May Magazine

Honourable mentions The Punisher/Frank Castle Frank Castle is not a superhero, hero, or maybe even an anti-hero. People say that Frank is similar to Magento in that he has a sympathetic back story – his family were senselessly murdered in front of him by sheer chance, and he’s spent the better part of the rest of his life. Still when one thinks about it, if this were a reasonable response there would be a lot of real life Punishers.

In the right hands (namely those of Garth Ennis) Frank Castle is a fascinating study in what drives a man to become The Punisher, and what makes us, the reader, root for him when he performs truly awful acts upon the worst kind of people. Frank is also surprisingly malleable, being able to easily cover range from darkly comic, straight up action, or serious crime thriller. However, the best Punisher stories allow the reader to examine a dark mirror of themselves, and you’d best be careful staring into that abyss, lest it stare back.

Created by: Gerry Conway, John Romita Sr, Ross Andru and Stan Lee. Read: Welcome Back, Frank by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, Punisher MAX

by Garth Ennis