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Marvel’s Punisher #3 is quite the ride for the latest version of the hero. The issue comes from writer David Pepose and artist Dave Wachter. As Joe Garrison continues his path of vengeance, he finds himself on the run from the law. This sends him straight into the path of Mister Fear’s daughter, Fearmaster. Using fear-inducing toxins, Fearmaster forces the Punisher to face his dead family. After a tense and dramatic battle, the ex-S.H.I.E.L.D agent leaves the confrontation with more questions than answers. Specifically, the issue ends teasing the arrival of a new Jigsaw.
Marvel’s Punisher Hunts For Answers
Joe Garrison’s confrontation with Fearmaster comes as two detectives are hot on the Punisher’s trail. As Detectives Linus and Ward hunt the hero down, Fearmaster finds him first. The demonic villain is the daughter of Alan Fagan, the fourth criminal to pick up the mantle of Mister Fear. However, Fearmaster took her father’s fear compounds and synthesized them into her blood. This allows her to give the Punisher fear-inducing toxins.
These toxins force Garrison to hallucinate his family’s deaths. As he struggles against these visions, the two detectives arrive. Unfortunately, Fearmaster kills Ward and sets her sights on Linus. Meanwhile, Marvel’s Punisher has a heart-to-heart with the vision of his dead wife. She tells her husband that death is not what he fears but living with a debt. He must make all the villains, like Fearmaster, pay for their crimes. So, Garrison does just that and snaps Fearmaster’s neck, saving Linus.
Who Is Jigsaw?
After discovering all Fearmaster’s victims, the Punisher realizes that someone funded the villain to enact these wrongdoings. So, he sets his sights on tracking them down. However, before he can set out to do so, a phone on Fearmaster’s body rings. The call gives more questions than answers. All the Punisher has is a name…Jigsaw.
Marvel’s original Jigsaw was the gangster, Billy Russo. The deformed criminal became an archenemy of Frank Castle that led to several confrontations between the two. However, as Castle took over the cult of assassins known as The Hand, the two had a final battle in 2022’s Punisher War Journal: Brother #1. It ended with Castle’s Punisher sticking a sword in Jigsaw’s gut and throat. Now, it seems the villain, or some form of it, is back to haunt a new Punisher.
Marvel’s Punisher #3 is out now.