A super-genius with mechanical arms shouldn't be able to beat an unpowered thug with a gun?

I would definitely put my money on Octopus. But in ASM Annual #15, he just doesn't beat him, Ock doesn't even look up from his work to capture the Punisher in one panel and the Punisher doesn't do anything! He just lets Ock get him without firing a shot.

It happens more than once. As if O'Neil is so contemptuous of the Punisher that he can't even write him as being able to put up any kind of a struggle against Ock.

Doctor Octopus is one of my favorite villains, and I'm not a Punisher fan at all, but I can tell ridiculous writing when I see it.

This is one tpb that shouldn't be overlooked:



It reprints the Punisher story from Marvel Preview #2 and has other early Punisher stuff too. I suggest you all find a copy!

Mike Zeck's run on the mini series in the mid 80's. Love that run, always seems hard to find in single issues and always priced through the moon online for some reason. Great stories and I love the artwork

I love the design of the Punisher's costume, I think it's a great visual design, but as a character, I prefer him as a foil for other character than as the protagonist in a story. Haven't read the Max stuff, because Ennis hasn't impressed me much (I know heresy, but everything I read by him except his war stuff is the same/similar stock characters with minor variations, exploring the same themes, in similar stories, which while interesting the first time around, got real old with me-his war stuff though, good stuff), which may work a little better because a guy with a gun (or even an armory) in a world full of super-powered vigilantes is not all that interesting and it suspends my disbelief a bit too much that he wasn't taken down and put into custody or just put down within a few months of his activity becoming public. The more recent we come in time and the more advanced surveillance and security gets, the less believable a character like the Punisher lasting longer than a snowball in hell gets. I know, it's a funny book, but the more gritty and real you try to make a character, the more my sensibilities demand a grounding in believability and the less I am willing to suspend my disbelief. I might be inclined to give the Max series a try at some point, but it's not a very high priority on my get and read list. 

-M

I think you owe it to yourself to read MAX. While Ennis's first run on the character was very much in the vein of Preacher and Ennis' other comedic works (in his afterword to the first issue he described it as a Looney Tunes comic), his MAX work is an extension of his war stuff. The idea behind the MAX series is to portray Frank as a soldier who never stopped being a soldier. It's a war story set on the streets of New York instead of the jungles of Vietnam, although there are plenty of flashbacks and references to that war (including the Born miniseries, which is simply haunting. Even if you don't care for the character or want to read the rest of Ennis' work, read this book). The ramifications of Frank being active in the 21st century are pondered quite a bit: Politicians hate him, the cops agree with him, the military is ashamed of him and the CIA wants to recruit him. The issue of him being locked up is also tackled. There is a one-shot that has him surrender in order to assassinate some mobsters in jail and it is made very clear that Frank can operate more freely in jail than he can on the streets. And the climax of the run has a Special Forces strike team sent after him and he dispatches them all (non-lethally). Taking out the Punisher is not a simple task, and that problem is complicated by most people not being particularly interested in stopping him. However, he does take ruthless beatings and his advanced age (54 at the start of the run, 59 by the end) doesn't make it easier. The book progresses in real time with six month gaps between arcs and it's clear that he spends quite a bit of that time in recovery.

Nick Fury also makes a few appearances and they are a highlight of the series. Ennis reimagined the character as the ultimate Cold War hardcase. He swears, smokes, drinks and has sex with prostitutes, and yet he has all of the swagger and bravado that makes Nick Fury the coolest man in comics. Plus he beats someone with a belt. Ennis' recent miniseries "My War Gone By" is a fantastic war book showing Nick through the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s in Indochina, Cuba, Laos (alongside Frank Castle) and Nicaragua. Like Born it is thoroughly haunting.