Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics | Tagged: marvel, punisher

Punisher Skull On Uvalde Police Officer's Phone Makes Headlines

Police officer Ruben Ruiz made headlines yesterday after security footage showed him checking his phone during the recent gun massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on the 24th of May. Ruben Ruiz was the husband of school teacher Eva Mireles who was murdered during the assault,  and the footage highlighted that he has a Punisher logo on his phone's screen.

Initially, his situation was not known, and headlines and social media criticised the officer for checking his phone rather than attending to the situation and for having a Punisher logo on his screen in the first place. Comedian, actor, and Marvel Comics creator, Patton Oswalt tweeted, "checkin my neat-o phone with the punisher logo (sooo cool!) while i'm hidin listenin to the kids gettin killed (punisher is so badass also i like deadpool & john wick)" While Former speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives, Terrance Carroll tweeted "This really makes my blood boil. This officer is checking his phone while kids & teachers are literally dying a few doors down. And if it this couldn't get any worse, his screensaver is the Punisher skull with a thin blue line."

After it was revealed it was the officer's wife who was among the murdered, the critical tone lessened somewhat. Texas Representative Joe Moody tweeted yesterday to say that "This is the husband of teacher Eva Mireles, who contacted him on his phone from her classroom while he was on-scene to say that she'd been shot and was dying. I'd not planned to speak publicly until the report was released, but I couldn't say nothing seeing this man, who's lost everything, maligned as if he was indifferent or actively malicious. Context matters. To those who haven't bothered to read even the news that's been reported in your rush to judgment, he attempted to engage but was removed from the building and disarmed. We'll have much to say about the police response, but no criticism of this officer."

The Punisher skull logo has been a bit of a problem for Marvel for years now, the image of their serial-killing gun-toting vigilante being used by police, army, militia, white supremacist groups, pro-gun groups, QAnon events, January 6th insurrectionists, – and the police dealing with them, and Hannity on Fox News, without a scintilla of suggestion that there may be some irony in that. This also followed Black Lives Matter protests and a focus on real and fictional police behaviour, including the use of Punisher imagery by the police. The character's co-creator Gerry Conway has spoken out about its use by such groups and has tried to reclaim it. He recently started his own line of shirts designed by people of colour to take the symbol back, with proceeds going to Black Lives Matter-related charities. Marvel Comics has been fighting them in the courts when they've tried to trademark it, actors have criticised its use, police commissioners have also criticised their use, and comics creators have divided over its use. Marvel has even addressed this in the comics, with the Punisher threatening police who use his symbol.

At the time, Bleeding Cool observed that Marvel had stopped publishing new Punisher comic books for some time. But later, Marvel announced a new Punisher series for 2022, including a Punisher no longer using guns and with a new "Devil Skull" image as part of his allegiance with Ninja assassin group, The Hand, as part of a Punisher: Born Again approach by the Marvel Comics.

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