Comic Review – Neal Adams – Batman – The Trail Of The Hook

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1968 – DC – The Brave & The Bold – spoiler alerts As well as being one of the most celebrated Batman artists in the Caped Crusader’s illustrious history, Neal Adams also came up with one of DC’s most under-rated and now forgotten heroes, Deadman, a totally invisible corpse who solves crimes. In this story, Deadman ends up helping and hindering Batman. Deadman is unusual as a hero no one ever sees. He is a ghost, doomed to hunt for the hook handed killer who took his life. His search now interferes with Batman’s efforts to bring down a major mafia boss operating in Gotham City as the mob leader has an assistant with a hook for a hand, but this is a mere coincidence for Deadman, though he never realizes. Deadman can only interact with others by taking possession of other people’s bodies. He briefly takes control of Batman and later Alfred to convey his story to them. Deadman is a great creation, though rather similar to DC’s other ghostly hero, The Phantom. His few brief meetings with Batman are fun. Arthur Chappell