Bill Mantlo had effectively written the Punisher into comic book limbo during his Spectacular Spider-Man run, sending a delusional Punisher to prison, ranting all the way. This was surprising because, by the mid-1980s, the Punisher had become a relatively minor character at Marvel. If you were to pinpoint the first turning point in the Punisher's popularity as a symbol, it would likely be when Mike Zeck, fresh off his best-selling stint on Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars, agreed to join a pitch to Marvel for a Punisher miniseries. RELATED: Police Union Asks Officers to Post Punisher Logo, Twitter Claps Back
The symbol today has been controversially adopted by police officers, military servicemen (from all over the world) and even politicians. A former Marine, the Punisher pursues his own brand of justice, murdering criminals that he believes live "outside the law." The trick, of course, is that while the Punisher was introduced as an opponent of Spider-Man (with the Punisher being tricked into believing Spider-Man murdered Norman Osborn), he quickly started being used as a protagonist in his own stories (his first solo story debuted less than two years after Amazing Spider-Man #129).Īs his status as a lead character grew, so, too, did the interest in his brilliantly-designed logo grow (initially sketched by Conway himself and then further developed by Marvel's Art Director, John Romita, into the iconic logo we know today). What do you think of police use of the Punisher's symbol? Let us know in the comments.Ever since Gerry Conway, Ross Andru, Frank Giacoia and Dave Hunt introduced the Punisher in Amazing Spider-Man #129 in 1973, the Punisher had been one of the most controversial characters in comics. If an officer of the law, representing the justice system puts a criminal's symbol on his police car, or shares challenge coins honoring a criminal he or she is making a very ill-advised statement about their understanding of the law." My point of view is, the Punisher is an anti-hero, someone we might root for while remembering he's also an outlaw and criminal. In a way, it's as offensive as putting a Confederate flag on a government building. Police should not be embracing a criminal as their symbol. Whether you think the Punisher is justified or not, whether you admire his code of ethics, he is an outlaw. "The vigilante anti-hero is fundamentally a critique of the justice system, an example of social failure, so when cops put Punisher skulls on their cars or members of the military wear Punisher skull patches, they're basically sides with an enemy of the system.
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