|
by Dave Scrimgeour & Kevin McCluskey When Kev asked me if I wanted to write the prologue for our next series of reviews, Punisher 'Circle of Blood', I thought 'Yeah, why not?' (Well, it was my idea to review this and he did the prologue for Dragon's Claws as that was his idea). The Punisher is one of my all time favourite Marvel characters. In a world of fictional, super-powered heroes, there's this indomitable, formidable force who has no powers, only his training, skills and sheer driving force of rage, yet he still holds his own as one of the very best. The Punisher started back in 1974 (before Mr McCluskey and myself were even born) as a villain, and was heavily influenced by the entire spectrum of, then in vogue, vigilante movies in Hollywood. Nowadays Hollywood has taken this type of genre to a mass scale, with a number of geriatric gunmen waging a one man war on all types of bad guys. That's the joy of The Punisher, he is literally a one man army and as we have noticed, the original draft of the character, which we will be reviewing in 'The Amazing Spider-Man' #129, is a tad different to the one we know today (especially his choice of weapons). From what I remember, 'Circle Of Blood' is a groundbreaking story for The Punisher, but I will leave the reminiscing until we get involved in the reviews. One of the joys of reviewing these comics from the past, was remembering how much we enjoyed looking forward to the next issue, or to the next episode of a TV show. Today, the amount of internet access and other technological advancements, has introduced a culture of being able to binge watch, which I myself am guilty of. But this leaves no build-up to the excitement of next week's episode or next month's issue, which I suppose is partly what we are reminiscing in as well. (D)   Cover date: September 1974 Price: 20c Scripter/ Gerry Conway Artist/ Ross Andru Inkers/ F. Giacoia & D. Hunt Letterer/ J. Costanza Colourist/ Dave Hunt Editor/ Roy Thomas Editor-In-Chief/ Len Wein Publisher/ Marvel Comics SynopsisThe Jackal manipulates The Punisher into executing your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. 'Nuff said. (K) Dave So, The Amazing Spider-Man and Punisher in one review. Issue 129, circa 1974. What’re your initial thoughts? For me, I'd never read this issue before, so this was a good excuse to read it. It's very much an action-packed, fun-filled Spidey story, with a nice mix of colourful characters. Kev It's certainly "of its time" though. The writing style, particularly the dialogue, is very much a post-Stan Lee, young Gerry Conway. Dave This is certainly not the Punisher that we have come to know. Also, he looks a lot older. Some of the artwork, facially, put me in mind of The Vulture, with hair and big eyebrows. I wonder if that was a stylized way of drawing the villains of the piece to distinguish them? Or maybe I'm just reading too much into that. Kev He does look significantly older, doesn't he? Ross Andru certainly accentuates the more villainous facial features on Frank. Which makes sense of course, considering he is essentially the villain of the piece here. In saying that, there are certain panels where Andru makes Peter look quite evil as well. Dave Yeah, I noticed that too. Kev Peter looks positively deranged in that second panel on page 6?
 First official image of Jon Bernthal's Punisher costume. Dave It’s like he's turning into the Green Goblin himself. Kev Totally. Dave Obviously this version of The Punisher couldn't have been written with the backstory that we now know. He keeps going on about how he doesn't enjoy the killing, so it makes me doubt that this man has lost his family. Kev Certainly not. The character is far from being fully formed here. The essence is there, more than I thought would be, if I'm being honest, but it's definitely in its infancy. Dave He's more like a man on a crusade, but there's still something in the past that has driven him here. He was probably written as a one-off appearance, just for use in the meantime, so the fleshing out of the character isn't necessarily focussed on too much. Kev That's interesting. I hadn't thought of the omission of the death of his family changing the impetus of the character. I think you're right there, I don't think he was conceived as being a major character. He has a kind-of 'villain-of-the-month' vibe to him here, doesn't he? Dave "All that matters is the job." He seems more like a workaholic here than a fully fledged vigilante. Look how he reacts when Spidey falls off the roof. "I won’t have him die this way." Mind you, I like these good ole, classic Spidey, adventure style of stories, but we are given a lot of what’s happened in previous issues and there are plenty of references stuck in there. Like a narrator on a TV show doing the voiceover bit. Kev Yeh. This initial version of The Punisher is definitely painted in broad strokes compared to the more complex, detailed and nuanced version we know today. The author's voice elements of the caption boxes are very Stan Lee-esque. You can tell his influence over the title is still very, very strong at this point. Some of the dialogue is also a bit hard to swallow in 2017 as well. It's worth noting that Conway was only 19 years old at the time though. 19! Can you believe that? I suppose that puts him really close in terms of age to Peter, so that in itself, probably qualifies him to take over from the, by this point, very middle-aged Stan Lee. Dave Really? Only 19? That’s good though. This urban street story is very much indicative of the 1970s, when revenge/vigilante themed stories were hitting Hollywood. Perhaps most memorably with ‘Death Wish,’ which was surely a major influence on the character. Kev The character is definitely a reaction to the trend of vigilante fiction in the '70s, isn't it? When he utters the line, "Not while you're still alive, Punk." It's very 'Dirty Harry.' Apparently Frank Castle/ The Punisher was based on a character, Mack Bolan, from 'The Executioner' series of short stories and novels by Don Pendleton. The vigilante thing is obviously very much back in vogue, what with Bruce Willis starring in a 'Death Wish' remake and The Punisher's imminent Netflix series. Dave Yeah, "punk" was a popular 1970's word alright. And what is it about the 70s? Everyone has eyebrows that look like two Caterpillars stuck on their face? It definitely seems like a flavour-of-the-month story. I wouldn't have been surprised if 'Death Wish' had just hit the cinemas around that time. Kev No-one was getting their brows threaded in those days, man. 70's brows were certainly not "on fleek." The world premier of 'Death Wish' was July the 24th, 1974, man. So right around the time this issue was released, yeh. The 'Death Wish' novel was released a couple of years earlier. Dave The age of Frank in this story would not be far off the age of Bronson’s character, Paul Kersey. Kev How old was Kersey supposed to be? Dave I don’t know actually, but Charles Bronson would have been in his early 50s, whereas Punisher in this looks like he’s in his mid 40s or upwards. Also, there’s no hint of any Vietnam background. He just said he was in the Marines. Kev Yeh. But if he was a Vietnam vet and the conflict was still ongoing in 74, how old would he have had to have been when he signed-up? Dave True. Good point.  The widowiest of widow's peaks. Kev Comic book continuity, man. It doesn't always line up. Although, I suppose it would depend at which point during the war he signed up. What do you think of the cover to this issue? Dave It’s very bright and it’s very narrative. But comics used to do that, didn't they? Overload with the narrative on one panel. Kev My thoughts exactly, sir. I love Gil Kane's Spidey. It's totally on-spec for the time. But there is a lot of text on that page and the composition is very busy too. Dave The yellow actually works well with the contrasting image of the Punisher, but it’s the usual, he’s not wearing black only, but a very dark blue as well. Kev Yeh. Although I think the dark blue was a concession to the fact that black didn't work too well with the old colour separation and printing techniques. Dave Yeah, you're right. Batman used to do that with the dark blue and black. I like the cover though. Kev There's no messing around with the story at all, is there? We're right into the main plot on the first page, with The Jackal looking particularly goofy. Like a Poundland Green Goblin. Dave Or a cross between X-Men Beast and Nightcrawler flung in there for good measure.  Customer feedback from The Jackal. Kev Yeh. That's true, actually. Dave Seems like this issue was a bit of a filler, leading up to Spidey’s main storyline with Harry Osborne. Kev Definitely. The Jackal plot and Harry Osborn being the new Green Goblin are definitely the main over-arcing stories here. Dave What’s with Jonah Jameson? Every panel he's in, there’s this white aura around his head? Kev Jonah is positively angelic….. or has Jonah-sense….. or is just constantly irate. He’s a heart attack, just waiting to happen. I wonder what Jonah's blood pressure readings would be like. Dave Or you could say he’s just Electro-Napper. Kev Ha, ha! Dave It's good a thread throughout the story though. It’s constant. It never lets up. Peter’s life is always a mad scramble. Kev I loved that aspect of Peter's life. Trying to juggle too much and consequently letting people down. Dave That’s what I always remember about Spider-Man, the flaws in Peter's life. Always letting someone else down, but always trying. Kev It really helped humanise him, didn't it? Particularly because, as readers, we always knew it was because he was off fighting the good fight as Spider-Man. I like how Conway quickly establishes Frank's moral compass, albeit broken. He implicitly states that he only kills those who "deserve killing." Dave The Punisher proves to be a good adversary for Spidey though.  Fantastic technique on that high kick by Frank 'The Punisher' Castle right there. Kev He does, doesn't he? Despite not having any powers, Frank Castle is still a very athletic, highly skilled and expertly trained individual. Dave Interesting that, at this stage Spidey is almost an outlaw himself, because of his involvement in the death of the Green Goblin, so the odds are even more stacked against him. He's the one that is being blamed for that, which explains why The Punisher has it in for him. Kev I liked that explanation as well. It feeds straight into the can't-do-right-for-doing-wrong aspect of Peter/Spidey. Always getting the blame for things he didn't do or things that weren't his fault. It didn't help that a very powerful media mogul had it in for him too. That always helped fuel the bad feelings much of the general public had towards Spidey. Dave He was always getting that bad publicity regardless of what he did. Kev Totally. Dave The good thing about starting our series of Punisher reviews with this issue is, first of all, it's an issue we haven't read before and now we see how the Punisher originally started and what he was changed into with ‘Circle Of Blood.' A story featuring a far more brutal character and one that is less aimed at a younger audience. Which this story clearly is. Kev Definitely. There's twelve years of development on the character before 'Circle Of Blood,' plus twelve years of development of the medium of comics too, particularly with regards to "superheroes," what with ‘The Watchmen’ and ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ being released around the same time as 'Circle Of Blood.' There was certainly change in the air at the time for superhero comics. Dave There was more of an adult theme to those stories. Marvel were probably trying to reach a broader audience with these stories as well. Much in the same way DC had managed to with the titles you just mentioned. Kev Certainly a more grown-up/mature audience, yeh. Or perhaps Marvel were just attempting to make their characters and comics mature with their readership. I did notice that Frank doesn't use bullets in this issue. It's all concussion rifles and wire guns. Dave If their comics reach a wider demographic, particularly an older age category, they will spend money on them. Kev That’s true. They can use these characters and stories to target a demographic with more disposable income. Dave Yeah, this is a much more toned-down, cartoon version of The Punisher. Not the brutal killer we all know. Kev I would hazard a guess that the Comics Code weren't quite ready to sign-off on that many bullets in a superhero comic at this point. Dave It shows how comics were definitely aimed at younger audiences back then, but as time went on they grew in popularity, which meant a change in tone to appeal to the wider audience. Plus, the vigilante theme would probably cause too much controversy, so they don't arm him with his usual array of weapons. No doubt there would be complaints put in by some irate people about condoning vigilantism. Kev That's a good point. I suppose they couldn't be shown to condone vigilantism or be seen to be influencing kids to pick up guns and become vigilantes. Although Marvel had already created a universe of characters who were essentially vigilantes by this point. Dave That’s true.  Schoolboy error, Frank. You wash your whites separately or your boots & gloves end-up looking like, well....that. Kev Despite it being the first draft of the character, so to speak, Conway still manages to get some of the more subtle nuances in there right off the bat. "Sometimes I wonder if the evil rubbed off on me." Dave Yeah, he does. You do still get the same morality of The Punisher, just, as you say really, a first draft of him. I can still see the appeal of this different version of the character from back in ‘74 though. Kev Oh, for sure. This must've seemed like a breath of fresh air in '74 and as we've already said, it was riding the crest of a wave for more extreme, vigilante characters that were a backlash against the perceived failing of law and order in 70's America. Even a simple line like the one you pointed out earlier, "All that matters is the job" gives us an insight into the character of Frank Castle. It shows him to be single-minded of purpose and shows him to have nothing else in his life. Although some of the dialogue in this issue might not exactly hold up to the scrutiny of modern eyes or ears, I do like The Jackal's line, "You like the death...the killing...the joyful revenge." That's a nice phrase. "...the joyful revenge." It's not particularly accurate though. It shows how The Jackal has misjudged Frank. He certainly doesn't seem to get much joy out of his work. Dave Oh yeah, the dialogue is dated, but it would work back then. Comics, like any other form of entertainment evolve by seeing what was previously done and taking that and using it all, but using a new twist or new perspective on it. Without the originals you can't have the new and improved. Kev Yep, completely agree. There are a couple of instances where it's flat-out sexist though. Peter refers to Betty Brant as "little lady" and there's that caption box that reads, ".....the maw of female hysteria." Ouch! That's a tough line to take. There's no way people would stand for that line now. We've certainly made some progress. Dave Censorship was less of an issue back then, so they were more lax with stuff. Now everything's under PC scrutiny. Kev That’s true, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing though if it’s helped phase-out lines such as those. It was the 70s though. Things really were different back then. For example, Bernard Manning was a prime time TV staple. I do like the line where Peter, referring to Frank in full Punisher getup says, ".....for a guy without a fancy costume....." Is Peter having trouble seeing through that mask, or is he suffering from a concussion from that kick to the head he just ate? Dave The Jackal has a hint of the Green Goblin, or the Joker, in his choice of dialogue and the way he's written. Kev That’s a good spot. He really does, doesn’t he? Dave Any other thoughts or points to make on this issue? Kev Nothing major, no. Just to reinforce what you've already touched upon, that you've got to judge these issues on their own merit and in the context of the time in which they were created. Even with trying to bear that in mind, I’ve found myself slipping back into judging this issue in a present day context and by 2017 standards. Not that I’m giving this issue a free pass or anything, but it is unfair to look at it through that lense. Dave For us now, this is just an introduction and build up to ‘Circle Of Blood’ and it's an interesting contrast from what the character started out as, to what he became as he developed. Kev Yeh, you're right. He's actually only in half of this issue. This is essentially an introduction, a first impression. We get to encounter a twelve year aged, far more well rounded and solidified version of the character, where he gets to be the protagonist in his own series and not just a supporting antagonist in someone else's next, with 'Circle Of Blood.' (D)&(K) 
2 Comments
|
Back issues
September 2024
|
RSS Feed