Surgery=$$$ & Comics

Hey, just wanted to note that my appendicitis surgery would cost me about 20 grand if I wasn't getting some charitable assistance. Surgery is really expensive.

So, I recently was shown this Punisher/Kingpin comic. I am reminded that the Punisher is an asshole. It's not the comic for me because I can't root for a guy who can't see the full spectrum of morality and has no mercy for anyone. Meanwhile the Kingpin is equally ruthless and takes his own vengeance. The difference is, for Kingpin, despite causing a lot of collateral damage trying to attain his goals, revenge is more personal for him. He has some flashbacks where he goes to great lengths to exact vengeance and it is satisfying. The writers do a good job of convincing you that his vengeance is totally just which is much harder to do for Frank when his revenge isn't limited to those responsible for his origins but for every criminal ever. A lot of "superheroes" share this, but Frank almost always takes his methods further than he should.

I will say the Punisher reminds me of Batman. Both have no superpowers when they live in a world filled with super powered folks. Because of this, their stories shine most when you IGNORE the rest of their world. When they get thrown into stories with folks that have actual superpowers they just feel out of place, and those are the stories that end up not being entertaining to me. I feel like the only reason this happens is because of their popularity.

Basically they should stick to their own mythos, and keep their noses out of other hero's business.