The Punisher and Nick Fury went at each other guns blazing in an infamous 90s story. Here’s how the duel went and how Fury lived to fight another day.
The Punisher and Nick Fury have had something of a love-hate relationship for years, occasionally working together against common threats while Frank Castle’s constant use of lethal force without authorization has made him a reckless wildcard in Fury’s eye. This begrudging mutual respect once broke explosively bad in an infamous crossover event in the 90s, with New York City becoming a battlefield between the two men. By the time the dust had settled, Fury was apparently dead at the Punisher’s hands, leading to a new status quo for Frank Castle explored by his relaunch before Fury’s miraculous return to life three years later.
In 1995, Marvel Comics launched the publishing imprint Marvel Edge, featuring the grittier, more mature reader-oriented titles being published at the time. To unify and promote the new publishing line while setting up the launch of a third volume of Punisher, it was decided to have a six-part crossover event between the line’s four existing ongoing series at the time, bookended by two specials. The story was planned to feature Nick Fury’s final sendoff as he was stalked relentlessly by a brainwashed Punisher, with characters from the four series drawn into the citywide conflict, ending with Fury’s definitive death while the Punisher would serve penance by no longer operating outside of governmental authorization for his bloody war on crime.
The story began with Double Edge: Alpha #1, written by Larry Hama, pencilled by Kerry Gammill and Tom Morgan, inked by Tom Palmer and colored by Christie Scheele and Ian Laughlin. After Frank Castle is apprehended by S.H.I.E.LD., a secret shadow faction within the intelligence agency plots to use the Punisher to kill Fury. Using doctored photographs and mind-altering drugs, Castle believes Fury was the triggerman behind his family being massacred in Central Park all those years ago. Breaking free from custody, the Punisher goes on a rabid hunt to track down and kill Fury. After the Punisher gravely wounded Fury’s son Mikel in revenge, Fury vows to put down his old comrade-in-arms for good.