Apparently the Punisher is a radical leftist commie.

Loner · Post by **Loner** » 2004-09-05 02:48pm

Hate America "Superhero"?
By Michael Lackner
FrontPageMagazine.com | May 12, 2004

The Punisher, Marvel Comics’ avenging vigilante, has become a radical. As well as taking out organized crime kingpins and thugs, he’s now taking on U.S. Intelligence and undermining support for the War on Terrorism. The publication of these comic book polemics coincides with the April release of the feature film “The Punisher” starring Thomas Jane and John Travolta.

Leftist propagandizing is not new to Marvel, nor to the author of the Punisher series, Irishman Garth Ennis. Two months after September 11th, the Punisher was featured threatening the life of President George W. Bush. The story portrays the President as a slobbering belching incoherent drunk, gleefully itching to launch nuclear missiles. The Punisher breaks into the Oval Office, tosses a nine-millimeter bullet before the President and warns ominously, “I can get in anywhere …Nine millimeters. I’m never further away than that.” Yes, you’ve got it right – Marvel published a threat to assassinate the President of the United States, only weeks after September 11th. Even viewed as sick humor, the tenor and timing of this piece was inexcusable.

Michael Medved and I addressed the issue of anti-American comic book propaganda in an April 2003 white paper for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Marvel is now using its most recently spotlighted icon, the Punisher, to spread the same message of self-doubt and self-hate, this time published under its new MAX (explicit content) label.

In the new series, U.S. intelligence agents are vilified as the bad guys, selling heroin from Afghanistan to covertly finance assassination squads. Ennis shamelessly writes that “the smack comes packed in body bags along with dead GI’s.” A CIA operative tries to convince the Punisher to “hunt Bin Laden.” In response, the Punisher crudely spits back: “F-ck you.” [fully spelled] None of us realized that the Punisher was actually a closet leftist until, for Garth Ennis, we hear him inarticulately condemn the War on Terrorism: “Fighting for the people who run the world gets you stabbed in the back. You fight the wars they start and feed. You kill the monsters they create. You die from handling depleted uranium, while they get rich on oil. I’m not going back to war so Colt can sell another million M-16s. I had enough of that in Vietnam.” He then desecrates the memory of the 60,000 brave Americans whose names are carved in the black wall of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, by stating that they bear silent witness to this twisted viewpoint.

Marvel and Ennis don’t stop there. In a just released special one-shot story, this comic book franchise is used to denounce America’s pursuit of the War on Terrorism. In “The Punisher – The End” we find our hero in an America totally devastated by nuclear war caused by – of course – American militarism and corporate greed. We are treated to a pedantic “Progressive” discourse by the enlightened Punisher: “Once upon a time there was a bunch of evil f-cks. [fully spelled] Hardly anyone knew, because they were so good at keeping it quiet. But these particular evil f-cks owned the world. And they made the world a cruel and terrible place. They ran the great industries that poisoned the air. Their businesses turned whole countries into slaves. … They made puppets out of presidents and started wars for profit. Eventually, they came to believe that there was nothing that they couldn’t do. And so one day – inevitably – they pushed the planet’s luck too far.”

The Punisher explains how the end will come, “Ten bad years. Iraq was one thing. North Korea. Even Pakistan. You shout War on Terror at the Chinese and they laugh so hard the world blows up in your face. That’s the trouble with a war you never want to end.”

… a war you never want to end? Do our friends at Marvel really believe this drivel?

How very cold. Were we not attacked on September 11th? Hasn’t our Jihadi enemy unambiguously declared the intention to destroy us? Have we not heard their proclamations of bigotry and religious hatred? Hasn’t the world seen bloody terrorist attack upon terrorist attack? Can any sane person question what they will do if they get their hands on weapons of mass destruction?

It appears that Ennis and Marvel prefer to live in a vulgar world of leftist fantasy, where an evil American government allied with greedy multinational corporations is the enemy of humanity. If such self-hating beliefs are allowed to permeate the popular culture unchallenged, if our strength of will is sapped before we defeat our real enemies, our very survival may be jeopardized.

As if that were not enough – all this is really bad storytelling. Garth Ennis uses the Punisher as a two-dimensional stick figure to spout his ““Progressive”” political platitudes. Very uncreative.

____________________

Michael Lackner is an attorney and former comic book collector, co-author of “The Betrayal of Captain America” for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

Conservatives amuse me.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2004-09-05 03:11pm

This is beyond words. Beyond mine, anyways. I'm sure someone else will come up with the right response.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2004-09-05 03:12pm

Frank Castle doesn't give a shit; has this guy ever read the Punisher
at all?

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2004-09-05 03:26pm

The man is a bonafide twit.

Seriously he's making a moutain out of a molehill because he's some ultra right wing nut who sees evil in anything that isn't Holy White.

Honestly should've written something about Lex Luthor becoming President. That would've at least shown that a fictional character has more acumen and intelligence then the current White House seat warmer.

Perinquus · Post by **Perinquus** » 2004-09-05 04:07pm

Ghost Rider wrote:The man is a bonafide twit.

Seriously he's making a moutain out of a molehill because he's some ultra right wing nut who sees evil in anything that isn't Holy White.

Honestly should've written something about Lex Luthor becoming President. That would've at least shown that a fictional character has more acumen and intelligence then the current White House seat warmer.

I agree, he's reading waaaaaaaaay too much into this. But you have to admit, having a story where a character threatens to assassinate the president shortly after the 9/11 attacks is... ah... in questionable taste, if nothing else. Not to mention reeking of misplaced blame. I do also wonder what could be going through the mind of the writers of such a story. This was well before Iraq, and even before Afghanistan. Were they trying to suggest at Marvel that any action we took would be immoral, and the president had to be stopped?

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2004-09-05 04:40pm

Perinquus wrote:Were they trying to suggest at Marvel that any action we took would be immoral, and the president had to be stopped?

No actually. What happened was that the President (it isn't implied that it's Bush but some random marvelverse president) allowed The Russian back
into the country, where he killed a bunch of people, for some reason
(probably political)

Hell, we don't even know if it's the president, or the CIA Director. All it says
is WASHINGTON DC

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2004-09-05 04:44pm

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2004-09-05 04:45pm

Lord Revan · Post by **Lord Revan** » 2004-09-05 04:56pm

MKSheppard wrote:snip pics

I have to say that at least to me it's impossible connect this to George W. Bush in any way. But then I'm a moderate Finn, not a american fundie.

Loner · Post by **Loner** » 2004-09-05 04:57pm

You forgot to mention that took place two weeks after he nuked an island full of 2000 mercenaries. Also, comics are usally written six months or so before they're published, so that issue was written before 9/11 occured.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2004-09-05 05:00pm

Lord Revan wrote:
MKSheppard wrote:snip pics
I have to say that at least to me it's impossible connect this to George W. Bush in any way. But then I'm a moderate Finn, not a american fundie.

the fact that we're not given a name, let alone the title of the individual in the office doesn't exactly help the asshat's case either. the guy in the white house could be anyone from a high up secret service agent, another governmental official, the vice president, or just about anybody in the white house. attempting to connect some shadowy face without a name or title to shrubby is paranoid delusionalism.

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » 2004-09-05 05:59pm

Good God when I read it, I thought it was Tenet or Cheney. Someone smoking hard here, Castle is alot of things, a commie ain't one of them.

Warspite · Post by **Warspite** » 2004-09-05 06:06pm

This guy has way too much time on his hands. It's a freeking comic! Who cares what messages pass through, you don't like it, don't read it!

(I had forgot how cool Castle can be at times, this guy has better lines than Clint Eastwood!)

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2004-09-05 06:22pm

The last image there the sign looks editted to read "Welcome to Washington DC". That doesn't look authentic.

Second of all, the President of the United States isn't George W. Bush in Marvel nor did the 9/11 attacks happen (IIRC), though bad shit has happened to NYC before.

It should also be noted that the US Government is really bi-polar in Marvel Comics. On one hand, they employed the Avengers, who are all about defending America. On the other hand, they cooked up the Mutant Registration Act and built the Sentinels, both singularly stupid things to do (especially the Sentinels), not to mention employs morons like Stryker to lead clandestine projects. I have much less sympathy for the US Government in Marvel.

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » 2004-09-05 06:32pm

Has far has I know the 911 attacks happened in Marvel. The black cover Spiderman showed the events, with Marvel handing over profits from the sale to the 911 surviviors fund or something along that lines.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2004-09-05 06:41pm

Gil Hamilton wrote:Second of all, the President of the United States isn't George W. Bush in Marvel nor did the 9/11 attacks happen (IIRC), though bad shit has happened to NYC before.

You must have missed that abysmal comic of Spiderman that dealt with 9/11. Unless... that piece of shit was uncanon or something?

Elheru Aran · Post by **Elheru Aran** » 2004-09-05 06:45pm

Gil Hamilton wrote:The last image there the sign looks editted to read "Welcome to Washington DC". That doesn't look authentic.

Second of all, the President of the United States isn't George W. Bush in Marvel nor did the 9/11 attacks happen (IIRC), though bad shit has happened to NYC before.

I agree-- the sign does look remarkably edited. As for the president, the guy in Ultimates looks damn like GWB; however, I suppose that in regular Marvelverse he isn't.

Regarding 9/11 in Marvel: it most certainly did happen. There was a Spider-Man issue devoted to it-- Spidey and the other Marvel heroes helping clean up after the collapse of the twin towers. Also in the Ultimate comics, often when they're in NYC, the skyline doesn't have the towers, and it'll occasionally show Ground Zero.

I do have to wonder, though-- what was Bruce Banner's reaction to 9/11 when it happened... Hulk out and smash, well, everything until he cooled off, or what? It would've been kinda cool if he'd swam all the way to Afghanistan and ripped Osama's beard off...

Perinquus · Post by **Perinquus** » 2004-09-05 06:48pm

MKSheppard wrote:
Perinquus wrote:Were they trying to suggest at Marvel that any action we took would be immoral, and the president had to be stopped?
No actually. What happened was that the President (it isn't implied that it's Bush but some random marvelverse president) allowed The Russian back
into the country, where he killed a bunch of people, for some reason
(probably political)

Hell, we don't even know if it's the president, or the CIA Director. All it says
is WASHINGTON DC

Okay, fair enough. I hadn't read that Punisher story. Given that there's no connection to GWB whatsoever, and the story follows a fictional event connected to the Marvelverse's fictional president, I have to say the assessment and reaction of this columnist looks ridiculous to say the least.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2004-09-05 06:55pm

Gil Hamilton wrote:It should also be noted that the US Government is really bi-polar in Marvel Comics. On one hand, they employed the Avengers, who are all about defending America. On the other hand, they cooked up the Mutant Registration Act and built the Sentinels, both singularly stupid things to do (especially the Sentinels), not to mention employs morons like Stryker to lead clandestine projects. I have much less sympathy for the US Government in Marvel.

In the Ultimate line at least, mutants are for some reason viewed differently than those that have super powers through accidental/on purpose genetic augmentation. So you'll get groups like the Avengers that have super-powered people, but usually through experimentation like Captain America.

I guess it's because they view mutants as if they aren't human, and the genetic freaks as if they are augmented humans.

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2004-09-05 07:25pm

neoolong wrote:In the Ultimate line at least, mutants are for some reason viewed differently than those that have super powers through accidental/on purpose genetic augmentation. So you'll get groups like the Avengers that have super-powered people, but usually through experimentation like Captain America.

I guess it's because they view mutants as if they aren't human, and the genetic freaks as if they are augmented humans.

I don't know anything about the Ultimate line, never read any of them, but I do know that the Avengers have had plenty of mutants over the years, including notables like Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and the beloved blue fuzzy man, Hank McCoy.

Of course, now that I think about it, X-Factor always was a government agency and they were all mutants (I don't know about now, I seem to them remember picking up a human), even though other parts of the government have tried to dick them over.

Ender · Post by **Ender** » 2004-09-05 07:43pm

Perinquus wrote:
Ghost Rider wrote:The man is a bonafide twit.

Seriously he's making a moutain out of a molehill because he's some ultra right wing nut who sees evil in anything that isn't Holy White.

Honestly should've written something about Lex Luthor becoming President. That would've at least shown that a fictional character has more acumen and intelligence then the current White House seat warmer.
I agree, he's reading waaaaaaaaay too much into this. But you have to admit, having a story where a character threatens to assassinate the president shortly after the 9/11 attacks is... ah... in questionable taste, if nothing else. Not to mention reeking of misplaced blame. I do also wonder what could be going through the mind of the writers of such a story. This was well before Iraq, and even before Afghanistan. Were they trying to suggest at Marvel that any action we took would be immoral, and the president had to be stopped?

Depending on the time frame, the comic could have been in print prior to 9/11 It says a few weeks, but not how much. COuld just have been bad timing there.

Ender · Post by **Ender** » 2004-09-05 07:46pm

Gil Hamilton wrote:The last image there the sign looks editted to read "Welcome to Washington DC". That doesn't look authentic.

Second of all, the President of the United States isn't George W. Bush in Marvel nor did the 9/11 attacks happen (IIRC), though bad shit has happened to NYC before.

JMS wrote an awesome Spider-man piece on it. All proceeds from that comic went the the FDNY widows and children fund IIRC.

Elheru Aran · Post by **Elheru Aran** » 2004-09-05 08:40pm

<takes another look at comic>

Yep, that ain't the Oval Office. One tall window? the OO has like huge windows in a semicircle. I reckon it's safe to discount that being Bush... it's more probably Tenet or some other fuckwitted bureaucrat.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2004-09-05 08:57pm

Because when I think of The Punisher, the first thing that comes to mind is "Leftist pinko-commie bed-wetter."

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2004-09-05 09:09pm

Durandal wrote:Because when I think of The Punisher, the first thing that comes to mind is "Leftist pinko-commie bed-wetter."

The first thing that comes to my mind is "Cheap Mack Bolan ripoff"

StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Apparently the Punisher is a radical leftist commie.

Apparently the Punisher is a radical leftist commie.

Re: Apparently the Punisher is a radical leftist commie.