What media adaptions or comic book stories got you into The Punisher?

For me, it was the Spider-man: The Animated Series..I remember seeing the Punisher make a guest appearance and wondered who the heck he was..And then after doing some reserch by reading some of my brothers old comics about the chahrter i starting becoming interested in his stories..And the 2004 movie made me a true fan of the character. So it was a combination of seeing him on Spider-man TAS and reading some of his old issues from the 80s/90s.

Yup, animated series for me, too. Same with Blade.

The Thomas Jane movie.

None, punisher sucks

I originally saw him in his first appearance in Spider Man.

I saw him on the cover of a comic and I thought he looked badass.

Spectacular Spider-Man #141. The first comic I ever bought.

Netflix

Comics.

His first appearances in Spider-Man were actually some of the first comics I ever read. They were included in some omnibus I had bought as a child, ASM 122-234 or something like that (those aren't the exact issues but that is the type of omnibus I had). He was incredibly cool and I've always had a casual interest in him since. Nowadays it's about time I started getting a bit more hardcore about it.

@jumpstart55 thank you for making this thread and nice pics from the Spidey AS!

Ok so for me, I first got hooked into the Punisher when I first saw the 2004 movie starring Thomas Jane. The movie I thought at the time was just awesome in every sense of the word and I became a Punisher fan ever since. I realize now as a Punisher fan 12 years later that the movie just wasn't that good, but I'm still grateful it got me into the character. Thomas Jane's take made me a follower of the Punisher's quest for vengeance.

Next up, the Spiderman animated series was when I got to see an animated and not-as-violent Punisher for the first time. He only made a few guest appearances (3 IIRC) but by then, I declared that he had some really cool moments for a guest character. I like how they did it as a nod to Punisher making his first appearances as a Spidey villain in the Amazing Spiderman comic books (I forgot the exact issues). So that was cool to see. The non-lethal weapons was an ok alternative for the sake of the target audience.

The next thing that elevated my status as a Punisher fan was the actual PS2 video game, which I thought would've been a pretty cool sequel to the 2004 Punisher. I thought the game was what the actual movie wasn't. Very dark and gritty material. The story and gameplay was just over the top IMO. The torture and kill methods of the game were just sweet. It was so violent that it became controversial for its nature, but I was totally ok with it for a then-10 year old kid. A movie based on the game wouldn't have been so bad now that I think about it.

Couple years later, Punisher: War Zone came out and wow I was just blown away by how disgusting the movie was, even for the Punisher. I found the movie to be flawed, but the best live action Punisher material at the time. It was what the first two movies weren't. A little goofy Jigsaw was distracting, but Microchip was pretty decent as an ally to Frank. It didn't give the character justice per say, but the movie got me into reading the actual comic books afterward.

By this time, I was already a Punisher fanboy. I wish I could throw in how the comic books by Garth Ennis changed my childhood, but it would be a 5 page essay paper. Long story short: Welcome Back Frank and the Punisher volumes were simply the best comic books that I've ever read. Thank you Garth Ennis!

Anyway, last but no least, the Daredevil Season 2. When I found out that Frank Castle was going to be introduced into the MCU, I was pretty excited because live action hadn't really done the character justice IMO until this point. I honestly had somewhat lower than usual expectations because the track record wasn't sharp. Finally, I watched the season and I think Jon Bernthal is the best actor to portray the Punisher to date. The story, acting, and amazing highlights made me proud of Marvel to finally bring the character justice after three not so good attempts prior.

Until the Punisher series comes out, I guess I can just keep reading the Punisher comic books that I already have and plan to get the new one that IIRC just came out. Thanks for allowing me to share. This is a character that reasonates deep within and I'm glad to share how I got permanently hooked into the dark mind of Frank Castle.