With Marvel series being cancelled left and right by Netflix one of the last standing is The Punisher starring Jon Bernthal, Ben Barnes and Amber Rose Revah which will releases it’s second season today. Many series fans enjoy Frank Castle’s vigilante antics as he punishes crime with extreme violence. So much is the admiration of the character’s sense of justice that many law enforcement and military groups have often embraced the Punisher’s symbol. This is something that the co-creator of the character, Gerry Conway is completely against.

In an interview with SYFYWire, Conway says that, “it’s disturbing whenever I see authority figures embracing Punisher iconography because the Punisher represents a failure of the Justice system. He’s supposed to indict the collapse of social moral authority and the reality some people can’t depend on institutions like the police or the military to act in a just and capable way.”

“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. They are embracing an outlaw mentality. Whether you think the Punisher is justified or not, whether you admire his code of ethics, he is an outlaw. He is a criminal. Police should not be embracing a criminal as their symbol.” Conway continued.

He wraps up the question by making a very interesting comparison, “In a way, it’s as offensive as putting a Confederate flag on a government building. 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. 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.”

During the interview he had also talked about the fact that the Punisher was originally made to be a villain not an anti-hero. He makes a very good point about the fact that Frank Castle in reality is a criminal, someone who law enforcement would have to arrest and bring to justice. That by wearing his symbol they are promoting a form of justice that falls outside of the law that they have sworn to defend.

The Punisher is one of many characters that Conway has helped create which include Power Girl, Killer Croc, Jason Todd, Firestorm, Dracula, Tarantula and Mockingbird. In his over fifty year career he has written almost every superhero including Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Thor, Hulk and Iron Man.

What do you think of Conway’s thoughts regarding law enforcement’s use of the Punisher symbol? Let us know in the comment section below!

Marvel’s The Punisher drops their second season on Netflix today!

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Source: SYFYWire