Punisher #1 (1987)

The Punisher's one-man war against organized crime goes global when he focuses his sights on the international drug trade! Manhattan, Lower East Side, 2300 A nameless man strolls a deserted street. As he approaches a corner, we see an anonymous crack addict looking to find quick cash at the point of a knife. Upon confrontation he willingly gives away his wallet and receives a stab to the gut for his trouble. The fallen man wobbles to his feet, shaking garbage cans, reveals Kevlar armor under his trench coat Through feigning injury, he finds a man to follow to a local rockhouse, on Lasalle Street. He moves back to the shade of a nearby alley, to a locked dumpster placed there two days ago. Concealed within the dumpster: an array of weapons and the familiar attire of The Punisher. Having researched the defensive capacity of rockhouses, Castle bears an armor-piercing rocket to breach the front entrance. With the carnage of distraction in place on the lower level, Castle crashes through an upstairs window via a grappling hook. Castle dispatches all but one of the thugs he finds, so that someone remains for “conversation”. After some decisive convincing, Castle discovers the owner of the rockhouse is one Wilfrid Sobel, who frequents an after-hours club called the Pink Lady. Castle dispatches the final thug, raids the house of its drugs and cash, and disposes of the coke en route to his warehouse. In his warehouse, Castle dictates to update his War Journal. The preceding Friday, Castle was visiting the Vietnam War Memorial, reviewing the names, as is his custom once or twice a year. There he meets Bruce Ayres, a pilot with whom he became acquainted in 1968 in Vietnam. Ayres points out the name “Curtis Hoyle” on the memorial and reveals to Castle that Hoyle had not actually died during the War. Ayres relates that Hoyle has tried to bargain his services as a delivery pilot for an incoming shipment of cocaine. Asking Castle for his opinion on taking on this mission, Ayres agrees and decides not to take up Hoyle on his offer. The next day when Castle phones, he finds that Ayres is already dead. Castle contacts the local Sheriff, Sheriff Walters, who intimates that Ayres was an apparent suicide, perhaps after suffering some mental anguish from the War. Near 0100, Wednesday, Castle will be attending the Pink Lady, but beforehand he changes into his tuxedo, equips his weapons, and applies a diamond-tipped manicure. Soon after he enters the club he sees many of his targets from the crime computer: Hector Gomez (Sobel's enforcer), Belinda Foster (Sobel's main squeeze), an unknown man, and Sobel, himself. Approaching the table under the guise of Bill Messina, Castle offers knowledge of who knocked over the rockhouse earlier in the issue. Castle is questioned by Sobel as to how he has gained knowledge of him; Castle relates that he is from Chicago and became aware of Sobel through the Vado brothers. According to Castle, it was Hoyle who knocked over the rockhouse. After receipt of this knowledge, the party retires to Sobel's apartment. The unknown man from the Pink Lady is revealed to be named Damasco, who later corroborates Castle's story of the rockhouse being hit with a rocket launcher. Sobel and Damasco retire to a separate room to further discuss Hoyle, who is in the mountains and cannot be reached. After Sobel and Damasco rejoin, Damasco blindsides and incapacitates Castle. When he awakes, he is bound staring down a round of incipient electrical torture. After a second jolt, Castle feigns illness and uses his captors lapse in judgment to free himself and neutralize his threats. Maintaining his persona of Messina, Castle entices Sobel to reveal himself, shoots him, and makes a quick escape with his cash and Foster as the police arrive. Castle sends Foster away to Sweden while he continues his campaign against the drug racket in Manhattan. Castle calls the stored numbers he found on Wilfrid's phone, making offers to be standing by a payphone at a certain time. The General contacts Castle and gives him a time and date at which he will meet someone who will bring him to meet the General. The next day out in front of the library, Hoyle meets Castle and the two leave to catch a prearranged flight.