First appearing in Amazing Spider-Man #129 (February 1974), Castle was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists Ross Andru and John Romita Jr. Conway found inspiration in the character of Mack Bolan (aka The Executioner), the protagonist of a series of novels by Don Pendleton. Bolan was a popular character at the time, and Conway wanted to make Spider-Man's life a little more miserable while he was dealing with the Jackal at the time, hence Frank Castle came about.
The character was originally meant to be called "The Assassin", but Stan Lee (who was editor-in-chief at the time) nixed it as he thought that "The Assassin" sounded too villainous for a character intended to be a hero later on. He recalled an earlier story he wrote in which Galactus had a robot called the Punisher. He suggested that name to Conway, and he went with it.
The character would become rather popular, much to Conway's surprise. Frank would go on to regularly meet and team up with various other superheroes, like Captain America and the X-Men's Nightcrawler. In the mid-1980s, writer Steven Grant, who was a fan of the Punisher, had pitched a miniseries story for the Punisher. Marvel management was reluctant to greenlight the idea, but editor Carl Potts, who was looking for some projects, accepted it. Mike Zeck was put on the job because his profile was increased thanks to his work on the Secret Wars miniseries in 1984. I looked at the first issue of that here.
We're going to be looking at the first issue of that very miniseries here. The final product did diverge from Steven Grant's initial pitch, but the story is basically the same. The miniseries would help make Frank Castle a rather popular character with Marvel readers, and his own ongoing would be launched in 1987. The character would become so popular that he would helm four books for a while: His own title, Punisher War Zone, Punisher War Journal, and The Punisher Armory. All these books would end up cancelled in 1995 due to poor sales.
Still, Frank would endure. He's gotten his own book again on and off, he's appeared in other books, and also in other media. He's gotten three live-action films, appeared in cartoons, and most recently, his own Netflix series that spun off of Daredevil's. Just shows, you can knock down Frank Castle, but you can't keep him down.
And with that out of the way, let's take a look at Punisher #1!
The cover, a Mike Zeck piece, is a bit basic, but still pretty neat. It's Frank Castle in a gunfight with some unknown targets. The look on his face makes me think he's fighting monsters or something. Hey, he lives in the Marvel Universe, it's certainly plausible. It does work, as it basically tells who Frank is. He's a guy who shoots people. That's what he does. Look at the text on the top: "#1 in a Four-Issue Miniseries". That's a big goof. The miniseries is five issues long. It always was. It didn't start out as a four-issue mini that got extended to five, it was always intended to be five. It's never been corrected in reprint, as far as I know. Also, I like Phil Zimelman's paints over the pencils. It almost looks like it was CGI. It's neat.
"Circle of Blood"
Writer: Steven Grant
Penciler: Mike Zeck
Inker: John Beatty
Colorist: Mike Zeck
Letterer: Ken Bruzenak
Editor: Carl Potts
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter
The story begins with what look like our resident Punisher...going to a cell.
If you liked Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, you will love Mr. Castle Goes to Jail.
Yup, Frank Castle has ended up on Ryker's Island. It's the fictionalized version of the real life Rikers Island prison. The warden and his assistant are looking at a slideshow of the Punisher in action, and the warden, a man named Gerty, is quite impressed with him. His assistant gives a bit of a recap of Frank's origins. The warden then recalls that the Punisher had seemingly gone insane. Yeah, in events before this, the Punisher had seemingly gone to a whole new extreme, attacking those who had even committed minor crimes like littering. However, it turned out that someone had poisoned him, and now he's de-toxed out and sane again...well, as sane as Frank can get. Gerty thinks he is the man they're after, and since it's a couple days before Frank is due in court, they're just going to sit back and see how things go for him.
That night, Frank's cellmate, a man called the Mule, is bothering a sleeping Frank. Yeah, that's not smart. The Mule claims he has clout, and if Frank gives him his desserts and money, he'll protect the Punisher. Frank turns down his offer.
Frank wants some information about a man. A man named Frisky Martin. Martin was the man who poisoned Frank the last time he was at Ryker's. And there was only one way that he could have done it. Martin is a prison chef. You do the math. At the prison cafeteria, Frank taunts Martin, giving him a good scare. When rec time comes, a freaked-out Martin heads to another part of the jail, followed by Frank. But Mr. Castle ends up with some troubles of his own when he arrives at D Block.
Frank isn't interested in joining their private club, so he fights his way through the men. Three of them are left standing, but decide to pull an Eric Cartman and be all, "Screw you guys, I'm going home." Frank notices the nearby guard didn't try to break up the fight, making Frank suspicious. The guard is likely on the take. Frank arrives at D Block, where he discovers he's expected. And it turns out D Block is home to an old enemy of Frank's.
Yup, ol' Billy Russo, formerly "The Beaut", now known as Jigsaw. Frank figured Jigsaw was the one who poisoned him and made him go crazy. Jigsaw sends a whole bunch of men to beat Castle down, Jigsaw wanting them to not damage his face. The puzzle-faced criminal wants Frank conscious. He breaks a bottle and plans to scar up the vigilante's face. A face for a face.
But Frank is able to fight off the men holding him down and grab Jigsaw's hand, the hand holding the bottle. He's able to squeeze the hand until the bones break. Jigsaw screams for the guards to kill Castle, but is stopped by another prisoner.
Meet Don Cervello, the man who could be considered the "king" of Ryker's Island. He addresses the Punisher, because his presence causes...problems. Frank remembers he heard about some big escape going down. After all, gossip and word can fly around prison faster than the Concorde could cross the Atlantic. Also, if Frank dies in prison, the warden would start a crackdown, ruining the escape plan. Cervello needs Frank alive. So, Cervello has a problem on his hands: What to do with our punishing friend here? Well, Frank offers a solution.
He'll join in on the escape plan. After all, Frank and Cervello are no fans of the big house, so why not work together to get out? Jigsaw objects, but is told to shut up. Cervello agrees to a truce with the vigilante, until they reach freedom. However, the plan must still remain a secret. Frank accepts the truce offer, and heads out. However, Cervello plans to have his big bodyguard Gregario kill Castle.
Frank puzzles over the plan. You see, Cervello was known as "The Brain" on the outside for his big plans. All he can do is wait.
On day 48 of his stay in Ryker's (Guessing he was tried and sentenced during the time skip), the night of the escape has come. Time to bust out! That night, a corrupt guard checks the prisoners, and reports to Cervello that a lot of guards called in "sick", so the guard force has been reduced. Cervello smacks the guard in the head with a pipe. And there's one last loose end to tie up. Gregario gets the guard's gun, and prepares an improvised silencer with a soda bottle. He heads to the cell of Frank Castle.
So much for the truce. The Mule taunts Frank, and finds that the Punisher...is dead. He leaves the cell with the other prisoners. However, Frank is far from dead. His inner monologue talks about how silencers can slow a bullet down. And a homemade one probably would slow down a bullet enough that a mattress can stop it...which Frank used as improvised body armor.
Castle puts on his pants and notices the other prisoners have fled. Punisher figures that Cervello can't have every guard on the take, so who's left will be shooting at the prisoners. Which is fine by Frank, as it gives him less work. Castle then notices there's no alarms, and it's unnaturally quiet. The prison's systems are down. He can use that...because he can escape, too. But he finds he has a problem. He could deal with the prisoners on the outside in his own fashion. However, what havoc could they cause before he could get to them on the outside? He's got to stop them here. Gregario notices him and wonders how he's alive.
Frank heads towards the guard tower. It has its own generator and air supply, and there's only one way inside: an electronic lock that can only be opened from the guard tower. And it can see everything. The guard inside, who is on the take, sees Frank coming and decides now would be the time to leave, as he does not want to be anywhere within 500 miles of an angry Punisher. Frank doffs his shoes and climbs up the tower a la Spider-Man.
Another tower guard, who was knocked out thanks to poisoned coffee, wakes up, much to the dirty guard's surprise. Frank bursts in through the window.
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| "Welcome to the party, pal!" |
Frank gives the honest guard a gun, telling him backup is on the way. He heads out, leaving the honest guard to watch over his corrupt comrade and Gregario. Cervello and Jigsaw head to the warden's office, where they take him hostage.
Jigsaw convinces Frank to surrender by reminding him of his wife and children's deaths. Frank tosses his gun into the room, and comes in with his hands up. Jigsaw grabs the gun, as his was out of bullets. He tries to shoot Frank, but the gun blows up in his face. Frank grabs another gun he had hidden in his pants. He and Cervello have a stand off. Cervello tries to convince Frank to surrender, saying warden Gerty is innocent, and Frank always tries to protect innocents. Frank wants to kill Cervello anyway, so killing Gerty just gives him another excuse. A shocked Cervello drops his gun.
Cervello tries to convince Frank to make a deal, but gets pistol-whipped for his effort. Gerty tries to get to Frank, but the Punisher demands Gerty drive him out of prison as the police arrive. Gerty is able to convince the police to stand down, saying the Punisher is here at his behest. When the police leave, Gerty tells Frank a story.
You see, Gerty is a member of The Trust. The Trust are a group of people from a variety of walks of life. Powerful people. People with connections. People who feel crime is getting out of control (It was the 1980s after all), and they have to take matters into their own hands to deal with it. They think the Punisher, with his desire to eliminate criminals, would work with the Trust on this goal. Think is, Frank is not generally a joiner. He prefers to work alone, so naturally, he's a bit reluctant.
Gerty's assistant brings in a box, containing the Punisher's uniform and equipment. The Trust wants to provide Frank with whatever he needs for his war on crime. Money, weapons, technical support, hamburgers, that kind of thing. No strings attached. Normally, one would find that a bit suspicious, but ol' Frank's got a hankerin' for some criminal killin'.
The scene shifts next to a restaurant in Manhattan. A mobster named Charlie Siciliano is enjoying some food when another man walks in: one Tony Massera. Charlie tells the young Massera about his father, who had died months ago. Siciliano explains that he knows who killed his dad: Frank Castle. And Tony must avenge his death.
Tony is...naturally not into the idea. He wants to be a doctor. He has no desire to kill anybody. Also, messing with Frank Castle tends to result in death, so yeah. Siciliano convinces him to do it by playing with his emotions. His father's body was so brutalized that they couldn't hold an open-coffin funeral. Tony's mother couldn't look at her husband one last time. He taunts Tony by saying that if he did love his dad, he'd avenge him. A teary-eyed Tony tells the old man to shut up. The story ends with him picking up a gun, and vowing to kill the Punisher.
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| "I'll cry when I'm done killin'!" |
I admit, I had trouble describing Mike Zeck's art in my Secret Wars #1 review. However, having also seen it here, I think I have a better idea of what to say about it. I think his style does have some rather "cartoony" aspects to it, and his characters are expressive. I do like his take on Frank. He makes him look very intense.
If you want to read this yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2011 trade paperback The Punisher: Circle of Blood, or the 2018 trade Punisher Epic Collection Vol. 2: Circle of Blood. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you really enjoyed it, spread it around! And if you want to give this blog a little extra support, please feel free to drop a tip in my Digital Tip Jar!
Next time, in honor of the retirement of George Perez, I'm going to take a look at some classic Avengers action...
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