Punisher v. 2 ('87-'95); Punisher War Journal v. 1 ('88-'95)
Sept 19, 2019 19:43:57 GMT -5
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Post by chadwilliam on Sept 19, 2019 19:43:57 GMT -5
Punisher #15
“To Topple the Kingpin”
1.00 USD @ January 1989
Script: Mike Baron
Pencils: Whilce Portacio
Inks: Scott Williams
Letterer: Ken Bruzenak
Colors: Janet Jackson
Editor: Carl Potts & Marc MacLaurin
Editor-In-Chief: Tom DeFalco
Synopsis: The Kingpin was having a workout destroying heavy slabs of rock. An assistant came in and advised him regarding the Kingpin's matters. Unfortunately, he told Kingpin that Fisk made a mistake in a decision and that the assistant reminded him he was against it. Needless to say, Kingpin killed him by smashing his head with half of the slab of rock.
In Jersey, Punisher had intel linking the high school terrorists from the previous, to the Kingpin. He staked out a criminal's warehouse and assaulted it by starting with the guard being shot from long range. And inside, mayhem quickly ensued. But Microchip utilized robots in this pre-age of drones. And got the rest of the criminals to surrender. However, an outisde contact was instructed to "nuke" the warehouse if there were any trouble, and Micro and Punisher hightailed it out of there before the warehouse blew up.
Back at the Kingpin's HQ, he hoped to destroy the Punisher's intel. But failing to do so, he hired a top caliber lethal assassin to take down the Punisher permanently.
Back in Jersey, the Punisher has decided to take down the Kingpin once and for all, and so he recruited a team to help him take down the Kingpin of Crime. His first initial foray is blowing up a warehouse full of contraband that belonged to the Kingpin. Unknown to Punisher, he was in the telescopic scopes of the Kingpin's new hired lethal assassin.
Comments: This series is an action adventure full of '80s action movies muscle and violence, and also commentary about what was plaguing the country at the time. Epidemics in crime and drugs, gangs, and the usual problems that ailed society at the time. What was fantastic was that Micro utilizing drones at this time (1989) in an age where drones weren't the usual thing to use to take down criminals and enemy combatants, and were only used in movies like "Robocop." Times have changed. Whilce Portacio wasn't the superstar illustrator yet, but you can tell with his distinct style and details that the titles dark tone suited his style. The Punisher wasn't a person, he was a caricature and was presented as so. The colors were very bland and was the only weak point of this issue, and the colorist was Janet Jackson. It was too bland. Maybe she was doing a music tour at the time and was doing a rush coloring job for this issue.
Some random thoughts on this issue:
- Seeing a Dalek defend Micro and The Punisher's stronghold is pretty weird and yet cool. I believe that it lasts long enough to be destroyed by Castle during The Jigsaw Puzzle storyline which suggests that it should make a number of further appearances down the road.
- The Kingpin kills one of his advisors for making the mistake of pointing out that he advised him against a course of action he nevertheless decided to pursue. This "I told you so" moment earns him a boulder through the head. Is The Kingpin usually this bloodthirsty? I mean, he's certainly no saint, but I was under the impression that he would at least offer one of his men the opportunity to rephrase his words before resorting to murder. This seems more like something The Joker or The Red Skull would do?
- Is breaking boulders I half with his bare hands a feat which Wilson Fisk should be capable of? I know he's strong, but is this consistent with past depictions? Genuinely asking since it seems like it might sort of, maybe, kind of be, outside of his strength range.
- "If they get to Microchip, they can get to me". "Mayhem on the second floor. I'm glad Microchip didn't drag me out for nothing". These two remarks delivered by Castle suggest a coldness which felt inappropriate to the character. Sure, he's dark, but he's supposed to be a good guy. The concern for Micro extending no further beyond his own self interests just seemed wrong.
- "Microman". Something about The Punisher embracing such a flippant nickname for his partner appeals to me for a reason hard to put into words. I suspect that it has to do with someone with such a serious precision oriented clockwork mind like Frank Castle allowing himself to embrace this quirky little facet of superhero life - putting "Man" after your code name - being a nice little glimpse of the sense of humour he had before he became who he now is.
- The Kingpin orders hired assassin, Kleig to shoot him at point blank range. When Kleig hesitates, Fisk tells him that if doesn't, he'll kill him. Kleig aims for the heart, Fisk survives revealing that he's wearing some sort of body armour, and they proceed. What if Kleig had shot him in the head?
- I really liked The Punisher's scene with McDowell towards issue's end where he explains that "the more needs you have, the more vulnerable you are". When asked how he got rid of all of his needs, Castle responds "I had them taken away from me". It's a great, poignant moment, but somewhat ruined when a moment later, he goes on to explain "I was on a picnic in Central Park when...". I notice that he gets his origin recapped a lot during this period, but this was a clumsy continuation of a moment which should have ended without this obligatory explanation.
- The Punisher kills a guard with a "ruger mini-14 with silencer". He then lets the reader know that "the rugers fine for sniping, but I prefer the ingram close up". I always roll my eyes whenever I hear someone moan about how Punisher fans must have something wrong with them to be a Punisher fan ("Will no one think of the fictional murderers he kills?"), but I have to admit that these little "Punisher Gun Tips" skeeves me out.
I can't remember how this one ends, but I'm guessing not with the death of The Kingpin. I suppose you can't really have Frank Castle go after organized crime in New York and not run into the guy, but it's hard to end a Punisher tale satisfactorily if the head boss gets away scot free.
