The Punisher and The Phoenix #3

The cover for the third issue of ‘The Punisher and The Phoenix,’ showing Frank Castle, the Punisher (“played” here by an action figure of Jon Bernthal) and Rachel Summers, the Phoenix, walking away from the flaming, smoking wreck of a skycycle. The text, “A toy comic by Phil Wrede,” is visible at the bottom of the image.

A page recapping the events of the previous issues. The text reads: "CROSSBONES AND THE OFFICERS OF MUTANT CITIZENSHIP ENFORCEMENT ARE LOOSE IN NYC! THE SENTINELS STALK THE STREETS, PREYING ON EVERY MUTANT THEY FIND! THE PUNISHER IS ONE OF THE FEW FIGHTING BACK. AS IS THE MUTANT HERO, COLOSSUS! THEY HAVE RESCUED RACHEL SUMMERS. BATTLING MCE OFFICERS IN ALLEYWAYS AND ON ROOFTOPS, THE PUNISHER AND THE PHOENIX HAVEA TEMPORARY REPRIEVE. WILL THE PUNISHER'S SECRET SKYCYCLE GET THEM OUT OF TOWN, OR ARE THEY NOT OUT OF DANGER QUITE YET?"

As the Punisher and the Phoenix fly through the night sky on their Avengers' skycycle, they're pursued by two Sentinels.

Frank tells Rachel to take the controls of the skycycle, and he withdraws a huge rifle from a mysterious storage spot on their craft.

With his first shots, Frank completely misses the Sentinels, but he takes a breath, and his next shot pierces the eye of one of the giant robots.

From the Sentinels' perspective, Rachel is still the target, and Frank is just an obstacle for them to overcome.

The Sentinels fire a tremendous laser blast from their hands, and Rachel only barely manages to dodge their assault. Before anyone can make the next move, one Sentinels is split in half by a force moving too fast to identify.

As the three remaining combatants struggle to understand what happens, the other Sentinel is smashed to bits under the superpowered fists of Warbird, AKA Carol Danvers. She is not excited to see the Punisher.

Rachel calls Carol, "Captain Marvel," and so Carol explains that she resigned from the military rather than be complicit in what MCE is doing. Suddenly, she notices more Sentinel activity in town.

Carol flies off; when Rachel expresses her gratitude, Frank makes it clear that anything Warbird did, she did in spite of his being involved. Looking up from the street, the criminal Crossbones spots Frank and Rachel.

Via a small radio, Crossbones induces the robotic Super-Adaptoid to spring into action, attacking the low-flying skycycle from an alleyway below.

Frank shoots at the Adaptoid with his pistol, but to no effect.

Rachel jumps from the skycycle and lands on the Adaptoid's shoulders.

As Rachel fights the Super-Adaptoid up close and personal, we cut back to the other side of town, where Colossus has finished stomping another Sentinel into the ground.

Colossus reunites with the old man who helped them all escape the first time. He tells Colossus that there's a special A.N.T.I.F.A. escape route.

Colossus is surprised that "antifa" is a real organization. The old man explains that ANTIFA stands for "Against Nazis, Totalitarians, and Idiots who are Failing America." Meanwhile, Rachel tries to scramble around on the Adaptoid and dodge its strikes, but it lands an unlucky blow and damages the control collar on Rachel's neck.

Free of the control collar, Rachel calls upon the might of her Phoenix powers and soars into the air.

Before Rachel can strike the Super-Adaptoid, it punches the skycycle, sending the craft into a spin.

Frank struggles to land the skycycle and it still crashes, as Rachel unleashes the might of her telekinetic powers on the Super-Adaptoid.

The Adaptoid falls. Rachel lands, miraculously met by Frank, as he emerges from the wreckage.

As Rachel and Frank plot their next move, their conversation is interrupted by the approaching Crossbones.

The credits for the comic, citing the Unsplash users whose photographs were the background art, the use of fonts by Blambot, acknowledging the human creators of the characters of Marvel Comics, the ownership of Marvel by Disney, the use of stock visual effects by Action VFX, and that the figure (and some background) photography/script/graphic design/lettering were by me, Phil Wrede.

Welcome back to the Phil Wrede Marvel Action Figure Comic Universe once again, and the third issue of ‘The Punisher and The Phoenix!’

A couple of months ago, I bought a few of the S.H. Figuarts Tamashii Effect pieces, to try and progress toward doing more in-the-frame photography (when appropriate) and to help the more collage-y photo work I’ve been doing for years stand out, when it’s also appropriate. It’s fun to add another layer (or two, or three) of little pieces to arrange in my lightbox before stepping back and taking a photo; I hope you enjoyed the outcome as much as I did!

It’s been quite a while since Carol Danvers made her last appearance in the PWMAFCU, and I’ve been waiting patiently for inspiration to strike, so that I can introduce the Warbird action figure I accidentally stumbled upon not… quite as long ago as 2021. I’d like to think that, in her capacity as a hero, Carol would be horrified by all the atrocities of the present and would be doing what she’s able to oppose them.

I’d also love to see Brie Larson and Jon Bernthal face-to-face in the MCU for just a minute. And, I nearly forgot that this isn’t the Super-Adaptoid’s first appearance here on Pizzarat.net!

I’ve been thinking about that “I’m with antifa!” line of Grandpa Reiley’s ever since it first popped into my head. I’ve known there was something more I could do with it for months, and it took fewer drafts than I expected to come up with the acronym that you’ve just read! It’s so nice when inspiration strikes and takes you where you wanted to go all along.

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