Issue(s): Punisher War Journal #25, Punisher War Journal #26, Punisher War Journal #27
Cover Date: Dec 90 - Feb 91
Title: The Sicilian Saga: "Get out of town" / "Cry uncle" / "Saracen with the clock!"
Credits:
Mike Baron - Writer
Mark Texeira - Penciler
Mark Texeira - Inker
Kevin Kobasic - Assistant Editor
Don Daley - Editor

Review/plot:
Mike Baron is now writing both Punisher titles. Mark Texeira is credited as just "Tex"; in the lettercol for issue #26 they play it up like a mystery but confirm that it is Texeira in issue #27 (and they also said it was Texeira in the lettercol for issue #25!).

This arc has the Punisher going to Sicily to learn about his family. He learns that his parents came to America after crossing the Sicilian mob, and his uncle remained behind to continue the fight.

The impetus for getting Punisher out of the country is killing a cop. The Punisher, in Dade country Florida, watched some police bust some drug dealers only to use the drugs themselves. So he goes in and kills them.

One of the cops turns out to be the nephew of a Senator Stan Orni, and soon Punisher is being chased by the police.

So he has to leave the country until the heat dies down.

After securing some weapons in Italy, he goes to visit the family cemetery.

He finds the family headstones mistreated, and he also runs into an old woman that knows his family's history.

And he quickly runs afoul of the local Bessucho crime family.

Punisher contacts Micro and has him send a shipment of better weapons. And the old lady takes him somewhere to hide, and it turns out that she knows the Punisher's uncle, Rocco Castiglione (she's his lover, actually). And it turns out that Micro knows Rocco. And it turns out that Senator Orni is connected with the Bessucho family. Coincidences!

Micro and Rocco are able to locate the Punisher thanks to a tracking disc that he has in his neck.

Rocco knows Micro through the video game that he made.

It also turns out that Micro has been working projects behind the Punisher's back, including supplying a PLO group with weapons on the theory that civil war between PLO rivals will help Israel, and after all, Micro is Jewish. I'm not touching that.

Senator Orni sends Saracen to the Bessuchos to deal with the Punisher.

We've actually seen Saracen before (Punisher #22-23), but that's not really acknowledged in this story.

The scene shifts to Tripoli in Libya, where Rocco manages a weapons trade operation that the Bessuchos want to take over. Frankly at this point i stopped paying too much attention because we're now just into the "Punisher shoots stuff" stage of the story.

Here's the scene with the Punisher and Saracen's first encounter in this story. No indication that they've met before.

Punisher fights Saracen...

...and nearly kills him by blowing up Rocco's weapons cache. But Saracen kills off Rocco and the old woman.

So Punisher gets back at Saracen by framing him for the death of the Senator (with an apparently super-realistic mask).

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References:

• We first saw Micro's video game in Punisher #35.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

The Punisher's original name was revealed to Castiglione in the first issue of the Punisher limited series.

Ah, thanks. I knew that's where we learned his name was Frank Castle, but forgot that it says there that the family name was originally Castiglione.

I'm not liking the idea that nobody knows who Frank is because the records at Rikers were destroyed. He was arrested, and there were reporters covering his sanity hearing. You'd think one of those reporters would have used his real name in print, or mentioned that his family was killed in Central Park.

"That idiot! he still hasn't learned to practice safe computer sex!"

This is kinda funny after only just looking at the discussion over Machinesmith.