Spider-Man Versus Punisher #1
No One Gets Out Alive
Frank Castle, the vigilante known as the Punisher, hunts a crook named the Grinder. It is a hot night that reminds him of the jungle he fought in during his time with the military.[1] The Grinder is wanted for kidnapping, torture, and murder. As the criminal tries to flee, the Punisher blows out one of his knee caps with a single shot. At the Punisher’s mercy, the Grinder pleads for mercy. When Castle pulls the trigger on his rifle it dry fires. Which suits Frank just fine as he pulls out his combat knife to finish the job.
Later on a nearby rooftop, the Jackal sits pondering the loss of his beloved Gwen Stacy. When the Punisher finds him, the vigilante pulls a gun on him. However, the Jackal says that if Castle shoots him, he won’t hear his proposal. The Jackal knows all about the Punisher and his one-man war against crime following the murder of his family.[2] The Jackal explains that he wants the Punisher’s help to eliminate the type of scum he always eliminates. Interested, Frank Castle tells the Jackal to keep talking.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man is sitting atop the George Washington Bridge, once more mourning the loss of his beloved Gwen Stacy. He thinks about how she died and he couldn’t save her life.[3] As the web-slinger heads back into the city he finds himself in the sights of the Punisher’s gun. Caught in an explosive blast, Spider-Man falls to the street below, landing on a parked car. Recovering from the fall he races up the side of a building to try and find the shooter but can’t find his location. The Punisher then tosses a gas grenade to obscure Spider-Man’s vision so he can get close enough to try and get a kill shot. The gas is a nerve toxin that causes Spider-Man to stumble off the edge of the building, sending him falling into the trash strewn alleyway.
There Spider-Man hallucinates all of his villains ganging up on Mary Jane. The Punisher is impressed by Spider-Man’s resilience, however the web-slinger eventually blacks out when Castle goes down to the alley to confront him. Spider-Man wakes up near the Flatiron Building and, still affected by the nerve gas, tries to evade the Punisher who is stalking the web-slinger. Spider-Man’s attempts to evade the Punisher attracts the attention of the media and at the offices of the Daily Bugle, both J. Jonah Jameson and Joe Robertson wonder where Peter Parker is.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man has tried to flee the Punisher by climbing up to the observation deck of the Empire State Building. However, Frank Castle is able to shoot Spider-Man in the shoulder. His next shots miss but hit a passing news helicopter sending it on a collision course with a little girl on the building’s observation deck. Spider-Man risks his life to prevent the helicopter from crashing and seeing Spider-Man selflessly risk his life for others convinces the Punisher that the wall-crawler is actually a hero. After Spider-Man safely puts the helicopter on the ground, the Punisher calls him a good soldier, but warns the web-head to stay out of his way in the future. With the Punisher gone and the danger over, Spider-Man heads for home unaware that the Jackal continues to plot and scheme against him.[4]
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Punisher, Jackal, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson
Continuity Notes
This story is adapted from Spider-Man’s first encounter with the Punisher in Amazing Spider-Man #129.
The Punisher’s family were mowed down by mobsters as seen in Marvel Preview #2.
Gwen Stacy was murdered by the Green Goblin in Amazing Spider-Man #121.
The Jackal is Miles Warren a science teacher at Empire State University who fell in love with Gwen Stacy. When Gwen was murdered, he blamed Spider-Man for her death and became the Jackal to get revenge. For more info on the Jackal’s origins see Amazing Spider-Man #149.
Topical References
References to the Punisher serving in the Vietnam War should be considered topical. Per History of the Marvel Universe #1, one could assume that Frank Castle actually fought in the Sin Cong Conflict.
