Dead set on living
For a character that has technically been dead for 50 years, Deadman has never been more alive.
40 feet to the ground is usually enough to kill anyone, but though Brand died that day, his story didn’t end there. Instead, he would find “life” in death courtesy of a Hindu goddess named Rama Kushna.
What can Deadman do?
Without a physical form, Deadman is stuck in spectre mode but was given the ability to possess other living beings by Rama Kushna.
Once possessed, Deadman can physically control the host body, though some strong-willed individuals (such as the Sensei) have rejected him before. Thanks to Brand’s physical prowess as a trapeze artist, he is able to execute some of his old moves through his host body – subject to the host’s physical limitations of course.
Deadman is also able to fly and can even transcend between the land of the living and the netherworld. This comes in handy in linking him with DC’s occult fraternity.
Look for the hook
With the only significant clue being that his murderer was a man with a hook for a hand, Brand spends most of his time jumping from body to body, unintentionally rectifying people’s lives while hunting for his killer.
The good thing is that the search for “The Hook” wasn’t prolonged and Brand met his killer within a dozen issues. Unfortunately, the closure he wanted wasn’t to his favour. Brand discovered that his killing was just part of an assassins’ graduation test, and the Hook was killed by his Sensei (who later turned out to be another Rama disciple with powers similar to his).
Raising the Dead(man)
Deadman was created by the late writer Arnold Drake and late great artist Carmine Infantino (who seems to have the Midas touch when it comes to designing red-coloured costume characters such as The
Flash and Spider Woman), though legendary artist Neal Adams’ ground breaking illustrations of the character after he took over from Infantino remains some of his most iconic, even today.
Collectively, the trio of creators won several awards for their work on Deadman – Drake and Infantino won the 1967 Alley Award for
Best New Strip, and Adams won the 1968 Alley Award Hall of Fame.
For the record, the first Deadman story also happens to be the first comic story to include the use of narcotics that was approved by the Comics Code Authority.
Bat out of hell
Deadman received a major oost during his early days in the form of Batman. This was in the 1960s, when the Dark Knight wasn’t so dark, and he was a lot less paranoid about his fellow heroes than he is now. The two became friends and Batman even tried to help Brand solve his murder, though even the World’s Greatest Detective couldn’t crack the case.
A place called Nanda Parbat
One major milestone that Deadman can proudly claim as his own is introducing the mystical city of Nanda Parbat, which you may have heard of from the Arrow TV series, the Justice League Unlimited animated series, or through a host of other comic book moments involving big names like Ra’s al Ghul to mediocre personalities like Judomaster.
The ancient city which houses Rama Khusna and promises sanctuary as well as redemption for all criminals was destroyed in the finale to the 1986 Deadman series. It was later rebuilt and played host to other key events in the DC universe, notably the post-Infinite Crisis event 52 in 2006, Blackest Night, Superman Grounded, and so on.
Life after death
Unfortunately for Deadman, despite the encouraging first series in the 1960s, it took almost two decades for DC to release a follow-up.
Buoyed by the hype over Crisis On Infinite Earths, Andrew Helfer and Jose Luis Garcia Lopez were roped in to continue where the 60s series left off. They succeeded in adding more granularity to the entire ecosystem, with some interesting twists about the Sensei’s true identity, Rama Khusna’s role, and by re-introducing Brand’s twin brother Cheve into the line-up. Despite being just a four-issue miniseries, they helped lay the foundation that paved the way for the future of the character. However, the creative team of Mike Baron and Kelley Jones had different ideas. In 1989, they turned Deadman into a horror comic (Deadman: Exorcism and Deadman: Love After Death) instead, giving the character a somewhat grotesque look in the process. While they were both notable efforts, it only served to alienate the character from the mainstream for almost two decades.
Dark resurrection
It was only during the 2009-2010 Blackest Night event that the folks at DC utilised Deadman’s abilities in the most logical manner, by making him the unsung hero of the event. This guaranteed Deadman a starting role in the ensuing Brightest Day event, in which Brand was resurrected and given a second chance at life and even a romantic relationship with Dove (of Hawk and Dove fame).
In the New 52-verse, Deadman was part of the supernatural Justice League Dark team, together with John Constantine, Madame Xanadu, Shade and Zatanna. This experience augurs well for his profile, in anticipation of any Justice League expansionary plans the upcoming movie may offer.