Punisher is gonna be so mad when he gets de-mind controlled. Still Gerry Conway, Sal Buscema & Bob Sharen in the cut, and things get off to an action-packed start as Spidey jumps some goons on Punisher’s boat.
Spidey believes the goons are just garden variety goons, and webs them up and leaves, wondering where The Punisher could’ve disappeared to. Answer: Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in Texas, where he’s walking around with The Persuader and another mook, and gets recognized by a security guard.
That shot of the newspaper sure seems random, doesn’t it? It couldn’t have repercussions for this issue… or a surprising number of future issues… could it? Nah. Back in New York, The Arranger recaps a few things for Kingpin, spelling out that they hired Tombstone specifically to get Roland Raymond so they could make him into The Persuader (They really had to hire an out of town hitman to kidnap somebody? Kidnapping isn’t even his thing!). Now, having used The Persuader to brainwash Punisher, Punisher will assassinate The Lobo Brothers (Hey! That was fast!). Kingpin cuts him off, disinterested in the details, obsessing over Daredevil, and that’s it for that scene. Hey, remember that woman who looked an awful lot like Gwen Stacy? I know it’s been a long time. But she’s still running to New York, and being pursued by armored goons who now seem to look an awful lot like The High Evolutionary’s Purifiers, hunting her with something called a “Gene Tracer.” She evades them, though, and continues her journey. Meanwhile, Peter Parker is late for dinner.
News of The Punisher being spotted in Dallas is on the TV, though, so Peter just… takes off. Like, immediately, almost no explanation. MJ is understandably miffed. In Dallas, The Punisher is harassing some drug dealers who work for The Lobo Brothers, The Persuader and the other guy watching from a jeep, when he comes under fire.
Dallas, where literally everyone drives a jeep, I guess? That seems like an awful lot of property damage for people on a secret mission. The next day, Peter arrives in Dallas, having made up an excuse to attend a convention for his book. His regular publicist isn’t there, it’s a local lady called Andrea carting him around, and using his job as a crime photographer as a flimsy excuse, he asks her about The Lobo Brothers.
Now I know what yer thinking. “The Lobo Brothers.” “The Brothers of the Moon.” Surely not..? Mmmmmmmaybe! I guess Peter’s at a comic book convention? It doesn’t really say, but it’s very superhero-themed, so he sort of has a purpose there. But he takes a lunch break to go find Punisher. He changes into his suit and just walks the floor, looking like an attendee, which is fun. “Thirty-eight minutes later,” we’re told, Spider-Man has located The Lobo Brothers’ mansion, but he’s not the only one.
As Spidey comes after him, a stray shot from The Punisher wings one of The Lobo Brothers, who makes a whooooole lot of wolf metaphors while talking about how The Punisher can’t stop them. The costumed folk, meanwhile, go into a pool in their struggle.
Spidey was just faking, hoping Punisher would let up if he thought his foe was dead, but since he hasn’t, Spidey busts loose. And when he breaks the surface of the pool, the STILL unnamed mook guy grazes his head with a bullet, and he blacks out. Whoops! When he wakes up, Punisher is standing over him, fighting The Persuader’s command to kill him. He finally fires…
Well, there you have it. We’ll certainly be seeing more of The Lobo Brothers… if that’s even possible given their choice of swimwear. The 80s!