JIGSAW

Real Name: Billy Russo

Identity/Class: Human (mobster)

Occupation: Professional criminal

Group Membership: Hood's army,
    formerly led a gang of criminals

Affiliations: Maggia (formerly employed by the Costa family; particularly favored by Bruno Costa);
    possibly Olivier;
    formerly Belasco, Don Carlo Cervello, the Cubes, Diego, Firefox, Gregario, Hachiman, Nubian Nation, the Rev, Tombstone;
    brainwashed agent of the Trust

Enemies: Joy Adams, Liz Allan, Black Widow (Romanoff), Robert Braithwaite, Daredevil, Dominic + Joey + Leslie + Mary Rose Geraci, Maurice Howles, Det. John Laviano, Betty Brant Leeds, Mike McTeer, Tom Nicholls, Harry Osborn, the Pegs, Punisher (Castle), Spider-Man, Eugene "Flash" Thompson, Ben Urich, Mary Jane Watson

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Billy the Beaut, Jigsaw Punisher

Base of Operations: Manhattan, New York

First Appearance: (BTS) Amazing Spider-Man I#161 (October, 1976), (seen) Amazing Spider-Man I#162 (November, 1976)

Powers/Abilities: Jigsaw has no superhuman powers, but is a skilled street fighter, specializing in the use of various forms of guns and knives. He formerly wore a strength-enhancing exoskeleton.

    He has led small armies of criminals on several occasions.

Height: 6'2"           
Weight: 250 lbs.
Eyes: Blue                 
Hair: Black

Distinguishing Features: Jigsaw's face is extensively scarred.

History: Billy the Beaut was employed as a mob assassin for the Costa family of the Maggia, though he was also known for his stunning good looks.

(Punisher: Year One#3) - In order to clean up the mess that had steamrolled since the execution of Forrest Hunt, Frank Costa sent in Billy the Beaut. Billy first killed Maurice Howles, who had failed in an attempt to kill Castle while in the hospital, drawing even more attention to the case. Billy then killed McTeer, a reporter who was working with Castle in an investigation of his family's deaths. Billy finished his job by planting a bomb in Castle's house, but in the process he trampled Castle's wife's flowerbed, which the former marine noticed, enabling him to get out of range before the explosion.

(Punisher: Year One#4) - Castle, first donning his Punisher costume, convinced Detective John Laviano to give him access to the files on his family's murders and related cases. Castle started off his mission by targeting Billy Russo, invading a mob party at Salvagno's. Following up a series of explosions, Castle killed several criminals before confronting Russo. Seeking to send a message to the Costas, Castle did not kill Russo, but instead kicked him face first through a plate glass window on the second floor.

BTS - Russo survived, but his face was horribly scarred, with the suture pattern giving him the appearance of a jigsaw puzzle, from which he took his name.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#161 - BTS, 162) - Jigsaw, having set himself as a leader of a gang, outfitted his men with masks and began committing a series of murders to lure the Punisher back to New York. Amongst those killed was Eric Hoffman, a friend of the mutant Nightcrawler, drawing both he and Spider-Man after him. The Punisher did join those two in searching for the killers, but Jigsaw's men captured Spider-Man and Jigsaw used him as a hostage to draw out the Punisher. However, Spidey broke free, and he, Nightcrawler, and the Punisher began to weed through his agents. Jigsaw panicked and fled in a purloined fire engine, but Spidey wrapped him up in the fire hose and knocked him out.
    Jigsaw and his men were left for the police

(Amazing Spider-Man I#188) - Somehow again free, Jigsaw was goaded by his men--no longer costumed--into action, but he made every effort to perform crimes that would not attract any of those "super types." They hijacked a Checkerboard Line's midnight cruise on the East River, but Peter Parker happened to be present on that cruise. As Spider-Man, Parker took out several of Jigsaw's men, until Jigsaw took Liz Allan and Harry OSborn hostage to force him to back off, enabling the criminal and his men to escape. Jigsaw released his hostages after making it back to the city, but Spidey had tracked them with a Spider-Tracer he'd planted on Osborn and soon caught up with Jigsaw. Spidey cornered the criminal and managed to stare him down and force him to surrender without a single punch.
    Jigsaw was again taken away by the cops.

(Punisher I#1 (fb) - BTS) - Within Ryker's Island prison, Jigsaw quickly established himself as a leader amongst the criminals, as well as establishing a number of prison guards under his employment.

(Punisher I#1) - When the Punisher was sent to Ryker's Island (his third stay), Jigsaw had Castle led to him and then ordered his men to hold him while he tried to give Castle a face to match his own. Castle broke free and dropped Jigsaw, who then ordered his men to kill the Punisher. Don Cervello, another prisoner with pull, stopped this, to prevent a murder from drawing attention to their escape plans.
    Castle--despite the efforts of Cervello--later interfered with their escape plans, and Cervello and Jigsaw managed to take the warden hostage to try to force Castle to let them go. Castle surrendered his gun to them, but packed it full of oversized bullets, so that it blew up in Jigsaw's hand when he fired it at him. Jigsaw was reimprisoned after Cervello surrendered to Castle.

(Punisher I#4) - Jigsaw was brainwashed by the Trust into becoming one of their Punisher Squad, outfitted in a Punisher costume. However, when confronted by the real Punisher, his conditioning began to break down. He told the rest of the Punisher Squad to stay back and he attacked Castle, who managed to escape him.

(Punisher I#5) - While going after Alaric, the head of the Trust, the Punisher again ran into Jigsaw and fought him. Jigsaw got the jump on Castle and knocked him to the ground, but Castle stabbed him in the leg and then beat him senseless. Castle took Jigsaw's gun and prepared to kill him, but thought that he might consider a less lethal brand of punishment and left him for the authorities.

(Punisher II#35 (fb) - BTS) - Jigsaw was let out of prison by the Rev, who convinced him to join with him in exchange for a promise of healing his face. Jigsaw worked with him in their plot to amass a large amount of a sterilization drug from the Piña flower. Jigsaw assumed that this was for the purpose of extortion, whereas the Rev wanted to use it, literally, to sterilize a large portion of the population.

(Punisher II#35) - While transporting a large shipment of the processed sterilization drug, Jigsaw's path crossed with the Punisher, who thought he was tracking down a cocaine shipment. Not wanting the Punisher to die easily, Jigsaw stopped his allies from shooting at him, allowing him to escape and destroy the shipment in the process. The Rev punished Jigsaw for losing the shipment by slashing his face open, but then healed that fresh wound.
    Curious about the Rev's power, Jigsaw followed him to a suburb in West Chester and watched as he slaughtered an innocent family for his lord, "Lucifer" (actually Belasco). Jigsaw was discovered by the police, but shot his way through them and fled, but was seen on the road by the Punisher while escaping.

(Punisher II#36) - Jigsaw got into a shootout with the Punisher, but was knocked off the road when one of his bullets hit an oil truck. He then ended up in the Bronx, where he joined with a street gang called the Cubes against their rivals, the Pegs. Jigsaw supplied weapons and ordinance, and they helped him against the Punisher. However, Castle fought them off, and Jigsaw fled once again, linking back up with the Rev, who took him to Venezuela to harvest more Piña .

(Punisher II#37) - In the Rev's temple, Jigsaw exposed one of his workers who had been stealing and selling the Piña, and then killed the man at the Rev's command. The Punisher tracked them to Venezuela and linked up with a guide, Joy Adams, but Jigsaw learned of his arrival and confronted the pair out in the jungle.

(Punisher II#38) - Joy used her horse to distract Jigsaw and she and Castle escaped from him. Jigsaw linked up with Diego of the Medellin drug cartel, who also had a reason to hate the Punisher. Diego's men flushed out Castle, but then turned on Jigsaw, who slew them. Castle was wounded fighting Diego's men, and then knocked out by a bazooka blast from Jigsaw. After stabbing Castle a few times, Jigsaw took Joy and left him for dead.

(Punisher II#39) - Jigsaw brought Joy to the Rev, but after seeing the Rev regrow his own foot after cutting it off in a ritual for "Lucifer," he lost patience and held the Rev at gunpoint, forcing him to heal his face. He did, but the Punisher then arrived and shot Jigsaw dead.

(Punisher II#40) - Under the direction of Belasco, the Rev resurrected Jigsaw and sent him after Castle as a contest to see which of them would earn the right to serve the Rev (not that Castle was interested in doing that...). Jigsaw tried to take him out from a distance with his bazooka, but Castle had set up an ambush for him and he and Joy shot his weapons out of his hands. Castle then broke his arm, punched him out, and beat his face repeatedly against a yucca plant, lacerating it as badly as it had ever been. Castle then left Jigsaw, telling him that he'd killed him once and could do so again if he gave him reason.

(Punisher II#55,56) - The Punisher was again sent to Ryker's Island, where Jigsaw had once again set himself up as a leader, allied with Gregario and his Nubian Nation. Jigsaw arranged a confrontation with Castle and Gregario had his men hold him while he slashed at Castle's face with a knife. The attack was stopped by Hog, leader of the Aryan Brotherhood, who insisted that his group had first rights to Castle since he was white.
    Castle soon distanced himself from the Aryan Brotherhood, and Jigsaw had Castle led into another ambush. Jigsaw badly sliced up Castle's face again, but had to leave as the changing of the guard approached. He, Gregario, and the Nubian Nation attempted to kill Castle in the prison infirmary, but Castle escaped through a hole in the wall blown by a group trying to free another prisoner, Derek Pike.

(Punisher War Journal#61) - A large group of criminals met to arrange the death of the Punisher. Jigsaw was present, but told the others that Castle would turn the tables on them and have them at his mercy. Jigsaw then left, wanting no part of this.

(Punisher III#2) - Wearing a Punisher costume (decorated with sutures), Jigsaw began to target and kill all those who had killed the Punisher, which was supposed to have been his job. Castle had apparently been executed as his prison sentence, but it was faked and he was freed by and became allied with the Geraci crime family. Jigsaw killed Judge Robert Braithwaite.

(Punisher III#3) - Jigsaw shot and killed the man who pulled the switch during Castle's execution.

(Punisher III#4) - Jigsaw attacked Dr.  Kemble, who had pronounced Castle dead. Kemble contacted Vinnie Barbarossa and had him send the Punisher to help him. Daredevil got to Jigsaw first, but Castle arrived soon after. Jigsaw was ecstatic that the Punisher was still alive, which meant he could kill him himself. The Punisher ran out of bullets first, but  Daredevil knocked the guns from Jigsaw's hands and Castle took him out in a fist fight. Castle left Jigsaw alive for the authorities.

(Punisher III#9) - Joining forces with Firefox, Hachiman, Tombstone and an army of underlings, Jigsaw led an assault on the mansion of the Geracis. He blew several holes in the mansion with his rocket launcher, and eventually collapsed the building around Castle. They left Castle for dead.

(Punisher III#10) - Jigsaw began to feud with his allies and to taunt his captives, the remaining Geracis, while the Punisher began to take out the criminals. Hachiman turned against his allies and helped Castle defeat Firefox, leaving a former debt of theirs resolved. Jigsaw held Leslie Geraci hostage and then tossed her off the roof, forcing Castle to grab her to save her. However, Leslie knew what Jigsaw was trying to do and pulled herself free and fell to the ground. The Punisher shot a glancing blow to Jigsaw's head and he fell to the ground below.

(Alias#26 - BTS) - Jigsaw was reported by SHIELD agent Clay Quartermain to have been imprisoned in "the Raft," a new superhuman containment wing in Ryker's Island.

(Daredevil II#61 (fb) - BTS) - Jigsaw, having paid off certain police and government officials, ran a gunrunning operation on the North Shore pier. An unidentified policeman or government agent informed Ben Urich about this, knowing that Urich would inform Daredevil, which he did.

(Daredevil II#61 (fb) - BTS / 62(fb)) - Daredevil and the Black Widow took out Jigsaw and his operation.

(Daredevil II#62) - Jigsaw (out on bail) approached Murdock, acknowledging him as the new Kingpin of crime, and tried to make a  deal with him. Murdock pretended to have no idea what he was talking about.

(Daredevil II#63) - Jigsaw and a group of his men broke into Murdock's home.

(Daredevil II#64) - Murdock escaped his home and called the police, who drove off Jigsaw's men, while the Black Widow dropped Jigsaw, all the while pretending to be a civilian. The police took Jigsaw to prison, promising (as a favor to Murdock) that he would never be released from Ryker's again.

(New Avengers#2 (fb)) - Jigsaw was sent to the Raft sub-section of Ryker's Island prison.

(New Avengers#1-3) - Jigsaw was freed from his cell and took part in a breakout attempt, battling the as yet unformed New Avengers when they arrived to quell the breakout. It is unknown whether Jigsaw escaped or was reimprisoned.

Comments: Created by Len Wein and Ross Andru.

    Jigsaw is one of the very few recurring villains of the Punisher. For some reason, Castle always stops short of killing him, unlike almost every single other one of his foes.

    In the Punisher III series, it was made to seem that Jigsaw had been responsible for Castle's family's deaths. That's not really the case, but Russo's murder of McTeer and his attempt on Castle did push the traumatized Castle over the edge into his transformation into the Punisher.

    Jigsaw was also in Batman/Punisher: Lake of Fire and Punisher/Batman: Deadly Knights, where he traveled to Gotham and joined forces with the Joker in a pair of plots. The first involved the release of a fuel (designed by Rimer) that would ignite water, which they planned to use on the city reservoir to extort money from the government. This plot was foiled by the Punisher--who followed Jigsaw there--and Batman (actually his temporary replacement, Azrael). Azrael defeated him and left him tied up, but the Joker freed him.
    The Joker then arranged a plastic surgeon to repair Jigsaw's face, and promised that he would set him up as one of the big crime lords in Gotham. However, Castle returned to Gotham when Jigsaw failed to show in New York, and joined forces with the original Batman (Bruce Wayne, now back in action) to take him down. In the process, Castle through a grenade into a liquor cabinet, and the shrapnel shredded Jigsaw's face once again. The Batman then caught up with and subdued Jigsaw, defeated him, and left him cuffed to another criminal.
    So, since Marvel and DC characters existed on the same world in this story, it doesn't fit in with being Earth-616 and is probably out of continuity. I see two major possibilities. First, the more likely of the two, that it took place on Earth-Crossover, where pretty much every single fictional character co-exist. Second, it could be Earth-616, but there was a temporary slight merging of the realities of Earth-616 with the mainstream Earth-DC, so that the characters knew each other, etc. Less likely, but possible, as such a thing could have been brought about by the Brothers.
    If it did occur, it would have been between Punisher War Journal#61 and Punisher III#2.

Oddly enough, in Batman#509, Azrael recalled his encounter with Jigsaw. Another reference to Jigsaw's adventure in Gotham occurs in Nightwing:the Hunt for Oracle (Nightwing II#44), "The Stalkers". Referring to Jimmy Navarone (father-in-law of Macklin Arnot, who died during Jigsaw's battle with Batman), Nightwing says "Yeah. He was a vicelord in Gotham until he got axed by some out of town psycho vigilante. The Pulverizer, the Penetator? I forget."
--John McDonagh

    In the MARVEL VS. DC Trading Cards Set, Jigsaw was matched up against Deathstroke (Slade Wilson) of the mainstream DC Universe (see Card #75).  I don't have a scanner to give you the Jigsaw vs. Deathstroke image, but here is the text from the back of the card:

"You expect someone as physically disfigured and mentally scarred as organized crime boss Jigsaw to be a brutal killer.  But high-priced mercenary Deathstroke doesn't have to be.  If only he'd use his talents for good rather than financial profit."
- Clark Kent

    Jigsaw was also matched up against Two-Face (Harvey Dent) of the mainstream DC Universe, though I don't have that card (#94 of the MARVEL VS. DC Trading Cards Set).  And Deathstroke was also matched up against the Punisher of Earth-616 (see Card #58).  --Skullogeist

Jigsaw has a one page profile (not very informative) as one of "Spider-Man's Forgotten Foes!" in Web of Spider-Man Annual#3.
--Markus Raymond

    I'd love to see Garth Ennnis' take on Jigsaw, though I bet it would be the last time we saw him.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Not to be confused with:

• JIGSAW of Earth-Amalgam - see PELT MAN--[DC vs Marvel#3]

No known connection to:

• JIGSAW 2099 ( )
      -MULTI-FRACTOR*--Punisher 2099#10 (11,15, 29
• JIGSAW MONSTER - cloned creature created by Janice + Steven Caccone, using manikin and cell cultures from a dozen animals
      aka CLONE CREATURE*, JIGSAW NIGHTMARE, NIGHT CREATURE* --Frankenstein Monster #13

images: (without ads)

Appearances:
Amazing Spider-Man I#161-162 (October-November, 1976) - Len Wein (writer/editor), Ross Andru (pencils), Mike Esposito & Dave Hunt (inks)
Amazing Spider-Man I#188 (January, 1979) - Marv Wolfman (writer/editor), Keith Pollard (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks)
Punisher I#1 (January, 1986) - Steven Grant (writer), Mike Zeck (pencils), John Beatty (inks), Carl Potts (editor)
Punisher I#4-5 (March-April, 1986) - Steven Grant (writer), Mike Zeck (pencils), John Beatty (inks), Carl Potts (editor)
Web of Spider-Man Annual#3 (1987) - Roger Stern (writer), Greg LaRocque (pencils), Frank Giacoia (inks), Jim Salicrup (editor)
Punisher II#35-40 (July-October, 1990) - Mike Baron (writer), Bill Reinhold (pencils), Mark Farmer (inks)
Punisher II#36-37 (August, 1990) - Mike Baron (writer), Mark Texeira (artist)
Punisher II#38 (September, 1990) - Mike Baron (writer), Bill Reinhold (pencils), Mark Farmer (inks)
Punisher II#39 (September, 1990) - Mike Baron (writer), Jack Slamn (pencils), James T. Sherman (inks)
Punisher II#40 (October, 1990) - Mike Baron (writer), Bill Reinhold (pencils), Mark Farmer (inks)
Punisher II#55-56 (November-December, 1991) - Mike Baron (writer), Hugh Haynes (pencils), Jimmy Palmiotti (inks)
Punisher War Journal#61 (December, 1993) - Charles Dixon (writer), Gary Kwapisz (artist)
Punisher: Year One#3-4 (February-March, 1995) - Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Dale Eaglesham (pencils), Scott Koblish (inks)
Punisher III#2-4 (December, 1995 - February, 1996) - John Ostrander (writer), Tom Lyle (pencils), Chris Ivy (inks)
Punisher III#10 (August, 1996) - John Ostrander (writer), Tom Lyle (pencils), Robert Jones (inks)
Alias#26 (November, 2003) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Michael Gaydos, Mark Bagley & Rick Mays (pencils), Michael Gaydor, Art Thibert & Rick Mays (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Daredevil II#61-64 (August-November, 2004) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Alex Maleev (artist), Jennifer Lee (editor)
New Avengers#1-3 (January-March, 2005) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), David Finch (pencils), Danny Miki, Mark Morales (#2), Allen Martinez (#3) & Victor Olazaba (#3) (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
New Avengers#35 (December, 2007) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Leinil Yu (artist), Molly Lazer  (assistant editors), Tom Brevoort (editor)
New Avengers Annual#2 (March, 2008) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Carlo Pagulayan (penciler), Jeff Huet (inker), Molly Lazer  (assistant editors), Tom Brevoort (editor)

Last updated: 02/11/08

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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