Writer: Mike Baron; Artist: Klaus Janson; Letterer: Ken Bruzenak; Colorist: Klaus Janson; Editor: Carl Potts; Editor in Chief: Jim Shooter; Cover Artist: Klaus Janson
Operating under the name Arnold Groetsch, the Punisher has come to Marion, Missouri to buy a house and take a break from his war on crime. While talking with a real estate agent, he witnesses a group of gunmen robbing a bank and gives chase after them. After killing a truck-load full of killers, he loses the van carrying the bank robbers, and when he stops he is nearly shot by a sniper. Castle takes out the sniper with a blowgun and forces him to give up information on his group, the Army of the New American Revolution, a hate group led by Joseph Fryer, a retired Army colonel. Frank gets Fryer's location from the sniper and leaves him in the woods, then blows up his own van and escapes detection on motorcycle.
The next day in Sherrill, Kansas, the Punisher tracks down Fryer, who is working as a realtor. Using his false identity as Groetsch, Castle convinces Fryer that he's there looking to buy commercial property for a company that builds specialized vehicles. Fryer and Castle leave to take a look at a compound, with Fryer explaining to "Groetsch" that America has been overrun with "mongrel races", specifically the Jewish. They arrive at the New American Revolution compound, where Fryer attempts to recruit his new friend, only for Castle to pull a gun on him. However, some of Fryer's men get the drop on Castle and manage to disarm him, only for one of them to be bit by a nest of rattlesnakes. Frank suits up and follows the escaping Fryer, only for the racist to get the upper hand after tossing a grenade. Fryer believes "Groetsch" is a Jewish assassin there to kill him, and he chases Castle to a nearby bulldozer. Frank busts open the vehicle's gas tank and tricks Fryer into stepping into the puddle of gasoline, which the Punisher then lights on fire, killing Fryer where he stands.
Review:
The Punisher takes on a hate group in this third issue by Baron and Janson.
One thing Mike Baron was known for during his time with the Punisher was the "ripped from the headlines" story, of which he did many. There was the flag-burner story, the Jim Jones and Charles Manson stories, the poisoned aspirin story, and of course there were the anti-semetic racist stories, of which there were more than one. This one was just the first, and like the more realistic take on the Punisher's "war on drugs", the matter-of-fact style of Baron's plotting is pretty refreshing. Until Daredevil showed up near the end of the first year, there was nothing in these stories outside of Castle's costume that looked anything like a traditional Marvel super-hero comic.
The most interesting thing about this issue isn't the plot, though, its Baron's take on the Punisher himself. Frank Castle was still in a nascent stage of his publishing life at this point, and there's a bit at the beginning that no writer could feasibly get away with if they tried it today. Baron actually has the Punisher trying to get away from his war on crime by buying a suburban house in Missouri! The events in the previous story have caused Castle to become disillusioned with his war, so he decides to "take a break". After Garth Ennis' run with the character, there's no way another writer could make such a story work, it just wouldn't sound true to the Punisher. But in 1988, sure, why wouldn't Castle want to step away for a bit?
Unfortunately, that's about the only interesting thing about "The Devil Came From Kansas", because a single issue just isn't enough to flesh out important details. If the Army of the New American Revolution is such a major threat to the way of life in the country, why does their compound only contain two thugs outside of Fryer? What happens to the group's infrastructure once Fryer, well, fries? Baron spends so much time on the opening chase sequence that important questions are glossed over while the book runs to the finish line. What were Fryer's plans outside of robbing Jewish banks? I'm probably over-analyzing the plot too much, even if that is kind of the point of the review, but Mike Baron is usually much better with giving his villains logical and detailed plans, not to mention points-of-view. Yes, Fryer is a racist, but why? I did like how Fryer just refuses to believe that Castle is anything other than a Jewish assassin, even when Frank TELLS him who he is. "Groetschburg" indeed.
Three issues in and I'm still not liking Klaus Janson's artwork on this series, and while re-reading I realized why. When he's depicting ordinary people doing ordinary things, his work is decent (if too rough and stiff for my liking). It's when the Punisher's costume shows up that the comic starts looking absolutely ridiculous, like this big out-of-place cartoon has just been plopped down in the middle of a noir film. His work is clear and easy to follow, sure, but it's sooooo boring looking. The best thing to happen to this series was Whilce Portacio coming on board as artist in a few issues, because Janson just wasn't working out.
You can see the stars beginning to align on what would become a defining run of comics for the Punisher, things just aren't there yet.
Grade: C
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