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Ma Gnucci
Ma Gnucci. Art by Steve Dillon.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	The Punisher (vol. 3) #4 (July 2000)
Created by	Garth Ennis Steve Dillon
In-story information
Alter ego	Isabella Carmela Magdelena Gnucci
Team affiliations	Gnucci Crime Family

Isabella Carmela Magdelena "Ma" Gnucci is a fictional villain from the Punisher comics. She was created by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, and appears in the "Welcome Back, Frank" storyline.

[edit] Fictional character history

Ma is the matriarch of the Gnucci Crime Family, a Mafia-like group that appears to have majority control of illegal activities in New York. As such, she has subtle control over both the mayor and the police commissioner. Other members of the Family include Ma's brother, Dino and her three sons- Eddie, Bobbie and Carlo.

As the "Welcome Back" story begins, Frank Castle is seen killing Ma's sons in order to re-announce his presence to the New York underworld. Ma hires a number of vigilantes to try and eliminate Punisher out of vengeance, but The Punisher outsmarts all of them and takes the money Ma offered as a down payment. Frank intends to "wear down Ma's defenses" before actually killing her, thus he spends the next several weeks attacking Gnucci soldiers.

Finally, Frank guns down Ma's brother Dino after a run-in with Matt Murdock. The very next night, Ma and a few of her remaining soldiers find Frank Castle outside the Central Park Zoo. Despite being outnumbered and virtually unarmed, Frank manages to fight them off, killing all the soldiers and feeding Ma to a pack of polar bears.

Ten days later, Ma is still alive, having lost both arms and legs while being horribly scarred. Understandably, she is much more disturbed. When one of her cousins asks her "how she is" after her mauling, she orders one of her men to shoot her cousin. When that man hesitates, she orders another man to shoot her cousin and the first man. When that man hesitates, she orders a third man to shoot her cousin and the first two, and so on until three of her men and her cousin lie dead at her non-existent feet. She puts out a $10 million bounty on the Punisher's head, and contacts the Russian in order to ensure Frank Castle's defeat.

When The Russian arrives, Ma sends him to the Punisher's reported hideout. In the meantime, Ma is informed that she will not receive any more help in fighting Frank Castle, who has killed 80 of her soldiers in less than 2 weeks. Anticipating victory, Ma is shocked to see Frank appear on her front lawn holding The Russian's head. The remainder of her soldiers throw down their guns and leave, saying that she "can't pay us enough to fight that."

Frank then burns the Gnucci house to the ground (after raiding a safe and stealing some of Ma's money and secret documents) with Ma inside. Six years later, it appears that Ma Gnucci has mysteriously come back from the dead. However, her mysterious resurrection is revealed to be part of a master plan of revenge against the Punisher; masterminded by the son of the deceased high-society vigilante, Elite.

[edit] Inheritance

Ma Gnucci's nephew Peter realizes he stands to inherit Ma's money, if the Punisher dies. He hires Deadpool to do this. When it is falsely assumed the Punisher is dead, Peter acquires his money in the form of a check. He loses it in traffic. By the time he realizes he can ask the bank for a new one, it is too late. A truck bounces him out of the road, to impale him on the Wall Street Bull statue.

[edit] Other media

[edit] Video games

• Ma Gnucci is one of the villains in the 2005 Punisher video game. The general plot of Welcome Back, Frank remains the same (right down to the home burning down), but the polar bear attack is not included. Instead, Ma is thrown through her mansion's top floor window after Frank fights his way through her remaining men and the mercenary Bushwacker.

[edit] External links

• Ma Gnucci at marvunapp