The Amazing Spider-Man #129
The Amazing Spider-Man #129 is one of the most consequential single issues of Marvel's Bronze Age, delivering two debut appearances in a single story: Frank Castle, the Punisher, and Miles Warren in his costumed identity as the Jackal. The Punisher's willingness to kill — a quality almost unheard-of in mainstream superhero comics at the time — made his introduction genuinely controversial, cracking open a door to morally ambiguous antiheroes that would reshape the medium over the following two decades. The Jackal, meanwhile, quietly set in motion the long-running plotline that would culminate in the Clone Saga of the mid-1990s. The Gil Kane and John Romita Sr. cover has been homaged, parodied, and reproduced so often that it functions as a shorthand for the entire Bronze Age Spider-Man era.
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
Writer Gerry Conway — who had taken over Amazing Spider-Man from Stan Lee at only 19 years old — conceived the Jackal first, modeling the arc on how Stan Lee and Steve Ditko had developed the Green Goblin as a slow-burn mystery antagonist. Needing a front-line fighter for the Jackal to deploy against Spider-Man in the debut issue, Conway drew on Don Pendleton's popular Executioner paperback novels for inspiration and sketched a vigilante character he initially called 'The Assassin.' Stan Lee supplied the name 'Punisher,' John Romita Sr. (then Marvel's art director) redesigned Conway's small chest skull into the now-famous large torso emblem using the character's ammo belt as the skull's teeth, and Ross Andru penciled the interior story while Kane and Romita Sr. produced the cover. The issue was edited by Roy Thomas and published with a February 1974 cover date.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Frank Castle, the Punisher (introduced as a hired antagonist of Spider-Man, not yet an antihero), co-created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru, with the character's name coined by Stan Lee.
- First appearance of the Jackal in costume — secretly Miles Warren, an ESU professor — who would later anchor the original Clone Saga (1975) and be retroactively central to the expansive 1990s Clone Saga.
- Interior story titled 'The Punisher Strikes Twice!' written by Gerry Conway, penciled by Ross Andru, inked by Frank Giacoia and Dave Hunt; cover by Gil Kane and John Romita Sr.
- Edited by Roy Thomas; published by Marvel Comics with a February 1974 cover date and a 20-cent cover price.
- The story is set immediately in the aftermath of Gwen Stacy's death (Amazing Spider-Man #121), with Peter Parker's grief and Harry Osborn's emerging Green Goblin identity running as subplots alongside the Punisher/Jackal main plot.
- In his debut, the Punisher identifies himself only as a former U.S. Marine; his full tragic backstory (family killed by the mob in Central Park) was not established until Marvel Preview #2 (1975), scripted by Conway with artist Tony DeZuniga.
- The issue has been reprinted numerous times, including Marvel Tales #106 (1979), a Marvel Milestone Edition (1992), a Wizard ACE Edition (2002), a Lionsgate theatrical giveaway tied to the 2004 Punisher film, a Marvel Pocket Books paperback (2010), and multiple Marvel Facsimile Editions (2023, 2025, 2026).
- Elements of the issue were adapted into the Spider-Man: The Animated Series episode 'The Return of the Green Goblin'; the Punisher has also appeared in multiple live-action films (1989, 2004, 2008) and a Netflix television series.
Cast · 17 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
The Jackal convinces the Punisher that Spider-Man is evil and sends the deadly assassin to kill the web-slinger.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).
