Random Happenstance

I missed this one when it came out, and while it didn't quite hit with me, it might hit a little differently now. I didn't intentionally post this after a rocket explosion...From 2019, Punisher Annual #1, written by Karla Pacheco, pencils by Adam Gorham, inks by Andy Owens. (And I had to upload the cover myself to the GCD just now! If I wrote or drew a big-time comic, I would have the cover and all up there so fast...!)

There are bits of this to like, bits that don't work, and bits that are just sort of confusing and non-functional. This was part of "Acts of Evil!" A bunch of annuals with branding resembling the classic "Acts of Vengeance" blurbs; although I'm not sure there was any other overarching plot or theme. A private corporation, with a douchebro corporate frontman, are making a big deal of their latest launch: it's very obviously an Elon Musk-type, and I'm not sure people really realized how much he sucked in 2019; Pacheco might've been ahead of the curve. Speaking of egomaniacs, the launch is crashed first by J.Jonah Jameson, who's yammering on about his son John and wants to sneak a peek at the shuttle; where he finds the Punisher, murdering astronauts! Or, "astronauts," but before we get to that: this is actually pretty close to how a lot of writers chose to portray JJJ in recent years: a blowhard who stumbles into things because he can't see past his own massive sense of self-importance. But, not only was he a reporter, JJJ had run into the Punisher before; probably more than once, and once would be enough to remember him! To his credit, JJJ does try to stop Frank--maybe not to his credit, actually: that might not be bravery, that might be not-thinking-things-through.

The rocket gets launched in the fight, and Frank points out, why would "astronauts" have guns on board? JJJ's response is a fair one, but they weren't really astronauts, they were Russian agents. Worse, the shuttle is met in space by space whales: I believe those are the Acanti, right? The living spaceships of the Brood! JJJ gets taken, but not to be eaten, for breeding! The Brood Queen mentions, the mutants they usually tried to use were kind of uppity, so he would have to do; while Frank steals a space-jet ski to race to the rescue, for reasons.

Frank blows a hole in the Acanti, and he and JJJ kill a bunch of Brood to patch the hole like drywall, then ride the ship down. In the epilogue (with art by Szymon Kudranski) JJJ interviews the tech mogul, in lieu of suing him for negligence in allowing JJJ to get on the rocket in the first place; as the Punisher has realized he knew more about what happened than you would've guessed. 

You can't tell in the space jet ski scan, but Frank has scrawled a little Punisher skull on his spacesuit. Possibly finger-painted with blood, but still. But, who put his skull on his shorts?