Eaglemoss Marvel Comics 019 The Punisher

The Punisher (Francis "Frank" Castle, born Castiglione) is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. The Punisher made his first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 (cover-dated February 1974), originally depicted as an assassin and adversary of the superhero Spider-Man.

The character is depicted as an Italian-American[9][10] vigilante who employs murder, kidnapping, extortion, coercion, threats of violence, and torture in his campaign against crime. Driven by the deaths of his wife and two children, who were killed by the mob for witnessing a killing in New York City's Central Park, the Punisher wages a one-man war on crime.[11] A veteran (originally of the Vietnam War[12][8] and later updated alternately to the fictional Siancong War and the Iraq War)[13][14] U.S. Marine Corps Scout/Sniper in Force Recon, Castle is skilled in hand-to-hand combat, guerrilla warfare, and marksmanship.[9][10] He is well known by his skull motif on his chest, originally envisioned by his creators as a skull-and-crossbones symbol on his right breast.[15][16] Following the widespread appropriation of this logo by the Blue Lives Matter movement, it was officially retired from active use by Marvel Entertainment in 2022, replaced by a new horned-skull motif inspired by the Japanese mythological demon Oni.[17][18]