Frank Castle returns to New York City to resume his personal war against crime as The Punisher. Targeting and killing three brothers and members of the Gnucci crime family, Frank sends a powerful message to the underworld that the Punisher is back with a vengeance . When not murdering criminals, Frank rests in his apartment occasionally interacting with his eccentric neighbors who know him as John Smith.

The Punisher kills 16 people this issue: six by Uzi SMG, four by 12 ga. pump, two by punch-dagger, one by hand grenade, one by strangulation, one by neck-break, and one by fall from the top of the Empire State Building.