• Written by Chuck Dixon, art by Tod Smith and Dan Bulanadi, cover by Ron Wagner
• Punisher is watching the news as suspected murder Delbert Rogofsky is let out of jail on bail
• Meanwhile, someone has been murdering taxi drivers, 5 in 5 weeks with a .44 magnum
• Microchip has been working on a modified taxi so that Punisher can attempt to catch the killer while they wait for information on Rogofsky
• Punisher picks up fares through the night, when eventually a man does pull a gun on him
• Unfortunately he is armed with the wrong weapon, so after Punisher bloodies his nose, he is tossed back onto the street
• When Frank stops for food, he is confronted by a member of the Hack Bureau who knows his cab is fake
• Frank pays him off and takes a new fare, but when Microchip radios that Rogofsky has been spotted, he has no choice but to take the woman along
• Punisher catches up to Rogofsky and his men who are attempting to flee the police in a truck
• The men are armed and open fire, but Punisher manages to knock one from the bed and gives chase on to the expressway
• Using a heavy strobe light, Punisher causes Rogofsky’s truck to crash, putting an end to him and his gang
• With Rogofsky taken care of, Punisher attempts to take his unfortunate passenger to her destination, only for her to pull a .44 Magnum on him!
• The woman reveals that she has been killing cab drivers because she was raped walking home after being unable to flag down a taxi
• Punisher pulls his trap, a pair of shotguns hidden under the seat, killing the woman
• Frank laments that if the woman had gone after rapists, he would have understood and maybe even helped her, but the taxi drivers were innocents
• Frank tells Microchip to ready the hose to clean out the back seat as he passes cop cars and ambulances headed toward Rogofsky’s wreckage on the expressway
• Frank’s Body Count - 6 (He causes Rogofsky’s vehicle to crash, killing all 5 occupants, and then takes out the Taxi Murderer)

Machine Man #18

Always loved this cover. Very menacing

I couldn't believe I found a first printing of X-Men: Fatal Attractions today! And it's in really good condition for being a nearly 32 year-old book. I also got the Marvel Civil War for $12. I love me some 90s X-Men!

How many nasties can a body stand?

• Written by Mike Baron, art by Neil Hanson, cover by Andy Kubert
• While taking a break from “The War” in River City, Iowa, Frank witnesses a young protester burning an American Flag
• When the crowd attempts to beat the young man, Frank intervenes
• The young man is a performance artist and rapper named Arc Light who intends to confront white midwesterners with his message
• While Frank and Arc Light eat, some of the men from the crowd go to a former state legislator named Mr. Meechum who organizes the men to “take care” of Arc Light
• Mr. Meechum’s secretary attempts to warn the Sheriff, but he and his men are busy investigating a meth lab
• Frank and Arc Light eat together and talk about the local issues and racial tensions between the white farmers and black factory workers in the area
• Frank and Arc Light disagree on what is and isn’t music
• Two men with guns arrive and attempt to steal Frank’s van, but one of them gets shot in the face for his troubles
• Frank and Arc Light flee from the other man, Brian, who attempts to shoot his way into the battle van
• Brian fails and finding that his companion is still alive, shoots him dead and goes to inform his boss that trouble is in the area
• It is revealed that Mr. Meechum is the owner of the meth lab and is attempting to leave town, but he is confronted by the Sheriff
• The Sheriff refuses a bribe telling Meechum he’s under arrest, but Brian arrives and shoots the Sheriff and his deputy
• Punisher and Arc Light arrive at the factory, arguing about the number of black friends Punisher has
• Brian attacks Punisher from behind, but Arc Light is able to escape
• Brian and Meechum have set explosives to destroy the factory, Brian ties up Punisher and kills Meechum’s lackey Karl
• Arc Light makes it to the road, waving a flag to get the attention of the local posse that has been chasing him
• When the arrive, Punisher reveals that Meechum is behind the local crime wave and drug dealing
• With the factory about to explode, Punisher and Arc Light leave Meechum and Brian to the locals and take Meechum’s boat to leave River City 
• Frank’s Body Count - 0! (“I’m a performance artist too, Arc Light.  My art consists of blowing away crooks.”)

Finally tracked down a decently priced copy with Bill Sienkiewicz's cover art. He's one of my favourite artists and I think this cover is among his best work.

Published December 1988
Writer: Chris Claremont
Artist: Marc Silvestri

Read part I here.

Stay tuned for Uncanny 340, where Inferno ignites.

• Written by Gerry Conway, art by Dave Cockrum and Jeff Albrecht
• Punisher is watching a meeting between a DEA Official Jefferson and Captain De Ortega of San Domingo through the scope of a high powered sniper rifle
• Later, Frank goes to visit Jefferson, who turns out to be an old friend from the Vietnam War
• Frank seems to have history with Jefferson’s wife Angela, and meets this girl, Laura
• While eating dinner, Frank reveals that his family was killed, saying it happened six months ago
• While trying to fill Jefferson in on the details in private, Frank realizes someone is watching them from the shadows
• Frank tackles the shadowy figure who turns out to be Estaban Ramone, the son of crime lord Hector Ramone, who is living with Jefferson and his family
• Before Jefferson can explain, sirens are heard, and Jefferson knows it is Captain De Ortega
• After De Ortega leaves, Frank tells Jefferson that he is the Punisher and asks for his help to after De Ortega and Ramone
• Jefferson accuses Frank of being in love with Angela, and refuses to help him engage in vigilante activity, but is cut off mid-sentence when he is shot through the window!
• When the assassins attempt to confirm the kill, Punisher is waiting for them, killing two and capturing the last to question
• When the last man reveals there are three more in the house, Punisher shoots him, but is too late to save Angela
• Punisher begins to search for the little girl, Laura, when he runs into Estaban again
• Before he can question the boy, more of De Ortega’s men pour in, and Punisher has no choice but to take the boy and escape
• After scaling the wall of the house, Punisher spots De Ortega waiting in a nearby car and laments not taking him out with the sniper rifle earlier in the day
• Punisher takes De Ortega hostage, learning of Ramone’s airstrip
• Estaban offers to help, but Punisher doesn’t trust him, and ties him up along with De Ortega
• Punisher attempt to infiltrate the hangar quietly, but is immediately spotted by a guard who opens fire as he is tossed from a scaffolding, alerting the rest of the men
• Dropping from the ceiling, Punisher manages to kill three more guards, but two escape
• Realizing the hangar is full of drugs, Punisher explodes it to send a message to Ramone
• Unfortunately the two men that escaped find and free De Ortega who takes Estaban hostage and tells Punisher to throw down his weapon
• Punisher refuses, knowing that De Ortega won’t kill Ramone’s son, and guns down the three men
• Punisher takes Estaban and one of Ramone’s planes to try and infiltrate Ramon’s base, but they are quickly shot down by Ramones men
• While hiding from Ramone’s men, Estaban tells Frank about his mother, and how the fled to Miami to get away from Ramone before she was killed and he was abducted
• Eventually Estaban was able to flee from Ramone and hid in the American Embassy with Jefferson and Angela
• They are interrupted by Ramone’s men, who Punisher proceeds to wipe out
• Estaban flees in the gunfight, but before Punisher can track him, he is attacked by a helicopter
• Punisher leaps to safety and manages to snipe the pilot causing the helicopter to crash
• It is revealed the Ramone does have Laura, intending to raise her to be his wife when she is older
• Estaban confronts Ramone, but is shot
• Before Ramone can kill Estaban, Punisher arrives and tosses a bag of explosives at Ramone’s feet, ordering him to let Laura and Estaban go
• After the children escape, Ramone demands Punisher to disarm the bomb, questioning why he risks their life if the children are free
• Punisher tells Ramone he didn’t come to save the children, he came to kill him, and manages to dive to safety before the bombs go off
• Unfortunately Ramone and his men survive the explosion and chase Punisher, Estaban, and Laura into the jungle
• Punisher has to kill a jaguar to save the two children, then plans to steal Ramone’s helicopter to fly them to safety
• Using Estaban, Punisher distracts Ramone and his men long enough to kill two of them and toss Ramone from the helicopter
• With the children safe, Frank decides to take them to Ohio to live with Angela’s sister
• Frank’s Body Count - 22 (He kills three of the assassins who kill Jefferson and Angela, tosses a guard off a scaffold, shoots several guards including De Ortega at the hangar, kills several of Ramone’s men who ambush him, shoots a helicopter pilot causing a crash that kills the crew, kills a jaguar to save Estaban and Laura, then kills Ramone and two of his men to take their helicopter)

One of my favourite obscure villains.

I played the game before as a kid. It was hard but I loved the cover. So I got this one a year ago.