Writer Jason Aaron and artists Jeusis Saiz and Paul Azaceta have been hard at work with reintroducing The Punisher to Marvel canon. With the various issues in the use of the character’s logo in modern-day media, however, they’ve chosen an interesting strategy to reinvent the character’s iconic skull logo. Instead of merely changing the symbol, The Punisher’s new skull logo actually has a purpose within the storyline of the new comic book series.
As it turns out, Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, is now affiliated with the ninja assassin group The Hand. This is quickly pointed out in the first issue of the new series, Punisher #1, in which Frank Castle is shown having murdered someone with a sword instead of a gun. It’s a big change for the character, and it includes the different logo shown plainly on his torso.
While The Punisher’s new logo is still skull-shaped, it’s much more Japanese-inspired this time around. The skull features two horns and monstrous teeth, indicating a resemblance to something that isn’t quite human. The character also has Shaolin-styled body armor, another change to his character that fits his new affiliation with The Hand.
Fans might be wondering why Frank Castle has this sudden affiliation with The Hand, and that’s explained too. Apparently, the Arch-Priestess in charge of the group has offered Frank Castle his wife Maria. She says that she can resurrect the character – something which would be an entirely new step for the comic book lore. As noted by Jason Aaron while speaking with ComicBook:
“Maria has a big impact on the series going forward,” he began. “This is the first time we’ve really gotten to see Maria’s POV. She’s only been seen in brief flashbacks. Fans will get to see what she thinks about Frank’s mission as The Punisher since her death.”
While some fans are clearly going to be disappointed with these massive changes to the character, it’s certainly going to be interesting to see where Frank Castle goes from here. The character’s motives and symbols have been manipulated by the media and outside groups like law enforcement over the years, so this could be an interesting way to make the character stand apart yet again.