Not because I was selfish but because one day, I intended to go back and let people discover it. When I finished the series at the time that I was doing it, I actually never told anybody else about the ongoing story of Deadman. That is paramount in my thinking because most comic books are stories about the characters that are amongst the living like Batman and Superman. Neal Adams on pencils throughout the majority of the book makes it worth looking at, if not 'reading'.I also got a chance to do a character that was unlike any other character in comics because he’s dead. There seems to be a rich soil with which to til great narratives (in the vain of Ditko's Dr. He has made his way into other comics (Batman, Swamp Thing etc.) but only a few issues where he headlines. What makes things worse is that there has been little (to my knowledge at least) apperance of Deadman in his own series since then. Unfortunately the writing never really takes off and the discovery of the killer is fairly anticlimactic. But in spite of that opening, I think a great story could have been salvaged. There is at the start a great mystery set up, 'Who is Deadman's killer?' and it doesn't have the greatest was the one armed man! The man with the hook for a hand! Hmm. Seeing it in action here though it is less appealing, mainly due to weak story. I can't explain why but it just tickles me the right way. I absolutely love the idea of Deadman, from his 'powers' and disposition to his look. Not bad for a ten-page feature in 'Strange Adventures'. Deadman pretty much made Neal Adams a star.

These comics haunted me when I first read them in the Sixties and to this day they still do. The person that really needs to get waxed doesn't, and it's even messier than it reads right here. First there's one killer, then the killer has another killer after him, and Deadman chases both, and it never really reaches a satisfying conclusion. If there are any negatives to this series it was:ġ) The re-inking of the 3rd episode is too busy to the point of distraction and actually spoils the story for me.Ģ) The climax of the tale still looks sloppy. There was even an episode about illegal aliens being transported across the border and planned for extermination. The big change was a comics character that wasn't a crime fighter battling supervillains, but a high-wire aerialist who seeks his killer.Įvery issue showed him aiding innocent victims from evil people that exploit them. 'Deadman' ushered in a new age in comics, initiated by Carmine Infantino but ultimately solidified by Neal Adams.

Deadman by Neal Adams