TOT: The Punisher Goes Black

Remember that one time The Punisher became a black man?

The Punisher may not be one of my favorite characters, but I can acknowledge how important he is the Marvel Universe. He isn't a superhero, he isn't superpowered, he's just a man. But that's what makes him so interesting. It's fascinating to think of The Punisher as a force of nature, to know wherever you go in the Marvel Universe there exists a mortal man who will stop at nothing to kill the killers. With nothing but a gun The Punisher has toppled crime empires through means of violence, torture, and bloodshed. All the while branding a big skull and refusing to hide behind a mask. He wants people to know who is after them, to know that he isn't special. And that should terrify them.
In 1991 The Punisher became a black person. In an arc called "Final Days", writer Mike Baron wrote a story in which The Kingpin hires a criminal mastermind to kill The Punisher. Funny enough an artist who worked on this story-Jimmy Palmiotti-is one of the creators on DC's "Harley Quinn" book. Anyway, during the story Frank Castle is corned in a prison and attacked by a group of thugs and Jigsaw-the only Punisher villain who isn't dead already. They mess Frank up pretty bad, Jigsaw even cuts up Frank's face as revenge for cutting his face up years ago.
Frank manages to get away and get the help of a hooker. Not in that way, weirdo. This hooker used to be a doctor and she stitches up his face. Frank wants her to perform plastic surgery to disguise himself, so she operates in an old chemical factory she used to work at. Five days later, Frank wakes up to find his skin black. Doctor Hooker claims she used a skin-graft or some such nonsense to alter Frank's pigment, but it is only temporary. Unlike when Lois Lane asked Superman to build a machine that would turn her black for a news story as that was permanent until reusing the machine. It was the 60's.
Still doped up on pain relievers, Frank tries to drive to Chicago to get to a weapons stash he hid away there and gets pulled over. The year being 1991 and his skin being black he is obviously beaten by six police officers. Lucky for him Luke Cage-former Power Man and usual Hero For Hire-steps in to help a brother out. They steal the police cruiser and drive off, Frank introduces himself as "Frank Rook". Ah, keeping the medieval theme I see. Frank hires Luke to help him find the stash. Luke makes it very clear he will not kill, and neither will Frank while they work together. When they arrive at the stash hideout it's full of criminals who gets their heads knocked around. The stash had already been cleaned out and a bunch of money was gone too. Luke offers Frank a gig he could help him with to make up for the payment, a hostage situation. When Luke and Frank get to the kidnapper, Frank kills him and his bodyguard. The hostage is saved and Frank and Luke have an argument later on. Frank gives Luke the whole "you're willing to break the law, but too weak to pull the trigger" stuff and Luke tells him to beat it.
Frank and Doctor Hooker are later recaptured by the thugs from the prison, but Luke springs into action to help out. By that time Frank's surgery has worn off and The Punisher lives again! After it's all said and done, Luke claims Frank owes him. Again. But Frank refuses, claiming when the times comes he'll help Luke the way he sees fit. He leaves him with a warning: he may stand on the edge of the law, but he better stay on the right side. Or The Punisher will be after him.
Sensitive as it may be, Frank Castle experiencing being a black person is handled with maturity. There aren't a bunch of black jokes or anything, worse he gets is police brutality which he would have still gotten if he were just Frank Castle the serial killer. I find it interesting there was no moment of hate from Luke about Frank's disguise. You would think a strong black figure like Luke Cage would find it offensive Frank literally put on blackface to hide himself, but no. In fact, Luke Cage is more offended by Frank's habit to kill people than his skin. That's pretty cool. Nowadays it might be different, but back then it wasn't a matter of race of culture, it was a killer conversing with a non-lethal protector. In the same way The Punisher was set against Daredevil on Netflix, this story sets Punisher against Luke Cage's work method. Wow, a Punisher story that teaches us how moral values are more important then the color of your skin. Who would've guessed?
Thanks for reading!