I have a lot of things I am passionate about and comics is one of my biggest passions. I have read a fair share of comics and one of my absolute favorites is Garth Ennis’s 2004 to 2009 run of Punisher Max. Now I remember when I first found out that Jon Bernthal was going to play the Punisher in season 2 of Daredevil. I was beyond excited and that season was really good. Then I heard The Punisher was getting his own spin-off series and I was over the moon excited. Now that was 4 years ago and I have had a lot of time to think about the show and the comics. The reason I connected this specific run in the comics to the show is that I heard they were taking direct inspiration from it. Which makes sense since this run is casually regarded as the best run and what everything else Punisher is compared to. So the question is was it a good adaptation? Was trying to adapt the Max run even a good idea? Will Patrick mention any of the politics connected to the Punisher Skull? (No I will not. It’s bad that it has been co-opted by the alt-right and that’s all I got to say.)
To answer my own questions no on all counts. The Punisher tv show is a bad adaptation of the Max run and that’s okay. The Max run would not have made good tv and the things they changed while interesting were not bad. So let’s start with why it’s a bad adaptation. The biggest difference between the comic and the show is the characterization of Frank Castle. What happened is that in the comics Frank is a force of nature. The comics are set up more like a slasher movie where the focus is on the people around Castle and how they deal with him. The Cops trying to deal with him and criminals alike, the mob bosses trying to plan around Frank, bystanders, and the news media. The comics are about introducing the worst kind of people, the users and abusers of the world, and having them destroyed by a single man with cold precision. The Max run is a form of catharsis. It’s an old-school eye for an eye morality dished out by a guy with a skull t-shirt. Frank spends most of the comics killing drug dealers, murders, street-level crime with an occasional “big bad” for an arch. Now, this brings us to the tv show. In Netflix’s adaptation of the Punisher, they made Frank Castle into a man. As in he is humanized. Instead of watching vigilante Jason Voorhees murder all crime, you have Frank Castle a man plagued by trauma constantly being pulled back into a destructive cycle of violence because that’s all he knows and all he is good at. Now, I do not know my audience very well (I don’t even know if anyone reads this without me directly sending them it), so I will quickly explain Frank Castle’s backstory. Frank Castle is a war vet who after coming back from his last tour of duty witnesses his entire family being murdered in a gangland crossfire. After this horrific incident, Frank kills literally everyone involved in the shooting and becomes the Punisher to kill all crime. Now with a couple of tweaks here and there that’s the broad strokes of the character. Man is wronged by senseless violence and so responds by channeling his own propensity for violence to right wrongs. The big difference between the show and the comic is how Frank is afterward.
Comic Frank becomes a machine. He loses all of his humanity and becomes death incarnate. He barely speaks and mostly just kills everyone who deems a criminal worthy of murder (which is basically any criminal). Frank is a man anymore he is a missile aimed at all crime. Now TV Frank still murders a lot and still wants all crime to be dead, but he is still human. He has friends, favorite music, he tells jokes, and most importantly Frank develops new relationships. He tries to move on and is forced back into the cycle by outside forces. Now is that cliched for the murder master to be forced out of retirement for one last job? Yeah of course, but it’s a cliche because it works. It’s a compelling story that’s why it’s so omnipresent. TV show Frank is a tragedy. A man who did everything right and is screwed over by systems outside of his control. Comic Frank is heavily coded to have been a near psychopath who loses his one tether to humanity and goes over the edge. I have tried my best to explain the difference between the show and the comic and now will now conclude by saying why that’s okay.
So the Netflix series was not a very accurate depiction of the comics, so what? Nothing really. I just thought the decision to make Frank Castle a well-rounded person was an interesting one. Some people prefer the force of nature Frank and power to them. The comics are still there. I however prefer Frank Castle man. That’s what’s so great about art. Reinterpretation can completely transform an idea and help relate to people more. So if there is a lesson from this it’s changing the source is okay if the product itself is still good. Also, give the show and/or the comic a chance. Email me the version you prefer. patrickyouropinonsarebad@gmail.com