10 Times Marvel Comics Lost Their Damn Minds

Marvel aren't exactly subtle in their current desire to diversify their line of heroes, but they have a lot to make up for. Case in point, the time Punisher turned black.

During the early 90's, the Punisher found himself trapped in prison with his archenemy Jigsaw. Frank was able to escape but not before Jigsaw sliced apart his face. Now on the run from the law and with a heavily scarred face, he decided to undergo plastic surgery to change his identity.

However, not only was the surgeon he used a former doctor turned junkie prostitute (that's one way to pay back that medical school debt), she had also been experimenting in skin grafts using melanin. The upshot was that the surgery turned the Punisher into an African American... or a guy with black skin but bright blue eyes and the facial structure of a white guy depending on the artist.

He then went on to get pulled over by a bunch of racist cops (because of course) and teamed up with Luke Cage in a story that made pretty much everyone uncomfortable.

Thankfully, this plot twist only lasted for a few issues before Frank bucked conventional wisdom by going black and then going back when the melanin wore off. Unfortunately it started happening when he was still with Luke Cage so he had to run away and hide like a racist retelling of Cinderella.