Punisher #19 is
intended as a revenge fantasy comic.
The plot, such as it is, is that psychotic killing machine Frank Castle
is contacted by an elite special ops group known as the Howling Commandos. The commandos are asking for Punisher’s
help to take out a terrorist cell in the Middle East. From there the comic is just a slurry of sequences as the
Punisher shoots, explodes, and tortures his way through various terrorist
cannon fodder. Additionally,
nothing about this issue actually works.
There’s a plethora of reasons why the book falls apart but its simple
existence has made me keen to discuss revenge fantasies in general along with
the idea of highly fetishized vicarious violence, using Punisher #19 as a contrasting example of what not to do to craft
these kind of stories in a cathartic and satisfying manner.
