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So we are going to get into The Punisher number 16.
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And the title of our story is Escalation. This hit
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the shelves October 18th, 1988. Written by Mike Barron. Penciled
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by Wills Portacio. Inked by Scott Williams. Lettered by Kenneth Bruzenak.
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And colored by Janet Jackson.
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Okay. Okay.
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All right, so let's talk about the characters here real quick,
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and then we'll get into the story. So our characters, again,
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we got Frank Castle, the Punisher. Not going to have
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to go too much into that. Alongside Frank's microchip, a
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longtime partner and technical expert. We've talked about him already
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a few times. We've got Conchita, one of the people
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Frank has been training in the Florida Everglades. She's prepared
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to take part in the fight against organized crime and
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has already shown that she's more than willing to get
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her hands dirty.
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We got Vernon.
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So we also have Vernon, the school teacher who joined
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this unusual little group of recruits. He may not have
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Frank's military background, but he's learning quickly and preparing himself
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for what's coming. Then there's Reese McDowell, another member of
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Frank's training group. Like Conchita and Vernon, Reese has been
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going through Frank's crash course in stealth, survival, and combat.
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Then on the other side of things, we have Wilson Fisk,
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the Kingpin. one of the most powerful figures in organized crime,
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controlling a massive criminal empire while maintaining the appearance of
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a legitimate businessman. Frank has now started attacking both sides
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of that empire. Fisk has taken the Punisher problem personally.
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Working for the Kingpin is Mr. Klieg, a dangerous assassin
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who Fisk has sent after Frank. We met Klieg in
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the previous issue, where Fisk tested his abilities before sending
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him out to eliminate the Punisher. And finally, we're going
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to be introduced to Jeremy Wilson. or better known as
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The Board. He's a teenage computer genius and expert at
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calculating odds and predicting behavior. There's actually a connection to
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him from a recent issue because he attended the high
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school that Frank went undercover as a substitute teacher. Now
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his talents have brought him to the attention of the kingpin.
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So there's our main players. Let's go ahead and get
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into Escalation. So as we open the issue, Frank's still
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deep in the Florida Everglades, continuing the combat training he
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began in the previous issue. Reese McDowell watches Frank demonstrate
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just how good he is at moving unnoticed when Frank
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manages to get close enough to a jaguar to touch
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it before the animal realizes he's there. Frank tells Reese
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that he may never be able to do that with
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an animal, but with enough training, he should eventually be
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able to do it with a man. That lesson, though,
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is interrupted almost immediately. As Frank and Reese make their
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way back toward camp, Reese notices something strange about the
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trail ahead.
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It looks just a little too perfect.
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Beneath a covering of leaves is a concealed pit filled
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with sharpened stakes. A classic tiger trap. But before Frank
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can figure out who would be setting something like that
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in the Everglades, a shot rings out and Reese is
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killed instantly. Frank returns fire, but the hidden attacker opens
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up with an automatic weapon. With nowhere else to go,
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Frank deliberately jumps into the tiger pit, relying on his
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reinforced plates and the soles of his boots to keep
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the spikes from impaling him. He waits out the gunfire,
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climbs out, and narrowly avoids a grenade tossed into the
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trap after him. The attacker finally reveals himself as Mr. Cleague,
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the assassin sent by Wilson Fisk. Frank tries to get
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back to camp before Cleague can cut him off, but
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Cleague has filled the area with traps. Frank gets caught
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by a swinging board covered in spikes and one of
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them tearing into his shoulder and pinning him against a tree.
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Klieg moves in for the kill with a knife, forcing
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Frank to rip himself loose and fight him hand to hand.
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The fight gets vicious very quickly. Both men are injured,
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and when Klieg finally decides he has had enough, he
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reaches for his gun. Just then, an arrow suddenly tears
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through his chest. Klieg drops dead. The shot came from Conchita,
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one of Frank's trainees. She asks if all of this
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was somehow part of the exercise, but Frank says no.
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This is not.
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Reese is dead, and Frank knows. Now, the kingpin has
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found them. Back at camp, Frank tells Microchip, Conchita, and
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Vernon that their timetable just changed. They are as prepared
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as they are going to get, and instead of waiting
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for Fisk to make another move, Frank wants to strike first.
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The group splits up, with Frank and Microchip heading off
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on their own, while Conchita and Vernon take another route.
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They will regroup later in Pennsylvania. Frank and Micro eventually
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make an unusual stop at Disney World, where Micro uses
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the opportunity to get into a computer and check the
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progress of the virus he unleashed against Fisk's business. The
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damage is far greater than expected. The virus has disrupted
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roughly 30% of the Kingpin's legitimate billing operations, involving trucking
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and waste collection, and the financial consequences are beginning to spread.
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Micro then introduces another program designed to cause even more
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chaos throughout Fisk's operations. It is here that Frank finally
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asks Micro something that has been hanging over him for
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quite some time. Why didn't he quit after his son died?
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Micro explains that his son knew the risks when he
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joined the fight. To Micro, his son's death has become
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comparable to what happened to Frank's family. Organized crime destroyed
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both of their families, and Micro now sees the mob
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as a cancer. In his mind, men like Frank and
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himself are among the few willing to actually do something
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about it. Meanwhile, Wilson Fisk is learning just how badly
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his organization has been damaged. The Securities and Exchange Submission
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is looking into his holdings, his computer network is compromised,
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and Klieg has failed to report back. Fisk knows the
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Punisher is responsible. To fight Frank and Micro on their
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own ground, Fisk brings in teenage computer prodigy Jeremy Wilson,
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better known as The Bored. The board previously attended the
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high school where Frank recently went undercover as a substitute teacher.
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Fisk initially wants the board to eliminate Micro's virus and
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then determine where the Punisher plans to strike next. The
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board already has an answer. He predicts that Frank will
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target one of Fisk's collection operations in Narragansett, Rhode Island,
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a location involved in gathering proceeds from Atlantic City casinos.
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Fisk immediately begins preparing an ambush. But Micro knows about
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the board, too. From Pennsylvania, Micro notices that the famous
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young hacker has essentially disappeared from the computer underground and
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concludes that Fisk must have recruited him. Knowing how the
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board thinks, Micro works backwards through the situation. If Fisk
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expects Frank to attack the Narragansett operation, then the Kingpin
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will probably move his money somewhere else. Micro believes that
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somewhere else will be the King's Inn in Atlantic City,
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an old casino location that appears clean enough that nobody
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would think Fisk would use it again. so Frank decides
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that is exactly where they'll strike. After regrouping with Conchita
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and Vernon, Frank lays out the plan. They will break
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into the King's Inn, seize Fisk's money, and use the
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proceeds to finance their growing campaign against him. The assault
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is anything but subtle. Frank blasts a hole into the building,
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and Conchita fires a harpoon through one of Fisk's men
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so they can use the attached line to enter. Frank
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tosses in explosives and unloads an Uzi before he and
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Conchita move inside. They tear through the collection operation, killing
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Fisk's men and taking control of the cash. Frank then
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throws some of the money outside, creating chaos as people
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scramble to collect it. While everyone is distracted, Frank and
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Conchita load up huge bags of cash, blow open the
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elevator doors, and descend the shaft and escape through the
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lower level. Microtrip and Vernon are waiting with the latest
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incarnation of the Punisher's battle van. For a moment, it
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looks like everything has gone perfectly. Vernon is thrilled. They
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have stolen enough money to bankroll an entire campaign against
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the Kingpin. Then Micro notices they're being followed. Behind them
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is something even larger than Frank's armored van, an enormous
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armored vehicle belonging to Fisk, complete with heavy weapons and
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a gun turret. The Kingpin has brought his own battle bus.
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Inside are Fisk and the board. Fisk congratulates the teenager
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for predicting Frank's move, while the board casually asks whether
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he can fire one of the guns. The issue ends
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in the middle of a full-scale armored chase, with Fisk's
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massive vehicle bearing down on the Punisher's battle van. And
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appropriately enough for a story called Escalation, what began as
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a covert war between Frank Castle and Wilson Fisk has
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now turned into something much bigger. So Punisher number 16, Escalation.
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I like this issue a little bit more than issue 15,
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just because how the action is really starting to pick
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up here. The previous issue did a lot of work
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setting the board, so to speak, bringing the Kingpin directly
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into Frank's world, introducing Klieg, getting Frank's little group together,
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and setting up the larger conflict. Here, everybody starts making
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their moves. And right off the bat, Mike Barron lets
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you know that there are going to be consequences. Reese McDowell,
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who we basically just recruited in the previous issue, is
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dead within the first few pages. I don't necessarily think
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we're supposed to be devastated by Reese's death because we
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barely knew the guy.
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But I think the shock of it works.
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You might have assumed Reese was going to stick around
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for a few issues and become part of Frank's little
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army here.
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And nope. He's gone. I like that unpredictability.
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It also immediately establishes the stakes Frank has brought these
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people into his war and this is what can happen
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the whole opening scene in the Everglades is really good
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we start with Frank staying still enough so that this
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Jaguar doesn't even notice him gets close enough to where
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Frank can touch the thing before it even realizes he's
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there Is.
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That maybe a little unbelievable? Yeah, probably.
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I would think a Jaguar would know somebody's standing right there.
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But I don't really have a problem with it because
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it's being used to show just how good Frank is
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at stealth and survival. And he's turning it into a
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training opportunity for Reese. Then within moments, the training exercise
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becomes the real thing. Klieg shows up. Rhys gets killed,
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Frank gets caught in traps, gets stabbed and injured in
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the shoulder, basically gets the crap beat out of him
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for a little while. And I like seeing that because
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it reminds you that Frank is still just a human being.
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He's extremely well trained, he's incredibly tough, and he's probably
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going to figure a way out of most situations, but
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he's not a superhero in the traditional sense.
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He doesn't just shrug these things off.
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And Klieg works perfectly fine for me as an opponent.
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I don't think the guy was ever supposed to become
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some major recurring Punisher villain. He's an assassin that the
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Kingpin sends after Frank. He's formidable enough to cause Frank
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some serious problems. And then he's another obstacle that Frank
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has to get past. Except Frank isn't actually the one
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who finishes him off. Conchita saves him. And I really
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like that. Conchita might be one of the stronger supporting
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characters we've gotten out of this series so far. I'm
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excluding Microchip from that comparison because Micro obviously has his
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own very specific role here. But when it comes to
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somebody who can actually stand beside Frank in the field,
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Conchita's pretty capable. She's not somebody Frank has taken and
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somehow turned into a killer. She was already down for
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this war. Frank is giving her training and direction, but
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Conchita is very much her own person. She sneaks up
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on Klieg without anybody realizing she's there, puts an arrow
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through him, and saves Frank's life. Later, during the attack
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on the King's Inn, she's right there beside Frank, taking
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care of business. There's even that little moment when they're
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making their escape, and she tells Frank that she left
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another present upstairs. And then, boom, the room explodes. That's
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Conchita right there. She's not blindly following Frank around, waiting
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for instructions. She's capable, thinking for herself. And at this point,
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Frank seems to trust her to do the job. Once
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Cleeg finds him, Frank basically realizes the training period is over.
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Are the people completely ready? Probably not.
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But that's war.
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You use what you have, and Frank knows that sitting
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around in the Everglades training isn't an option anymore. Because
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the Kingpin knows where they are. So now Frank takes
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the fight to Fisk. Say that three times fast. And
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I think that's really where the storyline gets interesting. Because
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this isn't just Frank going after some drug dealer or
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mobster anymore. He's trying to attack an entire criminal empire.
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And they're doing it on several different fronts. They're physically
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attacking Fisk's operations. They're stealing his money. And Microtrip is
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attacking him through his computers. I love the technology side
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of this story.
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It's not overly prevalent, but it's there.
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I like seeing how comics from the late 80s and
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early 90s deal with computers and technology. It's fun looking
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at what writers thought was cutting edge at the time.
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And comparing that with where we are now, Mike Barron
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handles it pretty well here because he doesn't try to
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over-explain everything. Micro has a virus. The virus is screwing
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up Fisk's business. That's really all we need to know.
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Barron doesn't spend half a page trying to convince us
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that he understands exactly how computers work. And now the
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Kingpin has his own computer guy on the board. I
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like the connection back to the high school from issue,
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I think it was 14? The board wasn't actually a
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character we met in that issue, but we're told he
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was connected to those gangs, so Baron's reaching back into
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something that seemed like a relatively self-contained story, and tying
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it into his larger arc. And now we've basically got
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Microtrip and the board playing chess against each other. That's funny,
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because we just had the chess imagery in the Kingpin
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and the Punisher in the previous issue on the cover,
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and even though nobody is sitting at a chessboard here,
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that's still what this whole thing feels like. The board
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predicts where Frank is going to attack. Micro predicts how
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the board is going to make that prediction. So Frank
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changes the target. And then by the end of the issue,
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we find out the board may have anticipated that too.
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Neither one of these guys look stupid. They're both extremely
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good at what they do, and now they're trying to
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stay one move ahead of each other. The same thing
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is happening with Frank and Fisk. And I continue to
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really like the way Baron is writing Wilson Fisk. He
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doesn't have to do much in this issue. He doesn't
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have to beat somebody up. He doesn't have to kill somebody.
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He's just sitting there talking. But everyone around him is terrified.
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His assistant basically walks out of the room relieved that
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he's still alive. That's one of the things that makes
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the Kingpin work. He's so calm that you never really
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know what is going to make that switch flip. We
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saw in the previous issue that he can go from
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completely composed to brutally violent in an instant. So even
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when he's doing nothing... There's still this threat hanging over
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everybody in the room. The board, though, hilariously, he doesn't
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seem scared of him at all. He's just this kid
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sitting there talking to Wilson Fisk like, yeah, I can
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fix your virus. By the way, can I shoot one
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of those guns?
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I dig that.
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And then we get the King's Inn raid, which is
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probably my favorite part of the issue. This thing becomes
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an 80s action movie. They've got the plans laid out.
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Frank explains how they're getting in. how they're getting out,
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where they're meeting up. It's basically a heist movie setup.
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And then the operation actually begins and there's nothing, nothing
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subtle about it. Frank blows a freaking hole in the building.
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Conchita fires a harpoon that goes through a guy into
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a wall. They go flying into the building. Grenades are
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going off. Frank's unloading with an Uzi. They're grabbing bags
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of cash. Then Frank dumps the money outside so everybody
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starts scrambling for it while they make their escape through
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the elevator shaft That's exactly the kind of ridiculous action
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movie Punisher stuff that I enjoy. It's violent, it's excessive,
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and it's fun without feeling like it's out of place
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for the book. And Wills Portacio and Scott Williams make
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all of this look really good. I've got no complaints
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about this art team. The fight between Frank and Klieg
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works particularly well because there are stretches where Baron just
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gets out of the way and lets the artwork tell
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you what's happening. There doesn't need to be dialogue. You
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just watch these two guys beat the hell out of
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each other. Portacio and Williams are really good at that
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kind of kinetic action. And I'm going to hate seeing
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this team leave the book in a couple of issues
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because I think they've had a really strong run. And
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this is a great storyline for them to be drawing.
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This feels like Frank graduating into a bigger corner of
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the Marvel criminal underworld. He's going against the kingpin now.
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The scale's bigger. The action's bigger. The stakes are bigger.
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Even the vehicles are bigger. Because yes, yes, ladies and gentlemen,
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the battle van.
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Is back.
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And I love that even Microchip acknowledges that every time
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they use one of these things, they basically have to
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go get another one. I've been saying that since the
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00:17:38.380 --> 00:17:40.880
first battle van got destroyed, so apparently Micro and I
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00:17:40.920 --> 00:17:43.440
are finally on the same page about the battle van.
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Although, this one is red.
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00:17:46.789 --> 00:17:49.029
And I'm sorry, but the Punisher battle van needs to
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00:17:49.069 --> 00:17:50.750
be black, so we're going to need to get this
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00:17:50.769 --> 00:17:54.289
thing a paint job. But apparently Fisk saw Frank's battle
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van and said, okay, I'll do you one better. Because
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now the Kingpin has this gigantic armored battle bus chasing
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00:18:01.619 --> 00:18:05.009
them down the highway. And that's where we end. That
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00:18:05.210 --> 00:18:10.250
is absolutely an escalation. Frank has a battle van. Kingpin
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00:18:10.269 --> 00:18:14.430
has a bigger one. Frank has microchip. Kingpin gets the board.
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00:18:15.289 --> 00:18:20.869
Frank attacks Fisk's operation physically. Micro attacks him financially and technologically.
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Every move somebody makes causes the other side to raise
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the stakes. And there's the one scene I wanted to
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00:18:27.089 --> 00:18:30.470
mention because I think it's important, and that's Microchip finally
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talking about the death of his son. I've been wanting
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00:18:35.660 --> 00:18:38.720
the book to deal with this. When Micro's son died,
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00:18:38.740 --> 00:18:42.160
I kept wondering how Micro was going to process that.
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And more importantly, why he would continue working with Frank afterward.
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And we finally get an answer here. It's brief, maybe
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00:18:51.849 --> 00:18:54.490
a little too brief for me, but I also understand
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00:18:54.509 --> 00:18:57.160
the kind of comic we're reading. We're probably not going
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00:18:57.180 --> 00:18:59.759
to stop everything for an issue and have a deep
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00:18:59.859 --> 00:19:02.380
psychological examination of Microchip's grief.
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This is the Punisher. We're moving on.
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00:19:06.339 --> 00:19:09.319
So Baron gives us enough. Micro says his son knew
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what he was getting involved in. He made his choice.
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And now Micro looks at what happened to his family
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the same way Frank looks at what happened to his.
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Organized crime took something from both of them. So Micro
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00:19:21.180 --> 00:19:24.420
believes in the war. That helps solidify Micro as more
347
00:19:24.440 --> 00:19:26.019
than just Frank's computer guy.
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He's not here.
349
00:19:27.529 --> 00:19:31.269
Simply because Frank needs somebody who can build gadgets, hack computers.
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00:19:33.349 --> 00:19:35.009
Micro believes in what they're doing.
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So yeah, I think this is a really strong issue.
352
00:19:38.269 --> 00:19:41.869
I probably enjoyed it more than issue 15 because now
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00:19:41.910 --> 00:19:45.029
all that setup is, it's paying off. We've got Frank
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00:19:45.089 --> 00:19:48.210
fighting Klieg, Conchita showing how capable she is. We've got
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00:19:48.269 --> 00:19:51.519
Micro and the board trying to outthink each other, we've
356
00:19:51.539 --> 00:19:54.960
got the Kingpin responding to attacks on his empire, we've
357
00:19:54.980 --> 00:19:57.809
got an action movie heist, and now we've got a
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00:19:57.869 --> 00:20:02.170
giant armored vehicle chasing the Punisher's battle van. This story
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00:20:02.210 --> 00:20:04.789
has gotten bigger without feeling like it has stopped being
360
00:20:04.829 --> 00:20:08.529
a Punisher story. And that cliffhanger absolutely makes me want
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00:20:08.549 --> 00:20:11.099
to get to the issue 17, Because I want to
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00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:14.549
know what Microchip has hidden in that battle van. Because
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00:20:14.609 --> 00:20:17.420
I'm betting he's got something. And they're probably going to
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00:20:17.450 --> 00:20:17.700
need it.
1
00:00:10.380 --> 00:00:16.000
So we are going to get into The Punisher number 16.
2
00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:20.739
And the title of our story is Escalation. This hit
3
00:00:21.559 --> 00:00:29.809
the shelves October 18th, 1988. Written by Mike Barron. Penciled
4
00:00:29.850 --> 00:00:35.229
by Wills Portacio. Inked by Scott Williams. Lettered by Kenneth Bruzenak.
5
00:00:35.350 --> 00:00:36.929
And colored by Janet Jackson.
6
00:00:36.950 --> 00:00:38.890
Okay. Okay.
7
00:00:39.640 --> 00:00:42.320
All right, so let's talk about the characters here real quick,
8
00:00:42.359 --> 00:00:46.359
and then we'll get into the story. So our characters, again,
9
00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:48.899
we got Frank Castle, the Punisher. Not going to have
10
00:00:48.920 --> 00:00:52.719
to go too much into that. Alongside Frank's microchip, a
11
00:00:52.799 --> 00:00:55.840
longtime partner and technical expert. We've talked about him already
12
00:00:55.859 --> 00:01:00.240
a few times. We've got Conchita, one of the people
13
00:01:00.280 --> 00:01:03.380
Frank has been training in the Florida Everglades. She's prepared
14
00:01:03.399 --> 00:01:05.420
to take part in the fight against organized crime and
15
00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:07.500
has already shown that she's more than willing to get
16
00:01:07.540 --> 00:01:08.239
her hands dirty.
17
00:01:08.980 --> 00:01:10.019
We got Vernon.
18
00:01:10.859 --> 00:01:13.200
So we also have Vernon, the school teacher who joined
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00:01:13.620 --> 00:01:16.980
this unusual little group of recruits. He may not have
20
00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:20.689
Frank's military background, but he's learning quickly and preparing himself
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00:01:20.709 --> 00:01:24.290
for what's coming. Then there's Reese McDowell, another member of
22
00:01:24.349 --> 00:01:27.670
Frank's training group. Like Conchita and Vernon, Reese has been
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00:01:27.689 --> 00:01:31.530
going through Frank's crash course in stealth, survival, and combat.
24
00:01:32.609 --> 00:01:34.549
Then on the other side of things, we have Wilson Fisk,
25
00:01:34.569 --> 00:01:37.810
the Kingpin. one of the most powerful figures in organized crime,
26
00:01:37.849 --> 00:01:40.849
controlling a massive criminal empire while maintaining the appearance of
27
00:01:40.890 --> 00:01:45.150
a legitimate businessman. Frank has now started attacking both sides
28
00:01:45.189 --> 00:01:49.659
of that empire. Fisk has taken the Punisher problem personally.
29
00:01:50.579 --> 00:01:54.079
Working for the Kingpin is Mr. Klieg, a dangerous assassin
30
00:01:54.120 --> 00:01:57.000
who Fisk has sent after Frank. We met Klieg in
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00:01:57.019 --> 00:01:59.920
the previous issue, where Fisk tested his abilities before sending
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00:01:59.959 --> 00:02:02.780
him out to eliminate the Punisher. And finally, we're going
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00:02:02.799 --> 00:02:06.500
to be introduced to Jeremy Wilson. or better known as
34
00:02:06.760 --> 00:02:10.159
The Board. He's a teenage computer genius and expert at
35
00:02:10.210 --> 00:02:14.150
calculating odds and predicting behavior. There's actually a connection to
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00:02:14.189 --> 00:02:16.770
him from a recent issue because he attended the high
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00:02:16.830 --> 00:02:20.669
school that Frank went undercover as a substitute teacher. Now
38
00:02:20.750 --> 00:02:23.810
his talents have brought him to the attention of the kingpin.
39
00:02:25.050 --> 00:02:26.969
So there's our main players. Let's go ahead and get
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00:02:27.090 --> 00:02:31.930
into Escalation. So as we open the issue, Frank's still
41
00:02:31.949 --> 00:02:34.629
deep in the Florida Everglades, continuing the combat training he
42
00:02:34.669 --> 00:02:38.590
began in the previous issue. Reese McDowell watches Frank demonstrate
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00:02:38.659 --> 00:02:41.599
just how good he is at moving unnoticed when Frank
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00:02:41.740 --> 00:02:45.199
manages to get close enough to a jaguar to touch
45
00:02:45.259 --> 00:02:48.979
it before the animal realizes he's there. Frank tells Reese
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00:02:49.020 --> 00:02:51.620
that he may never be able to do that with
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00:02:51.659 --> 00:02:54.430
an animal, but with enough training, he should eventually be
48
00:02:54.469 --> 00:02:56.870
able to do it with a man. That lesson, though,
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00:02:57.270 --> 00:03:00.719
is interrupted almost immediately. As Frank and Reese make their
50
00:03:00.740 --> 00:03:03.280
way back toward camp, Reese notices something strange about the
51
00:03:03.319 --> 00:03:03.930
trail ahead.
52
00:03:04.629 --> 00:03:06.250
It looks just a little too perfect.
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00:03:06.870 --> 00:03:10.370
Beneath a covering of leaves is a concealed pit filled
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00:03:10.569 --> 00:03:15.909
with sharpened stakes. A classic tiger trap. But before Frank
55
00:03:15.939 --> 00:03:18.240
can figure out who would be setting something like that
56
00:03:18.259 --> 00:03:21.680
in the Everglades, a shot rings out and Reese is
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00:03:21.740 --> 00:03:25.580
killed instantly. Frank returns fire, but the hidden attacker opens
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00:03:25.659 --> 00:03:28.099
up with an automatic weapon. With nowhere else to go,
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00:03:28.699 --> 00:03:32.180
Frank deliberately jumps into the tiger pit, relying on his
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00:03:32.280 --> 00:03:35.039
reinforced plates and the soles of his boots to keep
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00:03:35.090 --> 00:03:38.280
the spikes from impaling him. He waits out the gunfire,
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00:03:38.430 --> 00:03:41.610
climbs out, and narrowly avoids a grenade tossed into the
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00:03:41.650 --> 00:03:46.009
trap after him. The attacker finally reveals himself as Mr. Cleague,
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00:03:46.610 --> 00:03:49.830
the assassin sent by Wilson Fisk. Frank tries to get
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00:03:49.870 --> 00:03:52.169
back to camp before Cleague can cut him off, but
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00:03:52.210 --> 00:03:55.389
Cleague has filled the area with traps. Frank gets caught
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00:03:55.430 --> 00:03:57.770
by a swinging board covered in spikes and one of
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00:03:57.810 --> 00:04:00.030
them tearing into his shoulder and pinning him against a tree.
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00:04:00.750 --> 00:04:02.889
Klieg moves in for the kill with a knife, forcing
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00:04:02.930 --> 00:04:05.689
Frank to rip himself loose and fight him hand to hand.
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00:04:06.669 --> 00:04:09.159
The fight gets vicious very quickly. Both men are injured,
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00:04:09.560 --> 00:04:12.419
and when Klieg finally decides he has had enough, he
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00:04:12.479 --> 00:04:15.919
reaches for his gun. Just then, an arrow suddenly tears
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00:04:15.939 --> 00:04:20.939
through his chest. Klieg drops dead. The shot came from Conchita,
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00:04:21.220 --> 00:04:23.779
one of Frank's trainees. She asks if all of this
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00:04:23.860 --> 00:04:26.790
was somehow part of the exercise, but Frank says no.
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00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:28.399
This is not.
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00:04:29.339 --> 00:04:32.889
Reese is dead, and Frank knows. Now, the kingpin has
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00:04:32.910 --> 00:04:36.430
found them. Back at camp, Frank tells Microchip, Conchita, and
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00:04:36.470 --> 00:04:40.269
Vernon that their timetable just changed. They are as prepared
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00:04:40.329 --> 00:04:42.209
as they are going to get, and instead of waiting
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00:04:42.350 --> 00:04:45.259
for Fisk to make another move, Frank wants to strike first.
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00:04:46.100 --> 00:04:48.560
The group splits up, with Frank and Microchip heading off
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00:04:48.980 --> 00:04:51.699
on their own, while Conchita and Vernon take another route.
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00:04:52.639 --> 00:04:56.910
They will regroup later in Pennsylvania. Frank and Micro eventually
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00:04:56.949 --> 00:04:59.540
make an unusual stop at Disney World, where Micro uses
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00:04:59.569 --> 00:05:01.939
the opportunity to get into a computer and check the
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00:05:01.980 --> 00:05:05.459
progress of the virus he unleashed against Fisk's business. The
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00:05:05.480 --> 00:05:09.500
damage is far greater than expected. The virus has disrupted
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00:05:09.579 --> 00:05:13.839
roughly 30% of the Kingpin's legitimate billing operations, involving trucking
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00:05:14.300 --> 00:05:18.319
and waste collection, and the financial consequences are beginning to spread.
92
00:05:19.139 --> 00:05:22.560
Micro then introduces another program designed to cause even more
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00:05:22.600 --> 00:05:26.800
chaos throughout Fisk's operations. It is here that Frank finally
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00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:29.060
asks Micro something that has been hanging over him for
95
00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:33.120
quite some time. Why didn't he quit after his son died?
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00:05:34.300 --> 00:05:36.490
Micro explains that his son knew the risks when he
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00:05:36.550 --> 00:05:39.689
joined the fight. To Micro, his son's death has become
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00:05:39.769 --> 00:05:43.610
comparable to what happened to Frank's family. Organized crime destroyed
99
00:05:43.670 --> 00:05:46.069
both of their families, and Micro now sees the mob
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00:05:46.129 --> 00:05:49.319
as a cancer. In his mind, men like Frank and
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00:05:49.360 --> 00:05:51.680
himself are among the few willing to actually do something
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00:05:51.720 --> 00:05:55.060
about it. Meanwhile, Wilson Fisk is learning just how badly
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00:05:55.100 --> 00:05:59.060
his organization has been damaged. The Securities and Exchange Submission
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00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:01.990
is looking into his holdings, his computer network is compromised,
105
00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:07.189
and Klieg has failed to report back. Fisk knows the
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00:06:07.230 --> 00:06:10.550
Punisher is responsible. To fight Frank and Micro on their
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00:06:10.610 --> 00:06:15.040
own ground, Fisk brings in teenage computer prodigy Jeremy Wilson,
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00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:19.689
better known as The Bored. The board previously attended the
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00:06:19.730 --> 00:06:22.759
high school where Frank recently went undercover as a substitute teacher.
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00:06:23.540 --> 00:06:26.720
Fisk initially wants the board to eliminate Micro's virus and
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then determine where the Punisher plans to strike next. The
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board already has an answer. He predicts that Frank will
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target one of Fisk's collection operations in Narragansett, Rhode Island,
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a location involved in gathering proceeds from Atlantic City casinos.
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Fisk immediately begins preparing an ambush. But Micro knows about
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the board, too. From Pennsylvania, Micro notices that the famous
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young hacker has essentially disappeared from the computer underground and
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concludes that Fisk must have recruited him. Knowing how the
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board thinks, Micro works backwards through the situation. If Fisk
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expects Frank to attack the Narragansett operation, then the Kingpin
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will probably move his money somewhere else. Micro believes that
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somewhere else will be the King's Inn in Atlantic City,
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an old casino location that appears clean enough that nobody
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would think Fisk would use it again. so Frank decides
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that is exactly where they'll strike. After regrouping with Conchita
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and Vernon, Frank lays out the plan. They will break
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into the King's Inn, seize Fisk's money, and use the
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proceeds to finance their growing campaign against him. The assault
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is anything but subtle. Frank blasts a hole into the building,
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and Conchita fires a harpoon through one of Fisk's men
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so they can use the attached line to enter. Frank
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tosses in explosives and unloads an Uzi before he and
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Conchita move inside. They tear through the collection operation, killing
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Fisk's men and taking control of the cash. Frank then
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throws some of the money outside, creating chaos as people
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scramble to collect it. While everyone is distracted, Frank and
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Conchita load up huge bags of cash, blow open the
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elevator doors, and descend the shaft and escape through the
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lower level. Microtrip and Vernon are waiting with the latest
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incarnation of the Punisher's battle van. For a moment, it
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looks like everything has gone perfectly. Vernon is thrilled. They
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have stolen enough money to bankroll an entire campaign against
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the Kingpin. Then Micro notices they're being followed. Behind them
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is something even larger than Frank's armored van, an enormous
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armored vehicle belonging to Fisk, complete with heavy weapons and
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a gun turret. The Kingpin has brought his own battle bus.
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Inside are Fisk and the board. Fisk congratulates the teenager
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for predicting Frank's move, while the board casually asks whether
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he can fire one of the guns. The issue ends
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in the middle of a full-scale armored chase, with Fisk's
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massive vehicle bearing down on the Punisher's battle van. And
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appropriately enough for a story called Escalation, what began as
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a covert war between Frank Castle and Wilson Fisk has
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now turned into something much bigger. So Punisher number 16, Escalation.
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I like this issue a little bit more than issue 15,
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just because how the action is really starting to pick
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up here. The previous issue did a lot of work
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setting the board, so to speak, bringing the Kingpin directly
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into Frank's world, introducing Klieg, getting Frank's little group together,
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and setting up the larger conflict. Here, everybody starts making
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their moves. And right off the bat, Mike Barron lets
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you know that there are going to be consequences. Reese McDowell,
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who we basically just recruited in the previous issue, is
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dead within the first few pages. I don't necessarily think
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we're supposed to be devastated by Reese's death because we
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barely knew the guy.
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But I think the shock of it works.
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You might have assumed Reese was going to stick around
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for a few issues and become part of Frank's little
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army here.
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And nope. He's gone. I like that unpredictability.
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It also immediately establishes the stakes Frank has brought these
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people into his war and this is what can happen
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the whole opening scene in the Everglades is really good
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we start with Frank staying still enough so that this
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Jaguar doesn't even notice him gets close enough to where
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Frank can touch the thing before it even realizes he's
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there Is.
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That maybe a little unbelievable? Yeah, probably.
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I would think a Jaguar would know somebody's standing right there.
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But I don't really have a problem with it because
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it's being used to show just how good Frank is
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at stealth and survival. And he's turning it into a
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training opportunity for Reese. Then within moments, the training exercise
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becomes the real thing. Klieg shows up. Rhys gets killed,
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Frank gets caught in traps, gets stabbed and injured in
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the shoulder, basically gets the crap beat out of him
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for a little while. And I like seeing that because
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it reminds you that Frank is still just a human being.
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He's extremely well trained, he's incredibly tough, and he's probably
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going to figure a way out of most situations, but
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he's not a superhero in the traditional sense.
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He doesn't just shrug these things off.
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And Klieg works perfectly fine for me as an opponent.
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I don't think the guy was ever supposed to become
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some major recurring Punisher villain. He's an assassin that the
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Kingpin sends after Frank. He's formidable enough to cause Frank
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some serious problems. And then he's another obstacle that Frank
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has to get past. Except Frank isn't actually the one
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who finishes him off. Conchita saves him. And I really
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like that. Conchita might be one of the stronger supporting
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characters we've gotten out of this series so far. I'm
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excluding Microchip from that comparison because Micro obviously has his
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own very specific role here. But when it comes to
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somebody who can actually stand beside Frank in the field,
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Conchita's pretty capable. She's not somebody Frank has taken and
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somehow turned into a killer. She was already down for
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this war. Frank is giving her training and direction, but
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Conchita is very much her own person. She sneaks up
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on Klieg without anybody realizing she's there, puts an arrow
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through him, and saves Frank's life. Later, during the attack
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on the King's Inn, she's right there beside Frank, taking
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care of business. There's even that little moment when they're
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making their escape, and she tells Frank that she left
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another present upstairs. And then, boom, the room explodes. That's
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Conchita right there. She's not blindly following Frank around, waiting
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for instructions. She's capable, thinking for herself. And at this point,
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Frank seems to trust her to do the job. Once
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Cleeg finds him, Frank basically realizes the training period is over.
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Are the people completely ready? Probably not.
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But that's war.
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You use what you have, and Frank knows that sitting
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around in the Everglades training isn't an option anymore. Because
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the Kingpin knows where they are. So now Frank takes
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the fight to Fisk. Say that three times fast. And
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I think that's really where the storyline gets interesting. Because
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this isn't just Frank going after some drug dealer or
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mobster anymore. He's trying to attack an entire criminal empire.
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And they're doing it on several different fronts. They're physically
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attacking Fisk's operations. They're stealing his money. And Microtrip is
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attacking him through his computers. I love the technology side
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of this story.
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It's not overly prevalent, but it's there.
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I like seeing how comics from the late 80s and
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early 90s deal with computers and technology. It's fun looking
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at what writers thought was cutting edge at the time.
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And comparing that with where we are now, Mike Barron
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handles it pretty well here because he doesn't try to
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over-explain everything. Micro has a virus. The virus is screwing
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up Fisk's business. That's really all we need to know.
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Barron doesn't spend half a page trying to convince us
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that he understands exactly how computers work. And now the
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Kingpin has his own computer guy on the board. I
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like the connection back to the high school from issue,
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I think it was 14? The board wasn't actually a
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character we met in that issue, but we're told he
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was connected to those gangs, so Baron's reaching back into
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something that seemed like a relatively self-contained story, and tying
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it into his larger arc. And now we've basically got
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Microtrip and the board playing chess against each other. That's funny,
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because we just had the chess imagery in the Kingpin
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and the Punisher in the previous issue on the cover,
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and even though nobody is sitting at a chessboard here,
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that's still what this whole thing feels like. The board
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predicts where Frank is going to attack. Micro predicts how
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the board is going to make that prediction. So Frank
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changes the target. And then by the end of the issue,
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we find out the board may have anticipated that too.
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Neither one of these guys look stupid. They're both extremely
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good at what they do, and now they're trying to
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stay one move ahead of each other. The same thing
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is happening with Frank and Fisk. And I continue to
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really like the way Baron is writing Wilson Fisk. He
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doesn't have to do much in this issue. He doesn't
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have to beat somebody up. He doesn't have to kill somebody.
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He's just sitting there talking. But everyone around him is terrified.
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His assistant basically walks out of the room relieved that
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he's still alive. That's one of the things that makes
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the Kingpin work. He's so calm that you never really
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know what is going to make that switch flip. We
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saw in the previous issue that he can go from
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completely composed to brutally violent in an instant. So even
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when he's doing nothing... There's still this threat hanging over
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everybody in the room. The board, though, hilariously, he doesn't
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seem scared of him at all. He's just this kid
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sitting there talking to Wilson Fisk like, yeah, I can
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fix your virus. By the way, can I shoot one
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of those guns?
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I dig that.
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And then we get the King's Inn raid, which is
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probably my favorite part of the issue. This thing becomes
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an 80s action movie. They've got the plans laid out.
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Frank explains how they're getting in. how they're getting out,
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where they're meeting up. It's basically a heist movie setup.
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And then the operation actually begins and there's nothing, nothing
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subtle about it. Frank blows a freaking hole in the building.
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Conchita fires a harpoon that goes through a guy into
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a wall. They go flying into the building. Grenades are
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going off. Frank's unloading with an Uzi. They're grabbing bags
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of cash. Then Frank dumps the money outside so everybody
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starts scrambling for it while they make their escape through
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the elevator shaft That's exactly the kind of ridiculous action
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movie Punisher stuff that I enjoy. It's violent, it's excessive,
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and it's fun without feeling like it's out of place
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for the book. And Wills Portacio and Scott Williams make
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all of this look really good. I've got no complaints
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about this art team. The fight between Frank and Klieg
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works particularly well because there are stretches where Baron just
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gets out of the way and lets the artwork tell
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you what's happening. There doesn't need to be dialogue. You
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just watch these two guys beat the hell out of
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each other. Portacio and Williams are really good at that
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kind of kinetic action. And I'm going to hate seeing
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this team leave the book in a couple of issues
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because I think they've had a really strong run. And
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this is a great storyline for them to be drawing.
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This feels like Frank graduating into a bigger corner of
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the Marvel criminal underworld. He's going against the kingpin now.
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The scale's bigger. The action's bigger. The stakes are bigger.
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Even the vehicles are bigger. Because yes, yes, ladies and gentlemen,
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the battle van.
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Is back.
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And I love that even Microchip acknowledges that every time
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they use one of these things, they basically have to
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go get another one. I've been saying that since the
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first battle van got destroyed, so apparently Micro and I
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are finally on the same page about the battle van.
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Although, this one is red.
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And I'm sorry, but the Punisher battle van needs to
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be black, so we're going to need to get this
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thing a paint job. But apparently Fisk saw Frank's battle
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van and said, okay, I'll do you one better. Because
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now the Kingpin has this gigantic armored battle bus chasing
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them down the highway. And that's where we end. That
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is absolutely an escalation. Frank has a battle van. Kingpin
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has a bigger one. Frank has microchip. Kingpin gets the board.
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Frank attacks Fisk's operation physically. Micro attacks him financially and technologically.
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Every move somebody makes causes the other side to raise
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the stakes. And there's the one scene I wanted to
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mention because I think it's important, and that's Microchip finally
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talking about the death of his son. I've been wanting
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the book to deal with this. When Micro's son died,
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I kept wondering how Micro was going to process that.
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And more importantly, why he would continue working with Frank afterward.
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And we finally get an answer here. It's brief, maybe
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a little too brief for me, but I also understand
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the kind of comic we're reading. We're probably not going
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to stop everything for an issue and have a deep
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psychological examination of Microchip's grief.
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This is the Punisher. We're moving on.
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So Baron gives us enough. Micro says his son knew
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what he was getting involved in. He made his choice.
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And now Micro looks at what happened to his family
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the same way Frank looks at what happened to his.
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Organized crime took something from both of them. So Micro
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believes in the war. That helps solidify Micro as more
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than just Frank's computer guy.
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He's not here.
349
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Simply because Frank needs somebody who can build gadgets, hack computers.
350
00:19:33.349 --> 00:19:35.009
Micro believes in what they're doing.
351
00:19:35.750 --> 00:19:37.950
So yeah, I think this is a really strong issue.
352
00:19:38.269 --> 00:19:41.869
I probably enjoyed it more than issue 15 because now
353
00:19:41.910 --> 00:19:45.029
all that setup is, it's paying off. We've got Frank
354
00:19:45.089 --> 00:19:48.210
fighting Klieg, Conchita showing how capable she is. We've got
355
00:19:48.269 --> 00:19:51.519
Micro and the board trying to outthink each other, we've
356
00:19:51.539 --> 00:19:54.960
got the Kingpin responding to attacks on his empire, we've
357
00:19:54.980 --> 00:19:57.809
got an action movie heist, and now we've got a
358
00:19:57.869 --> 00:20:02.170
giant armored vehicle chasing the Punisher's battle van. This story
359
00:20:02.210 --> 00:20:04.789
has gotten bigger without feeling like it has stopped being
360
00:20:04.829 --> 00:20:08.529
a Punisher story. And that cliffhanger absolutely makes me want
361
00:20:08.549 --> 00:20:11.099
to get to the issue 17, Because I want to
362
00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:14.549
know what Microchip has hidden in that battle van. Because
363
00:20:14.609 --> 00:20:17.420
I'm betting he's got something. And they're probably going to
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00:20:17.450 --> 00:20:17.700
need it.
