Why is the Punisher so appealing to the military and the police?

[jmc247]

That's fascinating. I'd be interested reading about an Iraqi soldier pretending to be the Punisher for a bit.

How a Marvel Comic Hero Became the Icon of the Fight Against ISIS

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

How a Marvel Comic Hero Became the Icon of the Fight Against ISIS

Thanks for the link but I meant in the Marvel universe than ours.

[clonegeek]

Bruh? Oh i better cut it out dont want to upset this one over here.

My entire family is military...bruh. Sorry I got type 1 diabetes at the age of 7. First thing I learned was militry does not allow me in. Then when I got older the cops did not like me either because I am a liability(which they are right). So instead I have worked in an emergency room for the last 25 years wearing a Punisher shirt every shift (I own 54 of them). Guess what everyone talks about with me? Yup your right bruhhhhhhhhhhhh. If that went over your head I will understand.

It also helps that the skull is just a cool logo to begin with. I do wonder how many people who use it really care about the character

[InfamousBG]

It also helps that the skull is just a cool logo to begin with. I do wonder how many people who use it really care about the character

The ones that use it usually go with the classic skull over the other skulls. They usually dont blast the skull with blue colors even red sometimes (yes I know Frank has used red skulls before). The real fans also do not fly a giant flags above their lifted trucks while wearing visors on a rainy day. I have a skull logo on my car. Have had it for years. It is the original skull. Most fools dont even know what the original skull looks like. Most fools dont even know what book Frank first appeared in.

You are right though the skull is a very cool logo. I have loved it for 42 years.

[9th.]

White guy vigilante fever dream, I thought everyone knew this. Look how many respawns of the same concept do we get In media...Dirty Harry, Silent rage, Walking tall. Original Equalizer. Need I say more. White dudes hate the system.

Yup it's pretty much just a weird mixture of this, a cool logo, and an unhealty obsession with guns. Also to add on to your original point, people LOVE the idea of taking things into their own hands.

[Midnight_v]

Bruh? Oh i better cut it out dont want to upset this one over here.

My entire family is military...bruh. Sorry I got type 1 diabetes at the age of 7. First thing I learned was militry does not allow me in. Then when I got older the cops did not like me either because I am a liability(which they are right). So instead I have worked in an emergency room for the last 25 years wearing a Punisher shirt every shift (I own 54 of them). Guess what everyone talks about with me? Yup your right bruhhhhhhhhhhhh. If that went over your head I will understand.

Thanks for the personal history statement, but it wasn't an attack against you. I wasn't trying to upset you or doubting your story I was talking about the methodology. Just commenting about things honesty doesn't make anyone upset... but I think if you haven't got the understanding of why some of these warrior types gravitate towards the punisher, or spartans or whatever, on some level its things that go over your head. Not because you're not capable but because its an experiences you haven't had so there's more that anyone one person in the group has to speak on.

[Huntsman Spider]

DCAU and the Amanda Waller/CADMUS plot NAILED this.

It's really hard for the public to TRUST "law enforcement" people who use fake names in public and have no legal jurisdiction. More so for the ACTUAL law enforcement and govt.

Adam West Batman worked because he DID actually work with the cops, and didn't oppose them. But as Waller rightfully pointed out.... there's a lot of trust that the world needs to put in the JL for the world to be cool with the JL having an orbital weapon platform capable of annihilating cities.

Valid points as well, though of course, somewhat ruined in terms of their legitimacy by Cadmus's attempts at a failsafe against a Justice League "gone rogue" that resulted in very morally repugnant actions on their part, not to mention that they were being played all along by their secret financial backer Lex Luthor. However, you're right in the sense that in the real world --- or a setting closer to it --- the general public, along with local, national, and/or even global authorities, would have understandable, if not even justifiable, fear of (seemingly) anonymous and therefore unaccountable costumed vigilantes, superpowered or not, going off across cities, nations, or even the planet as a whole imposing their idea of justice by and through force of violence.

[JT221]

My family is all military and my uncle and friends are cops. None of them would ever use the Punisher skull to represent them.

I have asked multiple cops if the Punisher logo represents them. They get offended each time I ask. "Cops are not killers or mass murderers".

So I can sort of see why LEOs would take issue with wearing the logo. And I can even see some soldiers with certain MOSs would probably frown on it. But a lot of combat soldiers used the image, at least while I was in. Popular in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

For people who have followed the character for a bit, I can understand if they did not like what the character turned into somewhere around the late 90s/early 2000s. Really moved away from a vigilante seeking justice to a man who was looking for revenge...and became much, much more brutal in the ways he delivered that vengeance. Frank made the turn into sadism right around then...and I personally did not find that turn for the better.

[skyvolt2000]

It also helps that the skull is just a cool logo to begin with. I do wonder how many people who use it really care about the character

That is marketing 101.

It's the same with the Charlotte Hornets-a story about how they top NBA sales for years. It was the color scheme that attracted them. Same with the Dallas Cowboys (I got a story on that), Bulls and Raiders. You have folks wearing the clothes and could NOT tell you a single thing or name a player (Maybe not in the Bulls case) on the team.

I bet there are more folks who could NOT tell you who Frank Castle is nor associate with that toxic group.

[JT221]

That is marketing 101.

It's the same with the Charlotte Hornets-a story about how they top NBA sales for years. It was the color scheme that attracted them. Same with the Dallas Cowboys (I got a story on that), Bulls and Raiders. You have folks wearing the clothes and could NOT tell you a single thing or name a player (Maybe not in the Bulls case) on the team.

I bet there are more folks who could NOT tell you who Frank Castle is nor associate with that toxic group.

What toxic group?

[InfamousBG]

Thanks for the personal history statement, but it wasn't an attack against you. I wasn't trying to upset you or doubting your story I was talking about the methodology. Just commenting about things honesty doesn't make anyone upset... but I think if you haven't got the understanding of why some of these warrior types gravitate towards the punisher, or spartans or whatever, on some level its things that go over your head. Not because you're not capable but because its an experiences you haven't had so there's more that anyone one person in the group has to speak on.

Q me in on the warrior types? If we are talking military or marines i understand that. What I do not understand is Mr lifted truck, mullet, 24 year old from Massachusetts having a skull or flag on the show for everyone to think he is representing Frank. He or they are not. I am. Me. A real Punisher fan. I dont even like guns. got my first gun when I was 10 years old. Did not want it but hey where I am from had to have it. Guns, FRanks guns belong in a comic book or novel or film. Thats just my take though. The morons throwing the blue skull flag is a joke. They have never even opened a comic or watched the films or animation or anything.

I get we live in a free country. I do. I am all for it. When you take a symbol that is not yours and turn it into hate...well that is exactly what the Nazis did.

[Refrax5]

Because he's a self righteous ex-military sociopath with no regard for due process or civil rights? I like the Punisher as a fictional character that you're very clearly not supposed to be rooting for, but people acting like he isn't a right wing power fantasy wet dream is fooling themselves. Why wouldn't cops love a guy that embodies extra judicial murder?

If you think Castle is heroic, you need to examine your soul.

He's cool in the way that Jason Voorhees or Hannibal Lecter is cool.

[Jely4me]

The Punisher is a symbol for the military to instill fear in the enemy. There are rules of engagement that we play by. The Taliban, ISIS and Vietnamese didn’t have any such rules. How’d that work out. Superior in every way except guerilla warfare. Afghanistan just proved that point with the REMF’S that fucked that withdrawal up and left our hardware in the hands of our enemies. Nice job Joe.

As to the police, the system fails us, and is broken. Too many deals and light sentences for the scum of the earth. Since 2019, that’s been totally relevant as seen through the scam that is BLM, and liberal white guilt, and ineptitude allowed the 570 riots, because no one wanted to play the heavy and crack skulls. I used to drive through that carnage aftermath to get to work on the daily. I live in a state, and near a metro area where murder and mayhem are rampant. The list of weekend shootings will be long again Monday morning. Pick a state where the Governor or the Mayor has a ‘D’ before their name. Crime stats speak for themselves. Baltimore, Oakland, what just happened in New York. The cesspool that is California. If Chicago doesn’t have 30+ shootings this weekend, I’ll eat my shoe. Too many milk kneed judges, prosecutors that virtue signal and don’t enforce laws. Cops are handcuffed and the criminals run the show. Look at the border. The fentanyl. The od’s. 99.9 % of law enforcement do their jobs. Clowns like that Chauvin, get what they deserve. America is on its own until we can re-establish law and order. Cleaned up streets puts Frank Castle out of business. I conceal/carry. Best thing I ever did.

[Agent Z]

The Punisher is a symbol for the military to instill fear in the enemy. There are rules of engagement that we play by.

In theory, sure. In practice, that's a different story.

[Agent Z]

The Punisher is a symbol for the military to instill fear in the enemy. There are rules of engagement that we play by.

In theory, sure. In practice, that's a different story.