The 'Nam #53 (February 1991)

Last time, we looked at The 'Nam #52 (January 1991), which was the first part of a two-part story that depicted some of Frank Castle's pre-Punisher days, when he was a soldier serving his country in the Vietnam War. I suggest you look at that review if you want to learn more about The 'Nam as a comic book, and Frank Castle's incorporation into it. So, let's dig into the follow-up issue: The 'Nam #53!

 

WAR IS HELL! HELL, I TELL YOU!

The cover is a Jorge Zaffino piece. It's a basic cover, depicting what we can presume is Frank Castle in Vietnam-era Marine gear. I have no idea about the facial expression. The coloring is the big feature of the cover. It is wild and chaotic, perhaps foreshadowing Frank's future? The skull in the background didn't stick out to me at first. Is it more foreshadowing? Also, the words on the cover: "The Mark of the Executioner". I think it references Castle himself, considering his role in the story. It makes sense, as that's not the title of the story itself. And like the last issue, I am again amused by the corner box logo of the Punisher skull logo wearing the lopsided Vietnam-era Army helmet. Seriously, I have no idea why it amuses me. Also, the words "Mark of the Executioner". Was that the original title of this story?

"The Long Sticks Part Two"
Writer: Roger Salick
Penciler: Mike Harris
Inker: James Palmiotti
Colorist: Ed Lazerllari
Letterer: Jade Moede
Editor: Don Daley
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story begins with the guard unlocking the cage to take a closer look at the hanging Frank Castle. However, he is in for a nasty surprise. Turns out ol' Frankie...isn't quite dead. He springs back to life, wraps his legs around the guard's head, and snaps his neck.

Oh my God, Frank is an Immortal. Cue the Queen! Naw, he just did a bit of trickery. Thankfully, the guard was not too bright, or he would have seen the length of cloth at Frank's back. The future vigilante tied a length of cloth between his belt and the noose, which presumably helped prevent Frank from choking to death. With the guard now a corpse, Frank grabs his rifle. Not like the guard needs it anymore. The rifle also has a fixed bayonet on it, which is handy as Frank can use that as a silent weapon.

He uses the bayonet to take out another guard. He then uses the rifle's sling as an improvised garrote wire to take out a third guard. The soldier then discovers his own sniper rifle...which he described as a Winchester. That's funny because in the last issue, Frank used a M-2 Browning as a sniper rifle. Oopsie. He also finds explosives...which will come in handy. He makes off with his gear and Morris's spotting scope. He then spots a can of paint...which inspires another wicked idea.

Frank wires the explosives to blow...and he drags out one of the bodies of the guards he killed. Frank Castle then gives the cave system his own idea of renovation.

Castle Renovations. Renovation with a bang.

The Monkey and some of his men are heading for the camp where Captain James resides, when they see the explosion. Must have been a ton of C-4 in that cave. The men all head back, realizing that all their ammo's just gotten blown to smithereens. The Monkey realized that Castle has escaped, because the Marine has left a message.

"Dear Monkey, You Smell. Sincerely, Frank Castle."

That's why he took that guard's corpse with him. The Monkey sees the skull painted on the dead guard's chest as some of his men work to bring the corpse down, and sees it as Frank mocking him with his own symbol. Remember, the Monkey wears a small skull around his neck. The men notice their dead comrade is strung up with det cord...which triggers a booby trap. The explosion leaves two of the Monkey's men dead. The sniper believes Castle is heading back to his base, probably halfway back by now. The Monkey witnesses one of his men getting a bullet to the neck, alerting him that Castle is still in the area.

The Monkey and his remaining two men flee into the smoke of the smoldering crater that was their home base. They use the smoke cloud as cover to get out into the jungle. One of the Monkey's men spots a white skull painted on a tree.

"That skull's teeth are uneven, and missing a lower jaw. Castle needs more practice!"

The Monkey thinks that it's just Castle trying to be intimidating, and orders his men to ignore it. However, one of the men hits a tripwire, making a tree fall on him. That leaves only one soldier and The Monkey left. The soldier starts freaking out, screaming and ranting that Castle is not human. That he's something else. He is...a Punisher. Obvious foreshadowing is obvious...

The Monkey is disgusted and gives the soldier some Boot to the Head. He tells him this is just Castle playing mind games, using the Viet Cong's own tricks against them. Castle is a man. And he can be killed. Castle is watching the nervous soldier walking out onto a field. He's out in the open, where he can easily be sniped. The Viet Cong man knows that on this field of grass, he is merely a pawn. A pawn in a bigger game between two snipers. A game that result in death for the loser.

"These two should NEVER be allowed to play Laser Tag ever again!"

Castle snipes the soldier. The Monkey spots the flash of the Punisher's gun as it fired. He swings around his Dragunov sniper rifle. The Viet Cong sniper spots a gleaming spot of light, like it's reflecting off glass...the glass of a sniper's scope. The Monkey takes the shot...and hits Morris's spotting scope. He realizes this too late, and gets a bullet from Castle. The big Marine races over to see if he got him...and is satisfied. Castle made a one-in-a-million shot. The Monkey is dead. Frank collects a trophy from the man: his little necklace with the monkey skull, the one The Monkey kissed for luck before taking every shot.

The story ends with Frank Castle deciding to leave The Monkey's corpse for the Viet Cong to find. As a bit of a message: Don't Mess with the Marines.

"Why this is cloud forming a skull? Hope that's not some weird omen..."

...why did Frank paint a skull on his chest? I get the other times that he painted the skulls, and I also get that they're trying to foreshadow his eventually becoming the Punisher, but it was a bit obvious. There is also a backup tale, but the trade paperback I used to review this did not collect it, so I could not review it.

This comic was really good. In fact, I really enjoy this story in general. As I said in my review of the last issue, I really liked seeing a bit of Frank Castle's life before he would become known for wearing a skull on his chest and shooting gangsters. This story shows Frank's skills as a sniper. My favorite scene in the comic was the face-off with Castle and the Monkey. There was a nice symmetry to the panel layout and angles of it. I also liked Frank setting the traps for the Viet Cong ad using improvisation to deal with the guards. It shows that he has a brain, that he's not just some dumb musclehead who is also a good shot. The art has a bit of a gritty vibe, which fits the story, in my opinion.

If you want to read this one for yourself, like the last issue, it can be found in the 2018 trade paperback The Punisher Invades The 'Nam. It collects all of his appearances in the title, as well as a couple follow-up issues from the Punisher's own books at the time. Thanks for reading this review! If you enjoyed it, spread it around! And if you want to give this blog some additional support, please drop a tip in my Digital Tip Jar! It would be greatly appreciated! See you next time, where we take a look a toy tie-in comic...