The only good vigilante is a fictional vigilante and The Punisher is one of the best examples.
America loves revenge stories andNetflixserves up a cold dish of it with MarvelsThe Punisher.
The Punisher is a damaged version of that trope.
Although, he may prefer to prowl the subways with Bernie Goetz.
The Punisherwas created by writer Gerry Conway and artist John Romita, Sr. for Marvel Comics.
There arent many cases of ordinary citizens trying to fight crime.
There is a large segment of America that wants the vigilante myth to be true.
The former mayor didnt stop at the criminals.
It was like theMadmagazine version ofDeath Wishthat had Charles Bronson shooting litterers.
But Giuliani was neither outside the law, nor was he acting alone.
In the 1850s, the groups attacked thieves, rapists, and murderers.
Groups like the San Francisco Committee of Vigilance of 1856 carried out lynchings.
Most vigilantes were actually pretty nasty and many were motivated by racism.
Many groups that began as legal enforcers grew out of hand.
Witness reports at the time said they wore hoods with horns.
Many of these groups who operated outside the law became the law in their areas.
Like Frank Castle, they were the ultimate arbiters of good and evil.
They decided who wore the white hats and who wore black.
His brother Hyrum Smith was shot in the face and died.
Five men were tried but acquitted for the murders.
A jury of their peers found that mob ruled properly.
During the racket-ridden Roaring Twenties, there were no crime-fighting gunsels who didnt need no stinking badges.
They werent the trained Dough Boys coming home from their lost patrols of World War I. Dillinger was a kind of vigilante, stealing from the banks and keeping for himself.
The Jack Rabbit left ordinary people out of it.
The main character is an ordinary civilian.
He doesnt do it until the last fifty pages.
They both went into their vendettas green.
Frank Castle loved war so much it was like he had always been training to be the Punisher.
Remarkably, Netflixs take on the Punisher doesnt glorify his quest.
He lives a miserable existence.
Like Travis Bickle, he exercises regularly, but much more fanatically.
But in his internal reality, Bickle was just looking for someone to shoot.
He started off wanting to assassinate a politician, and only settled for the massacre of Second Avenue.
So accessible, he signed an autograph for the man who would steal his life.
Which bring us to the Subway Vigilante.
Goetz had been mugged on the subway in 1981.
The attacker was charged with criminal mischief for ripping Goetzs jacket.
Goetz wasnt the only New Yorker turned into a reactionary by a mugging.
The citys crime rate was 70% higher than the rest of the country in the early 80s.
Goetz was denied a permit to carry a handgun.
He went to Florida and bought a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson Model 38 Airweight revolver.
The sidearm had five shots, which he emptied.
Goetz testified that he was threatened to give up $5.
Two of the victims, Canty and Ramseur, said they were only panhandling.
Allen declined to answer on the grounds of Fifth Amendment protection from self-incrimination.
Cabey did not testify.
In 1996, he would win a $43 million civil judgment against Goetz.
He was charged with attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment, and assorted firearms offenses.
The Subway Vigilante was front-page news for months and caught the imagination of a divided New York City.
Some cheered him on for fighting back, some thought he overreacted.
Many, including the Rev.
Al Sharpton, believed the shooting was racist and some called for a federal investigation.
Future Mayor, U.S. Attorney Rudolph Giuliani, said Goetz shot out of fear, not race.
But Goetz admitted he was afraid because of the young mens race.
The jury found him guilty on one unlicensed firearm count and cleared him of the rest.
Goetz was sentenced to a year and served eight months.
Vigilantes of today are armed with cameras instead of guns.
Most, if not all, superheroes are vigilantes.
They dont have badges.
They didnt go to the police academy.
The Punisher is, at least, up front about it.
