WEBVTT
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Okay, so we're about to get into Punisher number eight.
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The title of the story is going to be The
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Ghost of Wall Street written by Mike Barron, penciled by
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Wils Potassio, inked by Scott Williams, lettered by Tom Orzakowski,
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and colored by John Wellington. So yes, this is our
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first Punisher issue where Willis Potassio takes over on pencils
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and Scott Williams not a slouch either. You know, this
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is late eighties at this point. Let's see Wils had
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he had some experienced on Alien Legion Long Shot and
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did some Alpha Flight issues, but most of what he's
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doing is inking a Strike Force Moratry. Number one is
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the first time that Mike's Amazing World has will Spotassio
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credited as an artist, and he comes back in and
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pencils Strike Force Moratory number ten, and then number sixteen
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and then Strange Tales number twelve. So really he only
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has three credits as either artist or penciler until he
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takes over on Punisher number eight, and he's going to
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be with us for a little bit, not doing Punisher.
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So that's for Scott Williams again, another big name. He's
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doing the incs on most of this. I'll give you
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his credits. So he starts out eighty six doing Iron
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Man number two twelve, so he's inking that, and then
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Doctor Strange number eighty in eighty six, and then Strike
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Force Moratory. He's inking from issues one pretty much through
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issue seventeen, and then he it's the Punisher job as
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anchor and ends up finishing out Strike Force more Tory
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to number twenty pretty early in his career. He's going
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to go on to become a pretty big name, specifically
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hanging out with Jim Lee doing a lot of wild
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storm stuff. So let me synopsis the issue real quick,
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he says. In Punisher number eight, The Ghost of Wall Street,
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Frank Castle targets a white collar conspiracy involving young financier
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Arnold Anson and his reckless partner Rocky Vance, whose insider
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trading schemes devastate countless lives. Disguised and working with Microchip
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and his son, Frank investigates their dealings and crosses paths
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with a mysterious and formidable bodyguard named Ci Joe. As
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he digs deeper, Frank also hunts the skid Row Slasher,
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uncovering a group of copycat killers, whom he brutally eliminates
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in a decisive shift toward more proactive violence. Meanwhile, a
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down on his luck former trader named Quinton becomes an
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unwinning pawn in the larger game. The threads converge when
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far Reader realizes the horrifying truths Rocky himself is the
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real slasher, murdering for pleasure, while ci Jo documents the acts,
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culminating in a chilling cliffhanger as Quinton falls into their
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hands and faces a brutal fate. All right, so this
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issue feels different. There's a noticeable tonal shift here, and
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I think a lot of that comes from the new
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art team. You've got Wills Potassio on pencils and Scott
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Williams on eggs, and the book just looks sharper and
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more intense. The action hits harder, the characters feel more imposing,
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and when things get violent, and they do, it's presented
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in a way that really drives it home. This is
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probably the first issue where I felt the visuals matched
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what I expect from a Punisher story. Now, story wise,
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Mike Baron is taking Frank into a different arena, white
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collar crime, we're dealing with Wall Street, insider trading, corporate manipulation,
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and some of that stuff didn't fully land for me.
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It's tough to take stock manipulation and take over bids
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and make those feel as gripping as street level crime.
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There were definitely moments where my eyes started to kind
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of glaze over a little bit. But here's the thing.
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The idea works. Frank makes it very clear that these guys,
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these corporate criminals, are doing just as much damage, if
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not more, than the criminals he's used to dealing with.
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They're just doing it from behind desks instead of an alleyways.
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So while the execution of that plot line might be
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a little hard to follow at times, the concept fits
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perfectly with Frank's evolving mission. And then we get to
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where the issue really shines, and for me, that's the brutality.
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There's a scene in an alley where Frank confronts a
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group of copycat killers, guys who are pretending to be
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the skid Row Slasher, and this is where I think
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the book makes a big statement about who Frank is.
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Up to this point in the series, a lot of
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Frank's kills have felt reactive. He's been pushed in the
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situations where he had to act, But here this feels different.
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This is deliberate. This is Frank setting the trap, getting
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the answers he needs, and then deciding these guys aren't
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walking away, even after they tell him they're not the
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real Slasher. And I'm looking at it through Frank's lens,
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I was okay with it. These guys weren't innocent, they
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had intent. They were about to hurt, maybe kill someone
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they thought was a defenseless, homeless man. In Frank's world,
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that's enough. That's guilt. That's a line crossed. So when
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he takes them out, it doesn't feel random. It feels measured. Brutal, yes, shocking, absolutely,
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but earned. And I think that's the key word for
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me with this issue. Earned. If you want to tell
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a punisher story, eventually you have to get here. You
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have to show what happens when Frank fully commits to
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his war. Now does that push him closer to being
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an executioner without nuance? Maybe, But I don't think that's
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a bad thing, at least not here, because the book
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still gives us contrast, and the contrast comes in the
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form of Rocky. When we find out that Rocky is
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the skid row slasher at the end. That's where things
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get really disturbing. This is a guy who kills because
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he likes it, He enjoys it, he gets a thrill
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out of it. In that final scene where he's about
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to kill Quinton while Cijo stands behind him with a
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disposable camera taking pictures, that's just unsettling. It's a different
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kind of evil. So you've got Frank on one side,
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someone who kills with purpose, and Rocky on the other,
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someone who kills for pleasure. Same result, completely different motivation,
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and I think that's what helps keep Frank from tipping
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too far over the edge, at least for now. We
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also get a it more with Microchip and his son
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and this issue, and I think that adds some weight
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to everything. Junior steps in to save Frank, and even
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though he disobeyed orders, that felt believable and Frank's reaction
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he gets angry at first, but then eventually acknowledges that
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the kids saved his life and that felt true to
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the character. It's a small moment, but it helps balance
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out some of the harsher edges we see elsewhere. And
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then there's Quinton, who I think works well, is kind
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of the human cost to everything going on here. He's
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someone who's been chewed up by the system and now
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he's caught in the crosshairs of something even worse. By
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the end of the issue, with him at Rocky's mercy,
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the stakes feel real. So Yeah, when I look at
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this issue as a whole, I do think it's a
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turning point. The tone is darker, the violence is more direct,
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the art is sharper, and Frank himself feels more defined.
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If this is the direction the series is heading in,
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I'm on board. This is the kind of Punisher story
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I was hoping to get when I started this run.
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It's not perfect. The financial plot can be a bit dense,
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but the core of it, the character work, the brutality
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the villain reveal, all of that lands for me. And
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that ending with Rocky about to bring the knife down
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right on to Quentin. Yeah, I'm definitely coming back for
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the next issue. Now, as we get into Punisher number nine,
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the title of this story's Insider Trading creative team stays
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the same except for the letterer. Our letterer changes to
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Bill Oakleigh in this issue, so this dropped on the
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shelves February sixteenth of nineteen eighty eight. I'll read the
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synopsis here, and then I'll kind of get into my
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thoughts on the issue itself and the punisher. Number nine,
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Frank Castle targets the skid Row slasher Rocky Vance by
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kidnapping financier Takagura and arranging a hostage exchange, hoping to
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finally bring Rocky down. The plan unravels out of quarry
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when multiple factions collide Akkaura's enforcers, including the imposing ninja
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like bodyguard Sie Joe and fellow businessman Arnold Hanson, leading
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to a brutal fight which starts with si Joe killing
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Rocky before Frank can and as chaos erupts. Frank battles
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sie Joe and ultimately kills him in a conveyor Pulverizer
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then executes Takagura after judging him complicit in the slasher's crimes,
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and he also forces Hanson into a grim choice that
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likely ends in suicide, but the victory is hollow. Frank
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discovers micro Chip's son has been killed during the operation,
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and the issue closes on a somber note as Frank
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silently returns the boy's body to micro and walks away,
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burdened by guilt. All right, So, coming out of issue eight,
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which I already thought was one of the stronger entries
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so far, this one continues that momentum, and I think
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it might even edge it out. This is where the
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book really starts to feel like it's finding its identity,
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and a big part of that is the combination of
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Mike Baron on writing and Whils Potassio and Art Potassio
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in particular. This guy can draw some action. There's no
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other way to say it. The violence feels heavier, the
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movement feels sharper, and when the book decides to go quiet,
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those moments still hit. Now, right out of the gate,
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I did run into something that kind of threw me.
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We've got Rocky, who has been established as Rocky Vans Okay,
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and suddenly on that first page he's called Rocky Ericsson.
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That made me stop. I actually had to go back
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and check the previous issue to make sure I didn't
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miss something. Turns out I don't think I did. It
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just may be an inconsistency here. It's not enough to
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derail the whole issue, but it's one of those things
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that pulls you out just long enough to notice it.
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But once we get past that, the setup is solid.
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Frank's plan here is to grab Takagura and trade him
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for Rocky. On paper, that's a smart tact, punish re move.
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He's trying to control the situation, forced the confrontation on
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his terms. But what ends up happening, and this is
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kind of the story of the whole issue, is that
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control slips, not completely, but enough, And the biggest example
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of that is micro Junior. Frank brings him along. Now,
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let's be real about this, This was a mistake. Junior
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had just been wrecked in the previous issue, broken jaw,
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bandaged up, still recovering, and yeah, he saved Frank's life once,
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but that doesn't make him ready for this. Frank knew
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what he was walking into the hostage exchange, involving dangerous people,
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and he still put that kid in a position where
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he had to watch his back with gun. So no,
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I wouldn't call Frank reckless, but he made a bad
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judgment call, and not just a small one. This is
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one of the clearest personal failures we've seen from him
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so far, and the book doesn't let him off the
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hook for it. When we get to the quir and
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I thought the quarry setting were great, by the way,
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very cinematic, very classic final battleground. That's where everything starts
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to unravel. You've got multiple players showing up things Frank
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didn't really account for, and then Cijo enters the picture
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in full ninja gear. Now, look, this is nineteen eighty eight.
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Ninjas are everywhere, but it still works. A big, imposing guy,
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all them black, got his katana in his hand. It's
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a cool visual, and the fight that follows is one
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of the highlights of the issue. There's a stretch here
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that's almost completely wordless, and it's better for it. Nobody's
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stopping to explain anything. They're just fighting show, don't tell.
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That's where Portassio really shines, and the brutality ramps up
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to that conveyor belt leading into the pulverizer. That's a
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punisher style end right there. It's harsh and violent and yeah,
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it's going to stick with you. But here's the thing.
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Despite all of that, despite Frank's vibing and technically winning,
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the mission itself fails. Rocky, the guy Frank set out
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to get is killed by someone else, and that matters
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because it makes the whole thing feel hollow. Frank doesn't
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get that moment, He doesn't get to finish what he started.
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And I do think that frustration carries over into what
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happens next, and that's Takagura. There's this moment where Takogura,
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after hearing Frank's story, starts talking about honor. He respects
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what Frank is doing in his own way, and then
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he hands Frank the sword, and this is the sword
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tako Gura expects him to use against Hanson. But what happens.
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Frank immediately slices Takagura's throat, no hesitation, no speech, just done,
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and it works. It's shocking, it's sudden, and yeah, it
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feels justified within Frank's code. Takogura knew what was happening
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with Rocky and he allowed it. That was enough for Frank,
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but I also think there's something else going on here.
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Frank didn't get Rocky, and whether consciously or not, that
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anger gets redirected. Takagura becomes the stand in. He's the
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one who pays. And then you've got Hanson, who I
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thought was actually a really effective villain in a different way.
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He feels more real world, just a guy who's trying
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to protect his money in his position. And the way
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Frank handles him, well, that's one of the best moments
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in the issue. He hands him a gun, one bullet.
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He says, do the right thing for once. Now, that's
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cold and calculated right there. It hits harder than if
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Frank had just pulled the trigger himself. But none of
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that is what sticks with you the most. What sticks
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is the ending. Frank finds Junior dead, blood everywhere, and
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there's that line, how am I going to explain this
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to Micro? Frank knows this is on him, And when
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he brings Junior back, Micro turns and sees his son,
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that moment hits harder than anything in the action. It's
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just grief, and Frank just walks away because there's nothing
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he can say, nothing that's going to make it better.
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And that final image, like the full page of him
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leaving while Micro is holding his son. It's obviously not
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a victory walk. It's guilt. This issue ends on tragedy,
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not triumph, and that's why it works so well, because
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for all of Frank's talk about his war on crime.
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This is one of those moments where you have to ask,
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who is this helping, what did this accomplish? The bad
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guys are gone, but what's the cost. The cost of
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sitting there right in Micro's arms. So yeah. Issue nine
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is one of the strongest of the run so far.
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The action is better, the pacing is tighter, the art
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elevates everything, and most importantly, these consequences feel real. Frank
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wins the fight, but he loses something that actually matters.
1
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Okay, so we're about to get into Punisher number eight.
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The title of the story is going to be The
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Ghost of Wall Street written by Mike Barron, penciled by
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Wils Potassio, inked by Scott Williams, lettered by Tom Orzakowski,
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and colored by John Wellington. So yes, this is our
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first Punisher issue where Willis Potassio takes over on pencils
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and Scott Williams not a slouch either. You know, this
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is late eighties at this point. Let's see Wils had
9
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he had some experienced on Alien Legion Long Shot and
10
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did some Alpha Flight issues, but most of what he's
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doing is inking a Strike Force Moratry. Number one is
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the first time that Mike's Amazing World has will Spotassio
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credited as an artist, and he comes back in and
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pencils Strike Force Moratory number ten, and then number sixteen
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and then Strange Tales number twelve. So really he only
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has three credits as either artist or penciler until he
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takes over on Punisher number eight, and he's going to
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be with us for a little bit, not doing Punisher.
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So that's for Scott Williams again, another big name. He's
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doing the incs on most of this. I'll give you
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his credits. So he starts out eighty six doing Iron
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Man number two twelve, so he's inking that, and then
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Doctor Strange number eighty in eighty six, and then Strike
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Force Moratory. He's inking from issues one pretty much through
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issue seventeen, and then he it's the Punisher job as
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anchor and ends up finishing out Strike Force more Tory
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to number twenty pretty early in his career. He's going
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to go on to become a pretty big name, specifically
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hanging out with Jim Lee doing a lot of wild
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storm stuff. So let me synopsis the issue real quick,
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he says. In Punisher number eight, The Ghost of Wall Street,
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Frank Castle targets a white collar conspiracy involving young financier
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Arnold Anson and his reckless partner Rocky Vance, whose insider
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trading schemes devastate countless lives. Disguised and working with Microchip
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and his son, Frank investigates their dealings and crosses paths
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with a mysterious and formidable bodyguard named Ci Joe. As
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he digs deeper, Frank also hunts the skid Row Slasher,
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uncovering a group of copycat killers, whom he brutally eliminates
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in a decisive shift toward more proactive violence. Meanwhile, a
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down on his luck former trader named Quinton becomes an
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unwinning pawn in the larger game. The threads converge when
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far Reader realizes the horrifying truths Rocky himself is the
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real slasher, murdering for pleasure, while ci Jo documents the acts,
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culminating in a chilling cliffhanger as Quinton falls into their
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hands and faces a brutal fate. All right, so this
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issue feels different. There's a noticeable tonal shift here, and
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I think a lot of that comes from the new
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art team. You've got Wills Potassio on pencils and Scott
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Williams on eggs, and the book just looks sharper and
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more intense. The action hits harder, the characters feel more imposing,
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and when things get violent, and they do, it's presented
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in a way that really drives it home. This is
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probably the first issue where I felt the visuals matched
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what I expect from a Punisher story. Now, story wise,
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Mike Baron is taking Frank into a different arena, white
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collar crime, we're dealing with Wall Street, insider trading, corporate manipulation,
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and some of that stuff didn't fully land for me.
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It's tough to take stock manipulation and take over bids
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and make those feel as gripping as street level crime.
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There were definitely moments where my eyes started to kind
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of glaze over a little bit. But here's the thing.
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The idea works. Frank makes it very clear that these guys,
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these corporate criminals, are doing just as much damage, if
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not more, than the criminals he's used to dealing with.
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They're just doing it from behind desks instead of an alleyways.
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So while the execution of that plot line might be
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a little hard to follow at times, the concept fits
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perfectly with Frank's evolving mission. And then we get to
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where the issue really shines, and for me, that's the brutality.
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There's a scene in an alley where Frank confronts a
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group of copycat killers, guys who are pretending to be
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the skid Row Slasher, and this is where I think
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the book makes a big statement about who Frank is.
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Up to this point in the series, a lot of
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Frank's kills have felt reactive. He's been pushed in the
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situations where he had to act, But here this feels different.
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This is deliberate. This is Frank setting the trap, getting
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the answers he needs, and then deciding these guys aren't
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walking away, even after they tell him they're not the
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real Slasher. And I'm looking at it through Frank's lens,
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I was okay with it. These guys weren't innocent, they
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had intent. They were about to hurt, maybe kill someone
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they thought was a defenseless, homeless man. In Frank's world,
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that's enough. That's guilt. That's a line crossed. So when
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he takes them out, it doesn't feel random. It feels measured. Brutal, yes, shocking, absolutely,
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but earned. And I think that's the key word for
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me with this issue. Earned. If you want to tell
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a punisher story, eventually you have to get here. You
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have to show what happens when Frank fully commits to
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his war. Now does that push him closer to being
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an executioner without nuance? Maybe, But I don't think that's
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a bad thing, at least not here, because the book
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still gives us contrast, and the contrast comes in the
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form of Rocky. When we find out that Rocky is
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the skid row slasher at the end. That's where things
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get really disturbing. This is a guy who kills because
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he likes it, He enjoys it, he gets a thrill
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out of it. In that final scene where he's about
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to kill Quinton while Cijo stands behind him with a
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disposable camera taking pictures, that's just unsettling. It's a different
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kind of evil. So you've got Frank on one side,
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someone who kills with purpose, and Rocky on the other,
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someone who kills for pleasure. Same result, completely different motivation,
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and I think that's what helps keep Frank from tipping
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too far over the edge, at least for now. We
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also get a it more with Microchip and his son
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and this issue, and I think that adds some weight
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to everything. Junior steps in to save Frank, and even
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though he disobeyed orders, that felt believable and Frank's reaction
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he gets angry at first, but then eventually acknowledges that
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the kids saved his life and that felt true to
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the character. It's a small moment, but it helps balance
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out some of the harsher edges we see elsewhere. And
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then there's Quinton, who I think works well, is kind
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of the human cost to everything going on here. He's
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someone who's been chewed up by the system and now
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he's caught in the crosshairs of something even worse. By
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the end of the issue, with him at Rocky's mercy,
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the stakes feel real. So Yeah, when I look at
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this issue as a whole, I do think it's a
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turning point. The tone is darker, the violence is more direct,
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the art is sharper, and Frank himself feels more defined.
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If this is the direction the series is heading in,
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I'm on board. This is the kind of Punisher story
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I was hoping to get when I started this run.
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It's not perfect. The financial plot can be a bit dense,
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but the core of it, the character work, the brutality
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the villain reveal, all of that lands for me. And
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that ending with Rocky about to bring the knife down
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right on to Quentin. Yeah, I'm definitely coming back for
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the next issue. Now, as we get into Punisher number nine,
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the title of this story's Insider Trading creative team stays
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the same except for the letterer. Our letterer changes to
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Bill Oakleigh in this issue, so this dropped on the
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shelves February sixteenth of nineteen eighty eight. I'll read the
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synopsis here, and then I'll kind of get into my
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thoughts on the issue itself and the punisher. Number nine,
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Frank Castle targets the skid Row slasher Rocky Vance by
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kidnapping financier Takagura and arranging a hostage exchange, hoping to
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finally bring Rocky down. The plan unravels out of quarry
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when multiple factions collide Akkaura's enforcers, including the imposing ninja
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like bodyguard Sie Joe and fellow businessman Arnold Hanson, leading
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to a brutal fight which starts with si Joe killing
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Rocky before Frank can and as chaos erupts. Frank battles
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sie Joe and ultimately kills him in a conveyor Pulverizer
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then executes Takagura after judging him complicit in the slasher's crimes,
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and he also forces Hanson into a grim choice that
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likely ends in suicide, but the victory is hollow. Frank
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discovers micro Chip's son has been killed during the operation,
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and the issue closes on a somber note as Frank
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silently returns the boy's body to micro and walks away,
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burdened by guilt. All right, So, coming out of issue eight,
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which I already thought was one of the stronger entries
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so far, this one continues that momentum, and I think
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it might even edge it out. This is where the
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book really starts to feel like it's finding its identity,
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and a big part of that is the combination of
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Mike Baron on writing and Whils Potassio and Art Potassio
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in particular. This guy can draw some action. There's no
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other way to say it. The violence feels heavier, the
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movement feels sharper, and when the book decides to go quiet,
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those moments still hit. Now, right out of the gate,
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I did run into something that kind of threw me.
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We've got Rocky, who has been established as Rocky Vans Okay,
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and suddenly on that first page he's called Rocky Ericsson.
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That made me stop. I actually had to go back
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and check the previous issue to make sure I didn't
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miss something. Turns out I don't think I did. It
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just may be an inconsistency here. It's not enough to
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derail the whole issue, but it's one of those things
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that pulls you out just long enough to notice it.
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But once we get past that, the setup is solid.
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Frank's plan here is to grab Takagura and trade him
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for Rocky. On paper, that's a smart tact, punish re move.
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He's trying to control the situation, forced the confrontation on
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his terms. But what ends up happening, and this is
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kind of the story of the whole issue, is that
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control slips, not completely, but enough, And the biggest example
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of that is micro Junior. Frank brings him along. Now,
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let's be real about this, This was a mistake. Junior
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had just been wrecked in the previous issue, broken jaw,
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bandaged up, still recovering, and yeah, he saved Frank's life once,
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but that doesn't make him ready for this. Frank knew
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what he was walking into the hostage exchange, involving dangerous people,
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and he still put that kid in a position where
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he had to watch his back with gun. So no,
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I wouldn't call Frank reckless, but he made a bad
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judgment call, and not just a small one. This is
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one of the clearest personal failures we've seen from him
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so far, and the book doesn't let him off the
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hook for it. When we get to the quir and
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I thought the quarry setting were great, by the way,
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very cinematic, very classic final battleground. That's where everything starts
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to unravel. You've got multiple players showing up things Frank
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didn't really account for, and then Cijo enters the picture
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in full ninja gear. Now, look, this is nineteen eighty eight.
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Ninjas are everywhere, but it still works. A big, imposing guy,
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all them black, got his katana in his hand. It's
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a cool visual, and the fight that follows is one
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of the highlights of the issue. There's a stretch here
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that's almost completely wordless, and it's better for it. Nobody's
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stopping to explain anything. They're just fighting show, don't tell.
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That's where Portassio really shines, and the brutality ramps up
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to that conveyor belt leading into the pulverizer. That's a
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punisher style end right there. It's harsh and violent and yeah,
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it's going to stick with you. But here's the thing.
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Despite all of that, despite Frank's vibing and technically winning,
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the mission itself fails. Rocky, the guy Frank set out
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to get is killed by someone else, and that matters
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because it makes the whole thing feel hollow. Frank doesn't
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get that moment, He doesn't get to finish what he started.
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And I do think that frustration carries over into what
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happens next, and that's Takagura. There's this moment where Takogura,
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after hearing Frank's story, starts talking about honor. He respects
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what Frank is doing in his own way, and then
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he hands Frank the sword, and this is the sword
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tako Gura expects him to use against Hanson. But what happens.
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Frank immediately slices Takagura's throat, no hesitation, no speech, just done,
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and it works. It's shocking, it's sudden, and yeah, it
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feels justified within Frank's code. Takogura knew what was happening
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with Rocky and he allowed it. That was enough for Frank,
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but I also think there's something else going on here.
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Frank didn't get Rocky, and whether consciously or not, that
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anger gets redirected. Takagura becomes the stand in. He's the
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one who pays. And then you've got Hanson, who I
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thought was actually a really effective villain in a different way.
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He feels more real world, just a guy who's trying
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to protect his money in his position. And the way
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Frank handles him, well, that's one of the best moments
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in the issue. He hands him a gun, one bullet.
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He says, do the right thing for once. Now, that's
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cold and calculated right there. It hits harder than if
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Frank had just pulled the trigger himself. But none of
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that is what sticks with you the most. What sticks
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is the ending. Frank finds Junior dead, blood everywhere, and
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there's that line, how am I going to explain this
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to Micro? Frank knows this is on him, And when
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he brings Junior back, Micro turns and sees his son,
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that moment hits harder than anything in the action. It's
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just grief, and Frank just walks away because there's nothing
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he can say, nothing that's going to make it better.
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And that final image, like the full page of him
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leaving while Micro is holding his son. It's obviously not
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a victory walk. It's guilt. This issue ends on tragedy,
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not triumph, and that's why it works so well, because
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for all of Frank's talk about his war on crime.
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This is one of those moments where you have to ask,
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who is this helping, what did this accomplish? The bad
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guys are gone, but what's the cost. The cost of
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sitting there right in Micro's arms. So yeah. Issue nine
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is one of the strongest of the run so far.
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The action is better, the pacing is tighter, the art
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elevates everything, and most importantly, these consequences feel real. Frank
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wins the fight, but he loses something that actually matters.
