History YMMV / ThePunisherMAX

** Creator/GarthEnnis really, ''really'', '''''really''''' hates the IRA. And he wants ''you'' to hate them as well. Throughout the ''Kitchen Irish'' arc, he has several characters call them out over how stupid and cowardly they are. Understandable, as Ennis grew up in UsefulNotes/StrokeCountry during the height of the religious violence in the region.

*** Interestingly enough, the lower ranking grunts and common soldiers ''[[DefiedTrope do not]]'' fall into this category; Ennis saves all his rancor for the feeble old men who send young men off to [[WarIsHell fight and die for them]], ''especially'' Armchair Generals who coasted through their careers while seeing virtually no combat between Vietnam and the first Gulf War. Even the evil Zakharov gets more respect, despite the horrible things he's done, because of his veteran status.

** You can apply this trope to just about ''any'' criminal organization: the TheMafia, TheCartel, the [[TheMafiya Russian Mafia]], GangBangers, RuthlessModernPirates, [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels bikers]], white collar criminals...

* {{Anvilicious}}: Given that this is a series penned mostly by Garth Ennis, it should come as no surprise that the subject material in various story arcs occasionally lapses into this territory. When it comes to ''[[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil The Slavers]]'' and ''[[WarIsHell Valley Forge]]'', however, such subjects ''[[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped really should be taken seriously.]]''

* CrazyAwesome: Bullseye ''lives and breathes this trope''. Best exemplified in his introductory scene, where we see him ''shit out a gun'' and kill a pair of Russian thugs with it. Not long after, he asks Frank what his favorite color is while the latter is preparing to blow him up with a stick of C4. The man is pretty much this trope personified.
* CrossesTheLineTwice: As expected from an adults-only series written primarily by Creator/GarthEnnis, it should come as no surprise that the series crosses the boundaries of good taste with [[PunctuatedForEmphasis every. Single. Arc]]. ''Seriously''. Even [[Creator/MarkMillar Mark]] [[UpToEleven freaking Millar]] would churn his stomach at some of the more darkly humorous bits in the series.

* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: Much like his mainstream counterpart, this is another issue that plagues this version of the character. Just about every writer (Garth Ennis, Jason Aaron) who has depicted the character on a long-term basis has established in their works that Frank Castle is a '''''deeply disturbed''''' and damaged man who barely even qualifies as "human" anymore, whose mass murders do nothing to actually improve society (see ''The Slavers''), whose activities only don't cause massive innocent casualties because of extreme authorial favoritism, and who should not be considered a role model by '''anyone'''. However, go anywhere in comics fandom and you'll stumble across people who think that Frank Castle is the coolest guy ever and it's a terrible pity that nobody's taking out the bad guys like that in the real world.

* GeniusBonus: During Garth Ennis' run the series was ''rife'' with these. Featuring everything from well researched military history, real world crime, geopolitics, in-depth descriptions of firearms and the damage that the human anatomy takes when under extreme duress. The best example of this would be during the Kitchen Irish arc where one of character gives what is essentially an abridged history of the conflict in Northern Ireland, complete with references to the Good Friday Agreement and so forth.

* MemeticBadass: Frank Castle was ''already'' this in the main 616 Universe. This version only amplifies his reputation even further.

* MemeticMutation: ''Behold'', Creator/SteveDillon's everlasting legacy, ''[[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/frank-castles-face Frank Face]]''.
* MisaimedFandom: If you've read the Punisher's main YMMV page already, then you'll know that the character has become very popular with members of the American armed forces as of late - much to the chagrin of creator Gerry Conway, who was a conscientious objector during The Vietnam War and explicitly wrote the Punisher as a ''bad guy''. How popular has he became? Well, in one scene early on in the controversial war movie, ''American Sniper'', one of the main characters' fellow [=SEAL=]s can be seen reading a Punisher comic. And if you look closely, you can see that it's issue #1 of ''ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX''. Later in the film, the main character and his SEAL platoon go on to call themselves "''the Punishers''" and spray-paint the skull logo on their gear as they go around laying waste to the enemy. A [[http://www.vulture.com/2015/01/american-sniper-comics-punisher.html Vulture article]] explains in depth how this homage is both eerily perfect and ''terrifying''.

** After Pittsy [[spoiler:takes a shotgun slug to the face]], we are treated to a ''highly'' detailed image of of the aftermath. Words do the visual no justice, you'll just have to see it for yourself. Or don't...

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Given the dark subject material of the series and most of the story arcs, sometimes being heavy-handed in one's approach is the ''only'' way to get an important message across. A few notable examples include.

** In ''Up is Down and Black is White'', we are treated to a flashback to Nicky Cavella's backstory, and while most of what is featured there is easy NightmareFuel material, the ''real'' creepy part is the sight of Nicky's morbidly obese aunt, "Auntie Mo", forcing herself upon a ''twelve year old'' Cavella. Nicolas's mortified expression during the abhorrent act says it all.

* VindicatedByHistory: Back when Ennis started writing the series, conservative reviewers [[http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1134145/posts were none to pleased]] over the comics critical view of the American Government; a key element of "In the Beginning", was Frank refusing to hunt Bin Laden for the CIA. He refers to his Vietnam war days as the last he'd ever waste fighting for the government, but what ''really'' set him off was wondering how the CIA could possibly pay for such an operation, let alone do it quietly enough to use a mass-murdering vigilante like himself as a catspaw. Later, Micro confirms Frank's suspicions; when Coalition forces opened up Afghanistan, the military gained access to world's primary opium producing areas -- Bethell planned to fund Frank's operations by trafficking Afghan heroin. Ennis based this on historical [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegations_of_CIA_drug_trafficking allegations of CIA_drug trafficking]] in Vietnam and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_involvement_in_Contra_cocaine_trafficking Nicaragua]], and revisited it in Comicbook/FuryMyWarGoneBy as he felt [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped felt the need to say]] "Yes, this ''really did happen!''" In TheNewTens, he was proven to be prescient; not only did the [[http://www.globalresearch.ca/drug-war-american-troops-are-protecting-afghan-opium-u-s-occupation-leads-to-all-time-high-heroin-production/5358053 US military traffic in heroin]], by doing so they [[https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jan/09/how-the-heroin-trade-explains-the-us-uk-failure-in-afghanistan completely converted the country's economy to its production.]]

** Nicolas Cavella, a smug mob chump who had the ''ingenious'' idea of digging up the remains of Frank's family and ''urinating on them'', then releasing footage of this to the news media in the hopes of infuriating Castle. This goes over about as well as you would imagine. For starters, ''it doesn't even work'': instead of going after Cavella, Frank instead murders the hell out of everyone ''but'' Cavella, demanding that the city re-bury his family's remains or he'll keep murder-spreeing until they do. When they finally do bury the remains, ''then'' Frank goes after Cavella, [[TranquilFury completely calm]] and '''''[[RoaringRampageOfRevenge utterly vindictive]]'''''. Cavella spent the intervening time oscillating between gloating that the Punisher was terrified of him and doing his work of taking out other gangs, and batshit paranoid that Frank was going to kill him at any second.
** The Eight Generals ''exemplify'' this trope. Every single decision they make continues to get them in more and more trouble. By the end, they've given up on trying to advance their own self-interests and are just trying to save their own asses.

** '''''Viorica'''''. ''Dear god'', the hell that that poor women endures can take up an entire character page.

*** Interestingly enough, the lower ranking grunts and common soldiers ''[[DefiedTrope do not]]'' fall into this category; Ennis saves all his rancor for the feeble old men who send young men off to [[WarIsHell fight and die for them]], ''especially'' Armchair Generals who coasted through their careers while seeing virtually no combat between Vietnam and the first Gulf War. Even CompleteMonster Zakharov gets more respect, despite the horrible things he's done, because of his veteran status.

*** Interestingly enough, the lower ranking grunts and common soldiers ''[[DefiedTrope do not]]'' fall into this category; Ennis saves all his rancor for the feeble old men who send young men off to [[WarIsHell fight and die for them]].

* VindicatedByHistory: Back when Ennis started writing the series, conservative reviewers went [[http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1134145/posts were none to pleased]] over the comics critical view of the American Government; a key element of "In the Beginning", was Frank refusing to hunt Bin Laden for the CIA. He refers to his Vietnam war days as the last he'd ever waste fighting for the government, but what ''really'' set him off was wondering how the CIA could possibly pay for such an operation, let alone do it quietly enough to use a mass-murdering vigilante like himself as a catspaw. Later, Micro confirms Frank's suspicions; when Coalition forces opened up Afghanistan, the military gained access to world's primary opium producing areas -- Bethell planned to fund Frank's operations by trafficking Afghan heroin. Ennis based this on historical [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegations_of_CIA_drug_trafficking allegations of CIA_drug trafficking]] in Vietnam and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_involvement_in_Contra_cocaine_trafficking Nicaragua]], and revisited it in Comicbook/FuryMyWarGoneBy as he felt [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped felt the need to say]] "Yes, this ''really did happen!''" In TheNewTens, he was proven to be prescient; not only did the [[http://www.globalresearch.ca/drug-war-american-troops-are-protecting-afghan-opium-u-s-occupation-leads-to-all-time-high-heroin-production/5358053 US military traffic in heroin]], by doing so they [[https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jan/09/how-the-heroin-trade-explains-the-us-uk-failure-in-afghanistan completely converted the country's economy to its production.]]

** From ''Long Cold Dark'', Frank Castle torturing the fuck out of [[spoiler:Barracuda]] by hooking up a car battery to his testicles. '''''[[http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/uvula_fr_b4/3817514/91845/91845_900.jpg For an hour]]'''''.

** In ''Mother Russia'', we have [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown Fury taking off his belt and whipping the everloving fuck out of a crooked military General]] who came up with the whole [[spoiler:"fake terrorists crashing a passenger jet full of innocent people as a distraction" plan]]. Descriptions do it no justice - it needs to be [[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FvQxK1ZhRQQ/VfngKr4U_jI/AAAAAAAADXo/xZdcpFIpGHg/s1600/punishermaxrussia11.jpg seen to be fully appreciated]].

* VindicatedByHistory: Back when Ennis started writing the series, conservative reviewers went '''[[http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1134145/posts BATSHIT]]''' over "Liberal Punisher"; a key element of "In the Beginning", was Frank refusing to hunt Bin Laden for the CIA. He refers to his Vietnam war days as the last he'd ever waste fighting for the government, but what ''really'' set him off was wondering how the CIA could possibly pay for such an operation, let alone do it quietly enough to use a mass-murdering vigilante like himself as a catspaw. Later, Micro confirms Frank's suspicions; when Coalition forces opened up Afghanistan, the military gained access to world's primary opium producing areas -- Bethell planned to fund Frank's operations by trafficking Afghan heroin. Ennis based this on historical [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegations_of_CIA_drug_trafficking allegations of CIA_drug trafficking]] in Vietnam and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_involvement_in_Contra_cocaine_trafficking Nicaragua]], and revisited it in Comicbook/FuryMyWarGoneBy as he felt [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped felt the need to say]] "Yes, this ''really did happen!''" In TheNewTens, he was proven to be prescient; not only did the [[http://www.globalresearch.ca/drug-war-american-troops-are-protecting-afghan-opium-u-s-occupation-leads-to-all-time-high-heroin-production/5358053 US military traffic in heroin]], by doing so they ''[[https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jan/09/how-the-heroin-trade-explains-the-us-uk-failure-in-afghanistan completely converted the country's economy to its production!]]''

* LoveToHate: Although the writers may not have [[MisaimedFandom intended for this effect,]] it's hard not to find the more charismatic villains in the series (such as Tiberiu Bulat, Barracuda, the Kingpin, and Bullseye) to be extraordinarily badass, even if they are [[AxCrazy vile and deranged psychopaths]].

* MoralEventHorizon: Quite a few examples:

** The cabal of generals first introduced in ''Mother Russia''. [[spoiler:To provide a smokescreen for an illegal operation in Russia, they have a team of Arab terrorists they secretly trained for taking out targets inside friendly countries hijack a passenger plane and attempt a suicide bombing on Moscow, only for the plane to be shot down by the missile defenses.]]
** Kingpin has one of the worst in the series. [[spoiler: Faced with his old enemies holding his son at knifepoint and forced to choose between saving his little boy's life and killing the last people standing in his way, he coldly shoots them, not showing a hint of emotion as his rival cuts the boy's throat. He then embraces his wife and tells her "''we can have another''"]]. Even allowing that Kingpin didn't actually had much of a choice there, Kingpin's ''reaction'' to the SadisticChoice was not IDidWhatIHadToDo or a DrowningMySorrows but rather a reflection on [[ItsAllAboutMe how much he didn't really love his son after all]].
** Bullseye takes it even further; he was created ''beyond'' the Moral Event Horizon.
** Nicky Cavella was at first just a more sadistic and efficient mafiosi than what Frank is used to, then he pissed on Frank's family's grave to cement how tasteless he is and his backstory revealed he killed his whole family at eight, just to show how depraved psychotic he was.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: In ''In the Beginning'', Frank refuses to hunt terrorists for the CIA because he ''really'' wants to know how they'd pay for it; turns out the handler is already funding his operations with Afghan heroin. Ennis took a lot of heat from conservative reviewers for this, causing him to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegations_of_CIA_drug_trafficking revisit]] the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_involvement_in_Contra_cocaine_trafficking subject]] ''[[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped repeatedly]]'' in Comicbook/FuryMyWarGoneBy - and, well... [[http://www.globalresearch.ca/drug-war-american-troops-are-protecting-afghan-opium-u-s-occupation-leads-to-all-time-high-heroin-production/5358053 see for yourself.]]

--> '''Nick Fury''': Fuck... we invent a war and we invade. And how many of them are dead now? Half a mil or something like that?
--> '''Frank Castle''': Depends on who you believe.
--> '''Fury''': Leaves a lot of pissed-off people with nothing to lose. I don't know what it'll be. Guy with something in a briefcase wandering into Times Square. A plane again. But we've got something coming, that I know.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: Zakharov is introduced as the OnlySaneMan who sees through the "Arab terrorists" deception and is later seen luring Castle to Afghanistan to capture him so the generals' plot can be revealed. He's also seen killing a nosy reporter, is willing to wipe out a village to capture Frank, and we get to see how he earned his Man of Stone nickname... but he displays a lot of EvilVirtues, and of course the fact that he's up against ''[[HateSink Rawlins]]'' automatically makes him look better in comparison. [[spoiler:Frank gives him a MercyKill when he could just as easily left him to bake to death.]]

** Nicolas Cavella, a smug mob chump who had the ''ingenious'' idea of digging up the remains of Frank's family and ''urinating on them'', then releasing footage of this to the news media in the hopes of infuriating Castle. [[{{UnderStatement}} This goes over about as well as you would imagine]]. For starters, ''it doesn't even work'': instead of going after Cavella, Frank instead murders the hell out of everyone ''but'' Cavella, demanding that the city re-bury his family's remains or he'll keep murder-spreeing until they do. When they finally do bury the remains, ''then'' Frank goes after Cavella, [[TranquilFury completely calm]] and '''''[[RoaringRampageOfRevenge utterly vindictive]]'''''. Cavella spent the intervening time oscillating between gloating that the Punisher was terrified of him and doing his work of taking out other gangs, and batshit paranoid that Frank was going to kill him at any second.

* EvilIsCool: Although the writers may not have [[MisaimedFandom intended for this effect,]] it's hard not to find the more charismatic villains in the series (particularly Barracuda, the Kingpin, and Bullseye) to be extraordinarily badass, even if they are vile and deranged human beings.

* AwesomeArt: This series really couldn't have chosen a better cover artist than Tim Bradstreet. The man's cover art is truly a sight to behold, haunting and mesmerizing at the same time.

* MagnificentBastard: Frank Castle, ComicBook/ThePunisher, has waged a one man war on crime for decades as a way to punish both the guilty and himself. At one point, Frank even gets himself arrested and sent to Riker's Island, just so he can put into play a scheme to murder the men who killed his family. Constantly demonstrating a wicked intelligence, Frank constantly manipulates criminals into traps and [[OutGambitted Out-Gambits]] others who try to get the best of him, before finishing his enemies off, not afraid to expose himself to injury, torture or death in the process. Even when faced with the unexpected, Frank is constantly able to rebound and get the better of his enemies, often tolerated by the police for his inflexible moral standards even as he leaves a [[PayEvilUntoEvil mountain of guilty corpses behind him]]. In the final arc, Frank goes against ComicBook/TheKingpin himself, who now owns the criminal underworld of New York, deprived of much of his own former assets, and ends up completely destroying his operation before finishing him off, remarking only "Your city, my world."

* MagnificentBastard:
** General Zakharov of the ''Mother Russia'' and ''Man of Stone'' story arcs. He was sent to investigate the attempted theft of a bioweapon, and when Frank goes in to steal it, Zakharov keeps his identity secret, to the point of letting Moscow think an American-trained terrorist group who hijacked a plane for a suicide bombing on Moscow were Al Qaeda. He reasoned that Russia would be too scared to fight Arab terrorists, but were prepared for nuclear war with America, and watched as Castle hid inside a nuclear missile and faked a missile attack to escape. [[MoralEventHorizon Then there was how he fought in Afghanistan...]]
** Frank himself has his moments, such as how he gets out of a seemingly impossible situation during ''Mother Russia'', or what he does in ''The Cell''...
** Delta Force commander George Howe is strongly hinted at the end of ''Valley Forge, Valley Forge''[[note]]in the form of a far-too-late voicemail from the generals' envoy, Lieutenant Geller, by now on a flight away from the area[[/note]] to have suckered the cabal of generals as soon as the start of the arc -- possibly even before their ringleader revealed his big idea to the other generals -- and before that ending, the generals belatedly realize at a dinner that Howe held all the cards: they'd tasked him with a black op on American soil so outside the law that they could neither stop nor safely punish him if he quit, his men were effectively preventing the generals' man from circumventing their commander, and Howe only agreed to take on the assignment with intent to bring the Punisher in for trial... so he ''won't'' have the Punisher killed, the generals' insider is incapable of killing the Punisher for them, they have no control over what happens with the tape[[note]]which Howe suspects that they were seeking even more than the Punisher's death[[/note]], and they have no leverage with which to do ''anything'' about Howe's actions.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: Zakharov is introduced as the OnlySaneMan who sees through the "Arab terrorists" deception and is later seen luring Castle to Afghanistan to capture him so the generals' plot can be revealed. He's also seen killing a nosy reporter, is willing to wipe out a village to capture Frank, and we get to see how he earned his Man of Stone nickname... but he displays a lot of VillainousVirtue, and of course the fact that he's up against ''[[HateSink Rawlins]]'' automatically makes him look better in comparison. [[spoiler:Frank gives him a MercyKill when he could just as easily left him to bake to death.]]

** Creator/GarthEnnis really, ''really'', '''''really''''' hates the IRA. And he wants ''you'' to hate them as well. Throughout the ''Kitchen Irish'' arc, he has several characters call them out over how stupid and cowardly they are. Understandable, as Ennis grew up in StrokeCountry during the height of the religious violence in the region.

* {{Anvilicious}}: Given that this is a series penned mostly by Garth Ennis, it should come as no surprise that the subject material in various story arcs occasionally lapses into this territory. When it comes to ''[[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil The Slavers]]'' and ''[[WarIsHell Valley Forge, Valley Forge]]'', however, such subjects ''[[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped really should be taken seriously.]]''

* UncannyValley: Some of the more photo-realistic drawings done by Lewis Larosa can have this effect for some people. [[InvokedTrope USed to great effect]] in the very first issue with Larosa's ghoulish illustrations of Frank's [[spoiler:dead family.]]

** Creator/GarthEnnis really ''really'' '''''really''''' hates the IRA. And he wants ''you'' to hate them as well. Throughout the ''Kitchen Irish'' arc he has several characters call them out in how stupid and cowardly they are. Understandably, as Ennis grew up in StrokeCountry during the height of the religious violence in the region:

*** He's also none to fond of the boorish members of the Irish community. Specifically those who are incapable of letting go of petty squabbles and instead bring their personal grievances to the states. In fact, the ''Kitchen Irish'' arc is made up entirely of Irish villains. What's amusing about this is that Garth Ennis himself, ''[[CulturalCringe is Irish]]''.
** He's not too fond of corporations, either; Frank butchers the executives and major investors of an Enron stand-in in "Barracuda," and earlier, the only thing Frank calls anti-corporate vigilante Mr. Payback out on is that he accidentally shot through a wall and hit an innocent cleaning woman while gunning down a [[CorruptCorporateExecutive corporate boardroom full of amoral executives.]]
** If there's anything that Ennis might hate more than the two above, it's human traffickers, if "The Slavers" says anything.
** From what you can take away from the recurring cabal of crooked scheming Generals. High ranking military officials get no love from Ennis either.
*** Interestingly enough, the lower ranking grunts and common soldiers, ''[[DefiedTrope do not]]'' fall into this category. As Ennis saves all of his rancor for only the feeble old men who send young men off to [[WarIsHell fight and die for them]].
** You can pretty much include ''any'' criminal organization to this trope. From the TheMafia, TheCartel, the [[TheMafiya Russian Mafia]], GangBangers, RuthlessModernPirates, [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels bikers]], white collar criminals etc.
** For Jason Aaron, it's elements of the justice system. Particularly [[DirtyCop members of law enforcement]] who abuse of their authority.
* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Frank is usually treated as a [[KnightTemplar absolute moralist]] who just happens to be fighting a never ending war on crime. Other interpretations imply [[HeWhoFightsMonsters he's just as bad as the monsters he fights]] and is little different from a serial killer. The only thing that stays the same is the reason why he became the Punisher.
* {{Anvilicious}}: Given that this is a series penned mostly by Garth Ennis, it should come as no surprise that the subject material in various story arcs occasionally lapses into this territory. Although in the case of ''[[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil The Slavers]]'' and ''[[WarIsHell Valley Forge, Valley Forge]]''. These are subjects that ''[[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped really should be taken seriously]]''
* AwesomeArt: This series really couldn't have chosen a better cover artist than Tim Bradstreet. The man's cover art is truly a sight to behold. Being both haunting, and mesmerizing at the same time.
** Interior artist Leandro Fernandez, is no slouch either. What's more, his artwork actually ''[[ArtEvolution improves]]'' [[ArtEvolution as the series progresses]].

* CrazyAwesome: Bullseye ''lives and breathes this trope''. Best exemplified in his introductory scene, where we see him ''shit out a gun'', and kill a pair of Russian thugs with said gun. He asks Frank what his favorite color is while the latter is preparing to blow him up with a stick of C4. The man is pretty much this trope personified.
* CrossesTheLineTwice: As expected from an adults-only series written primarily by Creator/GarthEnnis, it should come as no surprise that the series crosses the boundaries of good taste with [[PunctuatedForEmphasis each. And. Every. Arc]]. ''Seriously''. Even [[Creator/MarkMillar Mark]] [[UpToEleven freaking Millar]] would churn his stomach at some of the more darkly humorous bits in the series.
* CultClassic: Years after the series concluded, its still fondly looked backed on by both fans and critics alike. With many of them regarding it as the greatest Punisher run of all time. And a number of the story arcs have even been referenced on WebVideo/TwoBestFriendsPlay.
* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: One of the most common criticisms directed at the series. As some of the storylines occasionally fall into this territory for some people, as there are no sympathetic characters to root for. Only assholes you are likely to see dead.
* DesignatedVillain: Deliberately invoked with the Russians in the ''Mother Russia'' arc. Which sees a cabal of Army and Air Force generals send Frank Castle and a handpicked Delta operative off to a nuclear missile silo in Siberia to steal a biochemical super virus for them. And the Russians who are stationed there are merely responding to what they believe is a legitimate terrorist attack.
* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: Much like his mainstream counterpart, this is another issue that plagues this version of the character. Just about every writer (Garth Ennis, Jason Aaron), who has depicted the character on a long-term basis has established in their works that Frank Castle is a '''''deeply disturbed''''' and damaged man, who barely even qualifies as "human" any more, whose mass murders do nothing to actually improve society (see ''The Slavers'' arc), whose activities only don't cause massive innocent casualties because of extreme authorial favoritism, and who should not be considered a role model by '''anyone'''. However, go anywhere in comics fandom and you'll stumble across people who think that Frank Castle is the coolest guy ever and it's a terrible pity that nobody's taking out the bad guys like that in the real world. It doesn't help that the series contains many exciting action scenes that play on readers more "basic" instincts.
* DrinkingGame: Has it's [[DrinkingGame/ThePunisherMAX very own page now]].
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Barracuda, obviously. The man proved so popular that Garth Ennis made it so that he somehow survived his near fatal encounter with the Punisher so he could bring him back for future stories. Hell, the [[BreakoutCharacter man even got]] his [[ComicBook/ThePunisherPresentsBarracuda own mini-series]]!
** Yorkie Mitchell. Frank's snarky, British contact build up quite a decent reputation among the fandom. Certainly helped by his status as the OnlySaneMan.
** Bullseye, gets plenty of love too, thanks to his CrazyAwesome nature, and overall charismatic presence. The man is easily neck-in-neck in terms of popularity with Barracuda as for as being the most iconic villains in the series.
* EvilIsCool: Although the writers may not have [[MisaimedFandom intended for this effect.]] It's hard not to find the more charismatic villains in the series (think the Kingpin, the aforementioned Barracuda and Bullseye etc) to be extraordinarily badass. Even if they are vile deranged human beings.
* EvilIsSexy: Elektra. Come on, admit it. It doesn't matter what version she is, or how morally depraved she may be. That has never stopped her from being fine as hell.
* FanonDiscontinuity: There are some fans who completely disavow any stories that happened after Garth Ennis left. Which is usually attributed to the old sentiment that OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight.
* FoeYay: Bullseye's fanatical obsession with Frank is this. ''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis Non. Stop]]''. To the point that it is almost certain that this was [[InvokedTrope invoked]] by the writer.

** The conversation between Nick Fury and Frank Castle in ''Valley Forge, Valley Forge''. Where they talk about the potential fallout from the Iraq war, takes on a whole new meaning with the rise of terrorist organizations like ISIS.

* HolyShitQuotient: Issue 18 of Jason Aaron's ''The Punisher MAX'' kicks things off by having [[spoiler: [[JokerImmunity Frank blowing]] [[SubvertedTrope Bullseye's brains out while he's in a coma.]]]] Then moves on to [[spoiler: Kingpin laying waste to his own lieutenants, then proceeding to have sex with Elektra amid the carnage]], followed by [[spoiler: Elektra and Mrs. Fisk getting it on]], and finally, out of nowhere [[spoiler: [[MoralEventHorizon Frank digs up the remains of Kingpin's eight-year-old son]]]].

** General Zakharov of the "Mother Russia" and "Man of Stone" story arcs. He was sent to investigate the attempted theft of a bioweapon, and when the Punisher goes in to steal it he keeps his identity secret, to the point of letting Moscow think an American trained terrorist group who hijacked a plane for a suicide bombing on Moscow were Al Qaeda. He reasoned that Russia would be too scared to fight Arab terrorists, but were prepared for nuclear war with America, and watched as Castle hid inside a nuclear missile and faked a missile attack to escape. [[MoralEventHorizon Then there was how he fought in Afghanistan...]]
** Frank himself has his moments, such as how he gets out of a seemingly impossible situation during the "Mother Russia" arc, or in the one-shot "The Cell"...
** Delta Force commander George Howe is strongly hinted at the end of "Valley Forge, Valley Forge"[[note]]in the form of a far-too-late voicemail from the generals' envoy, Lieutenant Geller, by now on a flight away from the area[[/note]] to have suckered the cabal of generals as soon as the start of the arc -- possibly even before their ringleader revealed his big idea to the other generals -- and before that ending the generals belated realize at a dinner that Howe held all the cards: They'd tasked Howe with a black op on American soil so outside the law that they could neither stop nor safely punish him if he quit, his men were effectively preventing the generals' man from circumventing their commander, and Howe only agreed to take on the assignment with intent to bring the Punisher in for trial... so he ''won't'' have the Punisher killed, the generals' insider is incapable of killing the Punisher for them, they have no control over what happens with the tape[[note]]which Howe suspects that they were seeking even more than the Punisher's death[[/note]], and they have no leverage with which to do ''anything'' about Howe's actions.

* MisaimedFandom: If you've read the Punisher's main YMMV page already, then you'll know that the character has become very popular with members of the American armed forces as of late. Much to the chagrin of creator Gerry Conway, who was a conscientious objector during The Vietnam War and explicitly wrote the Punisher as a ''bad guy''. How popular has he became? Well in one scene early on in the controversial war movie, ''American Sniper'', one of the main characters fellow SEAL's can be seen reading a Punisher comic. And if you look closely, you can see that it's issue #1 of ''ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX''. Later in the film, the main character and his SEAL platoon go on to call themselves "''the Punishers''", and spray-paint the skull logo on their gear as they go around laying waste to the enemy. A [[http://www.vulture.com/2015/01/american-sniper-comics-punisher.html Vulture article]] goes in depth explaining how this homage is both eerily perfect, ''and terrifying''.

** The Slavers were already far over the horizon, what with kidnapping young girls and beating and gang-raping them to break their spirits, but when Viorica escapes with her baby and seeks refuge with Jen Cooke, they track her down to Cooke's apartment and steal the baby back then later send an e-mail with a photo attached [[spoiler: of the lifeless baby]].

** The cabal of generals first introduced in the "Mother Russia" arc. [[spoiler:To provide a smokescreen for an illegal operation in Russia, they have a team of Arab terrorists they secretly trained for taking out targets inside friendly countries hijack a passenger plane and attempt a suicide bombing on Moscow, only for the plane to be shot down by the missile defenses.]]
** Kingpin has one of the worst in the series. [[spoiler: Faced with his old enemies holding his son at knife point, and forced to choose between saving his little boy's life and killing the last people standing in his way, he coldly shoots them, not showing a hint of emotion as his rival cuts the boy's throat. He then embraces his wife and tells her "''we can have another''."]] Even allowing that Kingpin didn't actually had much of a choice there, Kingpin's ''reaction'' to the SadisticChoice was not IDidWhatIHadToDo or a DrowningMySorrows but rather a reflection on [[ItsAllAboutMe how much he didn't really love his son after all]].

** Ironically enough, Frank's first kill falls into this. Although the scenario is played completely straight, and is treated as a major turning point in Frank's life. The seriousness of the moment is slightly undercut by the fact that Frank's first victim was caught... squatting in the bushes, with his pants around his ankles... Taking a ''shit''...
** The already slightly over-the-top (the little girl is being used as a living storage container for an artificial virus that can somehow reduce people to skeletons in less time than it takes to blink) third arc eventually has the Punisher fight a silent kung-fu midget assassin in what was presumably some kind of random, bizarre homage to James Bond or something.
* NauseaFuel: The series is full of it, but probably the worst instance is what happens to Finn Cooley over the course of the series--his face, already blown [[HoistByHisOwnPetard away by a damn bomb of his own design]] gets in steadily worse shape. After his scrape with Castle, half of the right side of his face is missing, with most of the teeth yanked out with the flesh.
** After Pittsy [[spoiler:takes a shotgun slug to the face]], we are treated to a ''highly'' detailed image of of the aftermath. Words do the sight no justice, you'll just have to see it for yourself. Or don't...
* OlderThanTheyThink: The first Marvel character to get a DarkerAndEdgier makeover on the MAX imprint wasn't the Punisher, but Comicbook/NickFury in the miniseries ''[[Comicbook/FuryMax Fury]]'' and ComicBook/WarMachine'' in the maxiseries ''U.S. War Machine'', both of which came out in November 2001.
* SeasonalRot: Most fans will admit that the quality of the series took a nosedive after Garth Ennis left at the end of issue #60. With most of the story arcs that followed afterwards being either too weird (even for the standards of the series), or just not good enough. The drop in quality was so bad that the series was eventually cancelled after issue #75. Thankfully the subsequent 2009 relaunch by Jason Aaron and veteran Punisher artist Creator/SteveDillon (who also did the artwork for the 2001 Punisher relaunch) got the series back on track.
* SignatureScene: This series is without a doubt ''the'' definitive Punisher run of all time. So it's easy to see how Frank's most iconic moments originated from this run.
** From ''The Slavers'', we have Frank [[spoiler:throwing one of the ringleaders behind the slavery operation face first into a shatterproof window multiple times until the window panel finally breaks, causing the ringleader to fall to her death]].

** In ''Mother Russia'', we have [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown Fury taking off his belt and whipping the ever loving fuck out of a crooked military General]] who came up with the whole [[spoiler:"Fake terrorists crashing a passenger jet full of innocent people as a distraction" plan]]. Descriptions do it no justice. As it needs to be [[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FvQxK1ZhRQQ/VfngKr4U_jI/AAAAAAAADXo/xZdcpFIpGHg/s1600/punishermaxrussia11.jpg seen in order to be appreciated]].
* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Given the dark subject material of the series and most of the story arcs. Sometimes, being heavy-handed in one's approach is the ''only'' way to get an important message across. A few notable examples include.
** The ''Slavers'', which includes a lot of information — including a lecture, with slides no less — about the sex slave trade. It's also the story wherein Frank is shown to be absolutely brutal and unrelenting, well beyond his normal extremes, exemplified with the line "It had been a long time since I had hated anyone as much as I hated them."

** Frank himself feels this when, [[spoiler:injured in a gunfight and handcuffed to a bed so he can't stop it from happening, he watches Jenny complete her RoaringRampageOfRevenge: First by beating her sister to death with a baseball bat ''while naked'' for marrying her off to an abusive mobster. Then screwing him to see if she can find any meaning in life now that the last of her tormentors is dead. And finally, the answer being a resounding "no", she shoots herself in the head with Frank's sidearm.]]
** In ''Up is Down and Black is White''. We are treated to a flashback to Nicky Cavella's backstory, and while most of what is featured there is easy NightmareFuel material. The ''real'' creepy part is the sight of Nicky's morbidly obese aunt, "Auntie Mo", forcing herself upon a ''twelve year old'' Cavella. Nicolas' mortified expression during the abhorrent act says it all.
* TearJerker: Has it's very [[TearJerker/ThePunisherMAX own page now]].

** [[spoiler:Kathryn O'Brian. The badass CIA chick whose randomly and cruelly killed off just as soon as she and Frank were ready to ride off into the sunset]].
** [[spoiler:Yorkie Mitchell, get's it even worse. He's killed off AFTER he had just retired from the military.]] Also counts as a KickTheDog moment as well.
** [[spoiler:Bullseye]] arguably qualifies as a villainous example. After all. Can you think of ''any'' other character who successfully managed to give Frank a brief HeroicBSOD?
** By the end of the series, you can now add [[spoiler:Frank Castle to that list]].
* UncannyValley: Some of the more photo-realistic drawings done by Lewis Larosa, can have this effect for some people. Used to [[InvokedTrope great effect]] in the very first issue with Larosa's ghoulish illustrations of Frank's [[spoiler:dead family.]]

** Nicolas Cavella, a smug mob chump who had the ''ingenious'' idea to dig up the remains of Frank's family and ''urinate on them''. And then release the footage to the news media in the hopes of infuriating Castle. [[{{UnderStatement}} This goes over about as well as you would imagine]]. For starters, ''it doesn't even work'': Instead of going after Cavella, Frank instead murders the hell out of everyone ''but'' Cavella, demanding that the city re-bury his family's remains, or he'll keep murder-spreeing until they do. When they finally do bury the remains, ''then'' Frank goes after Cavella, [[TranquilFury completely calm]] and '''''[[RoaringRampageOfRevenge utterly vindictive]]'''''. Cavella spent the intervening time oscillating between gloating that the Punisher was terrified of him and doing his work of taking out other gangs, and batshit paranoid that Frank was going to kill him at any second.
** The Eight Generals are entirely ''built off of this trope''. Every single decision they make continues to get them in more and more trouble. By the end, they've given up on trying to advance their own self-interests and are just trying to save their own asses.

** Galina, the sweet, innocent, little six year girl who is being used as a guinea pig by the Russian government. All so they can perfect a flesh eating super virus which exist in her blood stream.

** The Eight Generals are entirely ''built off of this trope''. Every single decision they make continues to get them in more and more trouble. By the end, they've given up on trying to advance they're own self-interests and are just trying to save their own asses.

** [[spoiler:Kathryn O'Brian. The badass CIA chick whose randomly and cruelly killed off just as soon as she and Frank where ready to ride off into the sunset]].

* JustForFun/XMeetsY:
** ''Welcome to the Bayou'' is basically "take an ActionHero like the Punisher and place him in a SlasherMovie", complete with deranged hillbillies and sexy psycho farmer chicks!
** ''Mother Russia'' is more like a Cold War-era action film starring The Punisher. Alternatively: "[[DieHardOnAnX Die Hard in a missile silo]]." Albeit a ''very'' dark version of this.

* MemeticMutation: Behold Creator/SteveDillion's everlasting legacy, ''[[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/frank-castles-face Frank Face]]''.

** The already slightly over-the-top (the little girl is being used as a living storage container for an artificial virus that can somehow reduce people to skeletons in less time than it takes to blink) third arc eventually has the Punisher fight a silent kung-fu midget assassin in what was presumably some kind random, bizarre homage to James Bond or something.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: In ''In the Beginning'', Frank refuses to hunt terrorists for the CIA because he has serious questions on how they'd pay for it; turns out the handler is already funding his operations with Afghan heroin. Ennis took a lot of heat from conservative reviewers for this, causing him to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegations_of_CIA_drug_trafficking revisit]] the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_involvement_in_Contra_cocaine_trafficking subject]] ''[[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped repeatedly]]'' - and, well... [[http://www.globalresearch.ca/drug-war-american-troops-are-protecting-afghan-opium-u-s-occupation-leads-to-all-time-high-heroin-production/5358053 see for yourself.]]