Hugh Haynes lives in Indianapolis and is a penciler for Marvel Comics.

"George Bush is trying to make a kinder, gentler nation in his campaign speeches," said Hugh Haynes, penciler of Marvel Comic's Punisher. "But that's about the only place there's a kinder, gentler nation going on anywhere. The actions (of society) do not reflect that, and the people do not reflect that."

Haynes feels that the attitude of the Punisher reflects the attitude of society: "I'm not gonna take any more. . . . We're gonna blow you away."

But the Punisher, an Arnold Schwarzenegger lookalike, is certainly not a reflection of Hugh Haynes. Haynes grew up in southern Indiana and has lived in Indianapolis for the past 14 years. He enjoys classical music, architecture and paintings. He prefers foreign films to action films.

So why does he draw a comic as violent as the Punisher?

"I love to tell a story," Haynes said in a recent interview. "I love to take a story and to tell a story as well as it possibly can be told. . . . Even though I disagree with the message, I do enjoy it."

According to Haynes, in the 1950s the comic book industry created the Comic Code Authority. In order to receive a stamp of approval, a comic book had to meet certain standards. The strict codes even prohibited blood to be shown in any frame. Since then, the rules have become more relaxed. In any comic book of today, one can find very graphic pictures of bloody battles.

Haynes believes that the reader should know the violence level and that comics should be rated like movies.

"Most of the (Punisher comics) would be rated R. . . . (The Punisher) has a goal, and nothing's going to stop that goal. . . . If blowing away the criminal is gonna solve the problem, then that's what he's gonna do regardless of what ethics or the laws of the land say. He's taken power into his own hands _ certainly not a role model."

Haynes says he does not draw the Punisher as a role model, he draws him to be interesting. He is confident that readers know the comics are fiction and do not imitate the violence.

"Violence in people is caused much more by things that happen within society, or within their own family . . . than anything they'd get out of literature or movies," Haynes said.

Even if Haynes were afraid that violence in comic books caused violence in society, he would not be able to change the stories. He does not create the story ideas or characters; he simply takes a script and draws it.

Haynes spends as many as 70 hours a week drawing, usually 11 to 12 hours a page.

"Sometimes it's not even rewarding," Haynes said. "Because you think you did a great job, and you turn it in, and somebody else changes it all around, and it turns out looking awful."

Haynes's advice to aspiring artists is not to concentrate on comic books. He said it is better to focus on classes and gaining knowledge instead.

"I just hate to see kids get so tied up in any one thing, be it comic books, or be it playing games, or . . . any of these things that kids become fanatically involved with so they can't see beyond that," Haynes said.

"What happens is they end up being eternal fans. But they would (have) liked to end up being professionals."