Warning: SPOILERS for The Punisher #13
There have been several Thunderbolts teams in Marvel Comics, but the newest version of the team is packed with killers... All with the same mission on their minds. Previous teams have included "reformed" villains, although that almost never sticks (a comic book villain is a villain for a reason, after all). But in The Punisher #13, an all new Thunderbolts team is introduced that make their predecessors seem like Avengers, by comparison.
In fact, three out of five new Thunderbolts were on the infamous Thunderbolts-turned-Dark-Avengers team, from the days of the Dark Reign storyline. Moonstone, Fixer, and Ghost are now joining Radioactive Man, Jigsaw, and Citizen V (who is actually the Hydra leader Baron Zemo in disguise) to create what is quite possibly the deadliest team yet. And together, they're going to murder The Punisher and call it justice.
Hawkeye may be a reformed Thunderbolt, but he doesn't have much company. In fact, it seems like nobody in this new group wants to join him on that list. Kingpin AKA Wilson Fisk and Zemo have one thing in common: they both want Frank Castle dead. So in order to help him achieve that goal, Zemo has recruited some of the deadliest villains in Marvel Comics, and roped Kingpin into making him up before the crime boss truly understood the lengths of his plan. Fisk and Zemo meet in secret to discuss how they can take care of their common problem. When Zemo offers U.N. Troops, Fisk reiterates that he wants doesn't just want Frank arrested -- he has more finite plans. "U.N. Troops aren't going to murder Castle. I want him dead."
Baron Zemo wants Castle dead too, of course, and there is more to his plan. Hydra troops will fill the tanks that the U.N. send, which is the perfect cover for them. 400 Hydra agents, plus a few specialists are promised to Fisk, so long as he appears to be leading the operation for the public good (as Mayor of New York, it is his city). But when Fisk stands up in a press conference to announce this in front of his constituents, it is then that the full plan is revealed to him. Zemo has assembled his team in the guise of the new Thunderbolts, assigned to hunt down The Punisher, New York's latest costumed vigilante "terrorizing the streets."
Kingpin is less than thrilled, and even threatens Zemo stating he will kill him if he screws this up. Will this new (and purely evil) Thunderbolts team succeed at riding Kingpin from Frank Castle, AKA The Punisher, for good? The odds are stacked against them, but if anyone has a true shot, it is this group of vicious killers. The Punisher #14 hits shelves on August 7th -- and an all out war is promised to break out!
The Punisher #13 is on sale now from Marvel Comics, and at your local comic shop.