สำเนาบทสนทนา 🔗
WEBVTT
1
00:00:11.640 --> 00:00:14.839
Sometimes you just want to talk about a comic because
2
00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:18.800
you got time to kill. And that's an apt phrase,
3
00:00:18.839 --> 00:00:22.519
because I felt like I wanted to just talk about
4
00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:26.440
the first issue of the Punisher Ongoing series on Shells
5
00:00:26.519 --> 00:00:31.000
April of nineteen eighty seven. So let's start with our
6
00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:34.280
creative team. Here. We got Mike Baron writing, art and
7
00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:38.719
color by Klaus Jansen, lettered by James Novak, edited by
8
00:00:38.799 --> 00:00:45.479
Carl Potts. Now, before we get into the story itself,
9
00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:47.840
I think it's worth taking a few minutes to introduce
10
00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:50.600
the major players in these first two issues of the
11
00:00:50.600 --> 00:00:55.039
Punisher ongoing series. This opening story is basically Frank Castle
12
00:00:55.119 --> 00:00:59.359
following the cocaine trade backward, starting with a street level
13
00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:02.039
rockhouse in New York and working his way up to
14
00:01:02.119 --> 00:01:05.719
the bigger operation in Bolivia. So this is not a
15
00:01:05.799 --> 00:01:09.040
huge superhero cast. It's more like a crime slash action
16
00:01:09.239 --> 00:01:12.879
movie cast. You've got Frank, You've got a few criminals,
17
00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:16.239
you've got a couple of Vietnam connections, and then you've
18
00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:19.280
got the people caught in the middle of this whole mess.
19
00:01:19.920 --> 00:01:25.239
So we'll start with Frank. Frank Castle, the Punisher. Frank
20
00:01:25.319 --> 00:01:27.840
is the engine of this whole thing. He's a Vietnam veteran,
21
00:01:28.159 --> 00:01:30.719
a former marine, and a man whose family was murdered,
22
00:01:30.920 --> 00:01:33.159
which sent him into this one man war on crime.
23
00:01:34.040 --> 00:01:35.920
But what I like about these first two issues is
24
00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:38.840
that the book doesn't stop everything to retell his origin.
25
00:01:39.560 --> 00:01:41.719
It kind of assumes you know the basics, and then
26
00:01:41.719 --> 00:01:44.799
it just throws you right into how Frank operates. And
27
00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:47.760
right away we see that Frank is methodical. He's not
28
00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:50.959
just walking into a room and shooting everybody because he's angry.
29
00:01:51.319 --> 00:01:54.000
He lets himself get mugged so he can trace the
30
00:01:54.040 --> 00:01:57.280
attic back to the Rock House. He already has weapons
31
00:01:57.359 --> 00:02:00.439
stashed nearby. He has done the research is the house,
32
00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:05.120
he has the war journal. He's recording information and tracking contacts,
33
00:02:05.480 --> 00:02:09.120
building a case in his own punisher way. This is
34
00:02:09.159 --> 00:02:12.319
Frank as an investigator, soldier, and executioner all at once,
35
00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:15.039
and to me, that's the main thing. These first two
36
00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:19.000
issues established. He's not just a guy with guns. He's patient,
37
00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:23.240
he's tactical, and once he decides he's going after a
38
00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:26.560
criminal operation, he's going to follow it as far as
39
00:02:26.599 --> 00:02:29.840
it goes. And in this story, that means he starts
40
00:02:29.879 --> 00:02:32.719
in New York and ends up in Bolivia. Then we
41
00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:36.400
have Bruce Ayers. Bruce Ayers is important because he gives
42
00:02:36.439 --> 00:02:39.599
Frank the personal hook into this story. He's a Vietnam
43
00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:42.719
pilot Frank newback in nineteen sixty eight, and Frank runs
44
00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:46.280
into him at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. That scene is
45
00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:49.680
important because it ties this drug story into Frank's past.
46
00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:52.719
This isn't just Frank reading a file and deciding to
47
00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:56.479
go after some random criminals. Bruce brings some information about
48
00:02:56.560 --> 00:03:00.240
Curtis Hoyle, another Vietnam era figure and friend, that puts
49
00:03:00.280 --> 00:03:04.159
Frank into this larger drug operation. When we begin this story,
50
00:03:04.199 --> 00:03:07.639
Bruce is actually dead, but his death matters. The official
51
00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:09.960
story is that he killed himself, but Frank knows enough
52
00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:13.879
to question that. Bruce's role is basically to open the door.
53
00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:18.039
He points Frank towards Hoyle, and then his death gives
54
00:03:18.039 --> 00:03:21.560
Frank even more reason to dig deeper. So when we
55
00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:24.159
talk about Bruce Ayers, I describe it as the old
56
00:03:24.199 --> 00:03:28.039
war connection who pulls Frank into the bigger conspiracy. He's
57
00:03:28.080 --> 00:03:30.599
not the star of the issue, but without him, Frank
58
00:03:30.759 --> 00:03:34.560
may not find this particular trail. Now, Curtis Hoyle is
59
00:03:34.599 --> 00:03:36.680
one of the more interesting characters in this two parter
60
00:03:36.840 --> 00:03:39.120
because he's also tied to Vietnam, but in a very
61
00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:43.039
different way. His name is on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial,
62
00:03:43.080 --> 00:03:46.000
which should mean he died in the war, but Bruce
63
00:03:46.039 --> 00:03:49.400
tells Frank that Hoyle is still alive. That immediately makes
64
00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:52.319
him suspicious and kind of fascinating. He's a ghost from
65
00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:55.560
the war who has now resurfaced as part of the
66
00:03:55.599 --> 00:03:59.000
drug pipeline. Hoyle works as a pilot and seems to
67
00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:01.439
be involved with the train sports side of the operation.
68
00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:05.080
Load full transcript
He's the guy who helps get Frank closer to the general,
69
00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:07.960
and Issue number two gives Frank the chance to confront
70
00:04:08.039 --> 00:04:11.800
him more directly. What works about Hoyle is that he
71
00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:15.560
feels like a dark mirror of Frank's military past. Frank
72
00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:18.879
came out of Vietnam and became the punisher. Hoyle came
73
00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:21.160
out of it and became part of a criminal network.
74
00:04:21.839 --> 00:04:24.160
Both are men shaped by war, but they went in
75
00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:27.800
completely different directions, and I think that gives this opening
76
00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:30.120
story a little more weight than if it were just
77
00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:34.199
Frank fights drug dealers. There's a war veteran angle running
78
00:04:34.279 --> 00:04:37.720
underneath it. Wilford so Bell is the first major criminal
79
00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:41.600
Frank works this way toward. He's connected to the rock
80
00:04:41.639 --> 00:04:44.360
House operation in New York, and Frank identifies him as
81
00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:47.199
the owner of that operation. So Bell is not the
82
00:04:47.199 --> 00:04:49.000
top of the food chain, but he's high enough up
83
00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:52.319
that getting to him gives Frank the next set of contacts.
84
00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:56.279
So Bell comes across like a sleezy organized crime type.
85
00:04:56.720 --> 00:05:00.519
He's connected, he's comfortable, he's got his club dear as
86
00:05:00.600 --> 00:05:04.439
people around him. He thinks he's insulated, but he's also
87
00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:07.160
exactly the kind of guy Frank is built to tear through.
88
00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:10.199
His big role in the story is that he's a
89
00:05:10.199 --> 00:05:13.519
stepping stone. Frank uses him to get higher up the ladder.
90
00:05:13.959 --> 00:05:17.720
He gets names, numbers, and access. So Bell is important
91
00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:21.079
less because he's a great villain and more because he
92
00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:24.040
shows us how Frank dismantles an operation piece by piece.
93
00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:27.600
Belinda Foster is Sobell's girlfriend, or at least his main
94
00:05:27.639 --> 00:05:30.680
woman in this story. She's not one of the main villains,
95
00:05:30.680 --> 00:05:33.000
but she's important because Frank uses her as part of
96
00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:36.240
his escape after taking down so Bell. She's one of
97
00:05:36.279 --> 00:05:39.079
those characters who exists around the criminal world rather than
98
00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:42.839
necessarily driving it herself. What stands out is that Frank
99
00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:46.040
sends her away to Sweden afterward. That's a very Frank
100
00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:49.319
Castle kind of moment. He's ruthless with the criminals, but
101
00:05:49.360 --> 00:05:53.279
he's not just randomly hurting everyone in the orbit of
102
00:05:53.319 --> 00:05:56.720
the bad guys. If someone is useful or if someone
103
00:05:56.759 --> 00:06:00.360
is not his target, he handles them differently. Solina gives
104
00:06:00.439 --> 00:06:03.800
us a little glimpse of Frank's code. It's still a
105
00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:09.160
brutal code, but it's a code. Hector Gomez is Sobel's enforcer.
106
00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:11.959
He's one of the muscle guys in issue number one.
107
00:06:12.279 --> 00:06:15.120
His role is pretty straightforward. He represents the street level
108
00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:18.680
violence protecting Sobell's operation. He's not there to be a
109
00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:21.800
deeply developed character. He's there to show that Sobell has
110
00:06:21.879 --> 00:06:24.160
dangerous people around him and Frank has to work his
111
00:06:24.199 --> 00:06:27.279
way through them. Guys like Sobell make money off the
112
00:06:27.319 --> 00:06:30.560
drug trade, but guys like Hector are the ones enforcing it.
113
00:06:31.160 --> 00:06:34.240
Damasco is another one of the criminals in Sobell's circle,
114
00:06:34.519 --> 00:06:38.600
and he's important because he helps expose Frank's infiltration. Frank
115
00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:41.360
is operating under the name of Bill Messina, trying to
116
00:06:41.399 --> 00:06:44.319
work his way into the organization. Damasco is one of
117
00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:47.199
the people who starts testing that cover. He's part of
118
00:06:47.240 --> 00:06:51.120
the reason Frank ends up captured and tortured. So Damasco
119
00:06:51.240 --> 00:06:54.759
matters because he shows that Frank's plan is dangerous. He
120
00:06:54.759 --> 00:06:57.680
can bluff, he can scheme, he can put on the
121
00:06:57.720 --> 00:07:00.040
tuxedo and play the part, but these people are not
122
00:07:00.120 --> 00:07:03.240
complete idiots. There's always a chance his cover is going
123
00:07:03.240 --> 00:07:06.120
to fall apart, and when it does, Frank has to
124
00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:13.040
survive the hard way. And Bolivia, Frank meets Signor Valencia.
125
00:07:13.279 --> 00:07:15.279
He shows up an issue to and is basically the
126
00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:18.639
innocent man in the middle of this Bolivia operation. He
127
00:07:18.759 --> 00:07:21.800
is a Dea agent who has been captured and tortured
128
00:07:21.839 --> 00:07:25.360
by General Tran. When Frank is told to prove himself
129
00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:30.040
by killing Valencia, Frank instead shoots Fernando and rescues Valencia.
130
00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:33.120
That moment tells you a lot about Frank. He's willing
131
00:07:33.160 --> 00:07:34.839
to pretend to be a criminal to get close to
132
00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:37.759
the operation, but there is a line. He's not going
133
00:07:37.800 --> 00:07:41.079
to execute an innocent man to maintain cover. So Valencia
134
00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:44.240
becomes the test of Frank's mission. He's also there to
135
00:07:44.279 -->
00:07:47.839
show just how ugly trans operation is. This isn't just
136
00:07:47.879 --> 00:07:53.000
a business. It's torture, murder, corruption, and military style control.
137
00:07:53.839 --> 00:07:56.839
Fernando is one of trans men, and he's the one
138
00:07:56.879 --> 00:08:00.879
torturing Valencia. Again, not a deeply developed character, but he
139
00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:04.240
has a very specific function. He's there to demonstrate the
140
00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:06.879
cruelty of the Bolivia side of the operation, and he
141
00:08:06.920 --> 00:08:10.360
becomes the guy Frank kills instead of Valencia. I described
142
00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:14.160
Fernando as the torturer, the immediate face of Tran's brutality,
143
00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:17.879
and the guy Frank uses to flip the situation. The
144
00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:21.000
big bat of these first two issues is General Tran.
145
00:08:21.959 --> 00:08:25.160
He is the man behind the larger drug operation, and
146
00:08:25.240 --> 00:08:29.360
he's another character with Vietnam connections. Frank had believed Tran
147
00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:32.480
had been assassinated in nineteen seventy three, but it turns
148
00:08:32.519 --> 00:08:34.240
out he faked his death and became part of this
149
00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:38.559
international cocaine operation. Tran is important because he gives the
150
00:08:38.600 --> 00:08:41.399
story its sense of scale. We start with a rock
151
00:08:41.399 --> 00:08:44.080
house in New York, but by issue number two, Frank
152
00:08:44.159 --> 00:08:48.840
is dealing with a military style compound, armed men, aircraft, torture,
153
00:08:48.919 --> 00:08:52.480
and a major drug operation overseas. He's not just some
154
00:08:52.639 --> 00:08:56.240
local dealer. He's the source, or at least he is
155
00:08:56.240 --> 00:08:59.879
presented as the source Frank can reach in this particular story,
156
00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:02.240
and I think Tran works as a first major villain
157
00:09:02.279 --> 00:09:04.879
for this ongoing series because he connects Frank's war on
158
00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:09.519
crime with Frank's actual war history. This is crime, but
159
00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:13.440
it's also Vietnam coming back again in another form, and
160
00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:16.200
Hoyle and Tran both feel like pieces of Frank's past
161
00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:19.960
reservicing in the present. I'd also mention the rock House
162
00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:22.799
operation almost like it's a character itself. It's kind of
163
00:09:22.799 --> 00:09:24.919
where we start out in issue number one, and this
164
00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:27.960
is the criminal network Frank is attacking. It starts with
165
00:09:28.039 --> 00:09:31.840
the crack house in New York, then moves to Sobell,
166
00:09:31.960 --> 00:09:35.159
then Hoyle, then Tran. The structure of these first two
167
00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:38.320
issues is basically Frank climbing the ladder. Frank doesn't just
168
00:09:38.360 --> 00:09:42.519
walk into Bolivia randomly. He follows the chain. Street level
169
00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:46.399
drugs lead to organized crime. Organized crime leads to transport.
170
00:09:46.440 --> 00:09:51.200
Transport leads to the international supplier. These opening chapters give
171
00:09:51.279 --> 00:09:54.600
us Frank Castle as a planner, a hunter, and a soldier,
172
00:09:54.639 --> 00:09:57.279
still haunted by the world he came out of. Bruce
173
00:09:57.320 --> 00:10:01.480
Ayers pulls him into the case. Curtis Hoyle in general,
174
00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:05.960
tran connect the drug trade back to Vietnam. So Bell, Gomez, Damasco,
175
00:10:06.120 --> 00:10:09.480
and Fernando represent the different layers of the criminal machine.
176
00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:12.600
Melinda Foster gives us a small glimpse at how Frank
177
00:10:12.639 --> 00:10:15.559
treats someone who is near the crime but not necessarily
178
00:10:15.559 --> 00:10:19.279
as target, and Signor Valencia gives Frank a moral test
179
00:10:19.480 --> 00:10:22.960
once he reaches Bolivia. It's a pretty lean cast, but
180
00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:25.840
it does what it needs to do. Everybody here either
181
00:10:25.879 --> 00:10:28.919
moves Frank up, the latter shows us the scope of
182
00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:32.879
the drug operation, or reflects something about Frank himself. And
183
00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:35.240
for the first two issues of an ongoing Punisher series,
184
00:10:35.240 --> 00:10:38.120
that's a pretty solid way to start. Take Frank from
185
00:10:38.120 --> 00:10:40.320
the streets of New York, send him into the heart
186
00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:43.240
of the operation, and show the reader exactly how far
187
00:10:43.720 --> 00:10:47.919
he's willing to go. Let's get into the story again.
188
00:10:47.960 --> 00:10:50.679
The title of this story is called Marching Powder A
189
00:10:50.759 --> 00:10:55.639
released April seventh of nineteen eighty seven. So in this
190
00:10:55.720 --> 00:10:59.080
opening issue of the Punisher ongoing series, Frank Castle wages
191
00:10:59.080 --> 00:11:02.600
a one man war aggainst New York's drug trade, targeting
192
00:11:02.600 --> 00:11:06.000
a network built on crack cocaine and fortified rock houses.
193
00:11:06.960 --> 00:11:09.480
After stalking and taking down a street level attict to
194
00:11:09.480 --> 00:11:14.559
gather intel, Castle escalates quickly blasting his way into a
195
00:11:14.600 --> 00:11:18.799
heavily defended, drugged den with military grade weaponry and dismantling
196
00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:22.960
the operation with ruthless efficiency. From the wreckage, he extracts
197
00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:26.080
information that points him further up the chain, revealing a
198
00:11:26.200 --> 00:11:31.120
larger distribution system tied to powerful players along the way.
199
00:11:31.240 --> 00:11:35.240
The story grounds his mission in something deeper, briefly
connecting
200
00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:38.840
his present crusade to his past at the Vietnam Memorial,
201
00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:43.919
where he encounters Bruce Ayers, an old acquaintance now entangled
202
00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:46.799
in the very world Castle was attempting to tear apart.
203
00:11:47.559 --> 00:11:52.159
Shifting tactics, Castle goes under cover as Bill Messina infiltrating
204
00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:55.639
a higher level of the organization by manipulating paranoia and
205
00:11:55.679 --> 00:11:59.039
ambition among its leaders. His cover earns him a seat
206
00:11:59.080 --> 00:12:02.480
at the table, but suspision quickly leads to capture and torture.
207
00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:08.200
Even restrained, Castle turns the tables in explosive fashion, breaking
208
00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:11.720
free and brutally dismantling his captors from the inside. He
209
00:12:11.799 --> 00:12:15.840
eliminates the key figure Williford Sobell, spares a surviving witness,
210
00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:20.399
Belinda with a warning to disappear, and uses the chaos
211
00:12:20.440 --> 00:12:23.159
the position himself as a potential replacement in the eyes
212
00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:27.960
of the mysterious general running the operation. By the issue's end,
213
00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:30.799
Castle has forced his way deeper into the criminal aierarchy,
214
00:12:31.159 --> 00:12:35.679
setting up a direct conversation. The final beat pulls the
215
00:12:35.720 --> 00:12:39.559
threads together and hints it's something deeper. After Frank calls
216
00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:42.840
the General, Castle reflects on the voice on the other end,
217
00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:48.240
something about it feels familiar that suspicion lingers as Curtis
218
00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:52.120
Hoyle appears, now clearly moving with purpose and hinting that
219
00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:55.759
Castle's interference has forced their hand with a plan already
220
00:12:55.759 --> 00:12:58.639
in motion to deal with him. The issue closes by
221
00:12:58.679 --> 00:13:02.200
tightening the web was drawn closer to the top, but
222
00:13:02.279 --> 00:13:06.159
the enemy may be closer and more personal than he realizes.
223
00:13:07.720 --> 00:13:10.960
The plot of Issue to this drops Frank Castle into
224
00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:13.600
the heart of a Bolivian jungle stronghold under the guise
225
00:13:13.639 --> 00:13:17.120
of joining an old Vietnam acquaintance Curtis Hoyle, only to
226
00:13:17.159 --> 00:13:20.360
reveal it as a calculated infiltration of a drug empire
227
00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:25.360
by the supposedly dead General Tran, forced to prove his
228
00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:29.559
loyalty by executing a captive, Frank instead turns on trans Men,
229
00:13:29.720 --> 00:13:34.759
sparking an all out war across the compound, and this captive,
230
00:13:34.840 --> 00:13:37.840
by the way, was a DEA agent by the name
231
00:13:38.039 --> 00:13:43.320
of Valencia. Teeming
briefly with the doomed Valencia. Frank arms himself,
232
00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:47.279
embraces the Punisher identity by painting his skull emblem onto
233
00:13:47.320 --> 00:13:50.159
his body armor, and wages a one man assault, blowing
234
00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:54.200
up drug labs, commandeering an Apache helicopter, and annihilating trans
235
00:13:54.279 --> 00:13:58.320
Operation piece by piece. After a brutal final confrontation where
236
00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:02.639
trans past sins reservice and mercy is denied, Frank kills
237
00:14:02.679 --> 00:14:06.120
him and destroys the entire base, completing his mission at
238
00:14:06.120 --> 00:14:09.240
immense cost. The issue closes on a somber note at
239
00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:12.279
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where Frank reflects on the lingering
240
00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:15.679
scars of war, the loss of airs, and the moral
241
00:14:15.799 --> 00:14:19.399
toll of his crusade, hinting that while one war may
242
00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:23.919
be over, another still rages within him. To start things out,
243
00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:26.519
let's start with the cover. In this opening issue of
244
00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:33.320
The Punisher, you basically got the Punisher hanging on a
245
00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:39.120
fire escape with a rocket launcher aiming to shoot inside
246
00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:42.799
of this building, this rock house as they call it,
247
00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:48.279
got the big title at the top, number one, first
248
00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:51.759
issue of an unlimited series. Hand you also have that
249
00:14:51.840 --> 00:14:57.080
weird Klaus Janssen skull. It's just different. Usually at the
250
00:14:57.080 --> 00:14:59.600
bars on the side of the teeth that come down
251
00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:02.200
off the I don't know what you call this cheekbones,
252
00:15:02.600 --> 00:15:07.480
but they point up instead of down, which is definitely strange.
253
00:15:08.360 --> 00:15:12.279
It's slightly off, but it's memorable. The cover is pretty
254
00:15:12.360 --> 00:15:17.159
ridiculous in the best way though it's subtle. It's not
255
00:15:17.320 --> 00:15:21.639
grounded though. It's Frank Castle about to fire a rocket
256
00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:25.759
into the building from a fire escape, and as a kid,
257
00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:29.519
that's really all I needed, to be honest. When we
258
00:15:29.559 --> 00:15:33.399
opened this thing up, we're slapped with probably some of
259
00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:37.080
the most how do I say this? It was definitely
260
00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:40.799
of the times. There's our first encounter as a guy
261
00:15:40.840 --> 00:15:45.720
who stabs Frank in order to get his next fixed
262
00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:49.519
because he's addicted to crack cocaine, and back in the
263
00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:51.399
mid to late eighties, that was a huge I mean,
264
00:15:51.399 --> 00:15:54.240
it's still something to be concerned about, but back then,
265
00:15:54.440 --> 00:15:58.679
the war on drugs, the just say no, that was
266
00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:03.080
something that I was aware of at eight to nine
267
00:16:03.159 --> 00:16:07.440
years old. The media portrayal of this you couldn't escape it.
268
00:16:08.120 --> 00:16:13.519
Crime danger, societal collapse at all surrounded the epidemic of
269
00:16:13.639 --> 00:16:16.879
crack cocaine, and this comic right out the Gate kind
270
00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:21.279
of taps into that fear. There is something to be
271
00:16:21.320 --> 00:16:24.720
said about Frank's code in this book. He definitely says
272
00:16:24.759 --> 00:16:26.440
in here that he will not pull the trigger in
273
00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:29.559
cold blood. So we're doing a good job of defining
274
00:16:29.559 --> 00:16:31.519
who Frank Castle is here if you just pick this
275
00:16:31.639 --> 00:16:34.440
up off the shelf. I mean, even throughout this he
276
00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:39.519
spares a model who was mixed up with this big
277
00:16:39.559 --> 00:16:42.960
time drug dealer. He does do a lot of interrogating
278
00:16:43.080 --> 00:16:48.440
first sometimes, and he also reacts when he's threatened. So
279
00:16:48.519 --> 00:16:54.519
he's a violence but he's not random, okay, And I'm
280
00:16:54.519 --> 00:16:57.519
gonna be honest with you. There's a aspect of this
281
00:16:57.559 --> 00:16:59.639
book that confused me even as a reader here at
282
00:16:59.639 --> 00:17:02.759
forty eight years old. There is a moment where this
283
00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:05.920
book dumps a lot of information. There's a good bit
284
00:17:05.960 --> 00:17:09.240
of text, and that was not something I was really liking.
285
00:17:09.880 --> 00:17:13.279
And sometimes it's kind of hard to keep track. There's
286
00:17:13.319 --> 00:17:17.799
a flashback scene which is not really labeled. You got
287
00:17:17.880 --> 00:17:20.559
to pay attention in order to figure out where you're
288
00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:24.519
at as far as the scenes that are taking place.
289
00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:28.200
There's just a moment where Frank flashes back to when
290
00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:35.119
he meets a guy at the Vietnam Memorial Wall, and
291
00:17:35.160 --> 00:17:37.960
there was a bit of confusion as to when that was.
292
00:17:38.839 --> 00:17:40.400
It was a little muddy for me. I had to
293
00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:42.160
go back and read it a few times, but I
294
00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:44.400
pieced together what was going on. I'm still not one
295
00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:48.160
hundred percent sure the book makes it totally clear. I
296
00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:50.079
had to figure out what the payoff was for these
297
00:17:50.119 --> 00:17:54.920
diamond tip fingernails that he pays on to himself. I
298
00:17:54.920 --> 00:17:56.920
couldn't figure out why he was doing this. At one point,
299
00:17:56.960 --> 00:17:59.759
he Frank puts some diamond tip
fingernails before he goes
300
00:17:59.799 --> 00:18:05.599
to meet Wilfred Sobell, and he even goes so far
301
00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:07.480
to scratch a mirror, so you know these things are
302
00:18:07.519 --> 00:18:10.359
going to hurt. When he gets hold of somebody or something, well,
303
00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:12.720
it ends up happening. He gets tied up and he
304
00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:15.400
starts getting tortured and he uses them to cut the rope.
305
00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:19.359
I could never tell, you know, initially, when I first
306
00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:22.039
read this, it's like, why is he doing that? I
307
00:18:22.039 --> 00:18:24.400
do tend to like the punchy punchy more than the setup.
308
00:18:25.079 --> 00:18:27.920
I'm an action guy. This is an action book, but
309
00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:29.880
this is also a crime drama, so I've got to
310
00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:32.359
give it leeway for that. And it is a bit
311
00:18:32.359 --> 00:18:35.319
of an espionage story too, with Frank doing his infiltration.
312
00:18:36.119 --> 00:18:39.680
But I'm here for the punisher being the punisher in
313
00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:43.119
our final act of the book, I mean, Belinda is spared,
314
00:18:43.559 --> 00:18:45.799
she sent away. I think she's sent with some money,
315
00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:48.799
or at least Frank sends her off straight off into Sweden.
316
00:18:49.480 --> 00:18:53.880
Frank begins to manipulate the cocaine systems that he's in
317
00:18:53.960 --> 00:18:57.200
right now. He's trying to make his way up the ladder.
318
00:18:57.839 --> 00:19:00.400
We get a mysterious figure named the General. He that
319
00:19:00.920 --> 00:19:03.559
we don't really get much revealed. We just know that
320
00:19:04.359 --> 00:19:08.960
one of the characters that was thought dead initially, and
321
00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:12.559
Frank pieces it together that Hoyle is a bit further
322
00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:16.960
up the chain in this drug ring. Well they both
323
00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:20.880
knew each other from Vietnam, and sure enough, that's who
324
00:19:20.920 --> 00:19:26.440
he runs into and Hoyle recognizes him immediately. So yeah,
325
00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:29.160
I mean, that's kind of me writing where you're thinking
326
00:19:29.160 --> 00:19:32.720
that Frank is going to be portraying this guy by
327
00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:35.640
the name of Messina. Well, she does pretty well here
328
00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:40.359
in this first book, this first issue, but now that
329
00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:43.640
covers blown as soon as Hoyle shows up. So look
330
00:19:43.680 --> 00:19:45.920
at that, you know, looking back at this now, I
331
00:19:45.960 --> 00:19:47.640
think there's a lot going on in this issue that
332
00:19:47.640 --> 00:19:51.000
probably went over my head as a kid. The crime network,
333
00:19:51.119 --> 00:19:55.039
the Vietnam connections, who's working for who, has a lot
334
00:19:55.079 --> 00:19:58.079
to keep track of. But what's stuck with me then
335
00:19:58.519 --> 00:20:02.599
and still works now is the action. The rocket launcher,
336
00:20:03.359 --> 00:20:07.319
the rock house assault, the escape from the torture scene.
337
00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:11.039
That's the stuff that defines this book for me. Klaus
338
00:20:11.079 --> 00:20:14.519
Jansen's art really sells that gritty tone, and even with
339
00:20:14.640 --> 00:20:17.400
all the violence, you can tell Frank has a code.
340
00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:20.319
It definitely feels more like a crime drama than a
341
00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:23.799
superhero comic. And while I may not be fully locked
342
00:20:23.799 --> 00:20:26.839
into all the plot details, the ending does a great
343
00:20:26.920 --> 00:20:30.799
job of pulling me forward, especially with Hoyle recognizing Frank
344
00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:34.519
right away. So yeah, I'm in. I want to see
345
00:20:34.519 --> 00:20:38.799
where this goes. So my thoughts on issue too, and
346
00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:41.920
kind of like the story as a whole here as
347
00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:44.279
we wrap it up. I mean, this is a step
348
00:20:44.319 --> 00:20:46.160
up from Missy One for sure. I mean, we go
349
00:20:46.200 --> 00:20:48.440
from Frank dealing with some drug dealers in the city
350
00:20:48.519 --> 00:20:51.480
to him flying into a jungle compound in Bolivia, going
351
00:20:51.559 --> 00:20:54.640
up against what is basically a small army. This is
352
00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:58.680
full on escalation, and honestly, I'm okay with it. It
353
00:20:58.680 --> 00:21:01.000
didn't feel like too much. I felt like a natural
354
00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:04.599
progression into something bigger. Now tone wise, this issue really
355
00:21:04.680 --> 00:21:07.680
walks an interesting line because on one hand, this is
356
00:21:07.720 --> 00:21:12.440
absolutely over the top eighty style action. You've got helicopters, explosions,
357
00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:15.440
Frank taking on dozens of guys at once. I mean,
358
00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:18.200
there's a moment where he literally jumps out of a helicopter,
359
00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:22.480
falls through some trees, lands on his feet, and that's
360
00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:24.839
pushing it a little bit. But at the same time,
361
00:21:24.880 --> 00:21:27.200
I feel like the book knows what it is. It's
362
00:21:27.240 --> 00:21:29.960
aware of how big and bombastic it's getting. It kind
363
00:21:29.960 --> 00:21:32.920
of reminds me of something like Rambo three, just that
364
00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:37.000
one man army jungle warfare vibe. The difference is the
365
00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:39.240
comic still wants you to buy it because it's Frank Castle.
366
00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:42.440
It's not just some random action hero. This is a
367
00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:46.200
guy who plans, who prepares, who's been through war, and
368
00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:47.799
that's where I
think the book does a good job
369
00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:51.880
keeping things grounded just enough, because underneath all that action,
370
00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:54.440
there is some character work going on here, especially with
371
00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:57.599
Frank's mindset. There's that line where he thinks this whole
372
00:21:57.599 --> 00:22:00.759
thing might be an elaborate suicide scheme, and I thought
373
00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:04.000
that was really important. That's not just throwaway dialogue. That's
374
00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:06.799
Frank being aware of what he's doing. He knows the
375
00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:10.039
kind of situations he's putting himself into, and he knows
376
00:22:10.039 --> 00:22:12.400
how this could end. And then he get to the
377
00:22:12.440 --> 00:22:14.599
end where he says, I'm sick of the war. I
378
00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:18.920
quit Now. Do I buy that? No, not for a second.
379
00:22:19.079 --> 00:22:21.559
This is issue number two of an ongoing Punisher series.
380
00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:23.920
We all know he's not hanging it up this early.
381
00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:27.440
But I do buy it in the moment, because this
382
00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:30.279
is the guy who's been through Vietnam, lost his family,
383
00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:33.640
and is now throwing himself into another war, whether he
384
00:22:33.640 --> 00:22:36.200
wants to call it that or not. So yeah, I
385
00:22:36.200 --> 00:22:38.599
believe that he's tired. I believe that for a moment,
386
00:22:39.279 --> 00:22:43.079
he thinks he's done, but it just doesn't last. And
387
00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:45.240
that kind of ties into the Vietnam angle that runs
388
00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:48.079
through this story. I don't necessarily think the book is
389
00:22:48.119 --> 00:22:51.440
saying that the war never ended for Frank, not in
390
00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:54.160
a literal sense. But what it does show is that
391
00:22:54.200 --> 00:22:57.599
Frank understands what war does to people. You see it
392
00:22:57.599 --> 00:23:01.559
through Airs who couldn't handle it, through Hoyle, who went
393
00:23:01.960 --> 00:23:05.119
down a different path. You see it through General Tran,
394
00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:09.119
who took his experience and built this entire operation. Frank's
395
00:23:09.119 --> 00:23:12.960
seeing what the war does, He's seeing how it breaks people,
396
00:23:13.200 --> 00:23:16.039
how it changes them, And even if the book doesn't
397
00:23:16.039 --> 00:23:20.480
fully dive into how it's affected him internally, you can
398
00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:23.279
tell that it's there in the background. Now, speaking of
399
00:23:23.279 --> 00:23:27.000
General Tran, he's fine as a villain. He serves his purpose.
400
00:23:27.480 --> 00:23:29.960
There's a shared history between him and Frank, and you
401
00:23:30.599 --> 00:23:33.200
could have probably done more with it, maybe built him
402
00:23:33.240 --> 00:23:36.880
up into more of a mirror to Frank, But honestly,
403
00:23:37.000 --> 00:23:40.039
I don't think that was the goal here. This wasn't
404
00:23:40.039 --> 00:23:42.920
about creating a long term villain. This was about the
405
00:23:43.000 --> 00:23:46.440
mission Frank infiltrating and taking everything down and getting out,
406
00:23:47.039 --> 00:23:50.519
and for that purpose Tran works. Same goes for Valencia.
407
00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:53.440
You kind of know from the jump this guy isn't
408
00:23:53.480 --> 00:23:56.720
making you out of this issue. He's a temporary ally,
409
00:23:57.559 --> 00:23:59.839
But what he does add is a bit of contrast.
410
00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:02.599
Here's a guy I think he said he was da
411
00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:05.359
I believe he's trying to do the right thing, trying
412
00:24:05.359 --> 00:24:09.160
to take down Tran, and he doesn't survive it. Frank does,
413
00:24:10.119 --> 00:24:12.599
And that's kind of the difference, isn't it. Frank operates
414
00:24:12.599 --> 00:24:14.319
in a way where he's willing to go further, do
415
00:24:14.440 --> 00:24:17.720
more cross lines that other people won't, and that's why
416
00:24:17.759 --> 00:24:20.720
he walks away when some others don't. Now. One thing
417
00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:23.960
I really liked in this issue is how it handles
418
00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:28.240
Frank in terms of control versus chaos. Because on one hand,
419
00:24:28.279 --> 00:24:31.440
he does plan like he's stashing weapons in the jungle,
420
00:24:32.119 --> 00:24:37.039
thinking ahead, setting himself up for escape routes. He's not
421
00:24:37.119 --> 00:24:40.160
just running into things blind here. But once things do
422
00:24:40.319 --> 00:24:44.200
go sideways, and of course they always do, it becomes
423
00:24:44.279 --> 00:24:46.400
less about the plan and more about whether he's ready
424
00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:48.680
to act in the moment, and that's kind of what
425
00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:52.240
defines him here. He's not just a tactician. He's a
426
00:24:52.279 --> 00:24:54.240
guy who prepares as much as he can and then
427
00:24:54.279 --> 00:24:57.480
survives whatever chaos comes his way. So if I had
428
00:24:57.480 --> 00:24:59.880
to sum up issue number two in one sentence, I'd
429
00:25:00.039 --> 00:25:03.359
say this. This is an action movie with just enough
430
00:25:03.440 --> 00:25:06.599
character work to keep it grounded. It's big, it's loud,
431
00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:09.319
it's over the top, but it never completely loses sight
432
00:25:09.440 --> 00:25:14.079
of who Frank Castle is. There's still that mindset, that weariness,
433
00:25:14.359 --> 00:25:19.079
that understanding of what all this violence actually costs, and
434
00:25:19.119 --> 00:25:23.640
for issue to and of an ongoing series, pretty solid
435
00:25:23.640 --> 00:25:24.359
in my opinion.