was the guy Ryan Reynolds played; a role that's been slated in the comic world. Reynolds wasn't the problem - it was the biological robot part.

What makes Deadpool fun is simple – it's those rules he doesn't abide by. It's the way he works. The way he's written. He's had a relationship with the personification of Death, and he was trained by a sumo. He's also the most dangerous thing to come out of Canada since Bryan Adams and the wonderbra.

Outside of being really good at killing things, what’s particularly enjoyable is Wade’s only power: he can’t die. He’s not super strong of fast. He can’t read your thoughts either – you just can’t kill him. It’s fun, it’s different. He’s not an overpowered alien with a need to save the world – he’s just a man. With lots of guns. And he doesn’t die.

What's not to love about a gun toting, katana swinging, crazy as all hell and extremely violent, sarcastic, socially-useless mercenary who still seems to make friends? And all the while, he's force-feeding vegetarians Big Macs. You find constant joy in his ability to make fun of himself, the villain and an uninvolved group of people, because that’s how Wade Wilson rolls. Well made, Marvel, and thank you for the magic.

Next post is Deathstroke. And remember guys, comment, share, discuss! Conversations, opinions, anything that builds some talk might even get it’s own blog entry. Until next time, see you guys!

Comic Introduction

Behind Every Good Blog, Is An Introduction

So, I’m Red KB, and this is probably the time to say; hello! How are you? I'm fine, thanks for asking.

Basically, this space here, in the Comic Talk section of my blog, is simply for discussing comics. Characters, plots, who would win in a fight - really anything relevant.

Let's start out with a basic introduction to this all for now - to give everyone reading a good indicator of what I'll be discussing later on. Don't wanna be trolled for not being clear, after all.

Over the next few blogs, I'll be talking about a few of my personal favourite comic book characters. I'll be talking about what I like about them, what kind of tactics they use, and overall, why I think they're so damn awesome. This is all pointless without you guys getting involved though. Discuss, chat, tell me what you think. Am I talking crap? Let me know about it! Am I a poet at chatting about comics? Tell me. I want to know what people think, damn it!

There's three main companies who’ll come up in … well, almost every blog, but the next three or four in particular – DC Comics (the creators of Superman and Batman), Marvel comics (the creators of Spiderman, X-Men and the Fantastic Four) and MAX comics. MAX might be a little alien to you, but actually, they're Marvel too. MAX are the adult branch of Marvel comics – back in 2001, Marvel broke off from the Comics Code Authority (or CCA) and made their own guide for age rating comics.

To give people an idea of what's in mind, the three I have planned will be Deadpool, Deathstroke and The Punisher. Think there’s someone better I should write about? Suggest them, I’ll come back guns blazing. Put in your word and I’ll give you something back for it.

Next week will be my coverage of Marvel's favourite mercenary, Deadpool. That'll be next week, so Tuesday the 31^st of January. So, until then? Ciao!