This is not going to happen,

[camwyn]

and it's not going to happen for two reasons:

One, I have to finish Hellblazer: Hogwarts first.
Two, I am NOT gonna get into an entirely new fandom just for this. I already DID that for Hellblazer, dammit.

But this is what happens when my brain is allowed to run around loose while I drive. It rolls in stinky dead things and comes running home with stuff that's still wriggling jammed in its mouth, and I've got to make the most of it.

The scowl appeared on Constantine's face almost as soon as the cleaner handed him the plastic-shrouded garment. "Tranh, this isn't my coat."
"What?" asked Tranh, the cleaner, a Vietnamese man with salt-and-pepper hair.
John poked at the plastic; it crinkled. "Not mine. There's been a mixup."
"Nonsense," said Tranh. "I checked the ticket twice. This one's yours."
"No, see, it's not, and I can guarantee this is the case, 'cos I specifically remember that my coat was made of cloth when I brought it here." He reached down and pulled about half the plastic away, then poked at the coat again. "Does that look like cloth to you?"
Tranh bent over, squinting at the coat with a suddenly growing expression of dismay. "Looks like leather," he muttered.
"Right. I'm not gonna pay for clean-up on someone else's leathers unless we're very good friends." John folded his arms across his chest. "How'd this happen, and where the hell is my coat?"
The smaller man didn't answer; he was already hunched over the computer that served for a cash register, a weirdly high-tech touch in a business of clattering hangers and the stink of carbon tet. "Looks like... oh, looks like my boy mixed up the tickets in the machine..." He looked up. "Another coat came in the day you brought me yours."
"Lemme guess," said John wearily. "The other bloke's already been and left with mine?"
Tranh nodded.
"What's his name?"
Tranh peered at the screen, reached for the mouse. Several clicks later, he looked up again. "Frank Castle," he said.
"Right," said John, digging in his trouser pockets for a scrap of paper. Snatching up a pencil stub from the counter, he asked, "Got a number I can reach him at?"

Comments

[kali921.livejournal.com]

Frank's going to be rather surprised when he gets home and finds a *cloth* trenchcoat in his possession. He's going to have a *nasty* case of cognitive dissonance. Coupled with some malevolent paranoia.

[camwyn]

I don't think the phone ringing as he realises this will do his mental state much good, either.

[milkshake-b.livejournal.com]

Hellblazer does this, I think. I got a nasty plotbunny when I watched The Animatrix, for example. Fortunately, I was able to shove that one in a box until it withered from lack of attention.

[camwyn]

I try to shove them away sometimes, but they're like earworms. They just keep coming back until I kick them out onto the page.

I'm gonna post this to John's character journal for the hell of it and go to bed.

[zwol.livejournal.com]

[holds up large pink card with a giant asterisk drawn thereon]

Um, context please?

[ocean-song.livejournal.com]

Oh my. No, I want more. Pwease?!?

[firestrike.livejournal.com]

Frank Castle aka The Punisher. Trained Human using the firepower method to dish out his concept of justice in the Marvel Universe. He usually leaves a high body-count in his wake. For more details, ignore both movies by that name and check Marvel Comics.

-M

[subtle-guns.livejournal.com]

I'm going to have to agree with you. Except that I actually wound up liking Tom Jane for a few moments here and there.

And I prefer it when Tim Bradstreet illustrates me.

[subtle-guns.livejournal.com]

I'm trained to multi-task.

Just ask Deadpool. And the entire city of Belfast.

[firestrike.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but that's what Microchip is/was for.

-M

[firestrike.livejournal.com]

I'm mostly out of comics these days. Has Marvel punched the reset button on the Punisher titles? If not, a 'Nam vet is must be getting a little long in the tooth, no?

-M

[pandoras-closet.livejournal.com]

I liked Dolph Lundgren's Punisher. Especially how it ended.

"I still talk to God. I ask Him if what I'm doing is right or wrong. I'm still waiting for an answer."

[kali921.livejournal.com]

Sadly, Mr. 'Chip is no longer with us. :-(

I think Frank in his new incarnation does juuust fine.

[kali921.livejournal.com]

Marvel indeed punched the reset button, in a fashion. They brought Frank back in 2000 in a series called, oddly enough, "Welcome Back, Frank." :-) They brought in Tim Bradstreet for the covers, and Garth Ennis has been writing him since then for the most part. The cover art is spectacular. Garth's gone back to what a lot of us feel is the true essence of the character - very very haunted, very dark, still thinks about his family a lot, not really offing people due to sadistic pleasure but out of an obsessive need for justice, to protect others, etc etc. No more mack daddy Frank, dating porn stars and such - Frank's more of a loner now, as a man who lost his family in a most brutal fashion might easily become. No more spandex tights.

He's still the same Frank that fought in 'Nam. Tim paints him as looking a bit older, if you look at the covers - due to age and/or grief and/or constant stress.

Garth's always been a dark writer. Most of the Frank comics are now under the Marvel MAX imprint, which means for readers over 18 only. The storylines reflect that - pretty mature intense stuff. I liked the Punisher when he was written well before, but he was never a favorite. Now it's one of my fave titles under the MAX imprint.

[ahmeemee.livejournal.com]

I just think that John Constantin plus any other fandom automatically equals comedy gold.