A what if scenario where Frank lives in Gotham and his family is killed by a gang there and becomes The Punisher. What interesting stories could be told about The Punisher in Gotham.
Think of it as an elseworld or what-if scenario where you could do whatever you want.
Joker is dead in three pages
Frank runs into real problems as GCPD as repeatedly shown they won't tolerate a murderous vigilante and the grand spectacle nature of the crimes committed by most Gotham rogues would have Frank operating in the open far more often than he prefers. He'd do pretty well against the gangster types, but guys like Riddler and Scarecrow would run circles around him, and Ra's, modern Poison Ivy, and Clayface would be nigh untouchable without major changes in how Frank works.
>joker afraid of dying and pleading for his life
>That art
>The gun
Why?
I think 70% of them would be him escaping from prison, going on a killing spree, then getting caught by Batman, sent back to prison, so that the cycle can begin anew
Pretty good deal for Frank. Gotham's prisons seem shittier and easier to break out of than New York's.
>One of the Jokers is dead in three pages
it's not funny when someone is willing to kill the clown, he gets away with shit with Bruce because they love each other. Frank plays no games
I suppose there could be a story where he fakes insanity to get admitted into Arkham while a load of the rogues gallery are incarcerated there, he bumps off a few D-listers that editorial have decided are lame, but he's stopped before he can kill/get killed by any of the big-name villains
It depends on the Joker. The animated series Joker was afraid of dying if he was just killed by some nobody instead of a grand finale with Batman. So he could not be afraid of dying but maybe he could be afraid of the way he dies. Like being shot dead in some dirty alley by some guy he doesn't even know. That wouldn't be funny for him.
Only Arkham. Sane criminals go to Blackgate, which has a much notably lower escape/breakout rate.
In standard canon sure. But we're talking about a what-if type scenario where people can have fun with the characters.
Which category would Castle fit in
Frank.
He's probably afraid of being taken out by some random guy with a gun instead of Batman.
Frank is straight up Blackgate material.
It's fine, he's got spares.
I remember in JLA/Avengers, Batman easily beat his ass off screen, I think.
I think it was a first encounter which took Frank by surprise.
I do wonder how Frank would adjust to Gotham and account for Batman when he does his thing. It would be interesting.
Frank would have difficulty because his entire shtick is going after the criminals that the capes don't touch, except Batman regularly goes after organized and street crime. The problem with Frank in Gotham is that for all the wanking Batman does operate at street level regularly. A much better hero to put him up against would be Green Arrow.
that's fine, Frank has enough ammo for all of them.
I figured Batman would be tough for Frank but I figure Frank could still get away with killing criminals despite Batman's efforts. Frank is no stranger to capes like Daredevil or Spider-Man.
But since in this scenario his beginning takes place in Gotham he would have no experience with capes it would take him a lot longer and many encounters to deal with Batman.
Give me a minute I'll go grab the pasta from archive
>Batman vs the Punisher
>The Joker is dead
>Found with a hole in his head in a back alley, with a dozen of his goons
>The next day Black Mask stages a breakout from Blackgate prison only for him, Firefly and half a dozen others to be sniped as they exited the prison.
>Batman goes to the Penguin for dirt only to find the Iceberg Lounge shot to hell, and Penguin squawking his last squawk to him about a crazed gunman wearing a skull
>Batman goes full crackdown and begins monitoring traffic
>Finds footage of an unmarked van approaching each scene shortly prior to the killings.
>Locates it at present approaching one of Two-Face's hideouts
>Speeds there as quickly as possible and finds the van parked in an alley, opens it to find enough explosives to level the entire block. Disarms them, but by then the gunman has killed everyone in the safehouse
>Two Face is shooting it out with him, but while he's distracted fighting the Punisher Harvey sneaks out their coin and flips it. Comes up heads just as Batman bursts in.
>"I win! This time, I win!" Harvey leaps out from cover and with open arms is gunned down. Batman is horrified and finally meets Frank Castle in the flesh. The two fight, but Frank is almost out of ammunition and has to resort to CQC, which Batman utterly demolishes him in, snapping Frank's arm like a twig and demanding answers as to his identity and why he's in Gotham.
>Punisher only tells him he's there to clean up his mess, before Alfred warns Bruce he's detected a SECOND mass of explosives.
>It detonates, and the building falls on them both, Batman escaping only by allowing Frank to slip away.
>At the cave, Batman does his homework and learns Punisher's life story as Frank Castle and the work he's done, along with a chilling detail in his recent history
>Barracuda, the one crook Punisher has pursued and failed to kill, has come to Gotham - and was last seen making contact with representatives of Bane and KGBeast.
>Bruce muses that under normal circumstances he wouldn't mind to see Bane or Beast dead, but it's a moot point - innocents are dying in the collateral, Frank's acting sloppier than normal. He must be chasing Barracuda desperately, and killing any criminal who can't or won't give him the leads he needs. And right now, Jason is out of contact on deep cover in Bane's gang. His life is in danger.
>At a support group for recovering villains, the Ventriloquist, the Carpenter and others have gathered to share their stories, only for the therapist to be Frank in disguise. He springs a gun and demands Scarface cough up info on Barracuda. The Carpenter tries a sneak attack to protect the others but gets shot for her trouble. Wesker is so scared he rats out Scarface and tells him the location of KGBeast's hideout, which is where Barracuda has gone for some sort of big exchange. Punisher shoots them all dead - except Wesker, who after Punisher leaves takes off his disguise and reveals himself as Jason Todd. He uses his first aid skills as best he can and saves the Carpenter's life, and the two sneak away as the GCPD show up, and Jim Gordon becomes personally motivated to find and bring in Castle.
>Batman has used his own methods to find his way to the wharfs in Gotham, where an underground storage facility has been modified into a fortress by KGBeast. He has snuck in on his own and finds Barracuda inside a lab monitored by scientists as they infuse him with a new form of Venom, supplied by Bane and modified at the molecular level by KGBeast's old Soviet-era contacts to become a non-addictive megadrug capable of turning a man into a monster, and Barracuda into, well, worse. Batman is nearly caught by Bane suspecting his presence, but they're interrupted by the Punisher's arrival in the form of multiple explosives blowing up the outer fortifications of the facility. Bane goes to deal with the problem, giving Batman the opening he needs.
>Batman sabotages the equipment before Barracuda can receive the full treatment, but even a partial dose makes him so strong Bane looks like a joke. He's faster too, and with a pistol and his fists beats Batman to a bloody pulp in minutes.
>Bruce turns the tables briefly by overloading the electrical equipment and knocking Barracuda unconscious, only to be jumped by KGBeast, who Bruce is no match for in an even fight - which is irrelevant, because the instant his back is turned the Beast gets a sonic-speed screw shot through the back of his skull, dropping him. Batman's rescuer: the Carpenter, urging him to come with her, the Red Hood had sent her there assuming Bruce was already trying to solve the problem by himself, but the real problem right now is Bane.
>Bane arrives at the carnage of Frank's entry point and is nearly sniped like Black Mask, but he's wise to Frank's tricks and studied up with Barracuda's help. He uses grenades to flush out the Punisher, and the vigilante is already down an arm courtesy Batman, so out in the open he's at a huge disadvantage.
>Frank's laid traps and is covered head to toe in deadly weapons, but Bane is too clever to fall for most and stands ready to crush him before Red Hood comes from the shadows and slices him up. He and Frank cooperate long enough to topple Bane on their own, then turn their guns on each other.
>Batman arrives and talks it out with Frank, demanding he leave the city while Bruce arrests Barracuda. Castle calls him naïve thinking Barracuda will stay locked up, and that as pure collateral Frank's already fixed most of Gotham's crime problem just trying to bring the man down.
>Batman responds by listing the names of every innocent who died as "more collateral" of Frank's rampage, arguing that by acting as an executioner the Punisher only takes the place of the crooks he kills. He's punishment, with no justice.
>This is all cut short as the GCPD storm the place and Barracuda crashes the party at the same time, killing several cops and taking Jim Gordon hostage before speeding off in a cruiser. Punisher and Batman agree to a brief truce long enough to stop Barracuda, and pursue him in the Batmobile, pursuing him out of Gotham and into the swamps.
>Later that night, Barracuda is relaxing at an old swamp cabin, in a rocking chair drinking Irish coffee with his feet propped up on Gordon like a footrest, as Batman approaches alone.
>Barracuda ain't scared none of the clown in the big bat suit, and the two banter about how ridiculous Batman looks. Bruce puffs and postures but Barracuda doesn't take none of it and dresses down how he isn't scary because he's frightening, he's just scary cause he hurts you. And Barracuda's not afraid of getting hurt, so what's Batman to him? "Nothin' at all, nigga."
>Batman informs him as a boy he studied theater. And the first thing they teach you in theater is how to keep the audience's eyes fixed on you, and not what's behind the curtain.
>Frank has snuck into the cabin through the back door and smashes through the window, jabbing a knife into Barracuda's throat, but the big guy's so fucking jacked on Venom it doesn't put him down. He lifts Frank up by the neck, who pulls on strings he held to activate a dozen guns he'd set up on tripods within the cabin, which riddle Barracuda full of holes. He loses his balance when Gordon takes the chance to lunge at the giant's knees, and they topple into a pile, beating Jim and Frank to hell. He gets up and goes for round two with Batman, joined by Jason Todd, but even together the dynamic duo gets fucked up, with Jason getting shot by his own gun and left for dead.
>Barracuda drags Batman into the swamp to drown him in the muck, only to find Carpenter there in the Batmobile waiting, ensnaring him in a tow cable to pull him into the mud. In the thick muck Batman is able to finally gain the upper hand.
>But no matter what Batman breaks, Barracuda won't stay down, and Bruce is losing steam quickly. He's only saved by Frank, who ties a cable around Barracuda and himself and forces Carpenter to drag them both to the deepest part of the swamp, where Frank can make sure they'll both drown. Batman tries to stop him, but Frank pops Bruce's knee with a bullet to keep him down long enough. Barracuda and the Punisher disappear into the swamp water never to be seen again.
>The GCPD arrive later and sweep the swamp, but can't find either Frank or Barracuda's bodies. Jim wonders if they survived, and Batman remarks that God willing it won't ever be Gotham's problem if they did. Bruce is unhappy the day was saved with such deadly force, and with KGBeast, Joker, Two Face and so many other gangsters dead, a power vacuum is sure to form - with Bane, or perhaps someone even worse they have yet to conceive of rising to fill it. That's what he'd wanted to show Frank. A cycle of killing never ends.
>"Not unless you let it." shown in dual narration boxes of both Bruce and Frank as the final panel shows Frank emerging from the swamp, bloody beaten and angry.
>Final stinger of the comic is Amanda Waller briefing Task Force X about their next target: the Punisher.
crazy men with a special name, arkham for sure
storytime?