Punisher Retrospective: 'Circle Of Blood' #4

by Dave Scrimgeour & Kevin McCluskey

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​Cover Date- April 1986
Price- 75c

Writer- Steven Grant
Penciller- Mike Zeck
Inker- John Beatty
Letter- Ken Bruzenak
Colourist- Bob Sharen
Editor- Carl Potts
Editor In Chief- James Shooter

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Synopsis

Painfully aware of who his real enemies are, Frank turns his attention to 'The Trust' and in particular, Alaric & Angela.  He takes his "war" directly to their door, with a all-out assault on Alaric's mansion, but Alaric has a few remaining tricks up his sleeve.  (K)

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Dave
So, issue 4, it is the 'Final Solution.'  What're your initial thoughts?


Kev
It's good.  The story has opened up so much more than the first issue would have suggested.  It's much bigger in scale now.


Dave
I like the cover.  The dude in the shades and white suit is straight out of 'Miami Vice.'


Kev
Ha, ha!  That's a good point about that guy’s wardrobe .  He's got that Crocket look going on, alright.  Frank actually seems quite superhero-like in the opening scene here; leaping from rooftop to rooftop, jumping through windows, and with a possible concussion to boot.


Dave
He's also very tactical in his actions on the outset.  He seems like he's purely driven by rage, but he is actually very tactical in his gameplan.


Kev
True.  I like his outlook on 'The Trust' by this point.  "I like the concept.  The goals are good.  The methods are insane."  Something that could easily be leveled at Frank himself by many.  Matt Murdock for example.


Dave
Yeah, true.  Frank and Daredevil often have a "Frank" exchange of views.  Pardon my pun.


Kev
No pardon necessary.  That’s a nice Pun(isher).  That doesn’t even work.  I’ll get my coat.


Dave
Once again, it employs a full page to give us the title of the issue and then it’s straight into the thick of another action packed story.

Caught white handed.

​Kev
Yeh.  Grant and Zeck love the full splash page for the titles.  It's even refered to as a "production" by the creative team and the way the credits are laid out is kind-of like a movie.  I like that Frank refers to 'The Trust's' soldiers as "parodies" of him.  That shows his utter contempt for them.


Dave
Frank is very much singularly focused in this issue, but also methodical in his approach leaving nothing to chance.  As if he is navigating through a giant join-the-dots to get to the key prize of Alaric, our favourite porn star of the 80s.


Kev
Do you feel that Frank is thinking more clearly in this issue than he has in previous ones?


Dave
He seems more focused, with less baggage in his mind.  He was too distracted in the last issue and it’s dangerous for a warrior to lose their focus.  He is more guarded again now.


Kev
I think so too.  He's done with Angela, done with 'The Trust' and he's back to his preferred method of working, by himself.


Dave
"Angela's shot hit me hard enough to put me down.  Enough to convince her I was dead from the distance.  Her turn to be mistaken."


Kev
It's telling that Alaric refers to his soldiers as "natural resources."  That says a lot about how he thinks of them.


Dave
That man’s Bond lair must be filled with cheesy porno music.


Kev
I bet it’s 70's funktastic.


Dave
Even Texas is like a throwback to a supporting character in a Chuck Norris film.  Or ‘The A-Team.’  Or ‘Knight Rider.’  The list goes on and on.


Kev
Ha, ha!  I hadn't thought of him like that, but that's spot-on.  The final scene between Frank and the warden is interesting.  For as much as Alaric seems like a bit of a joke, the warden doesn't want Alaric to get to him and he refuses to go to his own jail, so he takes his own life as the way out of the situation.  And Frank essentially just lets him do it, although he at least has the decency to look a little remorseful over it.  It says a lot that the warden's final words are  "Get him for me, will you?"   He must really hate Alaric.


Dave
Yeah, interesting.  Exactly how much clout does this joker Alaric have?  More than meets the eye?  Is he actually a Transformer?  Yet after the warden shoots himself, Frank, after a little hesitation, is right back into his quest for info.  He's even present enough to be aware of the approaching footsteps, he's surprisingly placid with the cops and is also quite chatty with them.  He even goes along peacefully.


Kev
Indeed, he barely loses focus for a split second after the warden offs himself.  He’s all business, is old Frank.  I was surprised he let the cops get the drop on him, actually yeh, and that he was so amenable to going along quietly when the cops arrest him.  I also like how Frank claims to be on their  side, but the cop’s response of "Uh-huh" would suggest that he certainly doesn't see it Frank's way.


Dave
The two cops are too caught-up in what's happening, whereas Frank is just waiting for the impending attack.  Notice how quickly he ducks when the shots fire through the police car window?

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"Dodge, duck, dip, dive and….. dodge!"

​Kev
You think he knew it was coming?


Dave
Yeah, he doesn't say a lot to warn them.  He’s actually kind-of using them as bait, really.  


Kev
Good point.  That explains why Frank is so quick to renege on his promise to turn himself back over to the cop when it's all said and done.  It would also explain how they managed to arrest him so easily. 


Dave
Plus, the other cop, not Dave, has a mustache like Alaric.  That alone means he deserves to be shot.  The Punisher is going back to his roots as one man fighting a war, who operates best alone.  Someone who simply uses the others around him to help him win tactically.


Kev
Yeh, everyone is an asset, I suppose.  He certainly uses Tony as an asset here.  He knew exactly where Tony would be and when he would be there.  "Right on time, Tony."


Dave
This issue can sort-of compared to a computer game, with Frank working his way through each level to get to the main target.


Kev
Or if you wanted to go for a more pretentious, literary comparison, you could say that it's like 'Heart of Darkness' and its tree ring structure, with Alaric as Kurtz and Frank as Marlow.  I'll get my coat again.


Dave
Alaric’s gameplan is a little 'Clockwork Orange' also.


Kev
With the reprogramming, yeh.  That's true.  Alaric and his Droogs.


Dave
I like that though.  'Punishment Squad' sounds like a spin-off story in itself.


Kev
Yeh, they could've done a spin-off story with the 'Punishment Squad' and eventually had things come to a head in a meeting with Frank.  Perhaps even as a sort-of crossover deal.  It's around this point I feel that you can really see the deadlines getting the better of Zeck, Beatty and Sharon.  In the panel where Alaric shows Texas the reprogramming procedure, Alaric looks like little more than breakdowns.  It's like he's hardly been finished at all with ink, and the colours are much flatter here than in issue one.  It's far less intricate than it has been in previous issues.
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"I watched my dreams slowly fade away like a photocopy, of a photocopy, until infinite."

Dave
Yeah, I see what you mean.  So, you think the artwork looks more rushed towards the end of this story?


Kev
Definitely.  From what I've read about 'Circle Of Blood,' the pressing deadlines played a big part in the need for the change in creative team for the final issue as well.


Dave
Yeah, the artwork is starting to get a bit ropey near the end of this issue.  


Kev
It really is.  Compare it with any random page from the first issue and the level of detail just isn't there at all now.  Apparently Mike Zeck re-coloured the first issue himself because he was unhappy with the original results, so I reckon, what with it being a double issue and all, that's what put him behind schedule and it's probably reached a critical point by this time.


Dave
Also, look at the expression on Frank’s face when he meets a reprogrammed Jigsaw; it’s like he's staring at us, the reader.


Kev
Ha, ha!  Yeh.


Dave
This issue looks like a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth now.


Kev
How do you mean with "too many cooks?"


Dave
Just wondering if there were more uncredited people involved in the artwork in this issue, ‘cause it does look a lot different in style to the other issues, especially towards the end.


Kev
You might be on to something there, yeh.

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Frank rocking a high-top fade.

​Dave
My God!  Look at the size of Frank’s forehead when the helicopter explodes.  He now looks like some crazy, mad scientist.


Kev
He's got that widow's peak going on, that's for sure.  As much as we're speculating on the potentially rushed nature of the art in the later part of this issue, that final page with Frank lying unconscious on the floor with the gas being piped in is superb.


Dave
I also like the three frames where he just keeps blasting at Alaric’s screens.


Kev
Yeh, man.  Those three frames are great too.  Although, I might've been tempted to pull focus on Frank across the three them.  Start on a wide shot and end on the close-up on Frank's face.  Ha, ha!  Listen to me telling Zeck how to story tell.  As if I know what I'm talking about.  How many best-selling comics have I done the artwork for?  None.  That's how many.  I wonder exactly what Alaric was referring to when he spoke of "processing" the mobs "into a force against America's other problems?"  Could he have been talking about the government itself as one of America's problems?

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​Dave
I'm thinking cartels or even other superheroes and villains.  It’s leaving a lot to the imagination, that statement.


Kev
Ah, that's a good point.  Other vigilante elements would make a lot of sense.  Especially considering 'The Trust' would need to eliminate them for their master plan to succeed.


Dave
That could be why he needs The Punisher to lead the squad.


Kev
Ah, yeh.  It would certainly be another motivation for it.


Dave
Alaric's dog reminds me of Scavenger’s when he sets him on Texas.  Also, that dog ain’t half shrunk.


Kev
It does look significantly smaller now, yes.  I can't work out what breed of dog it is.


Dave
Well, judging by that frame, its a shapeshifter.


Kev
Ha, ha!


Dave
That’s an odd colour selection in the frame when Texas mysteriously turns green while lighting a cigar.  Smoking really is bad for you.​

"You idiot! You'll blow us to kingdom come."

Kev
Ha, ha!  Right enough.  That is a strange lighting/colour choice.  Although, looking at it again, I think it's just a combination of the light through that green-tinted glass ceiling of the programming room and the lighter.


​Dave
Interesting scene between Alaric and Angela, she really seems upset for him.


Kev
Yeh.  It seems odd that Alaric claims to have always loved her, considering he essentially pimped her out to Frank.  That declaration of love seems out of character for him.  Frank walking through the hall of monitors reminds me of Bruce Lee in the hall of mirrors in 'Enter the Dragon.'


Dave
Yeah, a bit ‘Enter The Dragon,’ that bit.

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"Remember, the enemy has only images and illusions…..

…..behind which he hides his true motives.

Destroy the image and you will break the enemy."

"Knock him out 'till showtime."

​Kev
The gas in the reprogramming chamber reminds me of the gas in the room Ben Richards gets processed for television in during that scene in 'The Running Man.'  Although, 'The Running Man' didn't come out until the following year, did it?


Dave
Yeah, that scene is similar to the one in ‘The Running Man’ also.  And no, 'The Running Man' wasn't released until the next year.  I think The Punisher has more lives than a cat.  How many times has he narrowly escaped the clutches of death?


Kev
True.  He's stared death right in the eye on numerous occasions and escaped by the skin of his teeth.


Dave
It's interesting how Alaric sees himself as a type of saviour. "Irredeemable killers, the lot of them" and "I changed them, I redeemed them."


Kev
Do you think he really just believes his own bullshit?  


Dave
Yep.  ‘The Man With the God Complex.’


Kev
Alaric has a God complex alright.  He's such a slimy character.  You really do just want to see him get his comeuppance by this point in the story.  The stage is perfectly set for the finale here.


Dave
It’s a good final page panel to close on again; The Punisher in another cliffhanger scenario.

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Kev
It's a cracking cliffhanger, yeh and a great image to end the issue on.


Dave
This feels like the build up to the climactic issue.


Kev
Definitely.  It sets the table very nicely for the final part.


Dave
Where usually all loose ends are tied, but in The Punishers case all loose ends will be..... severed.


Kev
Ha, ha!  Yeh.  Or all loose heads.


Dave
In general, this has been a top notch series, but it certainly has a lot less time to cover the events that transpire than certain other titles that we've covered.  The Punisher seems to jump from one scenario straight into another, without much time for pause or thought.  It's interesting though that, if you consider how long they had to develop ‘Dragon's Claws,’ for example, over the course of those ten issues, and then take into account how this, even after it was extended, only had five, that they both suffer from a similar fault of having to rush to meet deadlines towards the end.

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​(D) & (K)
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Next: 'Finale.'