Punisher MAX vs. Crossbones

Conditions

• In-character, Win by Death
• Crossbones is armed with a M16 (one spare magazine)
• Punisher is armed with a M4 carbine (two spare magazines) with a M203 grenade launcher, combat knife, and two grenades
• Both combatants have Kevlar vests
• Both combatants are in their physical prime
• Battle takes place on NYC rooftops

Which Skull takes this?

This is what Frank did with an M16, knife, and a few grenades........RIP Brock

@sprior93

Frank also had support from a flight of F-4 fighter-bombers that dropped thousands of pounds of bombs and hundreds of gallons of napalm......Granted, said planes weren't the most-accurate, but Frank didn't accomplish all that destruction on his own. One could argue that Frank didn't kill all those NVA so much as survive and not get hit by the air strikes.

Maybe Crossbones. He got a boost recently in the most recent Punisher series - he was able to stop a truck by throwing a knife through it's engine from several meters away. The driver was so shocked by that he inquired if Crossbones was a mutant. However, his stupidity lead him to get owned by Black Widow two issues later....

@sprior93: theres like 1 weapon among all those people... not too hard to take out basically arm less people with grenades and guns

@veshark No, Frank didn't take down the helicopter or cause all that destruction, but the dead Vietcong soldiers depicted in the panel are his doing.

@spider-manwins Have you read the comic? Take my word for it that they were all armed with AK-47s. Also, I can count at least four of them lying on the ground, and Frank is obviously littered with bullet holes.

@sprior93: i can only count 1 gun among them

@spider-manwins: There's one next to each of Frank's hips, a third at the bottom left, and maybe a fourth next to his left thigh. Again, we see glimpses of Frank fighting them on the previous page, and they were all armed. Perhaps the artist didn't want to draw 20+ AKs scattered around the bodies.

@sprior93: i guess, spidey still solos though

@spider-manwins: truuu

@sprior93

There's no denying that Frank took down a great number of NVA in that battle, but seeing as how most of it took place off-panel, one could easily suggest that many of those NVA in the panel could've been hit by the bombings/shrapnel. It's also worth mentioning that Frank was also using a M60 machine-gun before this, and the panel also implies that he improvised with various weapons, so it's different from this scenario.

At any rate, I don't think this one showing cements Punisher's victory in this battle. It's a good feat, definitely, but it's not a singularly foolproof argument.

....................................I am only 36 issues into Punisher MAX, but so far there's really nothing to say he is on most street levelers level. But then again...............Crossbones got one shotted by Winter Soldier.

@veshark: Eh, you're right. I was being overzealous due to my love for the character. Don't you think 616 Frank would be a more even match up, or has that been done already?

@sprior93

All good, I'm a big fan of this incarnation of Frank as well.

616 might be a closer match, but that's already been done before (repeatedly I think). That said, I think I'll edit the OP and give Frank more ordnance just to even this out a little bit more.

@nimamindtricks: Scans!!!! That sounds freaking awesome.

Punisher. He has better equipment in this setup and I'd assume he has the better tactical mind based on the Max trades I've read*.

*"The Slavers" is...something else. What he did to the last guy....sheesh.

Better late than never...

Gallery

@nimamindtricks: And then he gets his butt kicked by BW? Jesus. Show me the scans of that.