Billy Russo was born to a poor
Italian-American family, kicked out and abandoned as an orphan by his abusive father at the age of ten, and went on to become a
hitman for
New York's
Italian criminal underworld, where his good looks garnered him the nickname "Billy the Beaut". He married a woman named Susan, and would beat both her and their son,
Henry, once forcing Henry to drown his pet cat's kittens by threatening to shoot Susan. Hours later, Frank, now the vigilante
Punisher, tracks Russo down to a
Maggia nightclub. He guns down all of Russo's men, but leaves him alive to send a message to organized crime after knocking him through a glass window pane, an act that reduces Russo's face to a
jigsaw puzzle-like mess of scars. Jigsaw later battled Spider-Man again. 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 anyone he perceived as a criminal, even for something as minor as littering. Jigsaw also attempts to kill the Punisher while he is incarcerated. The Punisher confronts and defeats him, and later stops Jigsaw from escaping under cover of a prison riot. Later in the series, Jigsaw is brainwashed by the Trust into serving as a member of a Punisher-style assassination squad. He manages to remember whom he is after encountering Castle once again, and attacks the Punisher, only to be defeated once more. Jigsaw is broken out of Ryker's Island by the
Rev, who has him supervise the importation of a sterility-inducing
Venezuelan drug intended for testing on the people of New York City. When the drug shipment is destroyed by the Punisher, Jigsaw sics a street gang on him, and flees to Venezuela with the Rev. After Jigsaw's face is healed by the Rev's powers, he is shot by the Punisher, but resurrected by the Rev, with the assistance of
Belasco. Jigsaw's restored face is destroyed, and he is left for dead in the jungle in a later battle with the Punisher. Jigsaw recovers, and subsequently attempts to illegally reenter the United States, but is arrested and returned to Ryker's Island. When the Punisher is captured by the authorities and sent to same prison, Jigsaw tries to kill him, but the Punisher survives and escapes from Ryker's. After the Punisher is arrested and sentenced to death for countless murders, Jigsaw dons a stylized copy of his costume and embarks on a homicidal rampage, targeting all those connected to the execution. When the Punisher is revealed to still be alive, an overjoyed Jigsaw attempts to kill him, but the Punisher overpowers him with the assistance of
Daredevil. Jigsaw later partners with various syndicates to lay siege to the estate of the Geraci crime family after learning that Punisher has been forced to become their new
underboss. Jigsaw and his allies abduct the Geracis, but they are saved by the Punisher, who shoots Jigsaw in the head. Jigsaw next establishes a
gunrunning operation, which is broken up by Daredevil and
Black Widow. When his attempt at negotiating with Daredevil (who had declared himself the new
Kingpin) fails, Jigsaw seeks revenge by breaking into Daredevil's home, where he is subdued by Black Widow. Jigsaw is remanded to the
Raft, an island supervillain prison, which he escapes from (breaking Spider-Man's arm in the process) when the facility is attacked by
Electro. Once free, Jigsaw tries to rob a bank, but is beaten by
Tigra. This humiliation leads to his forming an alliance with the self-proclaimed "super-villain Kingpin" the
Hood; together, Jigsaw and the Hood film themselves threatening and torturing Tigra. 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 arranges 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. Jigsaw survived the attempt on his life, and was transferred to a "reprogramming asylum" by
H.A.M.M.E.R. He returns to the Hood's gang in
Secret Invasion to assist in fending off the invading
Skrulls, and rejoins again in
Dark Reign to help attack the
New Avengers.
Punisher Vol. 12 In the fallout from the "
Secret Empire" event, Punisher is captured by Nick Fury and handed over to
Baron Zemo, who's eager to exact punishment on the vigilante for targeting Hydra. Jigsaw accompanies Zemo in
Bagalia, acting as one of the Baron's operatives. Zemo's plans to publicly execute Frank Castle in Bagalia go wrong and Jigsaw is dispatched to re-capture Castle. Commanding Zemo's Hydra agents, Jigsaw ultimately kills Sister Mercy, a nun Frank befriended in Bagalia's prison. Both Zemo and Castle ultimately escape Bagalia and Jigsaw then appears in NYC, where he is presented as a disguised member of Zemo's
Thunderbolts. Jigsaw clashes with Thunderbolts veteran
Moonstone while holed up with the rest of the team, but when the Thunderbolts do battle with Punisher's squad of allied heroes, Jigsaw intervenes to save Zemo, allowing the Thunderbolts to escape with a hostage.
Death Sometime after the Punisher becomes leader of the
Hand, Jigsaw and other criminals group together to kill him. During an explosion, Jigsaw attacks the Punisher to finally kill him once and for all. However, the Punisher gains the upper hand and stabs Jigsaw in the throat with a sword, killing him instead. ==Powers and abilities==