The Punisher War Journal #1 (November 1988)

When it comes to a certain man who made his name ending the lives of criminals by liberally spraying them with bullets, one would not expect him to have any sort of sentimentality. However, Frank Castle is still human. He may be a skilled soldier and hunter of criminals, but he's still a human man. And even he is not immune to feelings of nostalgia and sentiment. The comic we are looking at this week shows an example of that. Let's look at Punisher War Journal #1!

The cover is a Carl Potts and Scott Williams piece. It's a pretty good and basic cover, showing our man Frank leaping down and filling some criminal punks with hot lead. It's a good cover for a first issue, giving a basic idea of who Frank is, and what he's about.

"An Eye for an Eye, Chapter One: A Sunday in the Park"
Writer: Carl Potts
Penciler: Carl Potts
Inker: Jim Lee
Colorist: John Wellington
Letterer: Jim Novak
Editor: Don Daley
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story begins with Frank Castle taking an Uzi blast to the chest.

"Hi, I'm Frank Castle and welcome to JackAAAAAAAAGH!"

Well, this comic ended quickly. Nah, not really. Frank is testing how his Kevlar armor hold up against a new 9MM gun. Microchip points out that they could have tested it without Frank wearing it. After all, we wouldn't want Frank to accidentally get any holes in him. Frank points out that he needs to see how the impacts incapacitate him. It could mean the difference between life and death for him.

With that test done, Frank has some business to take care of today. He sees a Daily Bugle headline reporting on some mysterious deaths. He asks Microchip to investigate this, as it may be something that he may need to step in and take care of. Frank has until noon to be where he needs to be at. Unfortunately, the traffic and the heat are not helping things.

Frank's like "Nuts to this, I'm in a rush". He pulls his Battle Van out into an exit, and then employs an alternate mode of transportation.

Frankie couldn't wait to try out this sweet new toy...

The motorcycle allows Frank to beat the traffic no problem. On the way, Frank's narration notes that the business contained in the building that his West Side safe house is at has been vandalized. He stops at said business, a deli to pick up some supplies. The time is 11:20. Only forty minutes left. After he leaves, the people operate the deli note that he's not seen much around. The cashier, a young woman, thinks he's spooky.

It's revealed that the vandals were sent by the building's landlord to try and drive them out so they can "gentrify" the place. The old man cleaning the place tells the cashier they can't do anything, lest it reveal their true nature. They have to depend on the legal system. In fact, the old man has an appointment with a Mr. Murdock to discuss it. 

Frank comes to Central Park, where he sees what looks like a family (a man, a woman, and a baby) being herded into a car. It's 11:35. The car's brake lights are flashing. It seems like a nervous driver...but the lights are flashing Morse Code. In particular, an SOS. 

Frank considers calling the cops, but they won't arrive in time. Frank is easily able to handle the gunmen, then drives the car into an alley. He wants an explanation. 

The woman (I'm naming her Joanie, as she seems like a Joanie, and the comic doesn't name her) explains that she married a man named Mark Scotti. After she got pregnant, she learned the man was a mobster. Joanie was horrified, as she didn't want her son to have a mobster for a father. On top of that, it's implied that Mark abused the woman. 

Joanie needed to flee. She called upon a man named Steven, who was an old rival of Mark's for Joanie's affection. Mark wants his son and "heir" back, and he'll kill Joanie if he has to. So, Joanie hatched a plan. 

Her idea involved her sister's baby Alex. Alex isn't much older than her own little tyke. The thing is, Alex is mentally disabled. I'm not sure how they'd know that. The baby in Joanie's arms in the comic seems really young. Wouldn't that be something that would show later in life? Anyway, she kidnapped Alex and gave him to Mark in exchange for some money. Mark somehow noticed the switch and is now after her. Yeah, more on this when I give my thoughts at the end. And now we're here.

The time is now 11:55. Frank considers letting them drive out of town, but then reconsiders. Sometimes, he loses sight of why he does what he does...and maybe this is a bit of a reminder. He takes the three to his safehouse. We then go back one week to Riker's Island. We look in on a prisoner named Montoya. 

He just sent a letter out to his family. Another con plans to beat him up, out of revenge for a beating Montoya gave him. Also, Montoya's due to be released for good behavior. The prisoner and his compatriot try to hassle Montoya, but the man doesn't take the bait. A guard breaks it up.

Back to New York! Microchip confirms Joanie's story. With that, the Punisher has a new mission.

"New mission: Kill Mansion. I hate mansions!"

The time is now 12:40. Whatever Frank had planned today, he's now late. Yeah, Mark Scotti is dead just for that. Frank tries to sneak his way in but is forced to make a bit of noise.

One of Scotti's men helpfully tells the Punisher where Scotti and the kid is. Frank finds his target in the bathtub, enjoying a nice relaxing soak. 

"Why do I always get bothered while I'm in the bath?"

Frank holds him at gunpoint, telling him to promise to fully support Joanie and their baby. Also, to leave them alone. To make sure that he's telling the truth, Frank is also packing a lie detection device. He also demands Mark go straight. But the device says he's lying.

Frank gets ambushed by Scotti's bodyguards. While our man is giving them bullets, Scotti goes for his own gun. Frankie's not too happy with that, so to express his displeasure with that, the Punisher kicks a radio into the bathtub.

Mark Scotti's rise through the criminal underworld came to a shocking end.

With Scotti good and fried, the Punisher makes off with Alex and a case full of money.

The money is for them and for Alex's care. Joanie asks how they can thank him. He tells them to forget about him...and be good parents. Now that that is out of the way, Frank can attend to his original objective. He goes back to the deli and stocks up again. So, what was this important thing that Frank had to do today? 

"🎵 Let's go fly a kite...🎵"

Today was the day that Frank Castle's family was killed, turning him from family man into the Punisher. He just spends a day in the park, flying a kite. 

I thought this was a pretty decent one-shot story. There were a couple parts of the story that did bother me a bit. One was a part of the plan Joanie had to escape Mark Scotti. I get what they were trying to do with the bait and switch thing, but I felt her kidnapping her sister's mentally disabled child to fool Mark kind of helped undermine her as a sympathetic character a little bit. Also, I felt it was a bit of an unnecessary complication of the escape plan. Just grab your kid and run! No need to endanger another child in the process! 

Also, as a fair warning, the characters do use the word "retarded" in the story. It's not used as an insult, it's used to describe the baby that the Punisher rescues in this story, basically as a term for mentally handicapped. I just thought I'd warn you all about that before you decide to read this issue for yourself. 

There was a clever thing that this issue did. As the main story went along, there was always a panel at the bottom of every page retelling the origin of the Punisher without dialogue. It was a clever way to inform people of how Frank came to be the Punisher, while subtly revealing exactly what the big mission he had today was. It was a nice touch.

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2008 trade paperback Punisher War Journal Classic Vol. 1 or the 2018 trade paperback The Punisher: Shadowmasters. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!