Overview

One word: JIGSAW. In this prelude to the next major story-arc in PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL, we get to spend a little time with the man, the myth, and the monster that's earned the right to call himself the Punisher's arch-nemesis. What is it about Frank Castle that makes this otherwise sane, if a little sinister, gangster go absolutely and completely insane whenever he's around? What buttons can Frank possibly push that pushes Jigsaw over the edge of sanity? Find out straight from the horse's mouth, kiddies: JIGSAW starts here, ends in blood, and features a whole lot of violence in-between. By Matt Fraction (IMMORTAL IRON FIST, Casanova) and Howard Chaykin (WOLVERINE).

Spoilers

A guy in a sharp suit has Joey, the owner of a pawnshop tied and gagged. He seems to be a little nervous or has a stuttering problem. It turns out the pawnshop owner's brothers are police officers. They illegally obtain firearms from the evidence locker and hand them off to Joey. Joey then sells them to the mob after they've been wiped clean of all traces.

The drop is set. The two police officers arrive and sense something is wrong. Out of the van, what appears to be the Punisher comes out with guns blazing. A female dressed in a Punisher outfit soon joins him.

In the pawnshop, the man in the suit begins undressing. He pulls out a white Punisher outfit and his face seems to change, revealing Jigsaw. He tells Joey how he's had so many run-ins with the Punisher but the Punisher never kills him. He says he simply likes to torture him. He tells Joey the story about how Frank Castle's family was killed by members of the Costas family. It turns out the guns were bought from the pawnshop. The guns that helped create the Punisher. Jigsaw shoots Joey.

Back at the drop, Joey's brothers are dead. It turns out the guy dressed as the Punisher is really Ian, the guy that posed as a police officer and is being brainwashed by his therapist and Jigsaw. Ian phones the police, tells them two crooked cops are dead and that he's the Punisher.