Punisher: Legacy of a Madman (Marvel NEW)/Issue One

Punisher: Legacy of a Madman is Marvel NEW's reinvention of the Punisher and his origins. It is the introduction of Punisher in the Marvel NEW universe.

Synopsis
The new director of the CIA places a hit on the head of Frank Castle.

Plot
The new Director of the CIA is speaking with agent William Rawlins, who congratulates him on his new position. The Director is rather nervous about his new role but promises William that he'll do his best. Rawlins says there is no doubt in his mind he'll do good before asking the Director if he's seen "the tapes". The Director has no idea what he's talking about so Rawlins takes him to a private room, making sure there is no way anyone would be able to hear or see the tapes before playing a video. In the video, a group of men in black suits with skulls on their chests, identified as "The Punishers" are killing countless amounts of people.

The Director, horrified by this, demands to know what's going on. Rawlins explains that the group is The Punishers, a secret task force for the government who were hired to murder countless targets and enemies of America. The Director turns the tape off before running out and vomiting into a trash can, demanding to know who's idea was it to create the Punishers. Rawlins reveals that they were created and led by Francis Castiglione, a soldier in the U.S. Army. The Director asks where Francis is now, with Rawlins revealing that he changed his name to Frank Castle and became a simple police officer quite a while ago, going on to state that his family was killed in a crossfire between two gangs and after that Castle dropped off the face of the Earth. The Director goes quiet before asking Rawlins to kill him, stating that no one like Frank Castle should walk the Earth.

Later, a group of Mafiosos is celebrating the birthday of their Don, Roberto Moretti, who just turned sixty. Roberto thanks his men many times before they begin chanting speech. Roberto stands up with a glass of wine and thanks his men for their loyalty to him, stating that there are many people who have betrayed him in the past and to not ask him what he did with them, causing a big laugh. Roberto then tries toasts his men before attempting to drink his wine. A hand is seen cutting a wire as the lights all go out. The Mafiosos begin to panic but one of them reveals his phone has a light on it and begins looking around. They all see something they wish they hadn't, as Roberto is being hung from his neck by a rope. He is still alive, but it's clear he won't be for long.

One of them tries to get him down only to be shot in the head. They all turn and see a silhouetted man with a gun standing on the balcony. He cocks his gun and opens fire on the group. He takes a few down before they all pull their own guns on him. He slits one man's throat with a knife before grabbing him and throwing him at two other men, who he shoots while they're pinned under him. The remaining three men open fire on the man, who is hit in the shoulder but pulls through the pain to grab one man and use him as a human shield. The other two are taken aback by this and, while they're still in shock, he breaks the Mafiosos' neck before pulling out another gun and shooting both the men.

The man then picks up the phone the one Mafioso had, revealing it has a picture of the Mafioso and his family on it. The glow of the phone reveals the man is Frank Castle, who drops the phone and walks out the building, feeling no guilt for what he's done. Outside the building, Frank enters a van and wakes up another man inside, who he identifies as Microchip. Chip begins driving the van, going completely silent as he does so. The silence is broken by Frank asking if there's something on Chip's mind. He claims there's nothing but realizes that Frank isn't buying it so he reveals that he feels like Frank's way isn't the best way. Chip goes on to state that he has a family and that he doesn't want to live in constant fear that one day someone will find out he's helping Frank and hunt his family down.

Frank tells Chip that he doesn't need to keep working for him if he doesn't want to, only for Chip to state that he's very conflicted, since he knows that the Punisher is needed and the Punisher needs a tech guy but that, at the same time, he doesn't know why he has to be the tech guy. Frank tells him he can take a few days off to think about it, but Chip claims that he's probably just rambling and that everything is fine. He then tries to ask Frank where they're going now but is interrupted by the van suddenly going out of control. Frank gets out to make sure everything is fine and sees that one of the tires is flat. At first, he doesn't think much of it until he finds a very small spike trap under the tire. Right after he finds it, he is attacked by a group of men in black.

Frank and the men get into another fight, though it is very lop-sided, as Frank manages to kill all of them in just a few moves. Chip asks what just happened, with Frank replying that they're government agents, specifically they're assassins who the government sends to kill their most wanted. Chip asks what this means, with Frank responding that someone high in the government wants him dead. Chip rubs his head, claiming that the days are just getting worse and worse, but Frank tells him that everything will be fine. The government isn't going to kill him. Because he's going to kill them first.