" hes just a jarhead, whos good with guns. no serum no radioactive exposure no special poweers "

You mean "highly" in terms of threat level, or highly as in he's popular? If it's the latter , I feel sorry for you since you think that you have to have powers to be a good character.

"@brc2000: ok i mean in popularity, and i dont think powers make heroes good, i liek heroes such as batman and green lantern, who are powerless. i just dont think he shoiuld go up against some of marvels finest, say venom, spiderman, deadpool, etc. "

Not exactly. To wield a green lantern ring, you have to have incredible willpower. 

Eh, I think his militrary training and high tech weaponry gives him the edge over a lot of the non-powered humans and street level metas. Anyway he's no longer and ordinary human, at least for the time being.

@brc2000:
regardless Hal is powerless, and John is too, except for the amazing power of "WILL", but were talking about punisher, i just want to hear different oppinions i think hes overhyped.

Sorry I meant that for Punisher not GL.

I do not think highly of Punisher at all. 

yea but hes got his own movie and put against marvel heroes who could easily own him

"

yea but hes got his own movie and put against marvel heroes who could easily own him

"

I am not a Punisher fan

I'm a huge Punisher fan.

" I'm a huge Punisher fan. "

" @geraldthesloth said:

" I'm a huge Punisher fan. "

SLLLLLOOOOOTHHHHHH!!!! "

" @erik said:

" @geraldthesloth said:

" I'm a huge Punisher fan. "

SLLLLLOOOOOTHHHHHH!!!! "

ERRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!! "

" I'm a huge Punisher fan. "

I'm also a big Punisher fan. As for reasons why he's so popular, I think everyone's already listed them. As a normal person (well, normal compared to super powered heroes/villains in Marvel universe), he's stood his ground for a few decades now. He also has a cool logo that works well on shirts and marketing materials. He's had 3 movies, none of which were highly rated nor highly received by critics or fans. 
 
Also, the Punisher's popularity currently isn't selling a lot of issues. Take a look at Diamond's top 500 comics list for Dec 09 (Jan not out yet). Punisher (616) is pretty low there. I think it's around 25k per month. Punisher issue #12 was ranked #84 for December. That's below Archie (#83), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (#38), and Spider-Woman (#71).
 
As a long time follower, I jumped off the 616 Punisher boat and landed on the MAX Punisher (PunisherMAX). The Punisher fits great into the MAX universe. I'm not fond of the current 616 Frankencastle concept, so that title was kicked off my pull list and replaced with PunisherMAX. Luckily, PunisherMAX #1 came out just as the Frankencastle story-arch started. Redemer can write anything he wants about Punisher - I'm not knocking his writing nor the artwork, I just already know what I like about Frank and that's not it, so I choose to buy another Punisher title to get my Punisher fix.
 
As for a non-super powered hero/anti-hero getting along with supers, just look at Nick Fury. Punisher is basically a mix between Nick Fury and the opposite of Captain America (Steve Rodgers) using the anti-hero archetype.
 
I believe there's a place for the Punisher in 616, but I don't know if there's a current writer willing to reboot the current series and put him back alongside the supers. I'd loved to have seen him team up with Nick Fury in some sort of secret military/spy like team to infiltrate and destroy bad guys, but a writer would need to get Frank back to being somewhat mentally stable and work through some of his angry management issues. Maybe Frank can talk to whoever Moon Knight talked with to get his senses back. Heh, maybe Moon Knight should tell Frank which psychologist to see to work through his issues.

Yeah i have to say Punisher is sort of a one dimensional character.  OK im sorry your family is dead(how many years ago) and thanks for killing all those gangsters.....now what else you got for me?  Oh youre gonna kill a mob boss now...ok thats a little better....anything else? no? thats youre whole bag of tricks??
 
i mean really guys...he doesnt need powers to make him a good character but hes not really that good a character anyway so why not try giving him some powers for a while.  But yeah just driving around killing criminals is not only boring but somehow inherently wrong and doesnt make him much of a hero (or an anti-hero) because murdering murderers...just makes you a murderer

some times crazy is a super power

Well if u red the origins of the Punisher, it may indicate that he made a deal with some entity that may have some increased strength, speed and awerness...and that combined with his "addiction" to war and death and his mastery with all kinds of weaponry make him somewhat of a super-human.

To me i am a huge punisher fan..though some of his stories are starting to get old..but he's still cool..but what is more interesting about the Punisher more than his adventures..its his phsyke..its really interesting to enter "the mind of vigilante" and start seeing what sees or think what he thinks...that's why i like the MAX series more...+ i like blood and gore:P

punisher is good give him his dues the guy made 1of the best what ifs to me

As I heard someone say once: "The Punisher's superpower is he's super angry all the time."
 
Personally I like the Punisher and I think he's an interesting character but he doesn't really fit in with the rest of the Marvel universe. I do, however, think it's believable that he can hold his own against Wolverine and Spider-Man just because he's such an unbelievably crafty and ruthless SOB.

The Punisher wasn't just a Marine, he was Marine 1st RECON.  You have to have superior physicality and intelligence to be one and not just "some jarhead."   He's no less crafty about his slaughter of dirtbags than Batman is about the head busting of gotham's worst.  I'll admit his origin story cut and dry isn't  that interesting, but it's his hatred and tenacity about killing the bad guys that keeps him solid.  He's willing to go where his spandex-ed colleagues could never go.  Time and time again he can hold his own against Marvel's toughest.  My favorite occasion is a run-in with Wolverine where Castle fights figures the only way to pin him down to lose the scent is to park a steamroller on top of Wolverine.  This is of course after Castle has to take Logan out at the genitals with a baseball bat and later an uzi.  Find yourself a copy of Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe as well.  It's a non-canon one shot but so fun.  

i think punisherMAX is where the character really shines its a world devoid of super powers and frank is aging and knows his days a numbered i agree his place in the mainstream marvel U has been minimalized and frankencastle is just embarassing and kind of insulting to fans of the character. Frank is a great character, deeply flawed tho he can be heroic at times at its core his story is a revenge story honestly ive always believed he wants to die he just doesnt have it in him to kill himself

"

Well if u red the origins of the Punisher, it may indicate that he made a deal with some entity that may have some increased strength, speed and awerness...and that combined with his "addiction" to war and death and his mastery with all kinds of weaponry make him somewhat of a super-human.

To me i am a huge punisher fan..though some of his stories are starting to get old..but he's still cool..but what is more interesting about the Punisher more than his adventures..its his phsyke..its really interesting to enter "the mind of vigilante" and start seeing what sees or think what he thinks...that's why i like the MAX series more...+ i like blood and gore:P

"

"@Dark King: thats the point im tring to make, he goes against whats seen as MU mainstream, and puts up a fight and looks good while doing it. its wak "

What makes Punisher so highly badass or whatever you want to lable him? Well he kills alot compared heroes and vilains put together. The only time the Punisher was really badass was in the 90s (i think the early and late 90s) after 2000s, everything just went kinda down hill. though his movie ain't half bad.

" I'm a huge Punisher fan. "