Marvel’s Most Dangerous Places

The Punisher has done some morally questionable things in his time, no doubt. Even if you ultimately side with the need for capital punishment, one still has to admit that he has a history of being, perhaps, overly diligent in delivering his brand of vigilante justice.

As such, every now and again, Frank Castle finds himself running over the edge of the law and having to spend some time in prison. In PUNISHER #6, in stores this week, the gun-toting vigilante’s card has been pulled once again. This, however, proves no normal case of catching charges. This time, he faces extradition to Bagalia, Hydra Nation itself! That got us here at Marvel.com to thinking: What are the most dangerous places in the Marvel Universe?

Don’t look for Latveria on this list. We might not like Dr. Doom’s politics, but he sure does keep that place safe and clean!

Genosha

During its best of times, Genosha found itself overseen by a megalomaniacal mutant supremacist who frequently targets non-mutants for extermination. Again, this would qualify as the BEST of times.

Now? Mostly a pile of possibly radioactive rubble. Officially uninhabited and largely uninhabitable, Genosha represents the extremes of the mutant rights movement: historically so pro-mutant that non-mutants were not allowed to visit, presently a monument to a swift and brutal cleansing of the island’s powerful inhabitants stemming from humanity’s fear of those different than themselves.

Does anyone still live there? Possibly. If they do though, they most likely would be either “wild Sentinels” –the creatures that decimated the island—or someone mean and dangerous enough to survive under the shadows of one of the biggest massacres in recorded history. Not an ideal traveling companion either way.

Krakoa

Imagine hiking a beautiful trail next to a wonderfully clear stream. The island stays quiet, so very quiet, no matter the time of day, but it feels good to finally get away to a place where you can hear yourself think. One of the bags you packed for trash blows out of your bag and down the trail. You give chase but the wind really carries it and you cannot get to it before it disappears. You feel mildly guilty but reason you will grab it if you see it again and, if not, some other hiker will, certainly. Then, before you can take another step, the island starts punching you in the face!

Congratulations and welcome to Krakoa, the living island. And we mean “living” in the sense of that mean neighbor you had when you were a kid, the one who would not return the frisbee you accidentally launched into their yard but instead break it into pieces in front of you while staring you dead in the eyes. That’s what kind of living Krakoa does.

To be clear, don’t ever go anywhere that can punch you or toss directly into the ocean if it doesn’t like how you walk on its back.

Madripoor

You know the people in college who say stuff like, “If we just didn’t have laws, things would still work out for themselves” or “People do not need to be ruled to do the right thing by one another”? First, don’t hang out with those people anymore. Those people clearly cannot be trusted to think logically.

Second, I give you Madripoor as a response. Madripoor exists as a rebuke to that kind of utopian nonsense thinking. Utterly corrupt, highly volatile, and built on a foundation of gambling money, Madripoor stands as such a dangerous place that even Wolverine adopted a new identity there to avoid whatever happened there following him home. Any place that makes Wolverine feel a little concerned does not feel like a place for you or us, thank you very much.

Monster Island

Monster Island did not get its names as some kind of whimsical flight of fancy. No kind of Iceland “oopsie daisy” error happened when it got its name. Monster Island literally lives up to its name. It exists as an island, populated entirely by monsters.

If you need more of an explanation why we might label it unsafe… well, perhaps you should take a short trip over and see for yourself.

The Savage Land

Sure, we all love dinosaurs, in theory. In reality though? Not such a good time.

Prehistoric beings tends to be massive and a lot of them tend to be very mean. If a dinosaur does not squash you or swallow you as a delightful amuse bouche, you’ll still have the sabretooth tigers, woolly mammoths, and who knows what else to contend with.

Yes, Ka-Zar and his family do oversee the area have been known to be quite the dashing protectors. However, the Savage Land boasts more square-footage than the island of Manhattan and about 100,000th the population. You go there, you become as close to a human needle in a haystack as possible. Can’t be counting on one man in a loincloth noticing you, never mind finding and protecting you.

PUNISHER #6, written by Matthew Rosenberg with art by Szymon Kudranski, goes on sale Wednesday, January 9. Get your copy online or at your local comic shop!