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The Punisher is an unbreakable, war-hardened soldier. So you wouldn’t think that he would be capable of being blackmailed into doing a journalist’s bidding. However, this in fact happens in the fourth volume of the comic series The Punisher. Our anti-hero, also known as Frank Castle, finds himself handcuffed to a journalist named Chuck Self. If Punisher doesn’t do what Chuck wants, his informant, Lieutenant Soap, will be killed. There is also a disc at The Daily Bugle (newspaper publisher) office with incriminating evidence about Soap being associated with Frank Castle.
While caught in this unlikely situation, The Punisher gives Chuck a run for his money. With Chuck driving in his car and Castle in the passenger seat, handcuffed together, Punisher pulls out an Uzi and offs some Russians right out the passenger window. Chuck has to speed off while getting shot at, catching a bullet through his hand. Next, Punisher tosses a grenade into a coke dealer’s convertible, again from the comfort of his passenger seat. Rivals chase them in a Jeep, and Chuck catches a bullet in his butt this time.
While still being chased by the Jeep with criminals shooting at them, Punisher instructs Chuck to drive into the back way of Fat Musso’s place, who is an underboss. After a crash landing off a hilly road, Chuck accidentally bites his tongue off. Rival criminals are burning down Musso’s place, thanks to rumors that Punisher had started. The criminals kill the people in the Jeep that was chasing them. Castle and Chuck, still handcuffed together, run upstairs a barn to get a high point advantage and take out Musso. He succeeded in killing Musso, but someone shoots an RPG at the barn, exploding it to pieces. While falling, Chuck happens to land in a wood chipper and dies. Castle then saves his friend Soap, despite his hand still being handcuffed to Chuck’s arm.
All this happens in issue 15 of The Punisher, which is from the 4th volume, published 2002. It’s rather interesting to see Frank Castle in a position to be blackmailed, as he is usually pretty thorough with his plans. Chuck explained that it was easy to find him since he meets up with Lieutenant Soap in the same place every time. You would think Punisher would carry a handcuff key around with him, but apparently not. Writer Garth Ennis never disappoints, and we are graced with some pencil work by Derick Robertson. You might as well grab this comic (Affiliate Link), since your Starbucks latte you buy every morning is more expensive than this comic’s face value.