Swierczy Annotates: Punisher MAX #66

Yes, I completely dropped the ball on my Iron Fist annotations. I'm hoping to get back to those soon... but in the meantime, let me give you some page-by-page thoughts on the first issue of my current Punisher arc, "Six Hours to Kill."

(Obligatory Spoiler Warning: This annotation might give away some plot points. So read the issue first. Seriously. It'll make this so much cooler.)

Page 1
Splash recap page.
I wasn't sure Axel Alonso (my editor) would go for this, to be honest. But I wanted a mood-setter, as well as something to bring non-Punisher readers up to speed quick. Luckily, Axel agreed, and it became a running feature for the rest of the arc.

Page 3, Panel 5
Frank Castle takes out a guard.
I once accidentally elbowed the Bride in the mouth. Don't look at me that way—it was totally an accident. We were watching TV, and I sat up just as she was leaning down and... pow. This was before we were even married, just dating for maybe a few months—if that. To make matters worse, we were at her mother's house. One minute the woman's washing her hair, the next minute she sees her daughter come rushing into the bathroom, blood dripping from her mouth. Yeah. You can imagine the rest. So to this day I'm extra-cautious when moving my limbs around any of my loved ones, and one of my worst fears is accidentally elbowing someone in the face again. However, you can see that the Punisher has no such fears.

Page 5
Frank shoots the guards.
When it comes to exploding heads, Michel Lacombe has no peers.

Page 6, Panel 6
Frank kills a fleeing guard.
Another one of my bodily fears: tripping and accidentally slamming my eye on the sharp corner of a desk. (An absurd number of my fears find their way into my novels/comics.)

Page 7
Frank walks through the kiddie jail.
For years, there really was a jail for children situated on Philly's Ben Franklin Parkway—which is known to all Rocky fans as the tree-lined, manicured road to the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum. Technically name was the "Youth Study Center," but I always thought the Parkway was a strange place for such a facility. I tucked this fact away, knowing it would come in handy for a story someday.

Page 8, Panel 1
Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
I think the guy in the lower right hand corner is me. (Thanks, Michel.)

Page 8, Panel 4
Frank meets Louis.
Two things about this panel. One: the guy in the gas mask (Louis) was a tip of the hat to Dead Man's Shoes, an excellent revenge movie that Axel recommended to me when we first started kicking around story ideas. Two: I love the little detail Michel included that implies Frank keeps a bunch of extra skull t-shirts in a special compartment in his battle van.

Page 11
The Lizard Kings' Lair.
I based this location on the offices of Red Tettemer, an ad agency located at the top of Philly's iconic PNB Building. Back when I was editor of the Philadelphia City Paper, we had an editorial retreat at Red Tettemer, and I tucked away as many details as I could, knowing I had to use this location in a story someday. (As Alfred Bester once said, writers are magpies.) Anyway, it's a gorgeous space.

Page 12
Frank wakes up.
I'm a huge, huge HUGE fan of those classic Punisher scenes where Frank Castle is strapped to a table and about to be tortured. Of course I had to include such a scene in my own story.

Pages 14-15
Louis gives Frank the lowdown.
In my novels I tend to base at least one loser-ish character on myself. It's no coincidence that "Louis" is my middle name.

Page 17
The Mayor hears the news.
Since the Marvel editorial budget doesn't include travel expenses for its writers and/or artists, I snapped a bunch of photos for Michel Lacombe to use as reference. The shot in panel one was taken by the Bride as we were stopped at a red light near 13th and Market. (By then, she'd clearly forgiven me for the elbow in the face incident.) Also: KYW is the real all-news radio station in town, but "The Glitz" is a made-up nightclub. I had the name of a real nightclub, but apparently featuring real places of business is a Marvel no-no. (Sorry, unamed nightclub!)

Page 20
Frank receives his assignment.
The idea to have Louis wear the Punisher's t-shirt was all Michel's. Absolutely brilliant.

Page 21, Panel 4
Frank leaves the warehouse.
That's a real warehouse near Delaware Avenue you see there. The same joint makes a cameo appearance in issue #1 of Dead of Night: Werewolf By Night, also set (in the beginning, at least) in Philadelphia. I liked the idea that these two MAX universe characters would have something in common... even if it's just a broken-down building somewhere in the City of Brotherly Love.

One more note: The idea from this arc sprang, in part, from an online piece I read about the so-called "Golden Hour," which refers to the 60 minutes immediately following severe trauma. If you receive serious medical care within that first hour, the theory goes, your odds of survival are greatly increased. I thought: what if Frank Castle were given a golden hour? What would he do with it? Later, after I realized that my run on Punisher would start with issue #66, I changed it to six hours. And away we went...