One of my favorite places to t-shirt shop over the years has been Newbury Comics (http://www.newburycomics.com), and that’s where I got this one. After Hot Topic donated 4 more superhero shirts, I thought this week (which includes the season premiere of Big Bang Theory) would be a good week to have “Superhero Week” for the blog. So I started with my favorite one, The Punisher…
Like many music bands, movies, and TV shows growing up, it was my older brother that introduced me to the world of comic books and The Punisher. Soon after reading the first few comics my brother lent me, I was buying my own issues of The Punisher, Punisher War Journal, and Punisher War Zone (I may have even bought an action figure or two). I liked The Punisher because of the simple storyline: His wife and children were murdered right in front of him (while on a picnic the family witnessed a mob hit and were shot at, only he survived), it made him go crazy, and he started a one-man war on crime. The Punisher’s rule is simple: If you are guilty, you are punished (and unlike Batman, The Punisher usually punishes by killing criminals). He makes every bad guy feel his pain when he deals with them, and he gets the job done.
Like I mentioned in my previous Punisher blog – which you can see me wearing my “cool” Punisher leather jacket from high school -(http://davestshirts.blogspot.com/2010/03/t-shirt-67-punisher-including-high.html), they have yet to make a good Punisher movie. I was so excited when they came out with the first one in 1989, but it was such a letdown (he didn’t even have a skull and it went straight to video!). 2004’s version was a little better, but they still didn’t get it right. I haven’t even seen the 2008 Punisher War Zone movie, but I didn’t hear anything that said it was worth checking out. They can make great Batman, Spiderman, and Iron Man movies, but when it comes to the simple story of a crazy vigilante waging his family tragedy against the world they mess it up.
A happier Punisher-related story happened when I was in the middle of my battle with cancer. One of my classmates (who is a professional comic artist now: http://dogeatdoug.com) made me an awesome framed Punisher drawing – I think my leather jacket gave everyone the hint that I was a fan. Not only was the drawing a nice way to know people at my high school were thinking of me, it was great inspiration for my visual images of the chemo killing my cancer.
If you are interested in knowing more about The Punisher, I wouldn’t check out the movies. I would first go here http://marvel.com/universe/Punisher_%28Frank_Castle%29, then check out some back issues or Google/Amazon for Essential Punisher. And, be prepared for a little violence…
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