Because Stiffman’s Power Is COMPLETELY Different: DC Universe Presents: Deadman #1 Review

Deadman is one of those characters created in the 60’s that, if he hadn’t been drawn extensively by Neal Adams, probably wouldn’t exist today except maybe in a background shot of a Grant Morrison story written on a day when Grant was feeling a nostalgia for Silver Age DC ephemera almost as powerful as the peyote that’s probably fueling that nostalgia.

The concept behind Deadman is pretty ridiculous at its core for a superhero comic: a famous circus trapeze artist not named Wallenda (which was apparently something you could earn a living at in the days before cable TV and home video pornography) is shot to death by a sniper with one hand. He is then sent back to Earth as an invisible, undetectable ghost with the power to possess people. And he uses that power in the pursuit of justice, rather than the pursuit of possessing whoever happens to be banging Lindsey Lohan at this particular moment, or making Linda Blair gack up pea soup. Possibly while banging Lindsey Lohan. But I digress.

Seriously: Deadman’s power is to possess people, giving those people the ability to… do whatever those people could already do, only with a carny sense of humor. Which is a great character to have in your deck if you happen to need a deus ex machina (“Being invisible, I saw that The Joker fled to the playing card factory!”), or for a familiar character to suddenly start spitting out douchey jokes, (“I saw that The Joker fled to the playing card factory! Now pull Superman’s finger, Batman!”). It has it’s uses, but it’s not like Deadman’s ever been the kind of character that could ever anchor his own title.

Which is why, when I found DC Comic Presents: Deadman #1 in this week’s books, I dealt it to the bottom of the read pile. And why I was surprised that, when I did read it, I found it to be the sleeper hit in this Week’s New 52.

Paul Jenkins has put together a story that acknowledges Deadman’s history of possessing interesting people and fighting crime with them, and then twists his mission to be a duty to save particular people. Damaged people. People with bigger problems than supervillains; as the character says: “What was I supposed to do? Reconcile his faith and his fears with a somersault?”

Simple as that, Jenkins gives Deadman, his abilities and his purpose for existing an interesting background and a built-in tension that I’ve never found in the character before.

And penciller Bernard Chang might not be Neal Adams, but the artwork is solid, presenting the kind of detailed, almost Mark Bagley-esque facial expressions that a smaller, less action oriented story like this demands… and Christ Jesus, just look to your right at this splash page that starts at the top left with Deadman hitting the ground after the fall from the trapeze that killed him…

…If visual cleverness like that doesn’t get you interested, I don’t think you’re reading the right Website.

Maybe it’s just the fact that I literally expected nothing from this book, but the change in the character’s motivation and the solid visual storytelling have hooked me into this book. And while there’s still an outside chance chance that the next issue could open with Deadman making Green Lantern project a giant plasma wang on the face of the moon – Paul Jenkins did have a hand in Spider-man’s Clone Saga, after all – I tend to doubt it, because other than Detective Comics #1, this book has the best cliffhanger of any New 52 book so far.

I’m on board. Check it out. Now pull my finger.

…did I just say something?