"Vague."

For some reason, whenever I glance at that Blade figure, the red markings on the chest armor seem like they should be a COBRA symbol. I lucked into him on sale last week, so here he is; following up on Kurt, who had been ducking him. Yeesh, we set that up like seven years back! 

And I don't think we've had this Man-Wolf in here yet! He's such a fun figure, of a look that has not really been in a ton of comics. Although, since he's part of Hasbro's Magic tie-in, the figure is more expensive because he comes with cards, which don't do much for you if you don't play. (Actually, I don't know enough to say if he comes with decently playable cards, either.) Man-Wolf is maybe a smidge cheaper now if you shop it around; but I'll get soaked again later for Doom 2099 and his cards.

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"Daycare."

A short one this week, since I'm playing catch-up: I actually do have a "fill-in" strip, that I keep kicking down the line. It may be dated as heck before it ever turns up, I haven't had any serious disasters yet. Also, I messed up a panel where Pavitr was maybe going to try and hit on Elektra; but then I decided even he wouldn't while she was holding a sword. Miles was also going to describe Elektra/Daredevil as "Un####withable. She's trying not to kill anybody, but with you she might not try real hard..."

Also, I'm pretty sure towards the end of the Krakoa era, the mutants, including Kurt, were on their war footing and fought to kill. I think they were actually less war-crimey than usual, but still killed a lot of goons. I also feel like Kitty--er, Katherine Pryde--might have been somewhat murder-y for that.

 Why would Frank have a sword? If you recall his recent continuity, you can probably guess; but why would he show up with it now? Does everyone have swords on their minds today?

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I would've sworn I mentioned this one before, but I didn't buy it in singles, I got the trade later: it seems like it's going to mostly be a test of "how much of a hardass is Frank Castle?" but maybe goes more into "what kind of bastard is Nick Fury?" You may be surprised by both answers! From 2024, Get Fury #1, "1: Sweet Bird of Truth" Written by Garth Ennis, pencils by Jacen Burrows, inks by Guillermo Ortego.

The Dave Johnson cover is an homage to the Punisher's first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #129, but you know Ennis doesn't care about that; this is a Vietnam story. (I know Frank's history has ostensibly been altered in Marvel's sliding timeline, but we all agree, Frank fought in Vietnam, whatever we might call it to hide the fact he'd be older than dirt now.) Aged Vietnamese general Letrong Giap tells this story, as a bit of "mischief." Frank and Nick had tried to kill him, more than once, but never got him.

Back in '71, Frank was a captain in charge of recon, and turns away two M.P.'s who had orders to bring in whatever dogs were out there, for fear of rabies. One of Frank's guys has a very small-looking pup, that he was not about to give up; and Frank wasn't about to make him. He's then called away, for a meeting with General Mackie and what are obviously a couple of spooks: Nick Fury's plane had gone down near the Cambodian border, and since his body wasn't found he was feared captured. Frank immediately understands: they want him to kill Fury, since losing him would be unimaginably bad for military intelligence. Mackie at least makes a nod, to giving Fury a better end than the torture he would receive. They couldn't get a rescue team in, but could maybe get a single shooter in place, to take Fury out when he gets to his destination. (There's also zero paper trail on this one; so even if Frank followed his orders he wouldn't be able to prove it.)

There had been two other survivors with Fury, but one had been too wounded to continue marching, so the Viet Cong bury him alive, and kill the other when he objects: Fury hadn't liked it, but knew there was nothing he could do right then, as his march continues...You're fairly sure from the start, that Frank isn't just going to blindly put one in Nick's dome, but let's just say those two aren't best friends by the end of it. (Frank gets some help from a woman who had been Fury's mistress decades before, and a daughter Fury didn't know about; and you can probably guess that it doesn't end with Nick warmly embracing his new family...) Darn, I'm trying to finish a couple weeks worth of posts at once, but I'm still getting the trade off the shelf! There feels like a lot of sidebar in it, as the spooks wonder if they made a mistake sending Frank, or if Fury was really a threat to their own heroin-trafficking scheme at all. Still, Giap's conclusion, despite what both Fury and Castle became, is that if a man is judged by the enemies he made in life, his was then full of riches. Read more!

I think Frank mentions this has been tried before, and never ends well for them: giving the Punisher drugs is just going to be a bad idea. Even super-high he'd probably be cleaning his guns and planning mayhem, so that's not really stopping him either...From 2009, Punisher War Journal Annual #1, "If I Die Before I Wake" Written by Si Spurrier, pencils by Werther Dell'Edera, inks by Antonio Fuso.

Searching for a kidnapped little girl, Frank crashes the club of drug guru Captain Pepper, who caters to superhero and villain wannabes and groupies alike. Having appeared fairly regularly in the main series, the Rhino makes a brief appearance, which catches him both the side-eye and a grenade from Frank! Pepper isn't concerned, though; as he had just dosed Frank with "the psychic suckings of a kiddie's brainbox," plunging him into a trip of a child's imagination. Trying to use his rage to focus, Frank also had his current tech-guy Stuart Clarke guiding him by drone from the club's bathroom, but he can't see the real little girl and gets tased by Pepper.

Every so often Marvel pushes "MGH," or Mutant Growth Hormone, as the drug of choice for disposable dealer-type bad guys, and sure enough that's here, although Captain Pepper might be trying to diversify as well. Pepper has some weird tattoo/curlicue design on the side of his head, which I'm pretty sure is so he doesn't look exactly like Grant Morrison; but he's got some even more weird little helpers, Misters Jingle and Jangle, who can suck thoughts and dreams from someone's mind, and Pepper sold whatever they didn't digest. There was apparently a market for Frank's "psychosis in a can," to "supersquares want(ing) to get hard in the head": if Punisher lasts more than six hours, consult a physician immediately. (A joke, but it's alarming to consider how many people might want that drug, to kill all mercy inside themselves...) Coming through an airduct, Stuart manages to rescue Frank, but then gets a faceful of Punisher-brain from Mr. Jingle, rendering him a drooling psychotic: the clientale of Pepper's is likewise dosed and fare about the same. Imagine having even a smidge of Frank's rage, making you so goddamn angry you couldn't even do anything about it except vibrate in undirected fury--wait, I'm sorry, that's my social media feed.

Frank gets Stuart and the little girl out, where the building is surrounded by cops: shrugging, Frank says he just did as the girl asked, and gave away some magic apples. Yeah, those were grenades and you know it, Frank. Escaping with Stuart in the commotion, Frank looks back and momentarily sees the little girl not with her own family, but with himself and Maria. It doesn't last, but it's a nice thought; while Stuart is not enjoying his Punisher-trip and probably puking his lungs out. Frank advises, you get used to it.

I don't always comment on the art, but this feels like it could've gone like 60-70% harder on the drug trip: the colors likewise don't pop enough; that portion should be a lot brighter. My favorite comic trips: the Brian Bolland cover and Brendan McCarthy art for Judge Dredd's "Report to the Chief Judge on the Accidental Death of a Citizen" or Kevin O'Neill's 'Legends of the Dark Mite' or Judge Death's Scarecrow trip in "Judgment on Gotham." The colors, Duke, the colors--er, I mean, just say no, kids! Read more!

Maybe Olivier will defend the trademark on that skull better than Marvel/Disney has. Maybe he won't...

OK, so I mentioned reading the first issue of this one, just over a year ago, and I'm just getting around to reading them all now? And I'm not 100% sure I haven't read it before--or maybe I've just read the first issue more than once. From 1999, the Punisher #4, "Purgatory, part 4: the Hour of Judgement" Written by Christopher Golden and Tom Sniegoski, pencils by Bernie Wrightson, inks by Jimmy Palmiotti.

The conclusion to the four-issue Marvel Knights 'Angel' Punisher mini, which begins with Frank and the angel Gadriel captured by the demon Olivier, who thinks Frank might know him better by his former human identity, Boss Costa. 'Costa' had been behind the killing in Central Park, a blood sacrifice that led to the deaths of Frank's family; but he was also a devil, forced out of Hell to live as a human, and playing the long game to get back in. He had orchestrated the creation of the Punisher, insuring every kill was a sacrifice to him, even his own: Frank murdering 'Costa' put Olivier back in Hell as his old self. Gadriel wasn't blameless in this, either: he had been demoted multiple times, finally to the position of Frank's "guardian angel," and we can all agree his job performance there wasn't sparkling. Worse, Gadriel hadn't been there when Olivier's demons forced Frank to kill himself, but had resurrected him, since he couldn't get back into Heaven unless Frank forgave him. Typing all that, it does feel like a lot to bolt onto a perfectly servicable origin: "They killed his family. Now he kills them." Simple! Although, Olivier is a clever bit of design, with the skull-motif on his face, to make it seem like it was, to misquote the Omen, "all for him!" (Yeah, tell all the cops and chuds co-opting the skull that it's a Satanist symbol; see what that does for anybody...)

This is maybe to set up a new mission for Frank, more about redemption than vengeance. Yeah, that stuck even less than the angel stuff. Daimon Hellstrom and Dr. Strange both make brief appearances in the end, planning to keep an eye on the Punisher for their own purposes; and while Wrightson is great, neither looks quite right? It's kind of a minimalist Strange that makes him look like some kind of...opera pervert; while Hellstrom looks like a redheaded Fabio. Also, a devil or two escaped, presumably for use in future stories, but the 'Angel' Punisher only had one left, the Wolverine/Punisher: Revelation mini. I'm not sure, and kind of doubt, it wrapped up all the loose ends, but maybe. Read more!

Still another "The End" Week! Starting early this year, because...

It's once again about the last week of the year, where we traditionally get a big ol' pile of last issues for "The End" Week, but we're getting an early start, since this issue is actually set on Christmas Eve! From 2009, Punisher War Journal #26, written by Matt Fraction, art by Andy MacDonald. Cover by Ariel Olivetti.

What was this, the second volume of War Journal? We saw the conclusion of the original, with the other 80's Punisher titles, a few years back with "Countdown." This one is less high-stakes, as it's the night before Christmas, and Frank's outside a bar...the same bar he blew up in PWJ #4, now rebuilt. Frank knew some hardware had been stolen from the Tinkerer, and was waiting to see who had it. A collection of minor-league thugs are gathered in the bar, which one figures the Punisher would think nobody would be dumb enough to go back to. He had stolen a Stilt-Man suit, and thought they could form a new gang with it; except all of them want to be Stilt-Man. One, a cop-killer, pulls a gun on the others and nearly takes the suit; but is then outgunned by the bartender and kicked out of the bar, where he's immediately shot by Frank. No one notices.

While the gang decides on their new Stilt-Man, and Frank bides his time to kill them all, he is then interrupted by the Rhino, there to feed the Vulture's pigeons. Rhino had helped Frank in a previous issue, and was very much the idiot with a heart of gold; but more importantly was too big of a name for Frank to straight-up kill, so...Rhino thinks this is a Christmas miracle, that maybe Frank doesn't have to murder those guys: "You punish the guilty, Frank. Not the stupid." As the new-ish Stilt-Man lurches down the street (and he and the gang still don't notice the body outside the bar!) Frank grudgingly has to admit Rhino was right. (Would it have been hacky, if the new Stilt-Man then immediately, accidentally and repeatedly stepped on a busload of kids? Frank scowling at Rhino like "see?") 

Frank would get a relaunch, with a new Punisher series, tying into Dark Reign, as he tried to get past the Sentry, to murder Norman Osborn. C'mon, Frank, they wouldn't even let you kill the Rhino...

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I can't tell if this is a failing of current comic book media and hype and so forth, or if I was asleep at the wheel, or if Marvel just shoved this out the door; but tomorrow, new Frank Castle Punisher book! I'm sure I'll give Punisher: Red Band #1 a go, although I'm not entirely sure how "mature" those Red Band books are compared to, say, PunisherMAX. I'm thinking more blood, in a splattery way, but that could be because the only other Red Band book I think I've read so far was Blood Hunt, and I wasn't super-impressed with that one. This also probably means the Joe Garrison/new Punisher from last year is getting memory-holed, unless he's immediately gunned down in the first few pages of Punisher: Red Band #1, which feels like a dick move but I wouldn't put it past 'em. Anyway, I know I read the first issue of Joe's book, and got the next three from the cheap bins but I'm not sure I've sat down and read them yet. I remember thinking creating a new Punisher would be a thankless job, where you'd have to answer a multitude of masters and none of them would be happy with the end result; but we do have one of Joe's few guest-spots handy: from 2024, Daredevil: Woman Without Fear #2, written by Erica Schultz, art by Michael Dowling.

I've been onboard with Elektra as DD since she started that back in 2021, and stuck with her series even as I fell off of the regular Daredevil book again: I don't think Zdarsky stuck the landing there, and the inevitable relaunch seemed like rehashing plot points we've seen multiple times, not just in other comics, but in Daredevil! (Matt had lost his memory and come back...somehow...as a priest; so he had to get his DD-groove back, Bullseye was back, Matt drives multiple relationships into the ground, etc.) I just love that Elektra took that outfit, mostly with the intent of showing Matt something, but it ultimately became something redemptive for her. And also harder than she had thought: there's an issue where she has a fight with a big burly bouncer type, and is frustrated when it lasts more than three seconds. It was tougher when she couldn't just stab them in the lungs! This issue, Elektra was trying to find her missing...ward? Student? Sidekick? It's hard for me to imagine her having really strong maternal instincts, but she had been taking care of this girl Alice since the King in Black crossover: I think Alice was just taken somewhat forcibly by a concerned relative, and Elektra thought the Mafia Maggia got her, which leads to trailing Crossbones to Madripoor, fighting him on a train, and then the new Punisher showing up. He's there to kill Crossbones, but doesn't seem like killing Elektra would really break him up, either.

Elektra doesn't go into detail about her history with Frank, instead describing that as a point in her life where "killing was a pastime...something I did out of boredom." She can't give up Crossbones, since he might be the Maggia contact she was supposed to meet, so she's forced to fight the new Punisher. In a nine-panel grid, she hits him multiple times, seemingly ineffectively against his armor; but then a final shot with her trick sai pops his chest piece right off! Then the Maggia contact shows, and not unlike Frank, Joe has a remarkable ability to pull a gun seemingly out of nowhere. After a standoff, where Joe seems to think she was willingly working for the Maggia, he takes a shot at Elektra, but she dodges it easily and knocks him out. The Maggia contact was not as agile, and takes it in the neck! He dies gurgling blood, unable to tell Elektra anything; and the Punisher escapes. Elektra was now forced to find the Maggia in Madripoor, but plans to kill the new Punisher later...

It's not as readily apparent here, but I think in his own series Joe was a bit more sci-fi; his guns not as military-issue or store-bought as Frank's. The better to differentiate him from Frank, or from wanna-bes; there's maybe something to that idea. They are still guns, though: I'm not sure he ever got a Spider-Man crossover, and I could see that going badly. "So, you've got all this high-tech stuff, does that mean you're more nonlethal than Fr--nope, blew that guy's brains out. Never mind."  Also, if you remember Jason Aaron's Punisher series, which ended with Frank apparently "...no more" but really on Weirdworld; well, Frank won't, since he'll be back with no memory for like the sixth time. (And I was harshing on Daredevil for reusing plots!) I wonder if anything will come up from it later, or if the new book is just going to snowplow forward and call it good.

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A lot of times in the morning, I have the old western show Have Gun, Will Travel on, and one episode, "Full Circle," Paladin catches up with an old acquaintance, Quill, a shifty snake of a conman, who once sold him a bum mine, then skipped town in a dress to avoid gunmen, who then tried to kill Paladin. Years later, Quill needed Paladin, to verify his alibi for a murder he was actually innocent of, but Paladin's leaves him hanging, saying "you should've kept me alive, Quill." Of course Paladin gets sucked back into that one, and also has to settle with a old skunk and his two jerky kids who try to steal his stuff; Quill is later shot while again fleeing in a dress. It's immensely satisfying: everyone who gets shot in this one absolutely had it coming, and the old skunk laments his lost son, "who died for five dollars." I mention this, because you used to see this on old TV shows: a crook dressing up in drag to avoid the cops or something. It wasn't perhaps honorable, and certainly wasn't usual, but it wasn't considered pervy or anything. It's probably insensitive to the drag community, but then I kinda figure if that plot was tried today some viewers would make more of a stink about a dress than any crimes committed. Like a triple homicide, fine; but wearing a guy in women's clothing would corrupt the youth of the nation. Come to think of it, I think there's an old Power Records Batman story, where Bats sleuths out Catwoman disguised as a man, by her lack of Adam's apple. Which you don't usually notice in comics...

From 1989, the Punisher #20, "Bad Tip" Written by Mike Baron, pencils by Shea Anton Pensa, inks by Gerry Talaoc. Omigod, this dates back to when people could smoke indoors! And in comics! Frank is in Las Vegas, trying to stop the assassin only known as Belzer (Not that one! Probably...) from whacking a key witness in a mob trial. Frank did not have a lot to go on: Belzer maybe liked to gamble, and that was about it. A private investigator tries to take Frank with a blackjack later, thinking he was Belzer, which is a solid two-page fight sequence that just annoys Frank.

Spoilers for a 36-year-old comic after the break!

Frank sees where Belzer planted a bomb, and figures he would've wanted to be somewhere he could see it go off, like a nearby casino. Frank busts into the lounge, calling out Belzer's name; and he sees the woman that chatted him up earlier! The way she held 'her' cigarettes would've obscured her Adam's apple, and 'she' had a high-collar number on here. It was Belzer in drag...maybe. It's definitely a guy in a dress, but maybe wasn't even Belzer? With Frank wearing people-clothes, 'Belzer' has got no idea it's the Punisher, and is just as confused as Frank. Also, traditionally you can't put a silencer on a revolver, which I remember from a Batman issue with Jason Todd.

This was, as we've mentioned before, back when Frank could put on a suit and pass as a normal human being; as opposed to the Garth Ennis/MAX era, where a grizzly bear with a hat on would look less like a serial killer than Frank. (Having a regular haircut instead of a buzzcut/military one helps a ton.) It grated eventually, but I have an immense fondness for this stretch of low-continuity stories where Frank fought a wider variety of crime than just nondescript gangsters or gangbangers; even if I mock it occasionally for almost reading like it was generated with a plot wheel. "Today, in...Akron? The Punisher fights...videotape pirates...with a .50 Desert Eagle and a corkscrew." Read more!

Having fun in unfun times:

Not even specifically at a wake, but that's what we have today: from 2007, Punisher War Journal #4, "Small Wake for a Tall Man" Written by Matt Fraction, art by Mike Deodato.

I had to go back through the blog, and I've read other stuff from Fraction I've liked better; even other issues of this series. But, I maybe see what he was trying to do here, and I might be hindered by continuity; which was kind of only a suggestion at Marvel at the time, even if Fraction maybe uses some correctly here. At a crummy, smelly bar in New York City, it's the wake for Wilbur Day, a.k.a. Stilt-Man. I want to say I feel like I've seen him die like three times already, but I mainly remember in Bendis's Daredevil, Wilbur (or some other Stilt-Man?) angrily giving Matt Murdock his stilt-suit when Matt was outed as DD. Armadillo and the Masked Marauder are the first to show--I know I've seen the Maruader kick the bucket before--and there's a Doombot in attendance, set up to impress Wilbur's widow.

More villains show up, as well as some I wouldn't label as such: Prowler, Will o'the Wisp, the Gibbon, Dragon Man. Dragon Man's a big, angry robot; why would you bring him to this? In a crowd shot, we see guys like the Absorbing Man, the Answer, Puma, and Ringer; pretty sure at least two of them had been dead for a stretch too. Also, older magic-guy Xandu from Marvel Team-Up #21/Marvel Treasury Edition #22 is there! That's one of the first Marvel comics I can remember reading; and there's not much logical reason for him to be there aside from crowd-filler. 

The "Widow Day" makes a striking entrance: it's Princess Python! She hisses with a forked tongue, when the Cat Burglar tries to lay down his game at her; that was new. The Prowler explains why he was there: when he had been just a window-washer, Stilt-Man nearly killed him trying to get away from Daredevil. DD saved him, but being pissed at Stilt-Man still inspired Prowler to put his own gadgets to work and costume up, briefly as a villain. Everyone's drinking and remembering better times, when super fights were just shenanigans; at least until the Rhino picks a fight with Armadillo and the bar goes nuts. It's mostly fun and games, no one really getting hurt.

The fight stops dead when Spider-Man arrives, with a stern "at his wake, guys?" He also scolds Prowler out of there, while Princess Python throws up at him. This was post-Civil War, for the like 20 minutes that his identity was known, so she drunkenly calls him "Peedershpidermun." Spidey tells everyone, be careful: "The world's not...it's not so fun anymore, you know?"

The Eel calls Spidey a class act, but is shouted down by the Masked Marauder, who can't believe a bar full of villains just let him lecture them and then go. They could be great again, he argues: they just have to want it. Which is about when people start puking. Not because they couldn't hold their liquor, but because they'd been poisoned, and the Marauder sees a cocktail napkin with a Punisher-skull on it, before things start exploding. The Marauder may have been the narrator for part of the story, but it switches back to Frank in the end: "I don't know about you, but I celebrate loss every day. But some days I get to celebrate it with fireworks."

...how often do we see Frank poison anybody? I know he's a "work smarter" kind of guy, and going against villains with powers would need an edge, but still. And there's a bunch of guys there, that maybe don't deserve to be murdered? Although I'm sure Frank would say, "lay down with dogs..." I have a soft-spot for Princess Python, from her disasterous stint in the Serpent Society: she quickly realized, she was equipped for theft and light-to-medium grifting, not fighting things like MODOK. Gibbon is a sad sack in a funny gorilla suit, who seemingly dies tragically every other appearance: he just wanted attention. Puma and Armadillo get roped into a lot of nonsense, but I don't think either was a bad guy. This felt a lot like some late 80's Flash comics, where Barry's old Rogues' Gallery was portrayed as wacky crooks with a competitive streak, not murdering monsters: of course, most of them were transitioned into murdering monsters eventually.

Also, the back cover of this one is a Nissan ad, suggesting "You could pretty much live in it," which, um. Not aged well. 

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We saw the second volume some time back; I'm not sure if this is the third. Definitely isn't the 20th volume, though. From 2019, Marvel Knights 20th #2, written by Matthew Rosenberg and Donny Cates, art by Nico Henrichon.

This was about the same time as War of the Realms, and I managed to fish this whole series from the same dollar bins! Somehow, the timeline or the world has changed, and no one remembers super-heroes, nor do they remember themselves. But a few are starting to, like Bruce Banner, who then tells Frank Castle: this is an unusual story for the Punisher, but it works. Frank didn't have his wife and kids in the altered reality, but had a girlfriend and was reasonably happy...except he knew something was missing, and the sight of a scribbled note with his skull symbol makes him realize he used to have a very different life. (Banner keeps getting weird little notes, mostly with names on them: I thought it was the Hulk writing them when Banner was asleep, but nope!)

While Matt Murdock was starting to remember after a botched visit from Frank, he also now has what might be the ghost of Karen Page keeping him company; as Frank and Banner try to contact another of the names: Elektra Natchios. She beats the stuffing out of Frank, admitting she knew there was something going on, but she didn't want to go back to a life where she hurt people...and was hurt back in turn. Frank refuses to quit, but gets distracted by Banner Hulking out in the back of his cop car. Elektra nearly stabs him in the back, but is stopped by Daredevil. He proposes they work together, but is surprised to realize, they can see Karen Page too...

This was collected as Marvel Knights: Make the World Go Away, which is a better title! It's a fun read, and no spoilers; but the answer for the reality shift wasn't Purple Man this time like I'd guessed, but it does tie-in to the Marvel Knights theme. I don't think I had read the Marvel Knights: Hulk book; I want to say that was from a stretch where they gave anybody an MK-labelled mini-series. Read more!