Deadman is a fictional character, a superhero appearing in DC Comics. He first appeared in Strange Adventures #205 (October 1967), and was created by Arnold Drake and Carmine Infantino. DC Comics is an American comic book and related media company. ... In comic books, first appearance refers to first comic book to feature a character. ... Strange Adventures was an American comic book published by DC Comics. ... Arnold Drake was an American writer of comic books notable for his work on Deadman, for which he was given the Bill Finger Award, and on Doom Patrol. ... Cover for Spider-Woman #8 (November 1978). ... The Sentinels of Magic is a fictional group of magically powered heroes in the DC Comics Universe who fist appeared in Day of Judgement. ... Alice, a fictional character based on a real character from the work of Lewis Carroll. ... For the Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode, see Super Hero (Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode). ... DC Comics is an American comic book and related media company. ... Strange Adventures was an American comic book published by DC Comics. ... Arnold Drake was an American writer of comic books notable for his work on Deadman, for which he was given the Bill Finger Award, and on Doom Patrol. ... Cover for Spider-Woman #8 (November 1978). ...

Publication history

The series is most associated with the naturalistic art style of Neal Adams and the writing of Jack Miller, who took over from Drake and Infantino shortly after the series began. The Adams run was reprinted in 1985 as a 7-issue series. Although he appeared from time to time in the 1970s and 1980s as a supporting character in various comics, Deadman did not get his own series again until 1986, namely a four-issue limited series written by Andrew Helfer and drawn by José Luis García López which followed the plot immediately after the Adams storyline. Deadman's next major storyline was in the limited series Deadman:Exorcism in 1992, written by Mike Baron and drawn by Kelley Jones. Jones' gaunt, zombie-like rendition of the character would later appear in the pages of Batman. There was another Deadman series in 2002, this time nine issues, as well as a couple standalone issues. His cameo appearances also continued, including several issues of Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing, and Neil Gaiman's Books of Magic. He had a cameo in book two of Batman: Gotham County Line, which was released in November 2005. He appears most recently in issue #1 of Justice League of America v2,, beginning the "The Tornado's Path" story arc (It turns out that this was actually Felix Faust, not the real Deadman). Neal Adams (born June 6, 1941, Governors Island, Manhattan, New York City) is an American comic book and commercial artist best known for his highly naturalistic style of illustration. ... The limited series is a term referring to a comic book series with a set finite number of issues. ... José Luis García-López (born in 1948) is a Spanish-born comic-book artist who works in the United States of America, mostly for DC Comics. ... Mike Baron is the creator of comic books Badger and (along with Steve Rude) Nexus. ... Kelley Jones (born July 23, 1962 in Sacramento, CA) is a comic book artist best known for his runs on Batman with writer Doug Moench and on Sandman (DC Comics/Vertigo) with writer Neil Gaiman. ... For other persons named Alan Moore, see Alan Moore (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Swamp Thing (disambiguation). ... Neil Richard Gaiman () (born November 10, 1960) is an English author of science fiction and fantasy short stories and novels, graphic novels, comics, and films. ... The Books of Magic is a four-issue comic book miniseries written by Neil Gaiman and published by the DC Comics imprint Vertigo. ... For the animated television series, see Justice League (TV series) or Justice League Unlimited. ...

The character and self-titled series have won several awards over the years, including the 1967 Alley Award for Best New Strip (by Arnold Drake and Carmine Infantino in Strange Adventures), and the 1968 Alley Award Hall of Fame (for Neal Adams). Arnold Drake was an American writer of comic books notable for his work on Deadman, for which he was given the Bill Finger Award, and on Doom Patrol. ... Cover for Spider-Woman #8 (November 1978). ... Strange Adventures was an American comic book published by DC Comics. ... Neal Adams (born June 6, 1941, Governors Island, Manhattan, New York City) is an American comic book and commercial artist best known for his highly naturalistic style of illustration. ...

DC Comics published a slipcased hardcover edition collecting the original Deadman stories in December 2001.

Fictional character biography

Deadman is a ghost, formerly a circus acrobat named Boston Brand, who was murdered during a trapeze performance by a mysterious assailant known only as Hook. His spirit is given the power to possess any living being by a Hindu goddess named Rama Kushna, in order to search for his murderer and obtain justice. However, Brand finds himself obliged to help others while on his search, using his power to intervene and control living persons to help the innocent. For other uses, see Ghost (disambiguation). ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... High wire act Acrobatics (from Greek Akros, high and bat, walking) is one of the performing arts, and is also practiced as a sport. ... Spiritual possession is a concept of supernatural and/or superstitious belief systems whereby gods, daemons, demons, animas, or other disincarnate entities may temporarily take control of a human body, resulting in noticeable changes in behaviour. ... Hinduism (known as in modern Indian languages[1]) is a religious tradition[2] that originated in the Indian subcontinent. ... Statue of Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture For the 1934 film, see, see The Goddess (1934 film). ... Rama ( in IAST, in Devanāgarī) or Ramachandra is a legendary or historical king of ancient India. ...

The origin story involved the hero fighting narcotics smugglers, in the first story to involve drugs since the introduction of the Comics Code Authority. The criminals used the travelling circus they worked for to smuggle "snow" -- either heroin or cocaine. The term narcotic, derived from the Greek word for stupor, originally referred to a variety of substances that induced sleep (such state is narcosis). ... The seal of the Comics Code Authority, which appears on the covers of approved comic books. ... For other uses, see Heroin (disambiguation). ... Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. ...

In the pages of Nightwing (issues #102 and #103, respectively), it is implied that Brand got the idea for his costume from "Johnny" Grayson, father of Dick Grayson. Nightwing is a name used by at least six fictional characters in the DC Comics Universe. ...

Ultimately, Boston finds out the truth about his murder and came to accept his role as an intervenor in mortals' lives.

Various Missions

Over the course of several years, Rama Kushna has Deadman confront the sorcerer Caldera multiple times over the fate of the souls of several deceased superheros. Two of them are Flash (Barry Allen) and Robin (Jason Todd). During the Robin incident, he tries to possess the Joker but was driven out by the man's insanity. Barry Allen is a fictional character, a superhero in the DC Comics universe and the second Flash. ... Jason Todd is a fictional character published in stories by DC Comics. ... “The Joker” redirects here. ...

Rama also maintained a city for some time, called Nanda Parbat. The most evil people in the world came to live there, where Rama's power kept them sane and good. One of the worst was Darius Caldera, who almost destroyed the world when he left the city. Unfortunately, Nanda later fell due to a combined military and mystical force. All the evil people are now back in the real world, still a danger This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

His twin brother Cleveland is killed while possessed by Boston, while doing Boston's circus act. The killer was out to kill Boston Brand. His 'benefactor' Rama Kushna also dies in order to defeat Jonah, a spirit similar to Deadman.

Around this time, Deadman assists the Spectre in defeating a newly formed demonic being (and werewolves). Formed from the skeletons of many souls in hell, this blue-eye, blonde-haired being comes to Earth to forment chaos and death. It manages to actually remove much of the Spectre's substance. Deadman is forced to merge with Spectre until things are stabilized. The Spectre is a fictional cosmic entity and superhero who has appeared in numerous comic books published by DC Comics. ...

Later, Deadman receives a birthday present from his diminutive friend, Max Loomis. Max places himself in a trance so he could 'meet' Deadman and the two take a pleasent journey down 'memory lane'. Soon after, Loomis meets with old circus friends and Deadman involves himself in a case of suspected murder. Deadman wants to be going after the escapees of Nanda Pavrat, but Max thinks pursuing the murder is a better course.

Youth and Hell

In the Sins of Youth incident, Deadman is one of the dozens of heroes reduced to a pre-teen age by Klarion the Witch Boy and an alien machine owned by Doiby Dickles. He is still a spirit, now with a small d on his chest. He assists Secret in confronting Teekl, Klarion's companion, in an effort to restore everyone. He also joins in the fight against mystically created and mystically altered villains. Klarion the Witch Boy is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe character first seen in the pages of The Demon in 1973. ... Charles Doiby Dickles was the comic sidekick to the golden age Green Lantern Alan Scott. ... Secret (Greta Hayes) is a fictional character, a superheroine in the DC Comics universe. ...

During the Day of Judgement incident, Boston Brand travels with a group of heroes to the frozen wastelands of Hell. Their goal is to restart the demonic fires, thus recalling all the demons from the earthly plane. An accident strands Brand and the others under the frozen waters of the River Styx, forcing them to live out what would be to them, Hell. For Brand, it is that the sharpshooter hits him in the shoulder, thus he survives. Brand feels he needs to die in order to learn 'how to live'. Day of Judgment was a DC Comics miniseries and fictional crossover event during the autumn of 1999. ...

Other versions

• In the Amalgam Comics universe, Deadman was fused with Daredevil, creating Dead Devil.
• Deadman was in issue #6 of the comic book Batman: Gotham Adventures (based on Batman: The Animated Series) where his origin was very much alike to his mainstream comic except he was in the Haley Circus and Rama Kushna was male. He was friends with Dick Grayson, and he was in an issue before he gained his powers in The Batman and Robin Adventures #15.
• Deadman appeared briefly in Mark Waid and Alex Ross' Elseworlds story Kingdom Come, where he offered some words of encouragement to Norman McCay. His appearance is notable because somehow by the time of the story (set at a non-specific point in the future) he has either lost or foregone his normal appearance, and appears as a skeleton wearing his Deadman uniform. He is also never identified as "Deadman", and simply introduces himself as "Boston". He also appears in the sequel The Kingdom as a guide to time-lost, deceased versions of Superman.
• In August 2006, Vertigo a DC Comics imprint, unveiled a reimagined Deadman series written by Bruce Jones. The new protagonist is a former airline pilot named Brandon Cayce. For reasons yet unexplained, his brother and copilot Scott drugged him during a flight, causing them to crash into Heathrow International Airport. Rather than "cross over" into an uncertain next life, as his brother urged him, Cayce decided to reinhabit his former body and try to discover why he was killed. Cayce then finds he shows up in numerous alternate realities yet to find an answer to his memory of all these or whether he is still alive or dead.
• Deadman also had a brief comic in the DC published book Bizarro World where he was interested in meeting girls and dating while in Limbo.
• Deadman appeared briefly in Jeph Loeb's Superman Batman: Absolute Power, where he attempted to possess Superman after he and Batman killed off all the monks of Nanda Parbat (under orders from their adoptive parents, who saw the monks as a threat to their plans in an alternate timeline). Deadman is prevented from using Superman's strength to kill Batman when Batman uses a spell from Zatanna to trap Deadman inside a crystal.

Amalgam Comics was a metafictional American comic book publisher, and part of a collaboration between Marvel Comics and DC Comics, in which the two comic book publishers merged their characters to create new ones (e. ... Daredevil (Matt Murdock) is a superhero in the Marvel Comics Universe. ... The animated Batman shoots his grappling gun from a rooftop in a scene from the episode, On Leather Wings. ... This article is about the DC Comics hero and former sidekick of Batman. ... Mark Waid (born March 21, 1962 in Hueytown, Alabama) is an American comic book writer. ... Nelson Alexander Alex Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an American comic book painter, illustrator and plotter, acclaimed for the photorealism of his work. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Kingdom Come was a four-issue comic book limited series published in 1996 by DC Comics. ... Norman McCay is a priest and the witness to the almost Biblical events in the Elseworlds story Kingdom Come. ... Vertigo logo Vertigo is an imprint of comic book and graphic novel publisher DC Comics. ... Bruce Jones is an American comic book writer, novelist, illustrator, and screenwriter possibly best known for writing Marvel Comics The Incredible Hulk from 2001-2003. ... London Heathrow Airport (IATA airport code: LHR, ICAO airport code: EGLL, and often simply Heathrow) is the United Kingdoms busiest and best-connected airport. ... This article is about the theological concept. ... Cover to the first part of the Absolute Power arc, by Carlos Pacheco. ...

Other media

Deadman as he appeared in the Justice League Unlimited series

• Deadman appeared as the champion of the now Buddhist Goddess Rama Kushna in the third season of Justice League Unlimited in episode "Dead Reckoning". He resides in a temple in Nanda Parbat. When he saw Devil Ray aiming at Wonder Woman, he possessed Batman and shot him with a gun, accidentally killing him. He was played by Raphael Sbarge. His previous appearance in the Batman Gotham Adventures comic is also referenced in this episode.
• A live action TV series for TNT may have been under development at one time, but it seems that this has been shelved.^{[citation needed]}
• The French musical duo Cassius did music videos for "1999" and "Feeling For You" that featured a character similar to Deadman.

Image File history File links DeadReckoningCartoon. ... Image File history File links DeadReckoningCartoon. ... Justice League Unlimited (or JLU) was the name of an American animated television series that was produced by and aired on Cartoon Network. ... Rama ( in IAST, in Devanāgarī) or Ramachandra is a legendary or historical king of ancient India. ... Justice League Unlimited (or JLU) was the name of an American animated television series that was produced by and aired on Cartoon Network. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Black Manta. ... Wonder Woman is a fictional DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. ... Raphael Sbarge (born February 12, 1964) is an American actor. ... Batman Adventures is a DC comic book series featuring Batman. ... Turner Network Television, usually referred to as TNT, is an American cable TV network created by media mogul Ted Turner and currently owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner. ... Cassius is a French electronic music duo, composed of Hubert Blanc-Francard (aka Boom Bass) and Philippe Cerboneschi (aka Zdar). ...

External links

• Toonopedia: Deadman profile
• DCU Guide: Deadman
• Comic Book Awards Almanac