Issue(s): Punisher War Journal #52, Punisher War Journal #53
Cover Date: Mar-Apr 93
Title: "Heart of ice" / "Heart of stone"
Credits:
Chuck Dixon - Writer
Gary Kwapisz - Penciler
Gary Kwapisz - Inker
Tim Tuohy - Assistant Editor
Don Haley - Editor

Review/plot:
These issues are significant for the first appearance of a character, Mike 'Ice' Phillips, in a definite Marvel universe comic. Phillips was previously a regular character in The 'Nam. The 'Nam was still being published (until Sep 93, issue #84). Phillips' final appearances in that series had already been published, though. They were in The 'Nam #67-69, which were written by Chuck Dixon (the writer here) and featured the Punisher. At the time of writing this entry, i only have issue #68, but you may want to review the Considerations section on that entry regarding the complications of Phillips appearing here. The short of it is that a) The 'Nam wasn't meant to be in Marvel continuity, with at least one issue making that explicitly clear (and yet the Punisher appeared in it) and b) The 'Nam of course took place during the Vietnam War, and Marvel's Sliding Timescale makes it increasingly impossible for that to have been the war that the Punisher participated in. Suggesting that all of The 'Nam was actually taking place in some unspecified conflict in Southeast Asia (or elsewhere) defeats the whole point of the series, right down to the title.

But Mike Phillips is nonetheless somehow here.

The story starts by introducing a paramilitary terrorist group called the Sword of Liberty.

Obviously that particular cell is no longer active, but the Punisher decides to infiltrate the larger group.

In that group is a woman named Deena, girlfriend to the group's insane paranoid leader, Armstrong.

Deena is the daughter of a wealthy man, who hires Phillips to retrieve her.

So the Punisher and Phillips cross paths on their way to the Sword's camp, "Valhalla" (of course), in Oregon.

Even though they have slightly different goals, they work together for now. The Punisher's narration says that Ice did additional tours in Southeast Asia in BlackOps and as a hunter/sniper.

The first scan's use of "Southeast Asia" made me wonder if we were indeed retconning The 'Nam to be about a less specific war, but MACV was specific to Vietnam.

After fighting through some perimeter guards, their different goals cause conflict. The Punisher just wants to blow base up. Phillips needs to grab Deena first. Phillips tases the Punisher...

...and heads into the camp. The Punisher wakes up to find Sword troops on him, but he's able to take them quickly, saying that these militiamen are "not soldiers like they pretend to be".

Gotta love the Punisher disparaging people for being nuts with guns.

Meanwhile, Phillips has gotten himself captured. Phillips tries to convince Deena that she'd be better off convincing Armstrong to let them both leave, and then Deena could bankroll the Swords from home.

Punisher rescues Phillips, but they continue to fight about whether or not to bother taking Deena.

In the end Armstrong and the rest of the Sword troops are wiped out, and Phillips is able to bring Deena back.

I didn't read much 'Nam, so when i read this years ago (not in realtime, but Punisher issues were always a decent investment from the quarter bins) it didn't really occur to me that "Ice" was a character from that series. The logo on the cover of #52 was really the only clue; there are no footnotes or anything like that. So it seemed like just a typical Punisher story, although it did have me going, "Holy crap, another of the Punisher's old Vietnam associates?". Now that i'm aware of Mike Phillips, these issues seem more important for who is in them then what happens. Although, to be clear, it's not that Phillips will turn out to be super-important; he'll only appear in one more (Punisher) story. It's just that his appearance here adds an interesting wrinkle to Marvel continuity.

Statement of Ownership Total Paid Circulation: Average of Past 12 months = 168,317. Single issue closest to filing date = 161,200.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A