Punisher Characters Profile Index

    The discussion of events in the real world are often topical, meaning that their exact time period cannot be fit into Marvel's sliding timescale, which keeps moving further forward. The history of Sha Shan, the Monks of the Hidden Temple, and even Flash Thompson were originally tied into the Vietnam war/conflict. However, they certainly cannot have been involved in that conflict, spanning a maximum range of 1965-1975, and still be considered characters in their mid-twenties in the modern era.
    Rather than ignore or erase such storylines, Marvel usually tries to adapt or adjust them to fit. For example, it is now established that the Fantastic Four's first mission was not actually to the moon, as first written, but rather to another galaxy. By the same token, Flash participated in a military action in an Asian nation, and his actions as seen in the comic book did occur, however, he was not involved in the Vietnam conflict. The activities could still have occurred in Vietnam, or perhaps they could have taken place in the fictional parallel nation of Sin Cong.
    The same is true of the Punisher. In the series "Born," Frank Castle is a Captain in the Marines in 1971, with his first tour of duty in 1968 (keeping in mind that we know he studied in the seminary before heading off to "war."). That would still place him in his mid-to-late fifties at the date I right this profile. Forty years old for the Punisher would seem more accurate, giving his athletic ability, and I could buy 45, or even 50 with a stretch of the imagination. However, as the timeline keeps on sliding forward, to tie the Punisher to the Vietnam "War" makes him pushing 60, and a decade from now, he'd be pushing 70! He's not Nick Fury or Captain America, so there's no Super Soldier Serum or Infinity Formula keeping him young --unless, of course, they pull something funky in Born (which they did, but anyway)...--and I think it would really take away from the character if there was something superhuman about him keeping him young and healthy.
    There are those who just think it seems right for the Punisher to have been THE Vietnam war (and I even know a guy who still insists that Flash Thompson was in THE Vietnam "War"--he read the comic, and so it happened that way!). This idea become less plausible each year. Keep in mind that when originally established, the Punisher was a deserter from the Vietnam war, because those stories took place during the conflict. Also remember that Reed Richards and Ben Grimm used to have been World War II veterans. The word is topical, my friends. Read it...learn it...live it!!! ;)
    So, while I understand it's a work of science-FICTION/fantasy, trying to tie him to the Vietnam era is simply not believable.
    Options:

A military action in Vietnam took place 5-10 years before the modern era in the Marvel Universe. This action is separate from the Vietnam "War," which did take place in 1965-1975. This action is not locked to any real time year, but rather slides forward along with Marvel's sliding time scale.
This was Marvel's take during the Punisher portion of the Marvel Knights Encyclopedia.
The Vietnam War happened 5-10 years before the modern era (ie. starting with the Fantastic Four's maiden voyage) in the Marvel Universe, and he was indeed in that war, which is not locked to any real time year.
The Punisher was in some other conflict in South East Asia at a similar time period as in the previous option. Sin Cong makes a good substitute for Vietnam in the Marvel Universe.

Also:

    As originally intended, the series "The Nam" did not take place on Earth-616 (the mainstream Marvel Universe), but rather in an alternate Earth (The series was labeled from the start as non-continuity). However, if the first option above is taken as fact, then the series could have taken place during the sliding conflict on Earth-616. Perhaps the Nam series itself took place on an alternate world (Earth-Fallow) and actually took place during the real Vietnam war. On Earth-616, the exact same events took place, but just during the sliding conflict. It is that version that the Punisher encountered. On Earth-Fallow, Castle may have been a marine during the real Vietnam War, and his encounter with them could have taken place during that time period, as well.
    When "Ice" Phillips encountered Castle in the modern era, it was either the exact character from The Nam crossing over to the modern era on Earth-616, or the Earth-616 counterpart to the Nam character...OR, you could make the whole series in-continuity by having the series follow one of the rules above.
    see the comments in the Ice Phillips profile for further discussion of this: http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/phillipsicenam.htm

So anyway, that's why I refer to the location of the Hidden Temple as Southeast Asia. It could even be in Vietnam (just not during the Vietnam War in real time), or Sin Cong, or any other Southeast Asian country. I describe Flash's activity as being involved with a military action in Southeast Asia.
Current Marvel policy seems to be most consistent be with the first option: The Punisher fought in Vietnam, just not in the Vietnam War of 1965-1975. Flash, however, is a slightly different situation, as his military experience was during the modern era, but the same potential rules apply.

And one more thought on that issue:

I heard a theory that explains why characters never age. Franklin Richards is using his powers to slow time down, and no one notices. The kid created a universe, this wouldn't be too hard.
I like the idea, as it allows the stories to happen in the period they were written stay that way, but allows the characters to stay young.
--Caesar Godzillatron

Last updated: 04/24/05

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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