Garth Ennis' Punisher: What Survives?

Jog's already put up an interesting read about Ennis' Punisher run, which I encourage you to go read. It pointed out a few things to me, such as the fact that the author of the book we kept getting excerpts from in this last arc is the brother of a character from Ennis' Punisher: Born mini-series. It's not vital to this arc, but it was something I wasn't aware of.

Of more importance was Jog pointing out that this last arc contained none of Frank's usual inner monologue. It's entirely from the view of the characters around him, mirroring the book where everyone describes what they remember or think of the event so many believe to be the origin of the Punisher (Vietnam, specifically the battle at firebase Valley Forge). It's kind of amusing in light of Ennis' Punisher: The Tyger one-shot, where we get to see that the genesis of what Frank becomes started long before he went to Southeast Asia, and he even muses on how people will ascribe his motives to his family's death, and his time in the service.

There's other things in that essay that I'd been thinking about periodically, like the impermanence of Frank's supporting cast (I think O'Brien appeared in more issues than any character besides Castle, and nobody, including her, showed up in more than three stories, because you can only be around the Punisher, or in his sights, for so long before you die), and how he just keeps on keeping on in the face of all of it, and his understanding the reality of what he does. The thing I wanted to get at is this: Are there things Garth Ennis added to the character of the Punisher that you think will be kept by future writers, and if so, what are they?

I'm hampered here, because Ennis' Punisher pretty much is the Punisher to me. Prior to "Welcome Back, Frank", I owned two, maybe three comics where the Punisher was the star, and maybe a dozen comics where he guest-starred (probably less than that). So I can't really separate what was Garth Ennis, and what was already there. I imagine the idea that Frank still dreams of his family isn't new, but maybe the idea that he actively works to bury those dreams (as seen in #50) is. The idea that it's not supposed to be a personal thing with him, that he tries to regard it as a mission, not much different from the stuff he did in Special Forces, sounds new. Especially the idea that when he lets things get to him (ala the Black is White, Up is Down, or The Slavers arcs) it either gets him in trouble, or worries him after the fact. The idea that the Punisher is actually capable of doing things to criminals that even disturb him after the fact (which he reflects on at the start of The Widowmakers), certainly seemed new.

Again though, I'm not familiar enough with what he was before to really say, which is where you come in.

Unrelated note: I'm leaving town tomorrow, to go help move things. I'll probably be back Friday. Maybe Saturday. So expect reviews one of those two days, and hopefully at least a little posting in between now and then.