I'd argue this is partially because the internet turns everything into a signifier of itself. People's ideas of a comic aren't created by the media itself but by other people's reactions to it. You're going to see a shitty reactionary meme about a comic long before you see real discussion of it. The Punisher is no longer a comic, it is a reactionary identity that has a comic associated with it. Obviously these issues existed before the internet, but the internet hasn't helped