Appearing in "Fire With Fire"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Maggia
- Costa Family
- ⏴ Jigsaw (Billy Russo) ⏵
- Bruno Costa (Mentioned)
- Costa Family
- Lonny (First appearance; dies)
Other Characters:
- FDNY
- Maria Castle (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earth
- United States of America
- New York
- New York City
- Manhattan
- Mulberry Street (First appearance)
- Salvagno's (First appearance)
- Mulberry Street (First appearance)
- Manhattan
- New York City
- New York
- United States of America
Items:
- Punisher's War Journal (First appearance chronologically)
Synopsis for "Fire With Fire"
Detectives John Laviano and Stan Witts have arrived with the fire department at the now destroyed Castle house. Laviano comments on how he feels that this is their doing, how "we cut Castle off, left him to the wolves." Witts tries to convince him otherwise but Laviano won't listen.
Frank is revealed to have actually survived the explosion, but is badly injured. Frank goes to visit McTeer at his apartment, fearing that the same may have been attempted on McTeer, and when he gets there sees that the front door is ajar. Frank breaks in and discovers McTeer's corpses lying on the floor.
Some time later, Laviano arrives home and opens the garage door manually. He then hears a voice from inside the garage telling him to stop and not to turn around. Laviano guesses that the voice is Frank's, but the voice tells him "Castle's dead. Died in Central Park." After Laviano asks what he wants, Frank tells him that he wants the files on the men who killed Castle's family, as well as the hitman who killed McTeer. Laviano objects, but after being guilted by all the empty promises he made Frank, tells Frank that the files are in his briefcase, and that the neighborhood is known to be subject to many car break-ins. After Frank takes the files, Laviano sits on a nearby swing-set, ashamed that it all has to come to this.
At an undisclosed location in a warehouse where Frank has studied the case files, learning that the Billy Russo is the man responsible for McTeer's death, and is now prepping for war, all while reciting "Sic Vis Pacem, Para Bellum", latin for "If you want peace, prepare for war." He then turns on a audio recorder to lay down his manifesto whilst painting on camouflage. He states that Frank Castle is dead but "the message has yet to reach his body" and how the law is toothless when it comes to act upon the guilty, that sometimes it is necessary to act outside the law to enact punishment on those who've earned it. He goes on to say that men "I tried it everyone's way. Everyone's -- except mine." and how when he has a job to do, it gets done. Locked and loaded, he puts on a bullet-proof vest with a freshly painted skull and becomes The Punisher. He says that his war will begin with Billy Russo.