[5][6][7][8] It was written by Gerry Conway and drawn by artist Ross Andru with a cover by Gil Kane and John Romita Sr.[a] which has been homaged, copied, and parodied multiple times.

In other countries the comic was first published in 1974 in Canada; in June 1974 in Brazil; September 24, 1974 in Mexico; 1975 in the Netherlands; January 14, 1976 in Italy; 1978 in Colombia; August 1978 in Greece; February 1979 in Germany; November 29, 1979 in Sweden; December 4, 1979 in Norway; December 1980 in Spain; June 3 1993 in Denmark; November 2006 in France.

While at ESU, Miles Warren has sought out Mary Jane Watson to see if she can pass along an apology to Peter over their brief run-in while he was trying to get help for her when the Vulture had captured her.

[28] Greg Turner of Back to the Past stated in his review that as far as an introduction goes, it was good for the Punisher and that it was no surprise that the character showed up soon again in issue #134, since he proved very popular.

[29] Todd Frye, the author of the book Marvelous Mythology, asserted that the Punisher was unusual even as a super-villain at the time, stating that the character's willingness to kill with conventional military weaponry, as opposed to using technological sci-fi gadgets which instead stunned the hero like most antagonists, was something new.

[17] Kenny Coburn of ComicVerse expressed that from reading the issue one gets a good grip about the Punisher's philosophy on killing and his code of conduct which is bonded with a strict moral code, which according to Coburn clearly indicates that the character was meant to be sympathetic from the beginning, in contrast to most of Spider-Man's villains who were introduced at the time.

It's this type of dark brooding that makes it easy to see why the Punisher didn't fit in after his initial debut, especially juxtaposed against Spider-Man's bright colors and constant quips.

"[30] In difference from Coburn, Mark Ginocchio, the author of 100 Things Spider-Man Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die believes that the Punisher's success as a character was mostly an accident and that the main focus of the story and the character that was introduced and meant to be a major player for the Marvel Universe was the Jackal.

During that time, the Punisher was one of Marvel Comics' most profitable and well-known characters and remains integral to the company in recent years, with his skull insignia being an iconic symbol.

[59] The record sale of a copy on the popular website sellmycomicbooks.com was for $5,000 (over a $1,000 more than the second-most valuable issue; #121 the Death of Gwen Stacy) and it has an absolute minimum value of $100 in bad condition on the site.

[60] The website also estimated that a 6.0-graded copy is worth between $250 and $275 and that it is major comic book Bronze Age key issue and a must have for any Spider-Man collector.

[76][77][78] In 2015 David Tosh, author of Picker's Pocket Guide Comic Books: How to Pick Antiques Like a Pro estimated that higher-grade copies could go for almost $15,000.

[79] In 2017 Verdict estimated that it was the ninth-most valuable comic to come out of the Bronze Age, with a minimum price of $100 for an original printing.

[80] Sales of the issue increased in the late 2010s due to the popularity of the Punisher incarnation depicted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.