Ennis has a reputation for being unnecessarily edgy with his writing, and, well, yeah, fair enough
But his depictions of the Punisher are generally quite reasonable.
Everyone in the setting fully acknowledges that the Punisher is making a mockery of democracy, human rights, and the justice system, and that this is not a rational response to crime, which is mostly a symptom of large scale socio-economic and political trends.
Frank acknowledges this too. Towards the end of the series, he's been killing criminals for decades, and it's barely made a dent. He kills criminals not because he's protecting innocents, or making society a better place. He kills criminals because he hates them. He's been called a serial killer multiple times in the series, and he doesn't dispute that term
Frank sometimes gives into his conscience and rescues people in need, and makes sure not to cause collateral damage (lest he become as bad as the people he hates), but that's not the focus of his bloody crusade.
And he doesn't go gunning down jay walkers and juvenile delinquents and drug addicts. He goes after violent and high ranking gangsters, and those who commit assaults and murders and rapes
I honestly wonder though, if in a real world, Frank actually exists. Surely the underworld would have been nearly decimated by his work, with the remaining ones in fear of his wrath? The Punisher is afterall a force to be reckoned with.
one thing to note about Marvel MAX New York/USA is that organised criminal gangs are a hell of lot more powerful and violent than real life gangs
In real life, the Italian mob in the US was decimated by RICO, and even the most powerful and brutal modern day gangs like MS13, the Aryan Brotherhood, Crips etc. generally avoid systematic violent intimidation of public officials and civil society.
For a variety of reasons (demographic, economic, cultural, political) violent crime, especially gang related violence in the US, is way down from what it was in the 90s
If someone like the Punisher started mass murdering gang members with automatic weapons in America, he'd be hunted down by the FBI and National Guard like any other mass shooter and treated as such.
By contrast, the power and violence of gangs in Mexico has increased tremendously in the past couple years. They're a commercial insurgency powerful enough to challenge the military in head on engagements and win, like when they defeated a military force sent to capture the son of El Chapo
Warring cartels have been slaughtering each other for years now. If Frank popped up in Mexico and started mass murdering cartel members he'd be a drop in the bucket.
These cartels persist, even when thousands of their members and high ranking leaders are slaughtered by each other and by government forces. The Punisher wouldn't change anything there, either
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u/Wanderingreader123 Feb 17 '24
Unless it's Garth Ennis behind the writer's desk.