Jigsaw (Marvel Comics)

Superherobox|

caption=Jigsaw.
Art by Leinil Francis Yu.
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name=Jigsaw
real_name=Billy "The Beaut" Russo
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut=Amazing Spider-Man #162 (Nov. 1976)
creators=Len Wein
Ross Andru
alliance_color=background:#c0c0ff
alliances=Maggia crime syndicate
aliases=
powers=Brutal and ruthless criminal. Good fighting skills and mastery of various weapons.|

Jigsaw (Billy "The Beaut" Russo) is a fictional character, a supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe. Throughout his many appearances he has served as an enemy of the Punisher and as one of the Punisher's few recurring villains. Created by Len Wein and Ross Andru, he first appeared in "The Amazing Spider-Man" #162 (Nov. 1976).

Fictional character biography

Billy Russo was a professional criminal and brutal assassin for the Maggia crime family, nicknamed "the Beaut" because of his good looks. He was also a favorite assassin for the Costa crime family. After the execution-style killings that inadvertently led to the deaths of Frank Castle's family, Russo was hired by Bruno Costa to assassinate another assassin who had failed to kill Frank Castle as well. Russo kills all of his targets but Castle, who narrowly avoids death in an explosion. Hours later, Castle returns and tracks down Russo to one of the Maggia's nightclubs. Several criminals were killed, and Russo was thrown through a glass pane head-first. He survives with his face torn to shreds; surgeons stitch it back together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Taking advantage of his now hideous visage, the formerly handsome gangster took on the identity of Jigsaw, and initially attempts to frame the Punisher for murder. However, the plan failed due to the intervention of Spider-Man and Nightcrawler; Spider-Man witnesses one of Jigsaw's murders and one of his victims was an old friend of Nightcrawler. [ "The Amazing Spider-Man" #162 ] Jigsaw later battled Spider-Man again. ["Amazing Spider-Man" #188]

It is revealed in the first Punisher miniseries that Jigsaw was behind a plan to drug the Punisher, causing his enemy to behave erratically and attack any criminals, even for things as minor as littering. Jigsaw also attempts to kill the Punisher in prison. ["Punisher" Vol. 1 #1] The Punisher confronts and defeats him, and later stops Jigsaw from escaping in a prison riot. Later on in the series, Jigsaw is brainwashed by the Trust into serving as a member of a Punisher-style assassination squad. He manages to remember who he is after encountering Castle once again, and attacks the Punisher, but is once again beaten.

Jigsaw becomes involved with a demon worshipper, Reverend Samuel Smith, whom Jigsaw refers to as 'the Rev'. Based on healing demonstrations, the Rev convinces Jigsaw to work for him in exchange for healing his face. ["Punisher" #35] Jigsaw follows the man on a home invasion/murder spree, and then kills several cops on the way out; Jigsaw would continue to work for the Rev for some time. When the Rev finally did heal Jigsaw's face, Jigsaw was killed at the hands of the Punisher ["Punisher" #39] He was subsequently resurrected by the Rev and his master, Lucifer (actually Belasco). He battled the Punisher and his face was ruined again when the Punisher pushes him face down into an aloe plant ["Punisher" #40]

Jigsaw has been a persistent foe of the Punisher's for years. While he still works as an assassin for criminal organizations, his pursuit of the Punisher is relentless, as Jigsaw sees Castle's assassination as an unfinished job. The deranged gangster's vendetta once took a bizarre turn when the Punisher faked his death by appearing to be executed in prison. Furious with rage, Jigsaw briefly became a new Punisher, getting revenge on Castle's apparent killers for denying him the kill he believes to be rightfully his.

Jigsaw was one of many villains to break out of the Raft, a floating prison for supervillains and other high-risk criminals. Once freed, Jigsaw fought and was defeated by Tigra. This humiliating defeat led to his forming an alliance with the self-proclaimed "super-villain Kingpin" the Hood; together the two joined forces to brutally torture the super-heroine Tigra, which Jigsaw recorded with a video camera. ["New Avengers #35"]

Jigsaw has resumed his vendetta against the Punisher, in the pages of "Punisher: War Journal". Now wearing a color-inverted mockup of the Punisher costume, Jigsaw arranged for the brainwashing of a young auxiliary police officer in the NYPD. Exploiting the naive cop's pathological "hero-worship" complex, Jigsaw and his new psychiatrist girlfriend turn the young man into a new version of the Punisher.

After a battle on the Brooklyn Bridge where the Punisher once again spares Jigsaw's life, Jigsaw is taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. While imprisoned he is seemingly shot dead by the man that he and his girlfriend (who was actually undercover S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Lynn Michaels) had brainwashed.

Powers and abilities

Jigsaw is an athletic man with no superhuman powers. He has extensive experience with street-fighting techniques, and familiarity with a variety of weapons and criminal techniques. He carries various handguns as needed. He has been known to wear a special exo-skeleton in his outfits.

Other versions

2099

Jigsaw 2099, originally known as Multi-Fractor, is a fictional villain in Marvel Comics' "Marvel 2099" imprint. He is an enforcer for the Cyber Nostra, the main crime organisation of 2099 New York. He was a recurring villain in "The Punisher 2099" and was created by Pat Mills and Tony Skinner.

In one incident, corrupt police officers set Multi-Fractor against Punisher for the enjoyment value. The Punisher believes he has killed the villain. The police officers die under the control of Punisher's ally Axel Stone.

Captured by rogue military officers, his body is augmented with a cybernetic shell and a gorilla arm. The arm itself was put on backwards but kept that way on the whim of the soldiers. Fractor escapes, killing most of his tormentors. He was later assaulted by youths with a deliberately malfunctioning teleportation unit, causing his body to look even more like patchwork.

Elseworlds

Jigsaw also appeared in both "Elseworlds" Batman/Punisher crossover books. In the first crossover, Jigsaw allies with the Joker and they both fight Punisher and Azbat. In the second crossover, Jigsaw returns to Gotham City and allies with Joker once again, undergoing facial reconstruction surgery. His facial restoration is relatively short, however, as Punisher disfigures him once more with a Frag Grenade (notable is that Jigsaw's character is closer to that of Two-Face, though likely paired with Joker instead to avoid such comparisons). Interestingly he is the only Marvel character to be directly referenced in an in-continuity DC book, during the KnightSaga Jean Paul Valley, who replaced Bruce Wayne as Batman, references his battle with Jigsaw during a mental hallucination. [ "Batman" #509 ]

MAX Imprint

Jigsaw will appear in the uncoming stoylines "GIRLS IN WHITE DRESSES" written by Gregg Hurwitz.Fact|date=September 2008

In other media

Film

Dominic West has been confirmed for the part of Jigsaw in the upcoming Punisher movie," ", though the character's real name has been changed slightly to Billy Russoti. [ [http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ib429a97580f60ae29d95ad64fd083514 Trio paged for �Punisher� roles ] ]

Video games

Jigsaw appears as the final boss of "The Punisher" video game for the Game Boy, replacing the Kingpin, who was the last character fought in the original NES version of the game. He also appears in the Capcom arcade game as a sub-boss in the final stage prior to the final confrontation with the Kingpin, where he is a head swap of "Gaullee", a secondary enemy character in the game armed with an M16 rifle. Unlike the other bosses, he has no lines of dialogue.

A character based upon Jigsaw also appeared in the 2005 Punisher video game, but with an origin that ties directly into the 2004 Punisher film. In this version, Jigsaw is John Saint, the son of Howard Saint, the film's primary antagonist and the man responsible for the death of Frank Castle's family. The explosion at the end of the film did not kill him, but, similar to Marvel Comics' Jigsaw, sends him through a window, disfiguring his face. Using the name Jigsaw, he takes up his father's old business, vowing revenge on the Punisher. He is the final boss of the game. After defeating Jigsaw, a cutscene is shown where The Punisher seemingly kills Jigsaw by throwing him out of a helicopter which was in flight.

Jigsaw will be making an appearance in the upcoming "Punisher: No Mercy" video game for Playstation Network and downloadable for Playstation 3. He will be one of many playable villains for the upcoming game.Fact|date=September 2008

Toys

In 2006, Jigsaw was announced as one of the figures in the second wave of the Marvel Legends Face Off series. He is paired with the Punisher, and come in two versions, a business suit and a Punisher costume. The two-pack was released in December, 2006. [ [http://www.oafe.net/monkey/mlfo2_pj.php OAFE - ML Face-Off: Punisher/Jigsaw review ] ]

In 2008, Punisher minimates boxset was announced, that is based off the upcoming movie "Punisher War Zone". One of the boxset features the Punisher, Jigsaw, Looney Bin Jim and a Mob Thug. The toys also comes with mini weapons. They are sculpted and designed by Art Asylum and feature 14 points of articulation as well as accessories from the upcoming film.Fact|date=October 2008

References

External links

* [http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/jigsawpu.htm Jigsaw at marvunapp.com]
*http://marvel.com/universe/Jigsaw