History of the Punisher
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This article is a detailed history of the Marvel Comics character Punisher.
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[edit] Early years
Born in Brooklyn, New York to parents of Sicilian ancestry; Francis Castiglione was a U.S. Marine Captain who served in the Vietnam War in a special forces unit as a point man. For heroism in the line of duty, he was decorated with the Medal of Honor, the Navy Cross, twice with the Bronze and Silver Stars, and four times with the Purple Heart. Frank was even going to receive The Presidential Medal of Freedom. Before Frank joined the Marines, he was studying to become a Catholic priest but changed his mind because he was unable to forgive those who did evil. He was also already married to his wife Maria Elizabeth Castle who was already pregnant with their first child, Lisa Christie Castle. While Frank was still in basic training, he met Sgt. Cleve Gorman in a camp they called Big Nothing; a young Private Castiglione mouthed off about how the Viet Cong weren't well trained enough to stand up to the full force of America's troops. Sgt. Gorman mocked him, belittling him because he had no actual combat experience in the bush. Gorman pushed Castiglione into lunging for him, and then savagely beat the private into the ground.
While still in training Frank met, Phan Bighawk, a Native American scout. He was assigned to be Frank's guide. Frank was given a pretty free hand to prowl outside the base. Phan and Frank went deep into the boonies. Phan taught Frank how to hunt and survive out in the wilderness. They construct their own shelter, find their own food, stalked game, sometimes it was animal and sometimes it wasn't.
[edit] Vietnam War
[edit] First Tour
[edit] Mikuta and Daryl
Later, in his third day in Vietnam, Frank pulled the platoon he was with out from heavy gunfire from Viet Cong guerrillas. For doing so, Frank's C.O. (commanding officer), Mikuta and Daryl gave him and a few others a special assignment. What this special assignment was, Frank and the others didn't really know. Frank and a few others escorted a team of recon guys through the bush later that night. Later the next day, Frank and others found themselves coming under fire from V.C. snipers. After getting into a fight with a V.C. and killing him, Frank then felt a hot wind suck the air out of his lungs. Frank sees in the background a huge massive explosion. Frank knows somebody called in an air strike and a bombing raid... napalm, high explosive, incendiary, artillery, the works. Frank runs as fast as he can to get away. When he got clear of the explosions, he came upon two dead naked bodies. But these two dead bodies were Americans. Frank knew these guys from the recon team he escorted into the bush. Daryl comes up behind Frank with an M16 to his head. Daryl tells Frank what both he and Mikuta had been doing. That every unit gets its whiners and crybabies. They think that they got the short end of the stick in Vietnam. They jump at the chance to get out. That they're better off without them, and that they weaken the unit. They sell them to a "Desertion Package." For $1000, they get to go over the hill. There, Montagnards take them to somewhere they can hop on a plane to Sweden and sit the war out. But they send them right into enemy territory to get killed. They load up their M16s with blanks so they can't come back and tell people of this. Just before Daryl shoots, Frank pulls out his knife and throws it at the gun right when Daryl shoots, a move that Frank saw James Coburn do in a movie. Coburn died in that movie but Frank didn't. Frank blacks out.
[edit] The Unnamed Colonel
After waking up, Frank sees that the bullet had only skinned him in the forehead. He also sees Daryl dead with the knife in his head. Frank tries to make it back to Firebase Phoebe. He then comes across an NVA and Viet Cong guerrilla base. And he sees that they have heavy weapons and tanks. Frank knows they're heading for the base. Frank makes it back to the base as fast as he can and tells Mikuta about the attack that's coming, but he doesn't believe him one bit. The base is attacked and during the attack, Frank runs into Mikuta's room and finds the money he and Daryl have been taking. Frank throws it everywhere in anger. Frank then kills as many NVA troops as he can. Mikuta then figures out that Frank knows what he and Daryl have been doing. He then tries to kill him, but Frank beats him to death with his bare hands. The NVA troops and VC guerrillas are killed by B-52 air strikes. The Military police arrive and find Frank with his C.O. dead right next to him. They take Frank away to a military hospital to be questioned. After days of not saying a thing, a Colonel with no name comes in. Frank tells him everything. The Colonel tells Frank that he'll be looking into this. But Frank knows that the Colonel is involved. Later, the Colonel tries to kill Frank by putting him into a platoon where nobody knows him and where it can come under attack. The platoon does come under attack, but Frank survives. During a classified mission, Frank was order to kill the Colonel with no name. The military had learned of what the Colonel had done. Frank assassinated the Colonel in Saigon on the steps of the Hotel Parisian from almost 700 yards with a Winchester Model 70 bolt action rifle with a sniper scope.
[edit] Gorman
Later, in Siem Pang, Gorman led Castle's Platoon. Gorman put him on point, allowing him to get far enough ahead to be out of sight, and then he and his close friend Snow gunned down the rest of the platoon. Gorman accused Castle of letting a bunch of VC through, but Castiglione had recognized the weapons as American. However, as his wife, Maria, was pregnant, and he wanted to live to see home, he did not challenge Gorman or Snow. Gorman and Snow later removed all of the internal organs from the dead soldiers and packed their chests and abdomens full of China White before tossing them into body bags.
Later still, Castle gave up his seat on an evacuation helicopter to a civilian. Castle then tried to squeeze into Gorman's chopper and found it full of Cambodians. Laughing with his associate Khieu Dap, Gorman pulled out his gun and shot Castle through the side and shoulder, knocking him out of the helicopter as they took off. They left Castle for dead in the falling city, but he survived and managed to make his way back to friendly territory. Castiglione filed protests, but heard nothing of them, or of Gorman.
In the modern era, Gorman worked as a supply Sergeant in Camp Pendleton, though he maintained a close association with Khieu Dap and worked with his agents, dealing in drugs, arms, and extortion. A pair of FBI agents were killed while trying to take down one of his operations, but Castle, now the Punisher, learned of Gorman's involvement from the dying agent and went after Gorman. The Sergeant, however, learned of the Punisher's actions, and learned that the Punisher was his old enemy, Castle. Gorman then set a trap for Castle, allowing him to track him down, then having his men capture and bind him, and then began to beat him again. Castle fought back, but one of Gorman's agents knocked him out with the butt of his rifle. Gorman then sent the men to kill Castle, who--of course--survived. Gorman met with his old friend Snow at his casino in Las Vegas, but took off after learning that Castle had killed his men. Castle caught up with Snow, learned the location of Khieu Dap from him, and then forced Dap to point him towards Gorman. Castle traced him to a black market munitions dump, where Gorman was waiting for him. However, Castle dressed Snow in a Punisher costume and sent him into the dump. Believing it to be Castle, Gorman blew him away with a rocket launcher and then walked over to his body to have the final laugh. As Gorman realized his mistake, Castle shot him in the shoulder and then the knee. Realizing he was beaten, Gorman mocked Castle, telling him he'd still be rich when he got out of prison, and Castle would still be nothing. "Castle? Castle's dead. I'm the Punisher." Castle shot Gorman in the chest and listened to him suck air for a short time.
[edit] Burt Kenyon
While still in his first tour, Frank met Burt Kenyon. Lieutenant Burt Kenyon was a soldier serving in the same combat company as Castiglione in Vietnam. When the platoon came under fire, Castiglione was badly injured by a V.C. explosive and surrounded by the enemy. However, Kenyon calmly appeared, gunned down the Viet Cong, and dragged Castiglione to safety. Kenyon told Castiglione that he now owed him a life. Two months later, Kenyon was declared mentally unfit for service and discharged.
Years after Vietnam and only a few years after Frank became the Punisher, Burt Kenyon became to be known as the Hitman. The underworld hired and outfitted Kenyon as a sort of opposite number to the Punisher. Kenyon became a high-priced hit man and mercenary. As the Hitman, he was an extraordinary combatant with conventional military weaponry and in hand-to-hand encounters; he was somewhat an equal of the Punisher in these areas, and did manage to shoot Spider-Man despite the latter's spider-sense and superhuman agility. He was also a superb marksman and was unflappable in armed combat. He carried a small arsenal of weaponry and devices on his person, including handguns, rifles, automatic weapons, flares, gas and concussion grenades, and electronic tracers. The Hitman also employed exotic devices from time to time, such as his mini-helicopter.
After his protection racket and his offer of recruitment were violently rejected by the Vulture, a humiliated "Boss" Morgan hired the Hitman in vengeance. Seeing television reports that the Vulture had lured Spider-Man into battle, Morgan instructed the Hitman to humiliate the Vulture in return by killing Spider-Man before he could. The Hitman interrupted the battle between the Vulture and Spider-Man, announced his intentions, and was promptly assaulted by the Vulture. Spider-Man took the opportunity to briefly fight, and thus gauge, the Hitman. The Hitman was forced to deal with the Vulture using a gas grenade, allowing Spider-Man to escape.
However, the Hitman had planted tracers on both the Vulture and Spider-Man. The Hitman soon found and attacked the Vulture, leading the criminal on a chase that took them near Spider-Man's location (Peter Parker's apartment). Drawn outside by the sounds of the battle, Spider-Man found himself in an aerial battle with the Vulture, while the Hitman took potshots at him the whole time. Finally, as Spider-Man and the Vulture battled near a radio tower, Spider-Man feigned weakness and left himself dangling from a webline. As he expected, the Hitman couldn't resist teasing the swooping Vulture until the very last moment, and thus by turning at the last moment Spider-Man allowed the Hitman's shot to strike the Vulture's power pack, defeating him. The Hitman himself fled the scene, and Spider-Man determined to give the Hitman's tracer to the Punisher in hopes of tracking him down. Some months later, the Punisher, apparently looking for the Hitman, found himself battling a terrorist group called the People's Liberation Front (PLF). Meanwhile, the PLF's leader hired the Hitman to kidnap and kill J. Jonah Jameson, who had been writing a series of damaging editorials about the group. Despite the Punisher's surveillance, the Hitman managed to slip into Jameson's office, confronting the publisher and his lover Marla Madison. Madison managed to turn on the Daily Bugle's intercom system, broadcasting the Hitman's threats to the entire office. This drew Spider-Man and the Punisher into the office, but the two broke in simultaneously, and between the resulting confusion and the cramped confines of the office, the Punisher was unable to reach the Hitman as the latter battled Spider-Man.
The fray also brought the Bugle's security guards running, and the Hitman used the confusion to drop a gas grenade and head for the roof. Spider-Man was able to follow him, and the two continued fighting, tossing Jameson back and forth as they did so. Finally, the Hitman overcame Spider-Man (whose arm was injured from a recent battle with the Molten Man) and loaded Jameson aboard his mini-copter. The Punisher finally made it to the rooftop, was recognized as Castle by the Hitman, and exchanged gunfire with Kenyon, but Spider-Man feared the Punisher would kill Jameson accidentally and stopped him. But what Spider-Man didn't know was that the Punisher was aiming for the copter's engine and not Jameson. But Spider-Man did manage to plant a tracer on the Hitman's copter, and he and the Punisher fled the Bugle's security troops to pursue the Hitman.
After the Punisher explained his link with the Hitman, the two crime fighters beat information out of some PLF goons, and thus learned that the Hitman, Jameson, and the PLF's leader were headed for the Statue of Liberty. The PLF planned to blow up the statue with Jameson in it as some kind of symbolic gesture. However, Spider-Man and the Punisher appeared and routed the PLF forces. When the PLF leader tried to blow the statue up with everyone on it, the Hitman gunned him down and tried to escape. Spider-Man destroyed his mini-copter, but was left so groggy that the Hitman was able to shoot him in the arm, throwing him off the statue's crown. The Punisher and the Hitman found themselves in a standoff, with Kenyon using Jameson as a human shield. Before anything could happen, Spider-Man made his way back to the crown and pulled Jameson away from the Hitman. The Punisher blasted the Hitman, leaving him dangling from the crown, as were Spider-Man and Jameson. Forced to choose between saving the injured Spider-Man and Jameson or Kenyon, the Punisher chose Spider-Man. Kenyon told the Punisher that though Castle owed him a life, that life didn't have to be Kenyon's, and then allowed himself to fall to his death.
[edit] Second Tour
[edit] The Monkey
After finishing his first tour of duty in Vietnam, he re-upped for a second tour. During Frank's second tour he was asked to take out a Vietnamese sniper called the Monkey. The Monkey was a master sniper, who was highly skilled in camouflage and various techniques involved in guerilla warfare. He is noted for hitting targets at a thousand yards. He wore a monkey skull around his neck. The Monkey assassinated Col. Sharps in the Duc Pho province, South Vietnam from 875 yards with a Dragunov SVD sniper rifle. The Marines retaliated by sending in Sgt. Frank Castiglione, still in his second tour of duty, but already a master sniper who at the time had set a new sniping record from 2500 yards with an Browning M2 .50 BMG machine gun with a sniper scope (à la Carlos Hathcock). Because the Monkey's location was in Laos and because of the danger the Monkey represented, the mission was a classified volunteer operation. Castiglione eventually made his way towards the Monkey's base, and shot his target; however, having anticipated such assaults, the Monkey had placed a double in his camp, and it was this man that Castiglione had shot. The real Monkey and his men tracked down and captured Castiglione. After imprisoning the marine, the Monkey taunted him with his plans to assassinate Captain James, the man who had trained Castiglione as a sniper. Castiglione faked a suicide by hanging and escaped from his cell when the guard investigated. After killing a few more guards Frank found his Winchester Model 70 bolt action rifle with a sniper scope and tons of C4 explosive. After detonating the Monkey's base's ammunition supply, Castiglione began taunting the Monkey by leaving one of his men dead and strapped to a tree, with a skull painted on his chest. Castiglione gradually weeded out the Monkey's men, continuing the skull imagery to distract them. When only one of his men was left, the Monkey sent him across an open field, intending to shoot him so the Monkey could watch for the flash of light from Castiglione's gun. Castiglione shot the man, and the Monkey saw the flash of light and shot straight into it. However, Castiglione had placed a pair of binoculars to his side to cause the flash, and he instead followed the flash of light from the Monkey's rifle. Castiglione shot straight through the Monkey's scope and into his eye, killing him instantly when the bullet passed into his brain. Castiglione claimed the skull necklace from his victim.
[edit] Von Burian
While still in his second tour Frank met Rich von Burian, a master sniper in his platoon. While serving under Castiglione in the Marines, Rich von Burian took out Vietnamese soldiers pinning down the rest of his troop, allowing them to escape on a Huey. During the flight, he learned that the body bags they were transporting were in fact filled with corpses stuffed with packs of cocaine. He investigated this and learned that his commanding officer, Col. Ray Schoonover was heading a drug smuggling operation. Frank didn't find out about this until years later. Following the war, Burian hired on as an assassin/enforcer for Schoonover. von Burian is highly trained in numerous forms of military armed and unarmed combat. He is a talented helicopter pilot, is experienced with numerous forms of conventional weaponry, and is highly skilled with computer technology. He is just about a virtually matchless marksman. von Burian is extremely ruthless and is more than willing to kill innocent civilians or former allies to accomplish his goals. von Burian would come to be known as Sniper.
Years later, as Schoonover's bid for the U.S. Senate progressed, von Burian began assassinating the members of his former troop, on the chance that any of them had learned the secret of the corpses. After killing off Chin, Inoguchi, Pope, and Thorne, he was tracked by Frank Castle, the Punisher. He ambushed Castle and nearly killed him, but the Punisher drove him off. The Punisher forced Schoonover to confess his crimes to the press and then commit suicide (von Burian had blabbed his involvement and told his whole story). von Burian attempted to pick off the Punisher but was stopped by Levin (who had also served under Frank's platoon in his second tour), who had become an agent of the DEA. von Burian turned the tables on Levin and killed him by stabbing him, but by that time the Punisher was on his trail. Castle succeeded in overpowering von Burian, but as the press arrived, the Sniper took a hostage, whom he used to escape. Months later in West Germany, von Burian attempted to steal an Apache from a war games demonstration. Castle had stopped him, by using a tank from the war games. von Burian was badly injured but escaped, crashing over the East German border.
Later von Burian was recruited by a group called the Arranger to assist in a plot against Castle. Castle stopped a Kingpin operation in Mexico. He caused the Sniper's helicopter to crash, but the Sniper forced him to flee under heavy fire. The Kingpin assigned von Burian only to tail the Punisher for awhile. von Burian was frustrated with this role, but dared to not cross the Kingpin.
When von Burian had his chance he then went after Castle. He ambushed Castle at a funeral where there were many people. von Burian took a hostage but this time the Punisher managed to separate von Bruian from his hostage, and stabbed him in the chest, and threw him into an open grave, where he died.
[edit] Third Tour: Born
After his second tour of duty was over, he illegally re-entered the U.S. Marine Corps in order to return to battle. While going through basic training again, Frank tried to keep a low profile and not to draw too much attention to himself. But some habits are hard to break. During shooting practice Frank was the best on the range with an M-21 semi-automatic sniper rifle. Three shots at 350 meters, a pattern so tight you could cover all three with a quarter. He came back to the United States and had a second child with his wife Maria, Frank David Castle. Frank Castle then served a third tour in the Vietnam War. The year was 1971, and American forces have all but withdrawn from the country. For Frank, it means an assignment to Firebase Valley Forge, one of the last American outposts on the Cambodian border, and the perfect place to dispose of the junkies, screw ups and unwanted dregs of the Marine Corps. With an incompetent drunk of a C.O., Col. Ottman, calling the shots at Valley Forge and Marine brass wanting nothing more than to close the entire base down, Frank is the only thing standing between a handful of grunts and what he believes will be a massive enemy offensive.
Frank however, has become literally addicted to combat, a man who finds he is most alive in the midst of death. The base is later attacked and completely over run by hundreds or even by thousands of North Vietnamese Army troops and Viet Cong guerrillas to what is called a human wave attack. Frank is the only one to survive the battle with Marine reinforcements arriving at Firebase Valley Forge discovering a bloodied, battered, and animalistic-looking Castle (with an M-16 rifle in his right hand covered in human blood and the part of the rifle's buttstock broken off as well as Castle sustaining seven bullet wounds during the battle) standing in a sea of over two dozen dead NVA troops and Viet Cong guerrillas, all of whom were shot and/or clubbed to death by Castle during the battle at Firebase Valley Forge. The Marines that found Castle in this state and the number of enemy troops that were lying dead at his feet were shocked at what they saw and they immediately evacuated him from the firebase for medical treatment.
Frank served a total of 4 years in the Vietman War (1968 to 1971). Several years later (1976) after the American involvement in Vietnam ended, Castle ran Special Black Ops training missions for Marine commandos in the upper New York State area.
[edit] The Day in the Park
Shortly thereafter, Castle, his wife, Maria and their children were in New York's Central Park for an afternoon picnic when they witnessed a Mafia gangland execution; an informant had been hanged from a tree. Seeking to eliminate all witnesses, the Costa crime family murdered them on the spot (In the mid 70's, the Costa Mafia were the second most powerful Mob family on the east coast of New York City, and Frank Costa was the head of the Costa family). His five captors spotted the Castles before they realized what was happening. Frank was powerless to protect his soulmate and children as bullets raked their fragile bodies. He blacked out.
Castle was believed to be dead at the scene. Voices surrounding him, Castle awoke in a body bag. A medic, noticing Castle was still alive, unzipped the bag and was the first to feel the animal fury of the confused and tormented Frank Castle. It took all the police on the scene and several tranquilizers to incapacitate him.
Castle was hospitalized. The gang that was responsible for the massacre sought to silence the informer, who had survived his hanging and dangled in critical condition, as well as finish off the wounded Frank Castle. Two armed assassins attacked Castle. Frank was able to kill one while the other tried to get away, but was caught by Frank and was nearly beaten to death. The assassin - by the name Maurice Howles - was hospitalized. Even though Frank was in his disconnected and delusional state, his incredible combat ability transcended his mental condition.
[edit] Punisher
[edit] First Mission
Even though Frank was able to identify all of the shooters (Bruno Costa, Byron Hannigan, Luis Allegegre, Skinner and Kolsky) the police were unable to help Castle in his quest for justice; they were tied in too deeply to the powerful Costa crime family. The law, the system, had failed him. Frank then became depressed and turned to drinking, which at one point Frank almost killed himself with a gun. But then Frank encountered a news reporter, Mike McTeer, whose greed had prompted him to try and use Castle as a news-scoop cash cow, but ultimately, he saw the righteousness in Castle's cause and changed his goal. The crime family brought in Billy "the Beaut" Russo to clean up the mess. He killed the failed assassin, Maurice Howles, at the hospital and McTeer at his home. He attempted to firebomb Castle at his house, but this was fruitless as Castle had noticed trampled flowers in his yard and escaped just in time. Everything that Frank had left of his family went up in flames.
He decided that the only punishment criminals might receive is that which is meted out in this life - natural justice, or the physical destruction of aggressors.
Frank Castle: "Frank Castle is dead. He died with his family. In certain extreme situations, the law is inadequate. In order to shame its inadequacy, it is necessary to act outside the law. To pursue... natural justice. This is not vengeance. Revenge is not a valid motive, it's an emotional response. No. Not vengeance. Punishment."
There were no other options left in Frank Castle's mind. Using his military training, he observed the routines of the Costa family's thugs and those of the Beaut himself. He armed himself with mines, a shotgun, and two pistols; but his most formidable weapon was on his very clothing. Frank emblazoned his body armor with a symbol which has terrorized criminals for the next thirty some years: a death's head, sharp and bright against the darkness of the armor.
Castle assaulted the night club the criminals were celebrating at (the assault itself a criminal act) and killed all but the Beaut. Frank kicked the Beaut face-first through a window, allowing him to live so that he would serve as a messenger to the Costa family, but with an irreparably-damaged face which would earn him the sickening nickname "Jigsaw." The Beaut would come to loathe Frank Castle for the rest of his life. From then on, Frank Castle would be known as the deliverer of payment for crimes committed, the balancer of justice and punishment for murderers as The Punisher.
Frank first killed Byron Hannigan and Luis Allegre as they were relaxing by a pool at a resort. The Punisher shot Byron in the head but Luis in the stomach so that he would die slowly, and that he could also take a message with him... to tell the others that Costa, Bruno, Kolsky and Skinner were next.
After the deaths of Allegre and Hannigan and the destruction of other Syndicate operations (six in all), the heads of the Syndicate began to pressure Costa to resolve this problem. Frank Costa, the alleged head of the second largest crime family on the East Coast, blamed Bruno for the problems that occurred in Central Park. He thus sent off Bruno and the remaining two--Kolsky and Skinner--to their Punta Verde retreat, on the Gulf Coast of Florida, allegedly to hide out, but really so he could have them taken care of. He then sent the Syndicate assassin known as Audrey after them, she was able to killed Bruno, but the Punisher reached Kolsky and Skinner first.
A Syndicate assassin, Audrey appeared to be just the generic bimbo or call-girl sent to party with gangsters. She was sent by Frank Costa to kill his brother Bruno, which she did, escaping undetected by the Punisher. Higher-ups within the Syndicate sent her to kill Frank Costa as well and she also succeeded in taking him out before the Punisher could reach him. However, Castle eventually learned that Frank Costa had been entertaining a woman before his death, and he also remembered that there were party girls at the Punta Verde retreat. Castle obtained Audrey's name from an informer, Joey Charisma, and then arranged a date with Audrey. He told her his story and waited until she tried to stab him as he lay in bed, he then pulled out a S&W .44 revolver from under his pillow and killed her.
[edit] Spider-Man
The Punisher's most famous confrontation also marked the first time the public took any real notice of him.
The Punisher was discovered by The Jackal who agreed to support his war on criminals if he agreed to hunt down and eliminate Spider-Man. The Jackal was successful in doing this by telling lies which potrayed Spider-Man as a menace rather than a hero. The Punisher, being taken in by the lies, agreed to this.
Spider-Man at this time was looking for The Punisher in order to fufill J. Jonah Jameson's request to take pictures not of Spider-Man, but of the Punisher in order to bring in fresher news material. When Spider-Man did find the Punisher, it was shortly after dodging a shot from the Punisher's sniper rifle. A chase ensued in which Spider-Man went after the Punisher over the rooftop's only to end up caught in a titanium alloy wire line. However, the Punisher's mistake of explaining his motivations for killing Spider-Man whilst preparing to shoot him with a sidearm gave Spider-Man enough time to break the line and strike the Punisher into a nearby chimney. Just when it seemed the Punisher was to be beaten by Spider-Man, the Jackal attacked Spider-Man from behind which in turn caused Spider-Man to fall from the rooftop. Spider-Man however was able to save himself by shooting a webline to swing himself to safety. He is carried to a nearby office skyscraper but quickly decides to return to where he and the Punisher fought. He discovers a spear gun used by the Punisher.
Back at the Jackal's headquarters, The Punisher strikes the Jackal in anger in order to make it clear that he is simply concerned with punishing criminals. This causes complications to the Jackal's plan to eliminate Spider-Man in order to become the crime lord of New York and it is at this point the Jackal decides that the Punisher had outlived his usefulness.
Later that day, Spider-Man continues his investigation of the Punisher's spear gun by investigating Reiss Armorers where he discovers the dead body of the owner, Mr. Reiss. At that moment, The Punisher appeared and began to battle Spider-Man, believing him to have killed Mr. Reiss. However, Spider-Man would gain the upper hand in the battle leaving the Punisher unconscious. It was after the Punisher woke up that Spider-Man would convince him that it was not him who killed Mr. Reiss, but the Jackal. He is also able to convince him that he is not a villain but "one of the good guys." After this, Spider-Man pardoned the Punisher for his actions and the two went their separate ways.
Years later they would meet again during the Civil War, with Frank Castle saving Peter Parker from capture by killing Jester and Jack O'Lantern, two registered super-criminals working for the government who had just severely injured Spider-Man. It is uncertain if these characters will remain dead. Subsequently Castle carried Parker to the headquarters of the anti-Registration rebels for medical attention, using this opportunity to state that he himself was joining the anti-Registration forces.
