"Love is Not Enough to Win a War" - Leadership and Loyalty in 'Punisher: The Platoon'
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| (The Platoon #6) |
This is what makes Garth Ennis’ work on Punisher: MAX such an anomaly. Not only do Ennis' Punisher books—of which there are many—stand among the writer’s best work and among the best storylines in the character’s 50-year history; they are the only reason why Marvel keeps the R-rated MAX imprint alive . Furthermore, if fan wikis are to be believed (Marvel does not offer much information about the MAX imprint on their website), Garth Ennis has been given his very own universe in which to play. Earth-20111, as it was first designated in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #5, continues to exist for the sole purpose of allowing Garth Ennis to write about The Punisher. There have been other books that take place in this continuity (the first of which was Ennis’ ill-advised and sophomoric Fury miniseries in 2001); however, the Punisher is the lifeblood of both Earth-200111 and the MAX imprint, and in recent years, Garth Ennis has become the de facto steward of both.
One volume in particular stands head and shoulders above the rest. 2017’s Punisher: The Platoon is a six-issue miniseries penned by Ennis and illustrated by Goran Parlov that recounts Frank Castle’s first tour in Vietnam. Considering my feelings about prequels, this already seems like a risky gamble, but what makes matters even more complicated is that The Platoon is technically a prequel to two other prequels–2003’s Punisher: Born and the middle third of 2013’s Fury: My War Gone By—both written by Garth Ennis and set during the Vietnam War. What is so important about Frank Castle’s backstory that Ennis feels the need to revisit that particular well every few years, diving deeper with each subsequent book?
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| (The Platoon #1) |
The easy answer is that each new series features Castle at a different inflection point in his early career. The Platoon takes us back to 1968, two years before he first met Nick Fury in My War Gone By and three years before his harrowing experiences at Firebase Valley Forge in Born. When we are introduced to 21 year old Second Lieutenant Frank Castle in The Platoon, he is fresh out of Officer Candidates School. He and his 28 Marines garrisoned at Hill 861 are tasked with defending the critical fire support base at Khe Sanh. Unbeknownst to the American forces, Colonel Letrong Giap of the North Vietnamese Army has arrived in an underground bunker several kilometers away. He aims to recruit a fiery and vengeful young woman named Ly Huang, whom he hopes to shape into an NVA officer. The convergence of these characters elevates The Platoon from a brutal and occasionally gratuitous war story to a nuanced and bittersweet tale about the communal bonds between soldiers, the unshakeable ideals that drive their leaders, and the double-edged sword of potential. It is not just the best of Garth Ennis’ Punisher: MAX prequels, but the best Punisher story that Ennis has written to date.
“The Guys Who Came Home”
The Platoon opens with four veterans—Capa, Dryden, Fish, and Molland—who all credit Frank Castle with saving their lives. Sitting across from them is Michael Goodwin, an author with an academic interest in The Punisher's backstory. The conversation between these five men serves as a frame narrative for The Platoon while also linking it to the events of Punisher: Born, Fury: My War Gone By, and Ennis and Parlov's final arc on the main Punisher: MAX series, titled Valley Forge, Valley Forge. Goodwin sees this interview as the chance to learn about Frank Castle from “the guys who came home” (The Platoon #1). Capa, Dryden, Fish, and Molland are the only ones aside from Nick Fury who can offer any firsthand knowledge about Castle's time in Vietnam.
There’s a particularly loaded phrase that Goodwin uses to explain why this 1968 is such a crucial year for his upcoming book. He refers to Castle’s first tour as “the one where—just maybe—he still has a chance” (The Platoon #1), implying that even Goodwin, the alleged expert, views The Punisher as a lost cause: a man consumed by his own rage. It's not surprising that Goodwin feels this way. After all, his first book, the appropriately titled Valley Forge, Valley Forge, chronicled the events of Castle’s third and final tour that “set him on his path [to] what he became” (The Platoon #6). The Frank Castle of 1968 is a completely different person, about whom his former squadmates wax poetic throughout The Platoon. The anecdotes shared throughout the series reveal their fondness and respect for Castle regardless of what he turns into later on.
Upon meeting him for the first time, Castle’s subordinates were first struck by his humility and earnestness. To him, rank seemed a mere formality:
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| (The Platoon #1) |
In his first conversation with Fourth Platoon, Castle admits that he has never seen combat and tells them “I’m relying on you to show me the ropes”. Shortly thereafter, Sergeant Dryden casually mentions that his patrol squad plans to scope out the surrounding area the next morning but advises Castle to "sit that out.” Castle responds bluntly: “No. That’s one thing I cannot do.” (The Platoon #1). From the very start, he demonstrates his willingness to learn from men who may not have been trained at OCS but who undoubtedly have more experience than him in-country, not to mention in their specific roles.
This is put to the test as Castle leads the patrol the next day. Dryden lets on that he has misgivings about the village at Chu Bai, their scheduled extraction location. He swears under his breath, which prompts Castle to press him for information:
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| (The Platoon #1) |
Dryden eventually reveals that they had previously taken sniper fire from the village, so he is reluctant to believe the reports that the area is safe. In fact, the platoon had only (falsely) reported that the village was clear to avoid having to patrol the area in the future, a secret now thrust into the open due to his Captain’s choice of extraction point. “This is the shit no one wants to know is goin’ down”, Dryden tells Castle, alluding to how he attempted to have Castle “sit this one out” the previous day. The fresh-faced lieutenant takes this new advice to heart by immediately calling in an airstrike, even going so far as to lie about seeing “a flash of light from the ville” that “could have been metal or glass”. The airstrike makes short work of the four Viet Cong soldiers who were hiding within Chu Bai, leaving Dryden incredulous that Castle would take such a risk:
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| (The Platoon #1) |
The Platoon is full of such moments in which Castle steps between the platoon and certain harm, whether it comes from within or without. The men quickly learn that "he only had so much use for the rulebook" (The Platoon #3), but where another officer might take this approach in the hopes of being seen as some hotshot or maverick, Castle rarely makes any decision for his own benefit. Amidst the siege of Khe Sanh, Castle takes it upon himself to replace their service rifles—the infamously jam-happy M16s—with M14s, which were more rugged and familiar but heavier and only semi-automatic. Still, his rationale is that coordinated fire from two-dozen M14s will be more effective in the long run than what his men can sporadically achieve with their fully automatic M16s. He strikes a bargain with the base's logistics officer Staff Sergeant Donald to obtain enough M14s for in exchange for a "regular supply" of AK-47s taken from slain enemy soldiers, which have become "popular souvenirs for the REMFs", or Rear Echelon Mother Fuckers. Castle leaves Donald with these parting words on his way out:
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| (The Platoon #3) |
Castle aims to keep his men alive not just through a change of service weapon but by standing between them and anything that could impact their combat effectiveness, whether it be a misfiring rifle or illegal narcotics. According to one report released by the US Department of Defense in 1974, heroin was neck-and-neck with marijuana in terms of availability but deemed "the most dangerous of all drugs" by 89% of respondents due to addicts' "irresponsible behavior" and declining health (Robbins 33-34). Castle later tells Dryden "I'm an officer. Responsible for Fourth Platoon. So the only duty that makes sense to me is to try to bring them all home alive" (The Platoon #4). Thus, he cannot abide drug abuse just as he cannot abide faulty weaponry, venereal disease*, or any other mistake that could have drastic consequences for his men.
The upshot of Castle's quiet, firm leadership is a sense of mutual respect between him and his men. Because he is willing to listen to them and fight alongside them without any ulterior motives, Castle comes into his own as a leader during this first tour. His example inspires the others to also attempt the impossible, the insane, and the suicidal just to help their fellow soldiers. Molland recalls one particular moment in which he volunteers to haul his radio into a tree to get a better signal before an impending firefight. His rationale? He forgot to check the batteries before the mission, so it’s his fault that the spare is dead. Therefore, it’s up to him to find a fix, even if it makes him a target.
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| (The Platoon #5) |
It is for these reasons (and many more like them) that the men of Fourth Platoon have little to offer in support of Goodwin’s thesis. Frank Castle’s first tour in Vietnam was not the time when “he still had a chance”, for this analysis puts the cart in front of the horse, allowing the infamous Punisher persona to overshadow the Frank Castle that Fourth Platoon fought alongside in '68. They feel a kinship with him that can never be diminished by the mythology surrounding The Punisher. “I guess he gave us that much of a chance”, Fish ruefully remarks. “Him. The guy they say is a killing machine”. Goodwin attempts to argue that Castle’s exemplary leadership in combat is “what set him on his path [to] what he became. What the man who saved your lives went on to do”, but Dryden refutes this with an impassioned rejoinder:
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| (The Platoon #5) |
This is what Goodwin and the rest of the world fail to realize, the paradox at the heart of Frank Castle’s deployment and his legacy as The Punisher. He has always put himself in harm’s way to protect others, and in his own tragic way, The Punisher is an extension of that same instinct. However, when his selfless sacrifices were no longer sufficient to save those close to him (see Punisher: Born #4 and The Punisher: MAX #1) he was swallowed by the darkness that sprung from his loss. Even when he chose to fight on behalf of innocent victims as The Punisher (particularly in the Mother Russia and Slavers arcs of Ennis’ run), the resulting violence was no longer just a necessity—it became the answer. He was the hammer, and every mobster, drug kingpin, human trafficker, and crooked CIA agent was a nail. But none of that matters to the surviving members of Fourth Platoon, who are still alive because of Frank Castle. Regardless of what they hear about The Punisher, they will remember their Second Lieutenant—the stalwart, indefatigable protector who never came home.
“As Hard As Stones, As Sharp As Blades”
The Platoon’s primary antagonist is Colonel Letrong Giap, a charming and cunning North Vietnamese Army officer who was first introduced in Ennis and Parlov's earlier MAX series Fury: My War Gone By. He may very well be my favorite Garth Ennis creation, and his role in The Platoon is an interesting one because he never directly interacts with Frank Castle. Instead, he exists in the background, commanding his own troops to overwhelm and repel the Americans in any way they can. He is not what one would expect from a “villain” due to the fact that he has not, to the best of my knowledge, committed any violent acts in any of Ennis’ stories, at least not himself. On one occasion, he has every member of a French Foreign Legion outpost killed and decapitated. Their severed heads are then mounted on posts and used to mark the path into the newly reclaimed base (My War Gone By #3). Simply put, Giap is a man who fights fire with fire:
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| (My War Gone By #8) |
Despite his ruthlessness, Giap is a level-headed foe in The Platoon who serves as a foil to Frank Castle and as a mentor to a promising new recruit named Ly Huang. He spends much of the story preventing Ly from engaging with Castle by emphasizing her potential as an officer. He acknowledges the fact that Ly is the lone survivor of a horrific massacre that claimed the lives of her entire village, but now that she is under his command, she can be so much more than a mere assassin:
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| (The Platoon #3) |
If Ly attempts to take on Castle herself, she will become yet another casualty of the American war machine; however, this will not be the only loss sustained. The last phrase suggests that there is no shortage of fanatics willing to lay down their lives for the greater good—after all, Ly will be tasked with producing entire armies—but capable leaders are few and far between. Giap’s appeal boils down to a cost-benefit analysis. Would Ly rather fight as an army of one or an army of thousands? Would she rather avenge three people or millions of murdered countrymen?
This dramatic difference in scale is also one of the most important differences between Giap and Castle. Whereas Castle keeps a careful watch over a single platoon, Giap is responsible for thousands. This necessitates a pragmatism that puts the needs of the nation first, but the young and impulsive Sister Ly pushes back against this philosophy. One evening, she shares her story with Giap, extrapolating what happened to her village to the recent events in My Lai, and then, by implication, to the entire country. Her struggle is against the Americans, yes, but also against Giap’s rigid notions of her purpose: “You want me to be a trainer, a leader. You want me to cut out my emotions, become a hard, cool-headed, ruthless instrument. Can’t you see these are the things I carry with me, always…?” (The Platoon # 4). Giap offers his sincere condolences and apologies before admitting a painful truth about his methods:
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| (The Platoon #4) |
The first and final panels in this excerpt mimic their earlier conversation in the previous chapter. Ly is now accustomed to Giap’s mindset, no longer surprised by his brutal utilitarianism. But even so, Ly and the reader are left to imagine what kind of barbaric violence Giap is willing to employ to free his country. The aforementioned beheadings that occur in My War Gone By are only the tip of the iceberg if Giap is to be believed. To him, individual acts of revenge will be insufficient to drive out the Americans just as they were insufficient to drive out the French and Japanese. Nothing less than total commitment will be enough. But as with all things, there must be a cost, and as much as Giap wants to deny it, every loss occurs and is felt on an individual level. This is the source of Ly’s rage and eventual rebellion (as well as Frank Castle’s impending murderous crusade). Giap’s machinations are driven by a lofty and noble nationalism that fails to fully tame his lionhearted subordinate.
It is not until many years after the war that Giap understands why Ly and Castle plunged headlong into battle with little regard for themselves. He tells Goodwin that the Americans’ futile defense of Khe Sanh against the endless tide of NVA and Vietcong forces represented “the whole war in microcosm: the Vietnamese fight for their country while the Americans fight for nothing, with no idea why they’re doing it at all.” However, Giap recants this with a statement that says as much on Fourth Platoon's brotherhood as it does on his own patriotism:
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| (The Platoon #6) |
This was true for all involved, at every scale. Letrong Giap the former NVA officer still thinks in terms of who won or lost in the big picture, but Letrong Giap the man knows that no covenant, confederacy, or cause survived this conflict intact. Giap and Castle may have lived through it all, but regardless of who claimed victory in the end, they are two sides of the same coin, the purity of their convictions forever warped by the fires of war.
"And Pretty Soon, It Was All Over"
As yet another Punisher prequel, Garth Ennis and Goran Parlov's The Platoon succeeds against all odds. Its poignant human stories transcend politics and patriotism to underscore war's dehumanizing effects on even the most loyal soldiers, regardless of their allegiances. The Platoon is a high water mark for both the MAX imprint and Garth Ennis’ tenure as its longest running and sole remaining contributor. It deserves to be read by everyone from die-hard Punisher fans to neophytes curious about the character's tragic origins.
The ongoing publication of Get Fury, which takes place between My War Gone By and Born, clearly shows that Ennis and Marvel still have much to say about Frank Castle. Only time will tell if this era of his life will continue to yield valuable insights into his character. Writing prequels is still a dangerous business even for someone as experienced as Garth Ennis, but we can certainly hope that future Punisher stories will feel as personal and consequential as The Platoon.
Works Cited
"Earth-200111". Marvel Database, 22 May 2024. https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Earth-200111. Accessed 16 June 2024.
Ennis, Garth and Goran Parlov. Fury: My War Gone By. Marvel, 2014.
Ennis, Garth and Goran Parlov. Punisher: The Platoon. Marvel, 2018.
Robins, Lee N. The Vietnam Drug User Returns. Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention, May 1974, "https://prhome.defense.gov/Portals/52/Documents/RFM/Readiness/DDRP/docs/ 35%20Final%20Report.%20The%20Vietnam%20drug%20user%20returns.pdf. Accessed 18 June 2024.