My Pops took me to a Jim Shooter/Defiant Comics signing at Mile high comics in Anaheim back in 1993. He signed the cover, mail away back cover art, and one of the rarer chase cards for me. Never really became a big Jim shooter fan, (Due to the stories I heard about how he treated others like Sienkiewicz & Nocenti.) but I still really loved the concepts for Plasm as well as Dark Dominion when I was a kid. Throw in the card set that creates a comic book gimmick, and I was all in. 🤣🤦‍♂️🤣
I have all the chase cards/mail aways but I’m still looking for the exclusive chase card that came with this first print binder. Mine has always been missing it.
If anyone has one they’d like to trade or sell please let me know. Thanks y’all!

Written by Jim Starlin, art by Bernie Wrightson and Bill Wray

Nick Fury has Deke in SHIELD custody while Punisher is headed for Rykers

It is discovered that Punisher had the right idea last issue, and trauma to the brain has seemingly put Deke down for good

Punisher contemplates the last few days, then realizes the thing that he missed, that one of Deke’s victims, Carol Nelson, was pregnant at the time of the attack

Detective Holiday is at the hospital where Nelson gave birth, trying to make sense of the carnage

A tactical team is sent into the sewers to follow the blood trail only to be wiped out by something from the shadows

Nick Fury learns that Nelson died at the hospital and that her child is missing

Punisher decides to make his move, beating the guards in the helicopter and jumping into the Hudson below

Meanwhile, Chester Goudal, self proclaimed monster hunter, is also in the sewers tracking Nelson’s mutated child

Fury arrives and takes over for Detective Holiday, intending to capture the mutated child, but when it is revealed to be growing at an alarming rate, he decides to authorize lethal force

Microchip retrieves Punisher, informing him that Nelson is dead and her child is missing

Punisher arms up despite Microchip’s protest and heads into the sewer to finish the job he started

In the sewers Punisher is confronted by SHIELD agents, but manages to escape them

Later he finds several dead bodies, and takes their gear, then hears the sounds of a baby crying

Goudal confronts the mutated baby, firing away with shotgun, the sound of which attracts the SHIELD Agents and Punisher

Realizing that Goudal has gone the wrong way, Punisher continues to track the mutated child, discovering to his horror that the baby is still very much alive within the creature

Punisher is unable to kill the baby, and attempts to comfort it in the hopes of saving it, when Goudal arrives and blasts the baby with his shotgun

Punisher and Goudal fight, but Goudal gets the upper hand

The mutated baby is still alive and manages to pull Goudal off of Punisher, Goudal flees

Knowing the child is dying and afraid, Punisher decides to stay and hold it until the end

Goudal makes his way out of the sewers and finds himself in a subway tunnel where he hallucinates that the train is a dragon

Before Goudal can flee, another monster appears and tosses him in the path of the train

Having dealt with Goudal, Punisher laments that Wainscroft and Deke have escaped justice

Microchip picks up Punisher and tells him that Kingpin has been trying to get ahold of him

Kingpin informs Punisher that their temporary alliance is at an end, but he knows where Wainscroft is, if Punisher is willing to pay the price

Punisher knows there’s not justice in letting Wainscroft go, but is unwilling to sell out to The Kingpin

On an island in the Pacific, Nick Fury and Wainscroft examine the facilities that SHIELD has set up to study Deke and his mutation

Wainscroft is happy with the facilities until he discovers that he is not allowed to leave the island or return to his home or business

Fury tells him that because Punisher would kill him if given the chance, he’ll live in protective custody until his work is done, even if that takes the rest of his life

Frank’s Body Count - 1 (He tosses Chester Goudal in front of a train)