ASSASSINS GUILDASSASSINS GUILD
MEMBERSHIP: Daryl, Masumi, Reiko, others; unnamed leader
PURPOSE: Business and profit through assassination for hire.
AFFILIATIONS: brief alliance with the Punisher (Frank Castle)
ENEMIES: Robert Abbey,
Castillo, D. Marro Levy, Mr. DiTomassio, Richard Fletcher,
Platzer;
almost anyone they are hired to kill
BASE of OPERATIONS:
The Thousand Autumns Restaurant, Manhattan (Lower East Side), New
York
FIRST APPEARANCE: Marvel Graphic Novel: Punisher: Assassins' Guild (1988)
HISTORY: The origins of the Assassins
Guild is unknown, but they have been operating out of New York
City for a long period of time. Some of the members have
had family in the Guild for several generations. The unnamed
leader has several steady agents, who often have one or more
understudies who work under their guidance until being promoted
to full membership status.
Those wishing to hire them come to the
restaurant and pass the name to the leader of the Guild.
The leader names the price, then allows the members to bid for
the contract. The low bid gets the contract, while the remainder
of the price goes to the Guild itself.
The Thousand Autumns is a real restaurant as
well, specializing in sushi and other Japanese food, and is quite
lucrative.
(Marvel Graphic Novel: Punisher: Assassins' Guild (fb) - BTS) - Reiko assassinated Platzer & Castillo, a pair of rapists set free by the courts. She arranged things to make it appear as a simple mugging by leaving their bodies and taking their wallets.
(Marvel Graphic Novel: Punisher: Assassins' Guild) - Masumi assassinated Mr. DiTomassio (the unscrupulous lawyer of Platzer & Castillo), but was chided for his lack of discretion: He did it at the Thousand Autumns Restaurant, though he did have the details taken care of so that no connection was made to the Guild. The Guild then bid on a contract for realtor D. Marro Levy, which Daryl accepted for $13,000.
A Mr. Williams--a loyal patron of the regular restaurant--hired the Guild to take out Robert Abbey, who was in the business of employing young criminals and keeping them out of trouble. One of Abbey's employees, Kevin Reynolds, had killed his daughter, Cathy Williams. Reiko accepted the contract for a mere $300, as she had been a friend of Cathy's. The Punisher, who had killed Kevin Reynolds and was tracking Abbey, recognized Reiko's face after running into her during the course of his investigation. Reiko recognized Castle as well, and they both pretended that each didn't know the other and began a romantic relationship, primarily to keep tabs on each other. The two continued their investigations separately until Reiko's cousin and understudy, Masumi, slew Abbey just as the Punisher was getting info on the real head of the outfit, Richard Fletcher.
With this, Castle confronted Reiko, and they both dropped the act. The Punisher and the Guild agreed to work together on this operation to take down Fletcher. Masumi scouted out Fletcher's maximum security headquarters and arranged a way in for he, Reiko, and the Punisher. The three of them took out Fletcher's operatives and made their way towards Fletcher himself, but the young Masumi got too greedy and tried to take one to many of Fletcher's agents. Masumi was shot in the arm and captured. Fletcher tried force info out of Masumi, but he broke free and set off a grenade that destroyed the building's main power. Masumi paid for his actions by taking multiple shots to the chest and abdomen.
As the Punisher and Reiko closed in on Fletcher, his men held them off so he could make it inside his bulletproof panel to await the arrival of the police. However, Masumi forced himself to his feet and grabbed Fletcher, preventing him from clsoing the panel. Knowing he was dying, Masumi told the Punisher to shoot through him to get Fletcher, which he did.
A short time later, Kevin Reynold's father commissioned the Guild to kill the Punisher for killing his son. The Guild refused the offer. The Punisher, meanwhile, mused to himself that if he knew for sure that an Assassins Guild was operating somewhere in Manhattan he'd have to make it his business to shut them down. Fortunately, he thought, he knew of know such thing. Case closed.
COMMENTS: Created by Jo Duffy and Jorge Zaffino.
The cover and first page both have the title "Assassin's Guild." In the first story page's disclaimer info, it's "Assassins' Guild." I think I've also seen it as "Assassins Guild." Take your pick.
One quick pet peeve. Graphic Novels are the
magazine sized books that are usually new material. Graphic
albums are comic book size, usually longer in content, with
prestige format type cardboard stock covers. These are usually
new material also. Trade Paperbacks are collections of stories,
with the same physical make-up Graphic Albums, in general.
Nowadays, a lot of dealers call Trade Paperbacks Graphic Novels.
When you go looking for Graphic Novels, you find a bunch of
unwanted reprints.
ok...maybe not that quick of one...
CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:
Reiko has no known connection to:
The eager cousin and understudy of Reiko. He was clever and talented, but he failed to learn the lesson Reiko had told him: Overconfidence is the single biggest killer of assassins. He devised an electrical weapon with which he slew Mr. DiTomassio. He also killed Robert Abbey, but unwittingly did so just as he was in the process of giving information on his boss--Richard Fletcher. He successfully mapped out the security system of Fletcher allowing them to get access to him, but his overconfidence proved his undoing and he was captured. Rather than giving in to torture, Masumi redeemed himself by sacrificing his life to take out the building's main power grid. With his last bit of life, he stopped Fletcher from escaping to safety, encouraging the Punisher to shoot through him to stop him.
--Marvel Graphic Novel: Punisher: Assassins' Guild
Coming from a long line of
assassins, Reiko took the assignment against Abbey after one of
his employees killed a friend of hers. She pretended not to
recognize the Punisher in his guise of James Maxwell--just as he
pretended not to know she was in the Guild--so that they could
work separately on the same case. She even shared a romantic
relationship, which they both enjoyed. Ultimately they had to
stop pretending when Castle confronted her after Masumi
slew Abbey. The two then worked together to take down Fletcher,
though Masumi was killed in the effort.
Reiko and Masumi's relationship came to an end
after this, but they both remembered their time together fondly.
--Marvel Graphic Novel: Punisher: Assassins' Guild
The master of the Guild
--Marvel Graphic Novel: Punisher: Assassins' Guild
All unnamed, they were skilled assassins.
--Marvel Graphic Novel: Punisher: Assassins' Guild
Last updated: 09/02/03.
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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