after St. Louis police unions instructed officers to publicly display The Punisher’s insignia (the mark of a lawless, fascist murderer) the comic book community was quick to point out the stupidity, and the frankly horrifying message sent by supposed peace officers endorsing a maniac. So it’s a good thing The Punisher personally confirms he hates cops who see him as a friend… making every cop who “wears his mark” or calls themselves a “fan” look like shameful fool in the process.
– Andrew Dyce, The Punisher Confirms: He HATES Cops Who Support Him
If fascists could read they’d be very upset
They like him because they want to LARP as a reckless, vengeance seeking gunslinger who eliminates anyone who they feel has wronged them or who is “wrong”. As in so many other circumstances, they’ve missed the point and the intended message.
The ol’ Walter White/Rick Sanchez/Joker/Patrick Batemen “hes literally me fr fr” but for adult men doing an actual job. It’d be cringey if they weren’t in a position of authority.
Still pretty cringey tbh. The fact that there’s so many people (mostly white men) who run around fantasizing about gunning down people they disagree with is sad, and terrifying. It’s a whole subculture of violence obsessed gun nuts with a victim complex and low self esteem.
Rick & Morty this season really turned a corner with how they interpret Rick and how truly lonely/shitty his life can be because of his very serious personality flaws. Big fan of what they’re doing. Lots of self reflection on the show, more nuanced debates about rick and morty’s (toxic) relationship somehow despite how often it’s brought up, strong mirrors back on the audience. It’s strong stuff
Might have to give em another shot but i would need a strong episode to convince me after feeling let down by the writing. Do you have a favorite?
Idk I actually feel like they’ve seen exactly what the point is. You just have the occasional writer trying to morally absolve Frank for a few pages and then go right back to murdering with his super cool big guns
Hell let’s leave the comics for a second. Watch the opening of season 2 of the punisher on Netflix and tell me if that looks like any attempt at nuance/reflection on season 1 lol
The punisher is a murdering lawless maniac but I don’t think he’s a fascist, is he?
Punisher 2099 was fascist (Wouldn’t kill cops, and became part of Doom 2099’s regime when he took over America.) but Frank Castle Punisher (A.k.a. the one we know.)? Pretty much equal opportunity murderer of criminals and baddies.
I don’t think that makes him fascist, just a broken person with twisted morals attempting to do good (in his mind). IIRC, he makes no attempt to push his morals beyond himself.
In fact, doesn’t he specifically tell people not to be like him?? That’s very much NOT fascie behavior.
Idk, a lot of fascist ideology revolves around a single person being able to save society via strength and commitment. Instead of society being able to enact meaningful changes through the proper means, we need someone who can cut through the bureaucracy and just take out the “bad guys”.
Unfortunately a lot of western writing reinforces the belief that individual greatness can overcome even the most difficult situations. This isn’t saying that all western authors are fascist, rather that most of the stories we tell require a first person perspective for us to resonate with it.
This is why the most popular propaganda films in Nazi Germany weren’t films like triumph of the will, but instead were films like The Lives of a Bengal Lancer and Gabriel Over the Whitehouse.
I do remember this one future one-off comic where he killed a bunch of rich pricks and politicians who even had a small repopulation program going, because they were the ones responsible for armageddon.
Rather than let them live and continue humanity, he killed them all for the crime of destroying it. Then he walked into the fire, ending his own life.
I’m not a big comic guy but I thought then and now that that was the perfect punisher story.
He did the only thing he knew how to do, to kill. a thing that definitely helped no one except for himself, then with no one else to punish he burned literally in the fire he was consumed with all his life.
I haven’t actually read any Punisher, but it sounded more plausible than The Punisher being fascist
Red Skull, Dr. Doom, and Hatemonger II, though the first two weren’t mainline continuity.
A fascist is someone who supports a single strong leader with total control of the nation. ‘Dictator’ was an actual position in the Roman Republic; the people could vote to give one man absolute power for a period of time. Makes sense if you’re dealing with a natural disaster or invasion and don’t have time to go through the usual channels. Fascism became popular in the chaos of the post WW1 era. Things were changing rapidly, and conservatives wanted to rein in the ‘undesirables.’ Ironically, the Communist Russian Revolution was a huge spur to the creation of numerous fascist parties across Europe.
Frank Castle, the Punisher, is not a fascist. He isn’t interested in taking power for himself, and doesn’t want a dictator. He often speaks of having the greatest respect for Captain America, the guy who always chooses the side of liberty and fair play. Frank knows that he’s a criminal and a murderer. He just doesn’t care. IMHO if he and the Joker were both locked up and unable to kill each other, the two would get along fine.
The Batman Punisher crossover has what you’re looking for. Bats stops Frank from ventilating Joker’s forehead.
I want Mark Hamill Joker and Brad Garrett as Frank. BTW I’ve see Brad in person, and he’s a giant. Would have been perfect for Jack Reacher, instead of the pretty boy they used.
Conversation? He’s not Batman. Frank Castle would straight up annihilate Joker.
Even captain america does plenty of fascist things mate, Punisher is definitely very close to fascism by the mere fact that he represents someone who thinks they are above the law and they know better and that they can deliver their version of justice.
Of course that alone doesn’t make him fascist, but the things superheroes are portrayed doing nowadays are very much things fascists like.
Id recommend checking out this excellent video from Folding Ideas for example
How fascist he is depends on who is writing him. His symbol is literally a stylized Nazi totenkopf, and while he has never voiced support for totalitarian leaders, his solution to crime - escalating the violence - is consistent with fascist ideology.
Stretch? Gerry Conway, the original author, planned the character to use the totenkopf, and the artist re-worked the symbol.
Last time I went through US customs the agent checking me had his backpack behind him with a punisher patch (plus a thin blue line one, because of course he did). Gotta use true fashy believers to check all them damn immigrants and all that…
Thin blue line is a gang symbol. We need to normalize asking people with thin blue line bullshit why they’re flying gang symbols.
I’ve occasionally seen the black and white American flag with one red line instead of the blue one. Apparently it’s meant to show support for paramedics and firefighters. I wish that one was more popular.
The way they cropped it, they leave out the best part. Here’s the full interaction. 4 pages from Punisher #13:
