Every Friday we use the powers of Marvel Unlimited to look back at the very first appearance of a major character, place or object that made waves this week.

Frank Castle returned to New York City in this week’s PUNISHER #13 by Becky Cloonan and Kris Anka. Homecomings always bring up old memories, so it’s the best possible time to take a look at the first appearance of The Punisher in 1974’s AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #129.

Writer Gerry Conway dreamt up the gun-toting vigilante and then had resident Bullpen artist John Romita whip up a design that Ross Andru brought to life in the pages of that issue. In fact, the installment began with Punisher blasting a plaster model of Spider-Man as The Jackal watched. Their initial retort ended with Castle claiming that our favorite Wall-Crawler deserved to die for unknown reasons.

Cut to the future target slinging around the city, stopping an armed robbery, and then heading to the Daily Bugle where J. Jonah Jameson chastised him for not getting the first photos of The Punisher.  Peter put his costume back on in an attempt to find JJJ’s new quarry, but accidentally swung right into the assassin’s sights. Luckily, the old Spider-Sense kicked in and our hero dodged the gunman’s first blast.

Spidey immediately gave chase, but Punisher pulled a fast one, grabbing a hidden weapon to wrap the Web-Slinger up, giving him time to spout off about the evils of the world. Just as Spider-Man broke free, Jackal jumped out and swatted him off a roof! The antagonists thought they succeeded in killing their prey and ran off.

Back in their secret lair, Punisher and Jackal argued about methodology, but also explained that the newcomer wanted to kill Spider-Man for supposedly murdering Norman Osborn. “If I’m ever to live with myself, I have to know I’m doing the right thing…and letting a man die by accident doesn’t qualify,” Castle explained.

Later, as Spidey followed up on a lead to check out weapons-maker The Mechanic, Punisher showed up right after him and attacked. He became even further enraged when he saw the Mechanic’s body on the floor, but Spider-Man used his superior strength to knock him down and tie him up. Instead of swinging away, the hero pointed out to Punisher that Jackal actually killed his armorer and the black-clad man swore his vengeance before retreating into the shadows.

Eventually, Punisher’s backstory came to light: the former Marine had returned home to his wife, son and daughter. The quartet had gone to the park for a picnic when gunshots rang out, killing all but Frank. That day, he swore to use his particular skills to wipe evil off the face of the Earth, a mission he’s continued to this day.

Flash Forward

Thanks to Frank’s status as an anti-hero, he became incredibly popular, eventually earning his own limited series and then, basically, at least one ongoing series going from 1987 all the way to today. Though usually a loner, he’s taken part in some of the biggest events in the Marvel Universe. He sided with Captain America during the first Civil War, helped investigate the Watcher’s death during Original Sin, killed a whole bunch of villains as Secret Wars kicked off, and can currently be seen working for Steve Rogers once again in Secret Empire.

Project Mayhem: Venice Chapter

Come one, come all to the thing we can’t talk about…ah screw it, fight club! That’s right, on August 2, return to a blood and sweat soaked Venice basement reminiscent of the Hotel California to work out your frustrations, and then maybe never leave. Hosting, as always, is creator Kelly Thompson and her partner in creation, Leonardo Romero.

Location: We plead the fifth.

Time: When the need for violence arises.

Rules:

1. Do not talk about fight club.

*We understand that by making this you probably think we broke this rule, however, see rule 3.

2. No rules! We don’t play fair.

*This is fight club, not whine about someone blinding you with dirt club.

3. We do what we want.

*We, the people running the club, do what we want. You, do whatever we say. It’s the golden rule: He who runs the fight club makes the rules.

A word from our Sponsor:

Introducing our newest gladiator: Kate Bishop! That’s right, super hero Hawkeye has joined our ranks and will be fighting her way through not only our seasoned champions, but also some heavy daddy issues. Poor thing got caught up tracking down someone else’s father in her latest case, but it’s her own she’s really after.

“We’re finding Kate in a much more emotional state than we’re used to finding her,” says Thompson. “She really grew up with her father mostly believing there were some aberrations there but she thought he was a really good man in general. So peeling back those layers and finding out that’s not really true not only calls into question things about him, but it makes her question things about herself.”

Looks like daddy Hawkeye may just end up on his daughter’s super villain hit list…talk about your family drama. Good thing she has come to us in her time of need. It’s time to punch the pain away, Kate.

“Kate is a very good fighter so even if she doesn’t look like the guys who are down there in these cages, she’s going to do well in a one on one fight. She’s incredibly smart, she’s well trained, and she’s a super hero,” warns Thompson. But let’s not forget that, that means she must stick too a code, she can’t just hurt people willy-nilly. Sounds like prime time for you newbies to make your mark, so come on down!

Reviews:

StreetFighter212: YAAASSSS!! I’M GONNA WRECK YOU WUSSIES!! COME AT ME BRAH!

            Deadpooled: Kate is going to wipe the floor with you.

Clint4life: Whatever, she’s not even the real Hawkeye.

Cagedfighter16: Is anybody reading this?! COME AND RESCUE ME!!! They’re keeping me in a cage and I don’t want to be here!!!

TheRealKateBishop: Okay I was playing along with this at first but now it’s on. I’m not the sad seal at the zoo, for one thing I can’t balance a ball on my nose…I’m busting everyone out, finding Molly’s dad and taking you creeps down!

Deadpooled: Oh snap!

Be sure to grab seats for Kate’s fight club debut and find out if she solves her case or gets lost in a whirlwind of fists and emotions in HAWKEYE #9 out August 2, written by Kelly Thompson with art by Leonardo Romero.

We all know that the first Star Wars film changed the face of pop culture forever when it hit theaters 40 years ago today—but it’s not just the movie that’s celebrating that milestone in 2017. Star Wars comics arrived with force in 1977, and hundreds of issues later, they’re more popular now than ever.

To celebrate the 40^th anniversary of Star Wars, we’re looking back at our 40 favorite moments from the history of comics from a galaxy far, far away—one day at a time.

Say what you will about “The Phantom Menace,” but most Star Wars fans agree on one thing: Darth Maul was awesome. But even after seeing the film, we really didn’t know much about Darth Sidious’ apprentice—he more or less showed up for an amazing lightsaber battle, then got chopped in half by Obi-Wan. One year after the release of “Episode I,” writer Ron Marz and artist Jan Duursema accepted the task of offering some back story for the mysterious character—a prequel to the prequel, set six months beforehand.

True to character, Maul’s actions speak louder than his words—he remains silent in DARTH MAUL #1 until halfway through the issue, which focuses mostly on his relationship with Sidious. After Maul completes his final Sith trial, the man also known as Senator Palpatine bequeaths his apprentice with his one-of-a-kind Sith Infiltrator starfighter—and a mission: Confront Black Sun. By crippling the criminal organization we first read about in SHADOWS OF THE EMPIRE, Sidious will further solidify his relationship with the Trade Federation, which has come to full fruition by the time “The Phantom Menace” occurs, six months later.

Spoiler alert: Maul succeeds. But not before some beautifully illustrated lightsaber battles, most notably against a Nightsister of Dathomir; in other words, a Sith witch. This confrontation proves particularly interesting in retrospect, as we would learn several years later an element to Maul’s history that had not yet fully developed: that he was actually raised on Dathomir as the son of the Nightsisters’ leader, Mother Talzin.

Each week, we use our super sleuth skills to dig into the histories of the characters fighting on both sides of Secret Empire!

In the wake of killing Bruce Banner during CIVIL WAR II, Hawkeye took to the streets in an effort to help normal people. Along the way he put together a crew of like-minded individuals like Red Wolf, Nightshade, Nighthawk, Wheels, and the Fireheart Cousins. As Clint Barton ran off to help out with the Underground, the other heroes continued their efforts in the pages of this week’s OCCUPY AVENGERS #8 by David F. Walker, Martín Morazzo, and Jorge Coelho. Instead of fighting super villains, they focused on keeping people safe from Hydra goons and getting supplies to those in need.

After stopping a Hydra convoy, the new Nighthawk tried rallying people around the idea of focusing their efforts on fully destroying the evil empire, not just knocking out agents here and there. “They’ve left all of you,” she said to a group of survivors in a rural area. “Why? Because they think you’re not worth locking up or killing. I say they’re wrong. You are a threat.”

The action cut away to show the after effects of a brief broom closet hook up between Hawkeye and Black Widow, but then saw Clint talking to his squad about their upcoming plans. To destroy Hydra, they need to continue building the civilian army, hit even more food outposts, and make their way into another of Nick Fury’s secret bunkers. Of course, an organization as big and powerful as Hydra will have more than a few things to say about their plans, but we’ll have to keep reading to find out how it all plays out.

The Empire Strikes Back

Nighthawk and Nightshade started working together in the former’s 2016 eponymous series. The alternate dimension version of the hero—also known as Kyle Richmond—decided to keep the streets of Chicago safe. Once there, he started working with the former super villain Nightshade, now simply going by Tilda Johnson. The two eventually made their way into OCCUPY AVENGERS, but as Tilda recounted in this issue, “He died out of costume—gunned down by Hydra, not for being Nighthawk, but for simply being a black man.” Now she wears his costume as a way to honor the man who saved her life and plans on stomping out the people who killed him no matter the cost.