The Marvel multiverse is massive and home to every variation of the original Marvel Earth imaginable. In 2002, Marvel released a series of comics set within a universe called the Marvel Mangaverse, a universe where all of Marvel's characters were redesigned in a distinctive manga art style. Marvel Mangaverse: The Punisher by Peter David, Lea Hernandez and GURU-eFX depicts Frank Castle in a radically different way.
The story begins with The Punisher torturing a mobster of the Skang Kee crime family in an abandoned warehouse. It's a classic scene for the Punisher until it's revealed how exactly the Punisher is torturing him: by tickling his feet with a feather. No knives or blowtorches or pliers here, just a feather and the mobster's bare feet. The Punisher in this universe is not a grizzled war veteran named Frank Castle. Instead, The Punisher is a Japanese woman named Sosumi who dresses for crime-fighting in a kimono, her face painted black and white. The classic Punisher skull is on the back of Sosumi's kimono, albeit in a different style.
As mobster reinforcements arrive to rescue their partner, The Punisher escapes into the night. The next day, a young girl named Hashi is called to the principal's office of her school. It's revealed that Hashi is the younger sister of the school principal who is none other than Sosumi. Hashi and Sosumi argue over Hashi's poor behavior and the legacy left by their dead parents. Hashi storms out of Sosumi's office, leaving her to check the tracking device she planted on the mobster she had interrogated the night prior.
The issue comes to an end quickly as the Punisher confronts the leader of the Skang Kee crime family, Ho, in her headquarters. Before the Punisher can apprehend Ho an oni, a mythical Japanese demon, crashes through the wall and attacks. As the oni grabs the Punisher and has her dead to rights, Hashi bursts into the Skang Kee stronghold and defeats the oni. Together, Hashi and the Punisher run the crime family out of Tokyo. The issue closes on the prospect of Hashi wielding the cursed sword passed down from their parents and how she might join her sister in punishing the criminal underworld.
Marvel Mangaverse: The Punisher walks a strange path. On one hand, it doesn't take itself seriously in the least, catering to a younger demographic with its overt silliness. The Punisher interrogates people by tickling and spanking them. Ho even puts her butt up in the air at one point and makes a spanking joke at the Punisher. On the other hand, it's filled with content that leaves a pretty bad taste in the reader's mouth. The name of the crime family is Skang Kee with the full name of their leader being Skang Kee Ho. Read that out loud quickly. 2002 was a long time ago, but even then, using low-brow racial humor wasn't the best of ideas and it's even less amusing today. At its best, Marvel Mangaverse: The Punisher is akin to a Saturday morning cartoon with its lighthearted take on a classically serious character. At its worst, it's an unnecessarily racist story with more groans than laughs.
While the Marvel Mangaverse wasn't the best thing to come out of the House of Ideas, it's undeniable that it was successful in presenting brand new and completely different takes on established characters and stories. The Mangaverse is officially registered in the Marvel multiverse as Earth-2301, so there is always the possibility that it could make another appearance somewhere down the road. If the content is fine-tuned a bit and given some polish, it's possible for the forgotten universe to offer new stories that are fun and original.