Thursday, April 27, 2023

Comic book Frank Castle is the only real Frank Castle



I'm an absolute mark for bright, colourful infographics full of incredibly useful data, so of course I got Tim Leong's wonderful Super Graphic book as soon as it came out, back in 2013.

It's been a good book to dip into, because it's so full of information about comic books that I frequently have to update the brain (especially when there are more holes than I'd care to admit). And every time I dip into it, I find something fascinating that I totally forgot about. That's just the way my head works.

But I never, ever forget my favourite graphic in the whole book, which is the one above comparing the death tolls racked up in the movie versions of the Punisher to the comic book counterpart.

I like it because it shows that on pure body count, the original comic book Frank Castle is the true grim reaper, stacking up tens of thousands more than his cinematic versions. All the blood he spilled in the 80s and 90s, all the massacres Garth Ennis put him through, it all adds up for the Marvel Universe Frank Castle. (Although I can not count the Cosmic Ghost Rider version of the man. I can not sanction such buffoonery.)

And I have to respect the effort it would take to go through every single Punisher comic and make note of a death, just for one slightly absurd infographic. That's funny than a bullet in the face.

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