Fanboy vs. Self Article by Stafffighter, 11:59 PM 24th Dec The simplicity is that we write about comics because we love comics. We love the stories, the characters and the allegories they represent. Love is what keeps us spending adult energy, intellect and money on what has been largely considered a children’s medium. And when you love something it’s only natural to be protective of it. Comic book fans are protective of our favorite characters the same way someone would be of their favored sports team or beleaguered celebrity. The definition in this case is that the characters are not real people and thus cannot defend themselves from mistreatment, even if they are Vietnam veterans who’ve been the scourge of the underworld for over thirty years. I am of course referencing here The Punisher, whom I discovered as a pre-teen and, with an occasional lapse, have followed since. In that time I have grown from the predictable “Cool, he shoots guys.” to the more detailed “These are psychological and societal nuisances that make it cool that he shoots guys.” I even came to be involved in this site because it’s founder saw me mention The Punisher in a discussion about gun control. To say the least, I feel some involvement with him. The site and The Punisher came together once again recently when it was my responsibility to review the latest film adaptation of the character “Punisher: War Zone” Given the age we live in its almost impossible to walk into a film completely unsure of it’s content. Somewhere in the media blitz of television trailers, extended and un-rated online trailers, cast postings and news from the set it was made clear that this was not a film I would be impressed by. Left to my own devices I would have complained to one or two people about the treatment and then simply not gone. Professionally this was unfortunately not an option. In the theater my fears were realized. On the screen there was a man bearing a resemblance to The Punisher and calling himself The Punisher who was by no means acting in the role of The Punisher. This man was jittery, unsure and monotoned. From the perspective of a literary adaptation this was merely untrue to the source material, a risky move but forgivable when done well. Art is of course a living thing. If some new perspective of the character was being brought forth that was something I had to be open to. This whole time my inner fan boy was screaming to me, and not politely, that this was not The Punisher. It didn’t help that they in fact didn’t do well at all. This was not the man who once batted away Captain Americas’ shield. This was not the man who tracked down an old war buddy who’d snapped and killed his family for the sheer sake of putting a bullet in him and sparing him the media circus. This was not the man who time and time again fought alongside super spies, web slingers and metal boned mutants. This was a man in an action flick. Personally, I have nothing against an action flick. They’re enjoyable diversions for one in the right mindset. But this was The Punisher. Someone had dared to make the affront of a mere action flick out of The Punisher. I hated the movie for this. I hated it vehemently. So strong was my anger that I had to take time to rant angrily towards anyone who would listen about what had been done before I could sit down and write anything not monosyllabic and curse laden. I took that time for one reason, because my job was not to rant, but to review. In the end it’s simpler than we make it. We all of us need that inner fanatic. The fanatic is what keeps us devoted and demands the quality of work that when delivered circles back and fuels us. It’s for the art we need the fanatic. It’s also why at times we have to restrain it. Back to Rants