Issue(s): Punisher War Journal #34
Cover Date: Sep 91
Title: "Blackout"
Credits:
Mike Baron - Writer
Ron Wagner - Penciler
Jimmy Palmiotti, Michael Bair, Rodeny Ramos, Ariane Lenshoek, Ed Lazellari, Don Hudson, and Bud LaRosa - Inker
Kevin Kobasic - Assistant Editor
Don Daley - Editor

Review/plot:
The inkers in this issue are collectively referred to as "Inking Squad of Death, Mark II". Mark I was on Punisher #46.

Again i direct you to the cover as the most interesting part of this issue. John Beatty gives us basically the animated series version of the Punisher, and i think it looks pretty cool.

As for the interior, this is a story that examines racial tensions in New York between black and Korean communities during a heatwave.

Think of it as Do The Right Thing, except with the Punisher in a little car with a water canon on top.

And a white criminal to give everyone a common enemy to unite against.

Oh, and a mentally ill veteran receives radio waves via the metal plate in his skull that he thinks are the voice of a "man in black" telling him to kill space aliens.

Despite inevitably reinforcing racial stereotypes, it's actually a lot better of a story than it sounds!

Quality Rating: B-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Ron Wagner was great on GI joe and would be a good fit for this book, but the gawdawful coloring process Marvel used made everyone look like crap.

Well, at least Baron seems to be criticizing Reagan's policy toward the mentally ill.