I found this book (a collection of the 4-part mini series simply titled
BORN) to be an exciting read, having a good storyline (another triumph for Mr. Ennis), which I at no time wished to put down. Another great book among many in the PUNISHER cannon, and I would definitely recommend it to any of you, or anyone if they wished to know what initial spark kindles a soldier into burning, and from that burning a white-hot, roaring Punisher might be BORN!
However, I was overall saddened by it. Remembering that dark chapter in American history (the Vietnam conflict), knowing that sh*t like this more than likely DID happen (American Soldiers raping female POWs), and that it's likely to happen all over again.
In an odd way, the color scheme too (mostly a sickening gray) played a part in my discomfort. Just looking at the Backgrounds made me think (aside from the obvious "You might get killed!" aspect) I would not want to be there. It reminded me of those endless dreary winter days and there endless, dreary gray skies. I would be depressed every time I opened my eyes.
But the main cause of my unhappiness was seeing Frank Castle, a hero of mine, someone I have come to love and respect through many years of comic collecting, so raw, so inhuman, so teetering on the edge of outright madness. I didn't like staring into this abyss and couldn't help but wonder how it might adversely affect me, if I'd liked what I saw. As the boy reading
THE NEVER-ENDING STORY had the ability to affect what he read, I almost wanted to shout: "Say No, Frank! Say No to this evil thing that offers you an ongoing, ceaseless war! Turn back now! There's still a chance!" All these things made the experience less like reading, and more like suffering along with a friend.
I looked at the actual Vietnam photos which followed the main story, remembering that I myself know men who served in that war, and that many of them are not whole, having left some piece of their sanity in the jungles of South East Asia.
At its completion, I wanted nothing more than to put
PUNISHER: BORN back into it's bag, seal the tape, place it in its assigned position in my "BOOKS" box, turn out the light, and, had I a girlfriend, put my arms around her, hold her tightly, and be thankful that I myself have never experienced anything as horrible as open warfare.
Despite my trauma from this reading experience, I now see its point: this is what turns a soldier simply doing his duty, into a Punisher.