THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #129

"The Punisher Strikes Twice!"

• Writer: Gerry Conway
• Artist: Ross Andru
• Inker: F. Giacoia & D. Hunt
• Print Date: Feb., 1974

Featuring:

Plot Summary:

In a chamber hidden from all prying eyes but ours, two men, unfamiliar at the time this issue was printed but very familiar to spider-villain aficionados, prepare for the death of a certain wall-crawling hero, and the first step in a master plan of evil takes ominous form! the Jackal sits perched on a computer console watching the Punisher blasting plaster statues Spider-Man. While the Punisher works the action of his concussion rifle, the Jackal discusses their plan to kill to the wall-crawler. Despite their seemingly evil intent, the Punisher makes it clear that he only kills those that deserve killing and "Spider-Man deserves to die!"

Meanwhile, their target swings across the city musing how tiring web-swinging has gotten. His internal monologue is interrupted by an armored car heist below. As he approaches, the criminals make the incorrect assumption that he's there for his share of the take. Their misconceptions are quickly disposed of as Spider-Man quickly dispatches the crooks and leaves them strung up for the local police. Grumbling that even the crooks think that he's one of their number, Spider-Man slowly makes his way to the office of the Daily Bugle.

Deciding against putting on a happy face, Peter stops to talk to Betty Brant. Betty invites Peter to her and Ned's Christmas Eve party. Accepting the invitation, Peter makes his way to the lion's den to hand over his latest batch of Spider-Man photos to Jonah and Robbie. For once, Jonah isn't satisfied with Spider-Man news and sends Peter out to get pictures of the latest newsworthy fad: The Punisher! Word has it that the Punisher has declared war against the mob and no one has pictures of him. Peter heads out to try and get an exclusive.

A short while later, in the dingy sky over what was once the world's largest city, Spider-Man muses how to find the Punisher. He gets his first clue that his target his stalking him as his spider-sense starts to tingle in mid-swing. As he crosses the cross-hairs of the Punisher's rifle, he twists at the last minute narrowly dodging a blast from the Punisher's concussion rifle. Abandoning his rifle, the Punisher flees over the rooftops. The Punisher leaps over Spider-Man's diving form as he grabs his next weapon. Firing a titanium alloy wire, the Punisher's line wraps around Spider-Man like thread on a spindle. As the Punisher slowly draws out his sidearm, he explains his motivations to Spider-Man: his war on crime and wiping out those parasites that feed on humanity. Unfortunately for him, his solioquy takes to long, and Spider-Man catches him off-guard by snapping the line and slamming the Punisher into a nearby chimney, in which, we see the lurking form of the Jackal eavesdropping. The Jackal realizes that to keep his identity a secret, he needs to keep the Punisher free. Sneaking out of the chimney, he strikes Spider-Man from behind clawing the back of his head with his electro-claws. Blinded with pain, Spidey stumbles away from the duo and falls off the rooftop. Blocking out the pain, he breaks his fall with a webline, but the momentum carries him into a local office.

By the time our hero's extricated himself from the hysterical secretaries and returned to the rooftop, the Punisher and Jackal have left leaving behind the Punisher's wire-gun. Attached to the gun is the clue Spider-Man needed: a nameplate on the custom rifle show it was created by Reiss Armorers.

But, before he can follow up on the maker of the strange spear gun, there's one small problem our web-crawling friend needs to attend to first. He stop by home to bandage up the wound on his head and sew up the tears in the back of his mask. During this time, he thinks about the problems with Harry, worries about the rent being due, and wonders if Johnny Storm has finished the Spider-Mobile so he collect the cash from Corona Motors. During this, Harry hears Peter in his room. Paranoid, Harry realizes that, now that he's the Green Goblin, he's all alone with his inevitable destiny.

Harry's sanity waits though as we look in on yet another member of our cast. Mary Jane runs into Professor Warren who is still trying to have a conversation with Peter. Leaving the professor, Mary Jane debates whether she even wants to see Peter again with as much as a drag he's been lately. He hasn't been much fun, and Mary Jane's committed to loads and loads of fun.

BAWHUM! The Punisher smacks the Jackal hollering "I didn't want to do it that way!" Apparently, the Punisher is upset over the means of Spider-Man's death. Despite wanting the wall-crawler killed, the Punisher cares very deeply about the means of his death as well. The Jackal, seeing that their common enemy is dead, could care less over the means. In fact, now that Spider-Man is out of the picture, he decides that the Punisher's usefulness to him is over, and it is time to return to more profitable things.

Okay, now it starts -- what we in the business call the climatic confrontation, dig it, frantic one. Spider-Man drops in on Reiss Armories witnessed by the Punisher who approaches the shop from the alley. When Spidey enters, he find the body of the proprietor (presumably Mr. Reiss) lying dead on the floor of the shop. It is at this inopportune moment that the Punisher charges in catching Spider-Man on the chin with the heel of his boot. Seeing the body, the Punisher draws the obvious conclusion and redoubles his assault. Despite his training in the Marines, he's no match for our hero, and once subdued, Spider-Man points out the obvious. Reiss' wounds were made by some sort of claws. Claw-marks which are an exact match for the handful Spider-Man has across the back of his head.

A short conversation later, it is clear that the Jackal has been setting the Punisher up from the beginning. The Jackal planted the armorer's plate intending the police to track it back here to the body and connect Reiss' death to the Punisher. Connecting the dots, the Punisher vows that the Jackal will pay. On that note, the two part ways. The Punisher is off to continue fighting his lonely war. Spider-Man flees the scene on a web-line as the police arrive. Spying on the two nearby, the Jackal swears that he will destroy Spider-Man as part of his bid to take over the city's crime scene.

Comments:

Ok, believe it or not, I'm in a pub, outside of London, working on my website. I've been in England long enough to read my books, write my postcards, and get my fill of sightseeing. So, I'm spending the remainder of my time here working on my website (not quite a pun, but could be) and playing Diablo II. Now that I've gotten through lame stories involving the third Vulture, the Kangaroo, and the origin of the Man-Wolf, I'm happy to see that we have some classic Spider-tales coming up. On deck is a classic tale involving Hammerhead and Doctor Octopus, but right now, they don't get more classic then this. The first appearance of the Punisher and the Jackal.

Plot Analysis:

And, we're tossed right into introductions getting our first glimpse of both these characters on Page 1. Unfortunately, this introduction is brief. We've got both the Punisher's and Jackal's name, but not much more. The Punisher makes a point of stating that he only kills those who 'deserve killing'. The Jackal doesn't go into his whole reasons for killing Spider-Man, but he just seems happy that the web-slinger is slated to die. Regarding these characters, this whole issue is more a teaser than anything though as we're really not given much in way of history or motivations. Their hideout is typically high-tech (no mention if it belongs to the Punisher or Jackal), and the Punisher is working the action of his concussion rifle. In later appearances, the Punisher relies on more mundane bases of operations and weapons. I almost wish that he started out this way. I think a much plainer hideout with a much more standard rifle or so would've made more of an impression.

Moving onto our hero, Spider-Man seems tired of the whole web-slinging deal. When we catch up with him, he's complaining about how boring web-slinging has gotten, and the whole issue he seems tired of being mislabeled a 'bad guy' by popular opinion. Setting up his camera (always a nice touch on the part of the artist or writer), he drops in to put an end to an armored car robbery. The crooks involved are even of the opinion that Spider-Man is one of them, and offer him a share of the take. Spider-Man makes quick work of them, but I noticed, not quick enough that don't manage to get a couple of shots off with their handgun. Wouldn't it be interesting if Spider-Man actually try to sneak up on a group of criminal, ambush, and subdue them before they turned the streets of New York into the Wild West. Maybe I should poll a couple of English and see what they think about the depiction of the proliferation of handguns on the streets of New York. Of course, this further insult to his reputation only serves to put Peter in a bigger funk, and he enters the Daily Bugle in quite a bitter frame of mind.

Oooh.. character interaction! A rare treat. Peter actually stops to have a conversation with his friend Betty (Betty has a typewriter and rotary phone on her desk - how 1970's!) and gets invited to her and Ned's Christmas Eve party which establishes an approximate time of year for this issue (Late November or Early December (cover date is February by the way)). The artist actually does a good job establishing Peter's moods with his facial expressions. He looks pretty down when he walks into the Daily Bugle, but after Betty's invitation, you can visibly see him feeling a little more chipper. He manages to carry a smile into Joe Robertson's office to offer him and Jonah his latest and greatest pics starring Spider-Man. For once, Jonah isn't satisfied with the usual "Spider-Man stops crime" photos and demands that Peter get picture of the new and notorious Punisher who's been battling with the New York Mafia (more hints of the Punisher's war on crime).

Interrupt this for a complaint about England. The people are nice, and the beer is good. Unfortunately, my favorite local haunt has only ONE Christmas CD, and it's not even a good one. It's a like an old Christmas Hits or something starring the Jackson Five (singing "Frosty the Snowman"), John Lennon, Mariah Carey, and a few other artist I don't recognize and don't care to know. This is probably the 20th time through I've heard this CD, and the damn thing gets stuck on my head during the day when I'm not around.

Ok, back to the review. Dressed in costume, Peter swings out over the city wondering where he is going to track down this Punisher character. Unbeknownst to him, the Punisher has been busy tracking him down and is sighting him in the cross-hairs of his rifle. As he's being targeted, Spidey's spider-sense warns him of the impending danger, and the Punisher's concussion shot blows up a conveniently abandoned tenement building behind a dodging Spider-Man. No mention of squatter casualties are made though because Spider-Man's New York only includes homeless people that are integral to the plot. (Quote of the issue: "Hooooleeeeee CRUD!").

Apparently, making an attempt on someone's life is going to start a fight. The Punisher turns out to be just a bit faster and a bit more agile than Spider-Man anticipated, and he dodges Spider-Man's diving tackle with ease. Grabbing another hidden weapon nearby (why was he using a concussion rifle that only fired one shot???), the Punisher fires. Spider-Man's spider-sense enables him to avoid ambushes and shots fired from behind, but it's no good when's he facing a spear gun fired from about fifteen feet away. The Punisher connects with his 2nd shot, and ties Spider-Man up in a 'titanium alloy wire'.

The Punisher is established as a villain this issue by making the classic villain mistake: explaining the plot to the hero as the hero is completely helpless ("Before I kill you Mr. Bond..."). Spider-Man makes the most of this opportunity by busting free of the wire and slamming the Punisher into a nearby chimney. The Punisher won't be established as the 'coolest character who ever lived!' until later, so for now, he staggers under Spider-Man's assault and seems doomed to fall. (In later issues, I have no doubt the Punisher would've been ready for Spider-Man's assault, dodge his blows, and disabled him with ease simply because "he's too cool to fall" *sarcasm implied*.) Just before the Punisher is firmly established as a lame wanna-be Spider-Villain forever, the Jackal rescues him by shocking Spider-Man from behind with his electro-claws. Enjoy the electro-claws while you can folks because at some point in the near future they are forgotten about by the writer's and are never referred to again. Dazed and confused, Spider-Man reels and tumbles off the rooftop. He manages to save himself with a webline (of course, how lame would it be if he died like this?), but getting carried into a nearby office skyscraper (right next door to an abandoned tenement? Must be a temp agency). Returning to the scene of the battle, Spider-Man gets a blatant clue off the Punisher's dropped spear-gun.

Before we pursue that clue though, Spider-Man returns home. When was the last time you saw Batman sewing up his costume and bandaging his head? Ok, well, it's probably pretty common these days, but back then this was something of an anomoly. Harry's decent into madness is shown as well as he obsesses about being the Green Goblin (though he hasn't put on the costume yet), and his paranoia convinces him that everyone is against him. I'm interested to see exactly when Harry discovers Peter's secret identity. We also spend a couple of panels with Mary-Jane. She stops to talk to Professor Warren (who continues to chase Peter down with a single-mindedness that borders on obsession) and wonders to herself if Peter is too much of a drag to hang out with.

Returning to the Punisher and Jackal, it appears that their little alliance is starting to fall apart. Seeing them here, it seems odd that they would've ever paired up in the first place. The Punisher makes it clear to the Jackal that he's simply concerned with punishing criminals. The Jackal makes it clear to the reader that he's simply concerned with eliminating any competition in his bid to take over the title of crime lord of New York. The Jackal's decided that the Punisher has outlived his usefulness. Which seems odd since it's revealed later that he's been planning the Punisher's fall since they apparently defeated Spider-Man.

We're running out of pages, so that means we must be approaching the climax. Spider-Man drops in on Reiss Armorers. Kudos to the artist for a nice shot of Peter dropping down to the street from the sky. I have to wonder though, it seems that a disproportional number of buildings in New York are bright pink this issue. What's up with the color here? Reiss Armorers turns out to be a nice little mom and pop gun shop. Nice neighborhood, clean building, and a great place for all your weapon needs. Just ignore that body on the floor. Oh whoops.. That's Mr. Reiss. I see Reiss Armorers stock prices dropping in the near future. The Punisher happens to drop by at the same time Spider-Man is turning to leave. Y'know.. I bet the Punisher's black leather outfit with the prominent skull wouldn't look out of place on New York's leather bar scene. Punisher gets a lucky kick on Spider-Man, but after that, even his Marine training makes him no match for enhanced speed and strength. Spider-Man subdues him with ease.

Playing Sherlock Holmes again, Spider-Man convinces the Punisher that the Jackal is behind the death of Mr. Reiss. No mention is made of the other deaths that the Punisher is convinced Spider-Man is guilty of, but it's possible that he's decided he's outmatched and is simply biding his time rather than forcing another confrontation now. Spider-Man simply states, "I'm one of the good guys" and the Punisher goes into a rage for being played like a pawn. Spider-Man pardons the Punisher for trying to kill him, blowing up a tenement building, and oh, offing unnamed members of the Mob, and they go their separate ways. I'm sure we'll see both the Punisher and Jackal again though.

Art Review:

I liked the art in this issue. Ross Andru shows some originality in the angles and perspectives in his panels, and nothing stands out as being terribly off-kilter. The city views of Spider-Man web-swinging, or the view of Spider-Man diving down to the armored car thieves in the early scenes of the issue were particularly well-done.

Action Factor:

This issue was pretty action packed even though none of the adversaries are really in Spider-Man's class. He takes out some thieves early on with plenty of Spidey's traditional jokes and bad puns. I even liked how the Punisher was portrayed this issue except for his preference for 'high-tech' weapons instead of the more conventional kind. He was depicted as a worthy foe, but again one that's not in Spider-Man's league. In both confrontations, he got some early hits in due to the benefit of surprise being on his side, but once Spider-Man got back on his feet, both fights tipped decidedly in Spidey's favor. Their first confrontation ended with the Jackal ambushing Spider-Man from behind to rescue the Punisher. Their second ended quickly with Spider-Man subduing the Punisher easily.

Spider-Villain lessons 101:

Tip #1:
You can learn a lot about modern management style from the Jackal. For example, don't be afraid to delegate tasks. The Jackal wants Spider-Man killed, so he assigns the task to the Punisher to take care of.