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Classic Punisher Vol 1 1

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I didn't care about the politician haranguing the crowd below -- I'd had enough of his kind when I was younger and believed that sort of drivel -- but I knew what another assassination would do to this country -- and that was something I cared about.

—Punisher (Frank Castle)

Appearing in "Death Sentence"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Marvel Preview #2

Featured Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

Races and Species:

  • Humans (Main story and flashback)

Realities:

Locations:

Items

Synopsis for "Death Sentence"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Marvel Preview #2
In downtown Manhattan, the Punisher prevents a political assassination by shooting the assassin hiding on a neighboring rooftop. Interrogating the injured man, Punisher realizes he is an old Army buddy named Mike Hauley. Hauley alludes to other military companions who have become assassins as well, but before the Punisher can learn more, a passing helicopter drops a bomb on the rooftop, killing Hauley and narrowly missing the Punisher. Punisher resolves to visit Hauley’s family outside Chicago. Meanwhile, the detective assigned to the case, Dave Hamilton, recounts two previous assassinations recently carried out by ex-military men who were both killed soon after.

The Punisher visits a contact in Chicago but is fired upon by a sniper as he leaves, killing his contact in the crossfire. When the Punisher catches up to him the sniper tries to use a weapon hidden in his watch but it electrocutes himself instead. Meanwhile Hamilton and his partner dig into the Punisher’s past, learning that he was a highly-decorated Marine who was visiting his family on leave, only to witness them all gunned down by the mafia when they accidentally stumbled upon a mafia execution. Driven mad, he began a one-man war on the mafia, adopting the name bestowed upon him by the newspapers—the Punisher.

With no leads, Punisher visits Hauley’s widow and children outside Chicago. Hauley’s widow blames the Punisher for her husband’s death, but when her house is blown up, the Punisher saves both her and her children, and she tells him that her husband had been working for a man named Mark Christanson. Infiltrating Christanson’s mansion by disguising himself as one of his personal hired guard, Punisher learns that Christanson has developed a high-tech laser cannon and intends to overthrow the US Government with his private army. When he is discovered, Punisher fights his way through Christanson’s men and uses a bomb to blow up an underground generator, destroying Christanson’s personal force field the entire mansion as well.

Scanning the news reports later, Punisher watches Detective Hamilton vow to bring him to justice.

Appearing in "Accounts Settled... Accounts Due!"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Marvel Super Action #1

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Syndicate (Main story and flashback)
    • Audrey (First appearance; dies) (Main story and behind the scenes in flashback)
    • Leon Kolsky (Name revealed) (Death) (Only in flashback)
    • Matt Skinner (Name revealed) (Death) (Only in flashback)
    • Byron Hannigan (Name revealed) (Death) (Only in flashback)
    • Bruno Costa (Death) (Only in flashback)
    • Luis Allegre (Name revealed) (Death) (Only in flashback)
    • Frank Costa (First appearance; dies) (Only in flashback)

Other Characters:

Races and Species:

  • Humans (Main story and flashback)
  • Sharks (Only in flashback)

Realities:

Locations:

Items:

Synopsis for "Accounts Settled... Accounts Due!"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Marvel Super Action #1
The Punisher survived a Maggia ambush at the Red Grotto Restaurant in Brooklyn's Bay Ridge. While recording his war journal, his date Audrey arrived and quickly learned that he was the Punisher. Frank told Audrey the story of how he became the Punisher, starting with the execution of his family.

After the burial of his family, a police officer named John Laviano told Frank about Bruno Costa, the man who executed his family and had ties to the Maggia. In his first war journal entry as the Punisher, Frank attacked the Maggia's Central Numbers Drop in Newark. Meanwhile, an inspector informed Laviano that the Punisher had stolen files on Bruno Costa.

In the Punisher's seventh war journal entry, he opened fire on Byron Hannigan and Luis Allegre at the Playtime Club at the Catskills, killing them both. Frank Costa was greeted by his younger brother Bruno's children before reprimanding him for failing to kill the Punisher and ordered him to relocate to Florida.

Frank went to Punta Verde, Florida, where he met his former Vietnam War comrade the Mechanic. In Punta Verde, the Punisher went underwater and planted a bomb by a nearby oil well before breaking into Bruno's residence. Bruno and his associates Kolsky and Skinner learned of the Punisher's presence. In order to create a distraction, the Punisher detonated the bomb by the oil well and caused Bruno and Skinner to panic. Skinner rushed outside, where he was shot dead by the Punisher. The Punisher saw the front door open and instead, entered the house by jumping through a window. He went downstairs to an aquarium, where Kolsky held him at gunpoint. As the gangster attempted to execute the Punisher with his gun, the vigilante dodged and accidentally, shot the aquarium, breaking the glass and releasing a shark that killed the former. He finally caught up to Costa.

Frank told Audrey that after his own attack on Bruno Costa, the Maggia had sent someone of their own to stab the gangster in the base of the skull with an icepick. Then, Frank expressed how everytime he kills a criminal, he never feels that his family is avenged, but if he had killed Bruno himself, he would have gotten his revenge. After hearing Frank's story, Audrey offered him a massage before attempting to stab him. Frank quickly pulled out a gun from under his pillow and shot her before revealing that he had only arranged the date with her to be able to kill her, as she was a Maggia assassin. However, Frank declared that killing her still wasn't enough.

Appearing in "Kites"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Other Characters:

  • Spider Roque (Only in flashback)
  • Kingpin (Only on screen as a static image or video record)
  • Jigsaw (Only on screen as a static image or video record)
  • Sijo Tanaka (Only on screen as a static image or video record)
  • Iris Green (Only in flashback)
  • Eternal Sun (Only in flashback)
  • Microchip Jr. (Only in flashback)

Realities:

Locations:

Vehicles:

Synopsis for "Kites"

Punisher gets into a kite battle in the park.

Notes

  • Potts credited as reprint editor and designer, McLaurin credited as assistant editor.
  • Wraparound cover by Stroman and Cirocco.
  • Page 1: Punisher frontispiece by Bret Blevins.
  • Page 2: Contents page.

See Also

Links and References

References

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