Punisher #1

“Marching Powder”

75 Cents @ July 1987 (Cover Page and 23 net pages)

Script: Mike Baron
Art & Color: Klaus Janson
Letters: James Novak
Editor: Carl Potts
Editor In Chief: James Shooter

Notable Quote(s): “Eleven P.M. Monday, the Lower East side. MasterCard, I’m bored. The friendly natives will entertain me. That’s why it’s called fun city. Know what crack is? A super-potent cocaine derivative. One hit, they say, you’re hooked for life. Take this guy. Shaking so bad he’s rattling garbage cans. There are fourteen ways I can disarm him from here. It’s the crack. Makes them stupid. Makes them shake and sweat. Makes the whole city sweat. The whole country. Kevlar body armor. Don’t leave home without it. When you’re a crackhead, you don’t notice things like no blood on your knife. You’re too busy running after the next hit. You don’t notice whether you’re being followed. All you think about is getting high.”

“Crack makes you stupid. I just don’t like to pull the trigger in cold blood.”

“The trick is to tell them a lie. The bigger the better. The bigger the lie, the more apt they are to believe it. Their business breeds paranoia.”

Synopsis: Frank Castle garbed in Fedora hat and trench coat is walking the streets of NYC narrating the ailments of the city. In this particular day that ailment is crack cocaine and how it drives addicts out of control. A mugger demands Frank’s wallet with a point of the knife and proceeded to stab Frank anyway after Frank handed him his wallet. Kevlar armor protected him and he got right back up to follow the addict who was too busy about getting high instead of looking around to see if anyone followed him. Frank followed him to the crack-house and left the area to go “get dressed for the party.” The next page is a splash page with the Punisher in full costume with two automatic firearms on each hip and a hand held cannon and a crossbow strapped to his back. It is party time and the Punisher has his invitation.

He climbed to the roof of the opposite building and took aim with the cannon and fired. Whoosh and Boom came the printed sound effects. All this and the Punisher is still having a monologue which came across as sarcastic humor as he also said to himself during the explosion, “Just as I thought. A marriage made in heaven.” And this was followed by a great small four panel sequence illustrated by Klaus Janson having Frank pull the crossbow, prepare it, aim and fire, and swing to the other building. It was a nice action sequence with no dialogue or narration. It reminded me of that first ever silent comic book produced by G.I. Joe back in the early 1980’s. Visually stimulating. Frank goes through an open window and lands in a rundown room filled with dope peddlers. Budda Budda Budda BUdda… and Frank just left one of the perps alive and grabbed him and put the end of the barrel of the .45 caliber pistol in the perps mouth and asked who owned this joint. Needless to say the perp confessed as to who owned and ran the joint. He let the last one live and walked away. Unfortunately, the idiotic drug peddler reached for his gun, and Frank pulled a stiletto knife and through it at the last remaining perp. Idiot. He could have lived, but drugs, crack cocaine in particular, make people stupid. Frank walked out with a bag fill of cash and kilos of cocaine. He dumps the cocaine in the East River on the way to a New Jersey warehouse. Inside the warehouse Frank records his “Punisher War Journal dated March 1987.”

The next scene has Frank visiting the Vietnam Memorial. We find out that he visits it a couple of times each year. While reading the names he came across something that bothered him. He met his friend, fellow Vietnam veteran Bruce Ayres. After exchanging pleasantries he pointed to a name on the wall and asked Bruce if he recognized the name of Curtis Hoyle. Bruce Ayres laughingly gave him a picture of the three of them in Vietnam together. But at the same time telling Frank he knew the two of them didn’t get along. Apparently all three served together and Curtis Hoyle is alive as Frank saw him earlier and asked Bruce if he knew anything. He confided in Frank that Curtis Hoyle has a business from the mountains of Bolivia to New York and moving a lot of merchandise and talked to him about lots of money to be made. He turned Hoyle down. He advised Frank Hoyle’s local business of operation in NYC. They exchanged their goodbyes with Bruce inviting Frank to visit his home and see his wife and kids garnering a reply from Frank that he’ll do that someday. They left in good terms after the cordial talk, and Bruce sounded like in good spirits citing he was a regular guy with a family, and is too old for playing commando.

Frank called Bruce the next Saturday but found out his friend was dead. Frank called the sheriff’s office and said he was an old friend and hung up the phone. He found out from the sheriff’s office that Bruce Ayres committed suicide and had a gun to his mouth citing that it was post combat stress and so forth. Frank is dressing up in a tuxedo and took out the picture Bruce gave him and said to himself if the war in Vietnam lasted long that he would have shot Curtis Hoyle back in the war. He holstered his gun inside the tuxedo jacket and had something special manicured into his fingernails. Diamond-tipped manicured fingernails. He went down to the SOHO in Manhattan and entered a fancy club. Inside, he saw Wilfrid Sobel, the head drug dealer whose crack-house and drug peddlers he destroyed earlier. Along with the head drug dealer was his chief enforcer, his top model girlfriend, and an old man Frank did not recognize. He went over to their table and let Wilfrid know who took out his rockhouse crack cocaine. And Frank dropped Curtis Hoyle’s name. Wilfred invited Frank to his luxurious penthouse home to talk. Frank explained how Curtis took out the place initially with a rocket launcher. A man named Damasco came in to confirm to Wilfrid that’s what happened and since Curtis Hoyle was former military that he knew where to get the hardware. Frank guessed that this Damasco was a death squad hitman from overseas, and that there must be a top dog over Wilfrid. Wilfrid and Damasco excused themselves to go to another room while Belinda the girlfriend stayed with Frank to entertain him with casual talk. The two came back, and from behind Damasco knocked Frank out with a handful of brass knuckles.

As water splashed on Frank’s face to wake him up. He is tied to chair and is inside what can be conceived as a torture room. Frank asked Damasco if he is from Guatemala, guessing if he is one of those hardened Death Squad commandos in those part of the woods. He is Bolivian and works for the general and pointed to the wires citing Bolivian telephone. A nickname for this type of electrical torture. Wires are taped to his chest, and Damasco gives the order to his bodyguard to plug something. And Frank is zapped with electricity and let loose a howling “Argh!” After some time passed from continuous electrical torture, Damasco gave another order and Frank is zapped once again. Frank’s head lumped forward and the torturer thinks Frank is choking. Unknown to him Frank is trying to rip loose the plastic that is securing his wrists together. Damasco gloated and walked near Frank saying he wouldn’t want Frank to die anytime soon. And just then Frank breaks free and grabbed Damasco’s throat and crushed it, while his other hand rips the wires from his chest and zaps an incoming bodyguard with it. More goons come at him and he disposes of one and he grabs a part of the destroyed chair and threw it at another and grabbed theat guy’s gun and shot another goon. The ruckus had another goon outside asking what is going on and Frank crouched down shot him with an automatic weapon. Meanwhile Wilfrid and locked his bedroom door with both he and his girlfriend dressed in underwear, and him clutching a gun. Wilfrid pushes the desk in front of the door to block it and tells his girlfriend to go to the door and throw the bag outside to Frank and then he’ll shoot him. A nervous Belinda was hesitant and Wilfrid pointed the gun at her face saying he will shoot her instead if she doesn’t obey. She threw it out and a silhouette has someone grabbing the bag and Wilfrid let off several rounds to shoot the figure he thought to be Frank Castle. And he stopped and said that he got him. And them shots rang off and Wilfrid’s prone body fell to the table. Frank walks in the bedroom with the gun pointed at Belinda asking her if anyone else is left. None. He asks her where’s the money and that she had to leave as well. Frank took the money and left with her. He gives her a hundred thousand and convinced her to fly to Sweden for her safety.

Back in the warehouse Frank checked Wilfrid’s pre-recorded numbers. He went to the other side of town by a park and made nine phone calls for a public phone booth. Frank left a message for The General where to call him and between what time if he wanted to know what happened to Wilfrid. And then Frank waited. He received the phone call and explained to him about Wilfrid’s weakness and that he will compensate The General for the damages and knows how to double the NY distribution of drugs. The General offered Frank to go to his hacienda in Bolivia and Frank agreed. The General told him to wait by the NY Public Library and his man will come pickup Frank. And in that winter time Frank who was reading a newspaper was approached by The General’s man. Frank greeted him, hello, Lieutenant. How’s business?” And Curtis Hoyle responded, “Business was good until you came along. Let’s go. We got a plane to catch.” And we’re looking forward to issue #2 on sale by May 19th, 1987.

Comment: The cover page had “#1 First issue of an unlimited series!” printed above the title. At the time back in 1987 this was a big deal as the previous year starting in January 1986, the Punisher had a 5-issue Limited series that hit the newsstands and was a gigantic hit amongst the readers. In fact, you’d see kids in grade school bring this in at class and walk around as if they are carrying the Holy Grail in their school bag. The thing I found that really captivated the attention of boys in grade school and junior high school (which is now termed intermediate school) was that there was cursing in the comic books uttered by Frank Castle, The Punisher. Mother!@#$!& and other colorful adverbs and strong action verbs and adjectives were in the dialogue. The kids never saw or read cursing in comic books before so when they see “!#$@ You!” and “Holy $#@%!” they really got a kick out of it. The anti-hero and darkening of the comic book world was definitely underway way. I know that Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns in 1986 got the real mainstream credit, but you just had to be there to witness the popularity of the 5-issue limited series of the Punisher in 1986 and the subsequent early days of Punisher in 1987 and 1988, it was astronomical. The Punisher was so popular it ended up pregnant and gave birth in 1988 to a simultaneously published sequel, The Punisher War Journal. Only Batman and Superman had two titles coming out of the newsstands every month at that time, and the level of the Punisher’s popularity was garnered two best-selling titles every month. Kids knew precisely when it would come out and would dash to the newsstands to buy it immediately. If you were a day late, there’s no way to purchase the new issue in a one mile radius of a public or private school at that time in NYC.

The art was minimalistic and had a very realistic feel to reading the comic book. The violence was a movie-like violence with shootouts and death. A reader rarely saw death like that permeate a comic book. Vigilante justice was still up in the air in NYC at that time Bernhard Goetz was a middle aged white man in the NYC subway train station in Union Square in Manhattan in the evening leading to Christmas 1984. He was mugged by four black teenagers. He fired five shots in the platform of Union Square and seriously wounded the four young men. He surrendered several days later and was baptized by the media as “The Subway Vigilante.” Bernard Goetz was acquitted on all counts except for possession of an unlicensed firearm. There was a racial divide. Black kids hated him because he was white but they couldn’t defend the four black teenagers who did the mugging. The other kids who are White, Latino, and Asian loved what Bernhard Goetz did. And often when kids read the Punisher it reminded them of that is what Bernhard Goetz would do to criminals. It was like mythologizing the vigilante. Frank Castle hit a chord with kids. Even the black kids loved the Punisher. He was an action hero who stood up to real life criminals, not supervillains, so the regular kids reading the comic book could identify with him unlike the superheroes.

I could probably go on and on with this. But I haven’t picked up this comic book since 1987, and have re-read it just now. And while reading it, all the atmosphere of that time in NYC suddenly started creeping out of the back of my mind and rushed back as if I was in that time, in that era, reading this comic book. It is a surreal experience. I am glad I decided to read this book and create a thread to review it as well. And what makes it even better is that there are 23 net pages of stories for seventy-five cents. That’s a great deal for your money. Atari, ColecoVision, and Commodore didn’t have advanced graphics for videogames like what we have these days, so the comic book industry can still appeal to kids imaginations at that time.

What I liked about this Punisher as opposed to the Max Imprint is Frank Castle’s portrayal here. Yes, he is an anti-hero. But he is humanized. He is a Vietnam veteran. He visits the Vietnam Memorial with its long list of dead soldiers in that war. He also had a friend who is a fellow Vietnam veteran and they have a conversation sitting down in the park. This is a more human version of Frank Castle, while his is the action oriented vigilante, he is not way beyond recovery like the over the top uber killer in the Max Imprint. Garth Ennis was great in writing that series though. This was my favorite rendition of The Punisher in all his incarnations.

Finally, reading the Punisher was great at the time, because Mike Baron would lace it with some social commentary, and not to mention some sarcastic humor in Frank’s monologues throughout the action scenes. Frank Castle is narrating the story and has monologues throughout. He would talk about the problems ailing American cities at the time like crack cocaine. And he would provide social commentary on the ills plaguing American cities and how some people are controlled by the crack cocaine and makes them stupid, and makes the city sweat and have problems. In fact, he would say it’s not just the city, the problem resides in the whole country. Stuff like that is eaten up by kids and talks to kids teaching them a public service announcement disguised as a story and narrated by one of the most popular comic book icons at the time. Frank Castle a.k.a. The Punisher.

Great idea for a series and character to review! Yes, the release of this title was HUGE back then. I think I still have the Marvel Age issue with the previews, news, and interviews about this new launch.

Grant and Zeck's previous Punisher mini was supposed to be only 4 issues, but I think because of delays with Zeck, a fifth issue was added. Either way, it was a huge success, very popular. In fact, with Marvel experimenting with the new mini-series format back then, I would say the Punisher mini and the Wolverine mini by Claremont & Miller are the two most important ones they ever published.

Sadly, I can't remember what happened to my copies of these issues. Maybe I traded them with one of the neighbor kids, I don't know. What I do know, that cover to #1 is classic. Janson was a perfect selection for this type of book, continuing to craft the tone and style of noir that he developed so successfully with Miller on DD.

Unfortunately, I don't think this first volume has been collected all that much. I think it's only been collected in Essential editions so far. Punisher War Journal though has been collected more recently. I still have some of those early issues though, re-read them again awhile back for the first time in years.  By Carl Potts, if memory serves, terrific writer and creator, those issues were very good so can't wait till you get to them in your reviews.

BTW, did you collect any of the Punisher Armory miniseries by the esteemed Elliot R. Brown? Fascinating look at his tactics and weapons with very detailed art, loved it too.



 

Punisher #3

“The Devil Came from Kansas!”

75 Cents @ October 1987 (Cover Page and 22 net pages)

Script: Mike Baron
Art & Color: Klaus Janson
Letters: Ken Bruzenak
Editor: Carl Potts
Editor In Chief: James Shooter

Notable Quote(s): “Punisher’s War Journal July 1987. After Bolivia, I needed a break from the war. I put $ 100,00 in my van and headed west. The money was donate by various deceased individuals.”

“Kansas is as flat and hot as a cookie sheet. Sherrill, Kansas. Another nice little town of the beaten track.”

“Now he’s a real colonel. A Southern-Fried Colonel. They say those Fryers cook up best. I like mine extra crispy.”

Synopsis: The story started with Frank Castle in a real estate office in Missouri and in the process of going through pictures of houses for sale for a home he wanted to buy in the local Midwest area he is in right now. Looking through the glass wall he noticed the bank across the street something out of the ordinary caught his attention. There were three individuals not dressed for the weather with a car standing by in front of the bank. His instincts tells him something is wrong and he excused himself from the real estate agent and dashed for the door to go outside.

He quickly changed in his van and emerged in his Punisher costume with armaments in hand. He orders a mother pushing a baby in a stroller to get back inside the store. Then he waited. Seconds passed by. There’s still no cops in sight. Suddenly the criminals come out of the bank firing their weapons towards the bank and headed to the car to escape. Just then, a police car cut them off in front and the police officer with weapons drawn orders them to give up. They shot the police and mortally wounded him. The Punisher goes into action weapons ablaze towards the criminals in the car. The criminals fired back and the Punisher took cover behind his van. The real estate agent unaware of the firefight went outside to ask Frank Castle about the real estate purchase. And he dove at the real estate to bring him down to the ground to avoid getting hit with the bullets. The criminals saw an opening and took off with the car on high speed. The Punisher told the shocked real estate agent that he is pursuing the criminals and for the real estate agent to notify the police that the blue van pursuing the criminals is on their side.

The Punisher is in hot pursuit of the criminals, and we find out that his van is modified with twin turbo chargers. There’s no way the criminals can outrun him. Listening on his police bandwidth radio, the Punisher hears the police dispatcher describing the car that took off and followed by a van which might have an accomplice. So much for the real estate agent telling the cops the van is on the cops’ side. A police car is tailing the Punisher’s blue van and the Punisher advised them on the radio communication that he is an FBI agent pursuing the criminals. And a fast-moving truck paralleled alongside the police squad car and someone from the passenger side threw a grenade to the driver side of the police car. And Frank witnessed the explosion behind him. The Punisher slowed his vehicle so that the truck can catch up to him alongside so he can get a better view of them. As soon as the truck was parallel to the Punisher’s van they let loose all their firepower at him. Surprise. It’s bulletproof. Then the Punisher decided to test which vehicle was tougher and he steered left and crashed his driver side to the truck’s passenger side, and the truck veered off the road and crashed. As the Punisher drove off to continue pursuit of the carload of bank robbers he heard over the radio that the car radioed to someone name The Colonel that they are still being pursued by the blue van, and they were instructed to go by the usual procedure. And Frank heard an explosion on the far horizon. And he caught up to a burning car wreckage. He stepped out of the van to contemplate what to do next, and he was almost hit with a sniper bullet. He fakes out the sniper by throwing a rock at another point to see the gun flash, and then made his way there and used a blowgun to knock the sniper off his perch atop a tree. He interrogated the man at gunpoint and cracked snapped his leg to find out who is The Colonel. The man confessed they are The Army of the New American Revolution, a white supremacist group in Middle America. The man further confessed that the Punisher can find The Colonel at Sherril, Kansas. Just then a plane flies overhead. The criminals were well prepared and had everything planned out well. And the Punisher left the injured criminal in the forest as he left to make plans to go to Kansas.

Doubling back to his van, the Punisher rolls out a motorcycle out of the back of his van, and abandoned his van as he drove away in his motorcycle. He reminded himself to call Microchip to get him a replacement van. We see Frank make his way to Kansas and it took him more than a day as he was shown camping out at night, where a noise in the forest prompted him to pull a gun and yell out freeze to a raccoon who didn’t pay him any attention. It’s a good thing it wasn’t Rocket Raccoon. At daybreak he arrived at Sherrill, Kansas. He checked into a motel with a bag and got cleaned up. Then he went to a real estate office and looked for a real estate agent named John Fryer. Frank Castle was interested in purchasing commercial property, a warehouse down the beaten path. John Fryer had a few parcels of land that he told Frank that he might be interested in. The two drove off to see the land in John Fryer’s car. Inside the car, Frank Castle took out a lighter lit John Fryer’s cigar. And they drive past the border of Sherrill, Kansas and while driving you can tell from their conversation that John Fryer hated Jews, blacks, and Puerto Ricans, among the other other non-white races. But he particularly hated the Jews, citing that the United States was founded by White Christians. And they finally reached the parcels of land which was cordoned off from the public. They walked through the land which was under construction with construction vehicles all over the place. John Fyer sensing that the Punisher might be a kindred spirit as a fellow racist unwittingly revealed to Frank Castle that he was involved in the shadowy patriotic organization call the New American Revolution. And at that instant Frank Castle pulled a gun on him telling him that he must be behind the bank robbery in Missouri yesterday. John Fryer told Frank that he made a big mistake, and two armed men appeared behind Frank Castle. Frank raised his hand in a motion to surrender. He was told to throw down his weapon. He threw it at a gathering of rocks. And one of the men went to get the weapon and was met with deadly rattlesnakes, who were hidden underneath the rocks, and biting his hands. He screamed in agony, and Frank simultaneously punched the other man. The Colonel John Fryer ran like an aging athlete. Two of the goons were down, and Frank ripped his shirt to reveal the Punisher costume. He picked up one of the automatic weapons, and we know business is about to pick up. He and The Colonel engaged in a blazing firefight. At one point the Punisher was injured when The Colonel lobbed a grenade at him and it exploded nearby with shrapnel hitting his arm. The Punisher ran out of ammunition. At some point they exchange words with Frank telling The Colonel that how The Colonel felt towards Jews and other minorities was in the same vein on how the Punisher felt about criminals. The Colonel lobbed another grenade at the Punisher, which he avoided. The Punisher then ran back towards one of the construction vehicles and went underneath and took his butcher knife and hacked through the underbelly of the caterpillar construction vehicle, this diesel fuel started guzzling out. He then ripped a headlight shell and took off the glass and used the cuplike headlight shell to fill up with diesel fuel. The Colonel was quickly approaching telling him there’s no escape. The Punisher tried to move as fast as he can with the caterpillar construction vehicle between them shielding him from The Colonel’s shots and at the same time dripping a line of gasoline from the construction vehicle all the way to him. The Colonel made it to the caterpillar construction vehicle which was by now surrounded by a flooding of diesel gas guzzling all over the place. He told the Punisher to hold, and is about to shoot him. The Punisher turned around and pulled the lighter he had earlier and dropped it on the ground, and the fire sped up all the way to The Colonel in now time. The Colonel was engulfed by the fiery explosion of the construction vehicle. And the story ended with Frank saying, “Now he’s a real colonel. A Southern-Fried Colonel. They say those Fryers cook up best. I like mine extra crispy.”

Comments: Action adventure shows were prevalent and popular amongst young men in the mid 80’s TV. Shows like Knight Rider, Airwolf, A Team, Miami Vice, and similar shows. This issue of the Punisher somewhat reminded me of an episode from one of those shows. The only difference is that there is actual death(s) in this comic book series. In this case, it’s like a new episode is needed every week, and you get those adventure towns where in the protagonist goes into Small Town USA and will serve justice and kick the antagonist(s) behind. Thus justice is served… which was a catchphrase of a deadly vigilante in the Marvel Universe in the mid to late 80’s named Scourge. That just happened to pop up in my head.

This is the first time Frank Castle mentioned the name of Microchip regarding obtaining a replacement van for him. Microchip will be a main supporting character in this series and in the Punisher Marvel 616 Universe. I am looking forward to seeing Microchip in the futures issues of this series. The Punisher can only go so far without some sort of supporting characters. Otherwise his killing spree and action oriented stories get a bit redundant without some human interaction with “friends.”

As with the previous books, Mike Baron sneaks in some social commentary. This time around it is about the ills of racism in American society. He used The Colonel as the mouthpiece of racist America. And we get a glimpse in their mind of their warped beliefs of what the United States society should be comprised of.

Finally, I have to say when I saw that raccoon that surprised Frank when he was camping at night, the first thing that popped in my mind was Rocket Raccoon. That shows you how much the Guardians of the Galaxy’s character Rocket Raccoon has somehow permeated my mind lately.

That's a cool semi-animated Punisher avatar you have there Warmonger. 

I have some Punisher War Zone issues, but I think that comic book series was just a showcase to present John Romita Jr.'s art. I'm not really a big JRJr fan in terms of his work, but if the stories are a great read, I don't mind who illustrated the book. But if it is a standard Punisher seek and destroy mission, then I'd want some other realistic artist(s) doing the pencil work. 

I am still waiting for a David Aja (similar to his work on his Immortal Iron Fist style) illustrated Punisher book, or even an Alex Maleev (similar to his work on his Daredevil style) illustrated Punisher book. Even if it is just one issue. Those guys styles suit The Punisher.

Aja would be an AWESOME Punisher artist

I think it was in crazyoldhermit's Punisher MAX review thread where someone said they would love to see Ennis write a Punisher series set in the mid-late 70's when Frank first started waging his one man war on crime. Would love to see that and Aja would be an excellent choice to partner with him.

Punisher #5

“Ministry of Death”

75 Cents @ January 1988 (Cover Page and 22 net pages)

Script: Mike Baron
Art & Color: Klaus Janson
Letters: Ken Bruzenak
Editor: Carl Potts
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

Notable Quote(s): “I wonder if Microchip has my van ready.”

Synopsis: The story is joined in the Caribbean Sea as the Punisher, The Reverend, and his flock is at sea enroute to the jungles of Guiana. On the deck, The Rev is giving a sermon to his flock. Frank decided to take this time to do a little reconnaissance within the ship as he slipped from the massive flock. He inspects the trucks in the belly of the ship, and was found out by one of the men and was asked what he was doing. Frank reassured him that he was just checking to make sure the vehicles are tied down and secure. He asked Frank if he was ready to fight for The Reverend. Frank was summoned to The Reverend who instructed him to start training the flock for the weapons. They had all sorts and volumes (M-16’, M-126, Berettas, etc.) as if they were preparing for a little war. As he was talking to the flock about the weapons, Frank’s thoughts drifted back to The Reverend.

The ship arrived in Guiana and all the trucks disembarked and a big convoy of trucks made their way through the jungle to a big compound that was more like a base of operations in the middle of the jungle. Inside The Rev’s room, Frank was unloading a bazooka of some sort and The Rev told him of a Congressman going to their place and threatening military action. He plans to counteract and assassinate the Congressman. The Rev shows signs of paranoia that they were out to get him and tried before, that’s why he came to Guiana. And he dismissed Frank citing that Vickie White, the policeman Ray White’s wife, will show him to his quarters. He showed him to his quarters and then she started undressing telling Frank that The Reverend wanted him to enjoy himself. Frank asked her about her husband which she said ended a long time ago and she threw herself at him. Frank slept with her, justifying to himself that what does he care, the husband only asked him to save her, and he couldn’t make The Rev’s people suspicious about him. Frank was woken up the following day by one of The Rev’s enforcer goons, Keena. The two had a good conversation outside. Their conversation was interrupted as a radio call came in stating that The Rev’s sister, Sadie is arriving. Later on in the compound as a celebration is going on, and as Frank was introduced to Sadie, she led him to an empty room to have sex with him. Frank was taken aback at this. She said that as per The Rev, monogamous relationships are forbidden in their society. They went back to the party, and she asked to see her brother, The Rev along with Frank in private. She notified them that the Congressman’s flight is arriving tomorrow, or the next day. And this caught The Rev by surprise. Frank asked The Rev if his sister can tell the future. The Rev just said they were both gifted and did not say anything else. One thing is for sure is that The Rev did not believe in God.

In the outside meeting hall The Rev was giving a sermon. A man attempted to stab The Rev with a knife. Frank sprang into action and disarmed the would be assassin. The man said that The Rev took everything from him including his family. And The Rev used the situation. He announced to his flock that he forgave this man for this attempt on his life. It turns out he was a CIA plant. Frank walked him out and told him to go run. And as the man ran to make his escape, a gunshot erupted and the man fell to the ground dead. Frank drew his pistol and turned around to see the man responsible for the kill. And the two just pointed their gun at each other. He asked why Frank let him go, and Frank said that the guy was no threat.

Inside The Rev’s house a little later, Frank was with him and Sadie. There were multiple pots on the table. Potassium cyanide. The Rev said they must be prepared to die, at which Frank asked is he sure it’s not suicide as there are a thousand people in the compound. He said that it is revolutionary suicide so that the world would take notice and told Frank to get some sleep. Frank expected Vickie White to come to his quarters again that night. She spent the night and then left. Frank went outside to see the commotion. One of the flock, brother Byron told Frank the Congressman is on his way and that there are more CIA infiltrators. He told Frank he should be inside the house with The Rev and to protect him as they are at war. And at that Frank shot him thanking him for the reminder that he is at war. As the shootout happened outside, the Punisher went back inside to take care of The Rev. The Rev told him to shoot, he still loved him as a brother. Sadie threw a glassful of potassium cyanide at Frank’s face, and he quickly went to the sink and rinsed his face. The Rev went to the radio calling for help that he has been betrayed by Frank. A handful of men were on their way, and Frank just regained his sight and gunned them all down. Frank went to The Rev who was at the radio and threatened him at gunpoint to put the radio down. Sadie whacked him in the head with a utensil. Then all three grappled for Frank’s gun. It went off and the gunshot hit The Rev and mortally wounded him. The wide-eyed Rev was falling to the ground telling Frank that he trusted him. Sadie was screaming from behind and Frank turned around and punched her in the face. Frank took the radio console and made an announcement to the compound telling the flock that he was speaking on behalf of the Rev that he has died and that his last instructions was for everyone to go in peace and that there shall be no more death for this day. As Frank left, the room, The dying Reverend begged him to help him an d that he saved his life (in the previous issue of Punisher). And Frank told him that is why he didn’t shoot him dead. The Punisher met with the Congressman explaining what happened. The story ended when Frank took Vickie White and her child backto a happy and jubilant policeman, Ray White who was happy to have his family back.

Comments: It’s a good ending to the story started from the previous issue. The only gripe I have is the illustrations in this issue. It looked as if Klaus Janson rushed the art chores on this one. The illustrations look ugly in many places. There’s a panel in which Frank was closing the door at the end and it looked as if his right arm were not part of the torso and Frank had an awkward looking pose as if it was incomplete pencils and he inked large areas of Frank’s body just so he can save time in filling in the details. His arms were going one way, his body is on another, and his face is looking at yet another direction. That is almost an impossibility. The last several pages were mostly just rushed silhouettes with splotches of color in the background. It didn’t really match the mood. There were a lot of panels where it was only the two characters talking and no other details just a yellow background or some other color. It is a bland look. I know the story is well told in this issue but the art makes it very painful to look at. I couldn’t wait to finish reading the issue.

Punisher #7

“Wild Rose”

75 Cents @ March 1988 (Cover Page and 23 net pages)

Writer: Mike Baron
Penciler: David Ross
Inker: John Beatty
Letterer: Ken Bruzenak
Colorist: John Wellington
Editor: Carl Potts
Punisher In Chief: Tom DeFalco

Notable Quote(s): "Microchip moves on. He's the only one I trust with my address."

Synopsis: The Punisher’s battle in the New Jersey landfill against the two mob crews continued as he followed the Arab terrorists. He diverted each crew so that they would battle each other, and then left to go back to his warehouse home base where he brainstorms with Microchip on who the mob connections were, who the Arabs were, and where did the plutonium come from, and what was the target. They came up with Philadelphia which is having a liberty celebration. Frank drove five miles away and called the authorities to report a terrorist incident. He drove back to his warehouse and found the light is on and an intruder inside. It was Rose Kugel, a Mossad agent, who wanted to talk to Frank Castle. She told him that the Mossad has been trying to locate one of the Arabs, Yassir, and that she placed a tracer on his van when he was shooting up the landfill. She brought a video to show Frank. It had a terrorist saying he will blow up a symbol of America’s colonial brutality, the Liberty Hall in Philadelphia, and then removed his mask. That meant this terrorist, Yassir, intends to die. Rose told him that she saw his family’s picture taped to his computer room wall and she also lost family when she was young, and decided to keep his secret and not reveal it to anyone.

In Philadelphia, there was no attack on the Liberty Hall. They headed back to North Paterson, to the warehouse of one of the mobs, the Mecozzis. Shooting the dogs with tranquilizers to knock them to sleep, they moved in. Inside the office Rose and the Punisher told the two men to toss their weapons on the floor, which they obliged. The Punisher asked one of the men where Yassir was going to attack, and punched the other guy as he went for a weapon. The remaining mobster talked and said that the big Arab goon with Yassir was his driver and enforcer. Rose saw a picture of a building taped on the wall and inquired. It was the Gallagher Plaza, of which 30 percent of the real estate was owned by the mob. Frank had a brainstorm that there was a boom crane on the building. There was a theater which had a large gathering in NYC. He inferred the Arab terrorists was going to explode the dirty bomb there and make Times Square uninhabitable. The Punisher and Rose raced back to NYC against the traffic to prevent the Arabs from doing their dastardly deed. Upon reaching Gallagher Plaza they saw the other Arab goon, Ahmed on the crane. Apparently he will use the raw plutonium and drop it on the crowded building. The Punisher and Rose made their way to the building shooting up the bodyguards, and then proceeded to go up the building. He found Yassir, and turned to look where Rose was, and in that split second, Yassir pulled a gun and shot the Punisher in the shoulder. Yassir dropped the container and staggered back and fell from the building down to the ground. He then went to the crane above to go after Ahmed, and found he had Rose at knife point. He had the Punisher go to the end of the crane to do his deed for him. The Punisher obliged as long as Rose was held hostage, but he had a plan as he had his knife with him. Ahmed knew something was wrong and followed the Punisher to the end of the crane to shoot him dead. Unfortunately, he assumed Rose was helpless, but she had pulled a gun from behind him and shot him a couple of times. But he was as strong as an ox and grabbed her and threw her over to her death on the ground. A grief-stricken Punisher tackled Ahmed who fell over to his death to the ground as well. The Punisher was saddened by Rose’s death, and found out later that Rose had invaded the national crime council to plant her credentials. Mossad had never heard of her and she didn’t have any record as being an Israeli citizen.

Comments: This was another good Punisher issue. The plot was one out of a movie. A dirty bomb was about to be exploded by Arab terrorists in the middle of NYC’s Times Square to make it uninhabitable. Obviously, we knew the Punisher would prevent this, but how would he do it.

It’s too bad this Rose “Mossad” character died suddenly. She could have been a good recurring character for the Punisher. Perhaps even a rare love interest in the future. But now that she’s dead, that can’t happen. Unlike the Marvel Knight and Marvel Max version, this Punisher is more human. He showed grief for a person he doesn’t know when Rose fell to her death. He is more rounded out as a person than in other versions. Also, he has complete trust in Microchip not to reveal his identity and warehouse headquarters.

It’s a good slam bang action adventure with a somewhat relevant social commentary even relevant to today’s era which is 28 years later.