Distribution: Previews (March '96), resolicited (April '97), SyCo First shipped: May '96, reprinted February '99

Issue quirks: The cover format and logo were modified after this issue, story goes 33 pages instead of 32, only issue to date with "suggested for mature readers" on it.

Issue Events: Nate gets beheaded, J.D. kills a punk, gets a black cape and saves a baby, baby is given to local farmers, J.D. kills a trucker, Ryder gets promoted to detective, J.D. blows up CNV chemical factory, Nate pin-up on back cover by Cornicelli, Note from the Author explains origin of comic.

Issue Synopsis: In prologue, Captain Kidd buries his treasure in the Jersey Pine Barrens and beheads one of his men (Nate) so his ghost will guard the treasure. Forward to 1992, a mysterious hermit, who thinks he's the Jersey Devil, rushes to the aid of a screaming woman in the woods. He is too late, her abductors (Ferro, Cory, Red) rape and kill her. Before they can kill her baby, J.D. kills Red and drives the other two away. State Troopers Vern and Ryder investigate the assault on behalf of Ferro and Cory, now in the hospital. J.D. leaves the baby with his pitbull, Arthur, while scouring the woods for food with the ghost pirate, Nate. He talks with Sam, a local farm boy, then goes off to fight a trucker who is dumping toxic waste in the woods. J.D. accidentally kills him, then decides to drive the waste back to the chemical company. Mayor Frantelli speaks to a gangster (Burbank) and its implied he has shady business dealings. On the way out of the Pine Barrens, he is spotted by the police, who have discovered the bodies of Red and the woman. A chase ensues, climaxing at the CNV chemical plant in Camden. The plant is destroyed, while J.D. and Arthur escape into Camden during the confusion.