Cover: Tim Bradstreet

The Punisher #2

May 2000 · Marvel · 2.99 USD; 4.50 CAD

📊 ~49,197 copies sold its debut month

☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join free

★ 1st appearance — The Holy

About this Issue

The Punisher #2 (2000) marks the first appearance of Detective Martin Soap, the endearingly hapless NYPD officer whose cynical assignment to 'catch' the Punisher—a job nobody in the department actually wants done—became one of Garth Ennis's sharpest tools for satirizing institutional corruption and police complicity. As the second chapter of the 'Welcome Back, Frank' arc, it accelerates Ennis's deliberate dismantling of the supernatural baggage that had plagued the character in the late 1990s, planting the street-level, crime-noir sensibility that would define Punisher storytelling for the next decade. The introduction of Soap alongside the continued development of apartment neighbors Joan the Mouse, Mr. Bumpo, and Spacker Dave demonstrated Ennis's method of illuminating a largely one-dimensional vigilante through the richly comic supporting cast around him—an approach that proved so resonant it was transplanted directly into the 2004 Punisher film.

Contains 3 stories

Badaboom, Badabing

22 pp · Crime, Superhero

Bud Plugg (introduction)Joe Malizia (introduction, dies)Harry Thornton [Heck Thornton] (introduction, dies)Eddie Lau (introduction, dies)Tall Joe Small (introduction, dies)

In "Badaboom, Badabing," the Punisher’s war against Ma Gnucci’s mafia family intensifies as disgraced detective Martin Soap is forced to confront the fallout of his failed investigation. When a self-styled "Holy" priest begins executing sinners in a wave of brutal vigilante justice, the city descends into chaos—leaving Bud Plugg, Joe Malizia, Harry Thornton, Eddie Lau, and Tall Joe Small caught in the crossfire of violence and retribution.

Fast Lane, Part 4 of 4: Back on Target

8 pp · Superhero

Sam ExmoreToni HarrisZane WhelanBob Lefferts

Bullpen Bits #44

0.2 pp · Humor, Superhero

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (NM) $2

CGC 9.8 $45

CGC 9.6 $29

CGC 9.4 $20*

CGC 9.2 $20*

CGC 9.0 $20*

CGC 8.5 $20*

Show all 18 grades ▾

CGC 8.0 $20*

CGC 7.5 $20*

CGC 7.0 $20*

CGC 6.5 $20*

CGC 6.0 $20*

CGC 5.5 $20*

CGC 5.0 $20*

CGC 4.5 $20*

CGC 4.0 $20*

CGC 3.5 $20*

CGC 3.0 $20*

CGC 2.5 $20*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

More listings for this title

NM $4.24 GOOD $4.68 CGC 9.8 · Variant $69.99 Marvel Comics PUNISHER #2 first printing Cover A $1.74 Marvel - The Punisher #2 $3.34

Related listings we couldn't confirm as this exact issue · 5 total · seen 8 days ago

Read it digitally

Marvel Unlimited Marvel’s subscription reader ▸ Amazon Kindle Buy the digital edition ▸

Opens a search on each platform — digital availability varies by title.

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 ▸

Fast, fair offers · we handle grading & shipping

History

The series was produced under the Marvel Knights imprint, the creator-driven sub-label founded by Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti after Marvel emerged from bankruptcy, with the explicit mandate to revitalize underperforming characters through sophisticated, mature storytelling. Quesada and Palmiotti recruited Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon fresh off the completion of their DC/Vertigo series Preacher, pairing them with inker Jimmy Palmiotti and photo-realistic cover artist Tim Bradstreet—whose painterly covers across the entire 12-issue run gave the series a noir identity distinct from anything else in the Marvel line at the time. The creative team's shared vocabulary from years of collaboration made the book feel unusually assured from its earliest issues, and issue #2—with its internal story title 'Badaboom, Badabing'—continued immediately from the momentum established by the debut.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of Detective Martin Soap, the NYPD officer assigned to capture the Punisher as a transparent political maneuver by a police force that secretly approves of Frank's methods.
First appearance of The Holy (Father Hector Redondo), a priest character introduced in this issue who becomes a recurring figure in the 'Welcome Back, Frank' arc.
First appearance of Bud Plugg, and the debut-and-death-in-the-same-issue of several Gnucci crime family enforcers: Joe Malizia, Harry 'Heck' Thornton, Eddie Lau, and Tall Joe Small.
Ma Gnucci, the series' primary antagonist, appears in this issue via voice only—heard through a phone call as Frank forces her consigliere Joe Malizia to announce that the Punisher is coming for her.
Written by Garth Ennis, penciled by Steve Dillon, inked by Jimmy Palmiotti, colored by Chris Sotomayor, and lettered by Richard Starkings/Comicraft's Wes Abbott; edited by Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti under the Marvel Knights imprint.
The issue shipped with two cover variants: a primary cover by Tim Bradstreet (who painted all 12 covers in the series) and a variant cover by Steve Dillon.
The issue has been reprinted in multiple international editions including a German Panini collection and French Hachette editions, as well as the Marvel Knights Punisher by Garth Ennis: The Complete Collection Vol. 1 (2018).
Joan the Mouse, Mr. Bumpo, and Spacker Dave—all continuing from issue #1—were later adapted into the 2004 Punisher film, with Spacker Dave portrayed by Ben Foster.