I know taste is subjective, but this just feels wrong. This is not The Punisher.
Okay, sure; I can accept Frank feeling guilty about the death of an innocent. What I can’t accept is this:
That panel should never have been written, let alone drawn.
Frank Castle would never put a gun IN HIS MOUTH!!!*
*deep breath*
I’m done with this book.
*It’s very likely that in the character’s lengthy publishing history this is not the first time a writer has put a gun in Frank’s mouth, so when I say “never” I am obviously stating my subjective opinion, not fact. But if these writers had any “taste”, I wouldn’t need this disclaimer. Heh.
read/RANT! 
Why wouldn’t Frank put a gun in his mouth? You shouldn’t create boundaries of what characters would and would NEVER do. Humans can never imagine what behavior they would exhibit given the extremity of the situation, or the emotion.
Frank is a just a man. A man who happens to value the lives of the innocent, perhaps close to as much as he de-values the lives of the guilty. He now counts himself amongst the guilty. He feels he deserves to die; that death is a worthy PUNISHment. He is The Punisher, afterall.
It makes me sympathize with him. It shows the depth of the guilt he feels. So guilty that he is considering suicide. This is part of Frank’s journey. Who’s to say what he would and would never do?
who’s to say? i mean, i am.
i thought i made it pretty clear that this review (if you can even call it that, since it barely qualifies) is neither fair, balanced or objective. it is a RANT. this is a fine example of just how incoherently opinionated as i can get.
that’s not to say that i don’t understand where you’re coming from. when i really thought about it, i pretty much came to the same conclusions as you did… the difference is that my fanboy bias, when it comes to this argument, will always swing me away from reason.
if the writer created his own Punisher-like character and took him down this path, i would totally buy in. but not with the actual Punisher. sorry. 😦
Crap! I guess I have to comment on this now! I was going to, but…you know. Anyway, I pretty much figured that Billy would see the logic in Frank’s decision. It was pretty predictable to me (So so sadly Billy, I think I’ll be joining you in dropping this book 😦 . But I may pick up the first issue of Remender’s run. Punisher fights the Sentry?!). But I also understand your complaint Billy.
Morrison comes to mind. He has a rule that Superman can’t cry. So, if Billy was writing Punisher (or when he reads about his zany adventures) he doesn’t like Frank to put a gun in his mouth. I think that’s what you’re going for, right Billy?
Also, don’t forget, Frank DID put a gun in his mouth at the end of the Jane Punisher 😉 .
I saw this after 9 years you post it, and I should say that you know nothing and absolutely nothing about Frank obviously.Of course, writers don’t and can’t write a thing that is not fit to the character.Because character is already exist after some time.For this story, punisher would never hurt a little child and you should already know that because of his dead kids and else.He has good in his heart.Also darkness.He knows he will be punished for what he has done.To my perspective, he has done nothing and I would/could die for him instead in exchange.But every hero knows and thinks that they are guilty somehow.
To sum up, he thought he killed the little girl and he should have been punished.Who’s gonna punish him? Who is better punishing someone more than him? Nobody.So he would put a frickin gun to his mouth and not only kill himself but punish himself…