The Punisher, a name that sounds like the cold, metallic hammer of justice. Today well known thanks to his film and television adaptations, the vigilante at Marvel is not very young and hides deep inside him a part of American history. Between post-traumatic stress disorder and the quest for revenge, there is only one step. This is the story of Frank Castle, aka the Punisher.
Post-traumatic stress disorder
In order to better understand the circumstances surrounding the creation of the Punisher, we need to do a bit of history. Indeed, the story of this iconic Marvel character is intimately linked to a pivotal period in American history: the Cold War.
The influence of the Vietnam War
In this conflict between the Eastern (USSR) and Western (USA) blocs, the world experienced two types of fighting. On the one hand, conflicts via so-called "peripheral" oppositions, and on the other, an information war. Among the various peripheral conflicts known by the United States, there is one that marked the collective consciousness forever, the Vietnam War (1955-1975). 
Moreover, many comic book heroes address the ravages of this war, including the Watchmen and Iron Man! 
Following this deadly conflict that saw the defeat of the Americans, public opinion was deeply marked by the violence of the fighting. In addition, some soldiers returning from the front were suffering from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). 
Post-traumatic stress disorder refers to a type of severe anxiety disorder resulting from exposure to a traumatic experience. This psychological reaction can occur as a result of various experiences such as experiences of torture, or witnessing certain violent acts on the battlefield. Nowadays, this kind of psychological disorder is treated quite well, especially through discussion groups and psychological follow-up, but this was not always the case.
A disease we talk about
For many years, thousands of veterans traumatized by their military experience were ignored by the society they had helped safeguard. Thanks to cinema, these disorders are now highlighted in order to educate the population, the best known example being undoubtedly the character of John Rambo.
Nothing is finished! Nothing! Everything continues because of you […] I did what I had to do to win, but they didn't want to let us win. And came back into the world and I saw these larvae waiting for me at the airport, shouting at me like a criminal, […], they called me "butcher". […] They judge us, they don't know what they're talking about!
Although the film Rambo first blood is intended as entertainment, it testifies to the rejection that some soldiers experienced once they returned from Vietnam. Moreover, for many years, the Vietnam War was a real taboo for many Americans. 
Thanks to cinema and television series, post-traumatic stress among soldiers is now well known, from American Sniper to Band of brothers, many movies and series talk about it. 
Following this example, comics, one of the most widely read media in the world, had to address the thing. Thus, the artists of the "house of ideas" created the Punisher!
A hero, a vigilante, a soldier
A war hero
Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, first appeared in 1974, in Amazing Spider-Man No. 129. Nowadays, the hero carrying death has become a true icon and the skull he sports on his chest has become a universal symbol of justice throughout the world. 
A child from a modest background, Frank Castle quickly joined the army, where he eventually became a SEAL, like Chris Kyle, a recognized American war hero! 
Quickly deployed to Vietnam, Castle built a reputation by punishing various officers guilty of corruption. Several times decorated, the character embodies the patriotic hero par excellence and becomes a model for many soldiers in the making.
A bloody homecoming
After the war, Castle was reunited with his wife and two children. However, during an outing in Central Park, they witness a settling of scores between gangs and his family perished under the bullets of criminals. Miraculously surviving the attack, the soldier demands justice. The police being at the mercy of the gangs of the city, he decides to become the Punisher, a vigilante with radical methods. 
For the Punisher, the war will never end. Indeed, the skull vigilante is aware that despite his efforts to exercise expeditious justice, evil never dies. This is the reason why he continually fights against killers, rapists and dealers. 
Having lost all attachment, the Punisher desperately seeks meaning in his life, like many veterans returning to civilian life. This is what drives him to fight for a cause that he knows is lost in advance.
A hero or a murderer?
With such a character, the Marvel authors question the very notion of hero, because after all, the Punisher kills only those "who deserve it", but does a man have the right to be both judge and executioner? This questioning finds a certain echo, when the antihero finds himself facing Daredevil. 
Thus, lawyer Matt Murdock – Daredevil – represents the law, a justice framed by the Constitution of the United States, while the Punisher echoes the violence committed during the war. Frank Castle is a soldier who has never really returned from the battlefield and sees the world as a huge war zone. 
This tragic-looking antihero appears at a time when a wave of crime is hitting major American cities. In this context, the Punisher quickly became very popular with readers, entitled to its own film adaptation, as early as 1989. Since then, the popularity of the character has continued to grow until in 2017, he is entitled to his own Netflix series ! 
Bruised heroes
A soldier can be forever scarred by what he can see at the front, why would it be any different for a superhero? Thanks to the Netflix series, dedicated to the Punisher, post-traumatic stress disorder has taken a more important place in the history of the vigilante. In particular, we see several times groups of words or veterans of the Iraqi conflict exchanging their experiences. 
This psychological disorder is actually much more present in the world of superheroes than it seems and the Punisher is just one example among others. Supervillain Magneto was tortured while a prisoner of a death camp during World War II. Batman witnessed the death of his parents as a child, while Doctor Strange broke his hands in a car accident. 
The traumatic event is actually at the origin of the birth of many heroes and supervillains. In a sense, post-traumatic stress disorder is one of the foundations of the comic book hero. It forces the individual to question and change their perspective on the world, with some choosing to work for good, and others for evil. Nowadays, this psychological disorder has taken a growing place in American society, especially since the events of September 11, 2001, which traumatized a whole part of the population and continue to influence the lives of many Americans. 
The Cold War was a period of doubt for Americans, marked by fear of a new world conflict. In this context, the authors of comics also wanted to testify to this period of tension with more mature heroes evoking social phenomena. The Punisher is one of those testimonials. Hero, vigilante, he is a man broken by the horrors of war, a witness to the ravages of fighting on the minds of soldiers. More than a hero, it has become a symbol!
