Punisher co-creator Gerry Conway is fighting back against police use of Marvel's Punisher logo. The comic book legend has unveiled a charity t-shirt campaign, where all profits will be directly donated to Black Lives Matter. Conway announced the project this week with three different shirt designs currently available for sale online.
Bizarrely, some police officers have decided to use the Marvel vigilante’s logo on decals and emblems to show support for Blue Lives Matter. The choice to co-opt the logo makes little sense, as Punisher represents everything you'd think the police would not want to be associated with. He's a stone-cold killer, who doesn't follow the law in order to commit acts of violence. Still, police officers have continued to wear the logo as protests continue in the United States and around the globe. In the comics, even Punisher has expressed frustration about cops using his logo. More recently, Conway, who co-created Punisher with John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru has spoken out against the use of the logo, as other writers have urged Marvel to look into the matter. Now, Conway is fighting back in order to raise money for BLM.
Conway's new charity campaign, titled BLM - Skulls For Justice, has three new skull designs that express support for Black Lives Matter. All of the profits from the campaign will go directly to Black Lives Matter. The project features work from Demonte Price, Wess Hancock , and Don Nguyen. Update: Since the publishing of the post, additional designs have been added to the campaign including one by Sam Ines that draws attention to the tragic death of black, trans-LGBTQA+ activist Marsha P. Johnson.
Here's Conway's statement on the campaign, where he wrote that the Punisher logo was never intended to be co-opted by police. He said he hopes the logo can be reclaimed for the cause of justice and Black Lives Matter.
For too long, symbols associated with a character I co-created have been co-opted by forces of oppression and to intimidate black Americans. This character and symbol was never intended as a symbol of oppression. This is a symbol of a systematic failure of equal justice. It’s time to claim this symbol for the cause of equal justice and Black Lives Matter.
So far, the campaign has raised more than $5,000 in total with more than 400 shirts sold as of the time of writing this post. Kudos to Conway for organizing this campaign to help raise money for BLM. It's got to be extremely frustrating to see the logo he helped create be used by the police. The campaign is a good way to reclaim the logo in the name of equal justice while providing support to Black Lives Matter.