Punisher T-Shirts

Punisher Profile

The Punisher is Marvel’s most dangerous hero. Although he possesses no special abilities beyond those of a highly trained and motivated soldier, his ruthless commitment to a war on crime has turned his life into an endless, bloody battle. While other Marvel heroes generally kill with the utmost reluctance, The Punisher positively relishes his role as an executioner. The gigantic skull emblazoned on the front of his black costume sums up his public persona.

Writer Gerry Conway and art director John Romita first conceived The Punisher as a grim gunman, and when he first appeared in 1974 the character was an assassin for hire, albeit on who would only eliminate criminals. The idea for killing for cash was dropped almost immediately, however, and The Punisher was transformed into a crusader motivated by revenge, although he was not above pocketing the ill-gotten gains of his victims. His wife and children had been murdered after accidentally witnessing a gangland execution, so he wrecked vengeance on the brutal perpetrators and has subsequently stalked all lawbreakers. Outwardly he is stoic, but beneath the surface he is tortured by the guilt of a survivor. Yet there are also hints that his loss may have been a blessing in disguise, that he was born for his job and could not be happy without it.

Despite his obsession, The Punisher is in some ways a very practical man, and much of his appeal is based on his use of authentic weapons and technology. The disturbing hero is one of the most convincing in comic books, and hardware is part of his charm. His no-nonsense attitude challenges psychological and sociological excuses for evil: he just finds bad guys and shoots them. Although in some respects The Punisher is a throwback to the pitiless heroes of the old pulp magazines, he is also a symptom of our times, or perhaps a commentary on how we see ourselves today. Captain America came wrapped in Old Glory, but The Punisher’s costume appears to be made out of a pirate’s flag.

The Big Gun

While Marvel’s attempts to invent new heroes didn’t really work out, a character came in through the back door who was destined to emerge as one of the hottest heroes of the 1980’s. His name was The Punisher.

Gerry Conway, who had taken over from Stan Lee as Spider-Man’s writer, says, “I wanted to do a dark, street-tough kind of opponent for Spider-Man. I came up with the character, took it to Roy, and we decided to do it. John Romita [Sr.] developed the costume. My original sketch was of a guy in a black jumpsuit with a little white skull on his chest, and John did a wonderful thing where he took the skull, made it huge, and made the teeth of the skull form a cartridge belt. It looked terrific.”

When The Punisher first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 (February 1974), Ross Andru drew the character’s craggy, scowling features and sent him out with a concussion rifle to kill Spidey. Acting under the misapprehension that Spider-Man was a criminal, The Punisher relents upon realizing the truth, but vows to continue his vigilante mission of eradicating felons. “Something tells me,” says Spidey, “that man’s got problems that make mine look like a birthday party.”

The Punisher began making further guest appearances almost immediately. He acquired a name and an origin: he was Frank Castle, an ex-Marine who transformed himself into a one-man army after his family was slaughtered by thugs. He was grim and brutal, and the fans loved him.

“From the moment I wrote him,” Conway says, I thought he would be a star character. Every time he appeared in a Spider-Man book, it sold well. But he had no super powers, and at that time there was a strong feeling that a character without super powers couldn’t carry his own book. The other feeling was that The Punisher was so violent that we couldn’t really give him a regular color comic book.” It would take a new decade with a new attitude toward crime, to elevate the vengeful Punisher to his full commercial potential. “I was years ahead of my time,” says Conway with a laugh.

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Five Fabulous Decades of the worlds greatest comics, MARVEL. By Les Daniels, published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc NY. A Times Mirror Co. p. 163-165.