A Deadman For Our Times!

Deadman is among my favorite protagonists in all of comics. I came into possession of a few vintage issues of Strange Adventures (back when they weren't so vintage) as a kid and absorbed them. Adams produced artwork unlike any seen in comics at the time, bristling with a dynamic realism which was both vivid and exciting. He elevated what fans expected from the comic book page and his work on Batman was revolutionary for that most-famous character. But it was on Deadman co-created by Arnold Drake and Carmine Infantino, where he got to play the most, becoming more and more the master of his own fate, even writing the last few issues of that all-too brief original run.

Toward the end of his career Adams revisited some of his old haunts and did so literally with six issues of a Deadman limited series which asks the age-old question which motivated the original series so effectively -- Who killed Boston Brand?

The first issue had a gimmick cover which was fun, but that did not entice me to pick up the series as it unfolded. I wanted to wait until it was collected and try my luck with that format. 

In the first issue of this series, we follow Deadman as he tags along with Commissioner Gordon who is oddly running a technical check on a nuclear plant and who is then set upon by assassins. One appears to be the infamous Hook who murdered Boston Brand all those many years ago. But things are not what they seem (a regular thing for this series) as the Batman shows up to contend with the killers with Deadman's help. 

In the second installment we follow Deadman to the circus where it all began (or ended depending on your attitude) where we find that his brother Cleveland has hired to assistants to create the act "The Deadmen". One of his assistants is killed by the Hook (it seems) and in revenge Deadman throws the killer in with some lions. Then the Phantom Stranger shows up, as do the Demon and the Spectre.  

In the next issue Boston Brand's parents show up. They are Billy and Dee-Dee Brand who it seems were once partners in the Hill Circus. They want to recruit Cleveland's act and then we learn that the brothers Brand have both another brother named Aaron and a sister named Zeea. These last two seem to be missing and have been for some time. It seems that in the past Billy Brand made a deal with the League of Assassins and Ra's al Ghul to save his wife's life but at the cost of his son Aaron. 

Then we get the story of how Rama Kushna might not be who thought all these years and that Aaron has been raised and trained by the League for reasons unknown. There is a burble of activity but it's somewhat confusing as the Demon is dealt with by Aaron who is working for the League of Assassins. 

Then it's off to Nanda Parabat where at long last Deadman meets the real Rama Kushna after he and the Demon, the Spectre, Doctor Fate and Zatanna battle a small army of yetis, zombies, and robots. 

Then Deadman at least meets the real Rama Kushna as well as the imposter, Kushna's assistant Tatzinda who it turns out might be the alien girl Deadman met all those years ago in the back pages of Aquaman. It is suggested (I think) that Aaron might be Ra's al Ghul, but I'm not sure. But no worries, the story is scheduled to be continued. 

And it was of sorts when Adams created Batman Vs. Ra's al Ghul a few years later. More on that next month when I take a close look at the Batman stories created by Neal Adams. I haven't read this story yet, so I'm eager to see how all this comes out. 

As usual the Adams artwork is pretty impressive, though I do think his storytelling falls short sometimes. The series is a melee of movement and characters come and go with such speed that it's sometimes hard to keep up. (I'm getting too old for this stuff maybe.) The way Adams presents Deadman is pretty limited with our "hero" saying 'It sucks" or some variation over and over. He's filled with rage and confusion, which as a reader I shared to some degree. 

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