The Punisher is a Jerk - Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man #82

Don't get me wrong, I love the Punisher, he is awesome.  Also, I am all for street justice but this portrayal of him in Perter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man #82 is laughable

The first page (above) is a classic inner monologue, which the Punisher is famous for but that's where things start to get screwy...

Page 2-3: Punisher thinks, "Yes, It's gotten worse. When society's incapable of curbing crime, even the common citizenry become criminals."  He hears a couple yelling in a building across the street and looks in time to see the man back hand the women.  So, what does he do?  He OPENS FIRE!  As a husband, men that hit their wives disgust me but shooting at them with an automatic assault rifle is maybe a bit extreme.  I could maybe understand the Punishers decision here when he thinks, "Crime, if left unpunished, breeds further crime.  A man's crime of battery against his wife today makes him a capable of committing a crime against others tomorrow", but lets move on.

Page 3:  The Punisher see's a couple walking together in the rain holding a newspaper over their heads to keep them dry...

Page 4:  The couple drops the paper, missing the waste basket.  The Punisher thinks (and this is my favorite), "Littering is a crime against society." and OPENS FIRE on the couple.  Seriously?  What the hell Frank?!  When did you lose your damn mind?

Page 4-5:  A cab enters the scene and hears the gunshots.  Looking to see what is going on he misses the traffic light turning red.  The Punisher thinks, "That light is red.  The cabbie is plowing right through it. Another crime..." and again OPENS FIRE!

Since when is the Punisher a psychopath that uses a sub machine gun to rain down righteous justice for traffic violations?  This is the most extreme and ridiculous thing I've ever seen the Punisher do and couldn't help but laugh the whole time I was reading it.  This book was written in 1983 and the character has evolved a ton since then but I can't believe this was typical for him even then!  I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more outrageous Punisher "judgments" now that I've seen this.

Wishing I had a submachine gun,
~Steve