The man behind the comic book anti-hero, The Punisher, recently gave an interview to SYFY.com in which he put police on blast for continuing to use his skull logo. Conway’s call for Black Lives Matter-themed Punisher art is not the first time that the writer has spoken out against the police’s appropriation of the character. According to Conway, The Punisher’s character, Frank Castle, represents a failure of the system not a symbol of it. //and we can just return here. var ctx = this; }; 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. document.body.appendChild(script); It is reasonable to suggest, therefore, that the adoption of a vigilante killer’s logo (who murders with impunity and without consequence) could worsen and entrench this already extant pattern. In fact, in 2014, when the Blue Lives Matter movement arose in response to Black Lives Matter movement, the Punisher logo was adopted by this camp. + '
' if (!window.jQuery) loadJQuery(); var c = ca[i]; while (i--) { checkCookies(); Punisher clothing from the Thin Blue Line company. To me, it’s disturbing whenever I see authority figures embracing Punisher iconography because the Punisher represents a failure of the Justice system. // Show email validation error and hide other errors Can anyone explain the skull? var ca = document.cookie.split(';'); + '<\/div>' $email.focus(); }, var $email = $form.find('.signup-email'); In more recent years, the Punisher skull has been adopted by pro-police Blue Lives Matter protestors, who have used the skull along with the Thin Blue Line flag, which is used to show support for law enforcement. $modal.find('.form-row').hide(); The actor from the Netflix series of The Punisher, Jon Bernthal, agrees. var expires = "expires="+d.toUTCString(); If Disney and Marvel really want to make a big gesture right now (besides committing $100 million to causes instead of 5), they could immediately demand police stop using the Punisher logo ⦠regex: { // Add animation css 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. //hide form fields and show thank-you message } if (o[this.name]) { The co-creator of the Punisher, Marvel’s murderously violent vigilante crimefighter, is calling on comic-book artists to create artworks reclaiming the character’s famous skull logo in the name of the Black Lives Matter movement. When asked by the citizens of Solvay to remove the symbol of criminality and violence from their vehicles, the department refused. The Punisher, The Skull and Police Officers. The department claimed that The Punisher logo on their vehicles represented “unity and support of police.” This couldn’t be further from the truth. h = Math.max(document.documentElement.clientHeight, window.innerHeight || 0), }, You don’t do what I do. The use of the Punisher as an avatar by local police departments and other law enforcement agencies may also worsen the well-documented psychological phenomenon where police are faster to shoot African-Americans than they are whites. type: $form.attr('method'), See more ideas about punisher, punisher logo, punisher skull. if (window.jQuery) { crossDomain: true, $('body').on( 'click', '.close-signup', function(){ In the course of time, though, he was made more attractive and eventually became quite a sympathetic and popular antihero.Apart from just making the Punisher instantly recognizable, the deathâs head skull emblem serves other purposes, too. The irony is truly awe inspiring and serves as a litmus test for the current state of policing in the land of the free. setNewsletterCookie('closedSignupBar', 1); }); + '<\/div>' // Focus on the email input box script.crossorigin = "anonymous"; if (!found) { } addCss('https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/4.7.0/css/font-awesome.min.css'); Of course, Castle’s extreme crimefighting methods also make his logo a strange fit for the Black Lives Matter—which Conway is quick to acknowledge. $modal.addClass( $modal.hasClass('slideInUp') ? “I’m looking for young comic book artists of color who’d like to participate in a small fundraising project for #BLM to reclaim the Punisher skull as a symbol of justice rather than lawless police oppression,” wrote Conway on Twitter. As far as I’m concerned, I think for so long now we’ve really gone through this thing in this country where a certain element has a stronghold and a monopoly on what it means to be strong or tough or masculine or patriotic, for that matter. appendNewsletterSignup(); expiration_days: 14 }, 7500); document.cookie = prefix + cname + "=" + cvalue + ";" + expires + ";path=/"; ©2020 Artnet Worldwide Corporation. return numDays * 24 * 60; Cops in Solvay, NY didn’t just place the stickers on their personal vehicles either. + 'Thank you for subscribing!' + '
' Police Chief Cameron Logan noted that "that decal represents that we will take any means necessary to ⦠+ '<\/div>' } return c.substring(name.length,c.length); '