Punisher War Journal #9 (October 1989)

Frank Castle is a man who is often seen as an outlier within the Marvel Universe. It's not hard to see why. After all, the man isn't called "The Punisher" for being a cuddly, friendly guy. Even though ol' Frankie tends to stick to his own little corners of the Marvel Universe that tend to stay in the mundane, he will occasionally find himself being involved in the some of the more fantastical parts of the MU. Which makes sense. After all, his first appearance had him cross paths with Marvel's resident mascot: Peter Parker, the original Spider-Man. 

The comic we're looking at here is one of those occasions. Ol' Frankie was riding a wave of popularity in the late 1980s, being one of the few solo characters that supported multiple books. The other, ironically enough, was his first superhuman sparring partner: Spider-Man. This story also tied into a miniseries called Shadowmasters, which focused on a group of ninjas. Again, the 1980s. Daredevil had to put with ninjas, why not Frank Castle as well? This is Punisher War Journal #9!  

The cover is a Jim Lee piece. I think it's really cool. It depicts Frank trapped in a spider's web, struggling against a giant Black Widow spider wearing a red wig. It's like a poster you see in a theater promoting a horror movie. A box on the cover says it's "Dreamtime with the Black Widow". I can imagine that for a lot of fans, this is not their idea how a "Dreamtime" with the Black Widow would go. 😈 But in all seriousness, this is a cool cover.

"Guilt Trip"
Writer: Carl Potts
Penciler: Jim Lee
Colorist: Gregory Wright
Inker: Jim Lee
Letterer: Jim Novak
Editors: Kelly Corvese, Don Daley
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story begins with Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, swinging over New York City. She agreed to help her old friend/ex-paramour Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil with something. As she swings, she wonders why she did this. After all, she's an espionage agent. She's supposed to be cold, caring only about the mission. Attachments, even long-running ones are dangerous for her business. But her turn at playing Byronic hero will have to be tabled for the moment, as a group of criminals try and break into an apartment.

The Black Widow may see herself as a cold woman, but even she can't ignore something like this. She swings towards the apartment's skylight. Being a skilled hand-to-hand combatant as well as packing her Widow's Bite gauntlets, she is easily able to take care of the robbers and leave them tied up for the cops. With that, the Widow swings on her way. Over at her destination, a woman named Yuriko is fighting a man in an armored suit. The suited man tumbles to the ground like a rock dropped from a high place. The helmet shatters, revealing the wearer's face. And Miss Yuriko is horrified by the reveal. 

An old man tells them their cover is blown, and they need to get the heck out of there. 

He's accompanied by three other people: Yuriko, a blond man named Phillip (whose hair is colored as black in the book, it's supposed to be blond, trust me), and a fat sumo-like man named Manzo. As they flee, another man in a similar power armor attacks them. However, they get saved by a certain skull-wearing vigilante. After all, it is his book. The Punisher's Battle Van seemingly manages to bring down this power-armored man. Seemingly, as in he just gets right back up.

The power armor punches its way into the Battle Van, but Frank is able to bring the big metal monster down. In the process, the helmet is blasted away. And much to Yuriko's horror, the operator also has the face of her deceased father. She then faints, presumably due to her injuries from the battle earlier. The old man tells Phillip and Manzo to distract the armored man while he tends to Frank and Yuriko. While the two do so, the old man enters Frank's and Yuriko's minds. 

It's here we get a recap of Frank's origins, but we also get a recap of Yuriko's history as told in the Shadowmasters miniseries. It shows that the two are pretty similar. They both lost family due to violence and sought vengeance. Both driven by guilt over their inability to save their loved ones, but whereas Frank was turned into the Punisher, Yuriko was tormented into helplessness by hers. This is observed by the Black Widow.

The old man briefly notices Nat, but then goes back to his journey through Frank and Yuri's minds. In the mindscape, a large spider appears, the narration noting that appearances can be deceiving, and saviors can come in strange forms.

Yuriko is able to dispatch the armored man with an impact grenade. The group spot Natasha, but Frank assures her she's one of the good guys in his own way. Another power armor comes from the park, but Nat is able to dispatch it. The Shadowasters thank Frank for the help and tell him they'll meet again. Frank and Nat have a terse exchange. The story ends with Nat swinging away, advising him to get out of there. The cops are coming.

I did enjoy this comic, although that was because I had also read the Shadowmasters miniseries beforehand. Thanks to that, I didn't feel lost or confused about what was going on. I did appreciate the flashback from the old man, though. I do wish that we got to see Natasha interact with Frank and the Shadowasters more. The beginning gave her heavy focus, setting up the idea that she would play a major role. She was helpful in the battle, but it seemed like after the beginning, she was in general an afterthought. Considering her monologue in the beginning, I can imagine that she'd be more open and understanding of Frank's way of cleaning up the streets than Matt's. Would have liked that explored a bit.

This is early Jim Lee, so I admit, I was surprised to see this was his work. It wasn't quite as recognizable as it is nowadays. But upon closer inspection, you do start to see some of the hallmarks, mainly in his faces. 

If you want to read this story for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2018 trade paperback The Punisher: Shadowmasters. Thanks for reading this blog entry!