Writer: Steven Grant; Artist: Mike Zeck; Inker: John Beatty; Letterer: Ken Bruzenak; Colorist: Bob Sharen; Editor: Carl Potts; Editor in Chief: Jim Shooter; Cover Artist: Mike Zerck
At Ryker's Island Prison off the coast of New York City, the inmates are shocked to see that the Punisher is back among them once again. The prison warden and his aide review the Punisher's file, which states that Frank Castle was a Marine during the Vietnam War whose family were gunned down after witnessing a mob execution in Central Park. The warden and aide have their eye on Castle for mysterious reasons, and are content with watching to see what he'll do in jail. That night, Castle's cell-mate tries to intimidate the newcomer, but Frank easily takes the prisoner down and forces information out of him. The prisoner's information leads Castle to Frisky Martin, the prison cook who was responsible for drugging Castle during his last stay at Ryker's, leading to his psychotic behavior over the last several months. Frank spooks Frisky, who runs deep into the prison, leading Castle straight to Jigsaw, a mobster whose face was ruined when the Punisher pushed him through a plate-glass window. A brief fight between Castle and Jigsaw's men is interrupted by Don Carlo Cervello and his bodyguard Gregario, who offers to allow Castle to escape with them if he refrains from causing trouble. Frank agrees and leaves, knowing that Cervello will betray him at his first opportunity.
A few nights later, a crooked guard helps Cervello and Gregario escape their cells, and with a pistol equipped with a makeshift silencer Gregario shoots Castle in his bed. Thinking the Punisher dead, Gregario follows through on the escape plans, unaware that Frank protected himself with the mattress. Castle follows the horde of escaping prisoners and realizes that they must have an inside man in the prison's tower, which controls the alarm system. Realizing he's alive, Gregario and his men chase Castle up the tower, where he finds the corrupt guard and his innocent partner. Frank saves the innocent guard from the criminals and leaves through the window, the guard unwilling to shoot his rescuer in the back. The alarms come on, and the escaping criminals are discovered - except for Don Cervello and Jigsaw, who have a back-up plan. Castle follows them to the warden's office, where they have taken the warden and his aide hostage. Frank is able to defeat Jigsaw and convinces Cervello to surrender instead of dying; and when the guards come in to take the prisoners back into custody the warden tells them to leave the Punisher with him. The warden is part of a secret group of "concerned citizens" called The Trust, who wish for Castle to work with them to eliminate organized crime. The warden will engineer Frank's escape from prison, and his aide brings Castle his uniform and equipment. Frank puts the Punisher outfit on and agrees to work with The Trust
Meanwhile, in Manhattan, mobster Charlie Siciliano has a meeting with Tony Massera, the son of a gangster that was killed by the Punisher. Despite Tony wanting nothing but a normal life, Siciliano convinces him that he needs to seek revenge for his father's murder. Tony eventually agrees and takes the gun offered to him, vowing to kill the Punisher himself.
Review:
Frank Castle gets his first shot at his own series and totally blows the roof off the sucker thanks to the creative team of Grant and Zeck.
In the ten or so years since his debut, the Punisher had been seen as a popular supporting character and sometimes even a villain, but outside of a few black-and-white stories in the 1970s Marvel didn't have much faith in the character being a success on his own. Oh, how wrong they were, but because of that preconception we were lucky to get this series. Grant has said in interviews that it was Mike Zeck's participation that got the mini-series green lighted due to his massive popularity after Secret Wars. But Zeck isn't the only person responsible for this excellent mini-series, because Steven Grant captured the character perfectly for the time it was released. The 1980s were littered with action films and anti-heroes (see Rambo, Commando, and countless others), and it was that zeitgeist that the Punisher successfully tapped into.
Steven Grant certainly had some character rehabilitation to take care of at the beginning, considering that in his last Spider-Man appearance writer Bill Mantlo had the Punisher killing jaywalkers and litterbugs. Grant knows how to make the character work, not as a psychopath but as it says in the script, a man "so sane he's spooky". Setting the first issue in a prison was a gutsy move, though, since the Punisher doesn't appear in costume until the issue's end. Now, of course, "Punisher in prison" stories are considered a traditional part of the character's canon, but in 1985 having a Marvel hero start off his comic series by being in prison for murder was a huge chance. Would readers see Castle as a hero or as a murdering psychopath? Obviously, they saw him as the former, as evidenced by the massive sales of this first issue and the character's continued popularity since.
We cannot downplay Mike Zeck's involvement with this series. Out of the artists that were available at the time, there are only a handful I would consider capable of pulling this series off (Miller, Sienkiewicz, anyone else?) and Zeck is right at the top of that list. His work is equally powerful at portraying the full-on super heroes of Secret Wars and the gritty realism needed for the Punisher. His characters are distinct, they have weight and movements appropriate to their sizes, they look realistic without looking stiff or posed.
This is perhaps a perfect Punisher comic, and there's no doubt that it is exactly what the character needed to break into the spotlight. Everything that's come has its roots in this debut issue, a tone that would remain unchanged for most of the character's history. That inspiration in itself is an achievement especially when all on its own this is a damn great book.
Grade: A+
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