Monday, March 20, 2023

Is Frank wearing three layers of skulls at any given time? Like it's greasepainted on his chest or tattooed there.

I'm not going back to find the tweets to back this up, but somebody on Twitter was on about how Disney should've pushed back harder on unauthorized use of the Punisher skull symbol. Not because it was being used by cops or militants or anything, but because they were afraid the new, Hand ninja symbol was going to stick around. C'mon. Frank'll be back to his usual look sooner rather than later. (I'm currently reading half of his fight, in Daredevil...and it's kinda sucked the air out of that title.) It's hardly the first time he's gotten a new outfit, that was strictly temporary. From 2007, Punisher War Journal #10, "Sunset" Written by Matt Fraction, art by Ariel Olivetti.
Along with the costume change, this was something the Punisher hadn't had in a number of years: crossovers. This one's got "The Initiative" trade dress; the next issue guest-starred the Winter Soldier, then World War Hulk tie-ins. With the help of former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent G.W. Bridge and his current tech support Stuart Clarke, today Frank wraps up his fight against the National Force, neo-Nazis led by the "all-new, all-racist Hate-Monger," a description that feels a little too cutesy. Captain America had recently died, and Marvel seemed to be playing with the idea that his legacy was up for grabs; here both Hate-Monger and Frank have Cap-inspired suits. No shields though; that's what really makes the look.
Stuart sets off explosives as a diversion, so G.W. can save Frank, and Frank can go back and save Stuart; too late for his girl Tati, who was killed earlier by Frank when he was hit with hate-rays. Frank kills the hell out of the Hate-Monger...although he would be back, somehow: he wasn't like a clone of Hitler this time, just a racist asshole. You don't bring them back, you just let a new one put on the hood. Frank tears his Cap suit off during the fight, then tears the defaced star off of Hate-Monger's body. (Although, there's an ad for the next issue in this one, with Frank in the Cap suit again!)
Stuart swears he will track down Tati's killer, which Frank seems to let slide without comment. G.W. lets them both go, which he might regret shortly, after Stuart murders a cop that had been part of the National Force; but G.W. does take a little enjoyment that current S.H.I.E.L.D. director Tony Stark was calling, probably to offer him his job back, and G.W. was gonna decline. (I just imagined Tony having technology to force a phone to answer, so you can't send him to voicemail...)

2 comments:

Mr. Morbid's House Of Fun said...

I have to agree with whoever tweeted that bc considering their well-earned reputation for fiercely protecting their IPs, you'd think they'd have gone all out to push back, yeah. Guess they figured it was a losing battle. Or they figured let's change it for now, then when the dust has cleared, we bring it back in time for the show *shrugs*

Definitely wouldn't have minded a ML figure of this look for Frank tho.

CalvinPitt said...

If I remember right, Bucky was not pleased to see Frank dressed up like that, was he?