I have affinities for more comic book characters than I can comfortably count in public, but I’ve come to accept this part of myself as a necessary bridge to total geekdom that I can’t seem to burn. I can cite examples of why The Thing is an amazing character, or why MODOK is one of the best creations of fictional evil that’s ever been realized, but something always brings me back to the work of Arnold Drake.
As far as I’m concerned, Drake was one of the most innovative and surreal comic authors of the Silver Age, right up there with Jack Kirby. Apart from being the creator of The Doom Patrol, Drake is also responsible for the Guardians of the Galaxy, and my favorite ghost hero, Deadman.
Deadman is a tragic hero whose powers were born of a circus murder and a made-up Hindu goddess, which is a combination of circumstances that only the Silver Age could conjure unflinchingly. As a ghost, Boston Brand (aka Deadman) can possess most living beings for a brief period of time, as well as do the things typical of a ghostly being. While these powers might seem fairly limiting, it’s always the most interesting heroes who are limited in their abilities. It’s this very reason that a fair portion of comic book readers (and authors) find Superman to be a little boring.
Of course, if there’s an action figure of a given hero I dig, I’ll collect it. To date, there have been figural representations created of Deadman, with a seventh due out in the summer. Maybe it’s the huge collar, and maybe it’s the combination of reds and whites, and maybe it’s just because I’m into dead things – but Deadman is one hero that I always collect.
The first action figure of Deadman was produced by DC Direct in the late 2001, under the ‘Other Worlds’ mini-series which also included The Demon Etrigan and The Spectre. While the figure originally retailed for around $20, the cost of earlier DC Direct figures like this one has dropped significantly due to the event of superior figures being produced by Mattel.
The second figure of Deadman was also produced by DC Direct for their ‘Kingdom Come’ line in 2004, though this one was a non-traditional interpretation of Alex Ross’ artwork of Deadman, resulting in an amazingly executed figure of a skeleton wrapped in a torn Deadman outfit. While it’s not the most ‘true’ representation of Deadman, it’s one of my favorite action figures of all time. With an articulated jaw and joints that allow one to pose the skeletal hero in both serious and humorous stances, I keep it on display almost all of the time.
Three more years passed before 2007’s Deadman Minimate figure came out, again from DC Direct. While only about 2 inches tall, it’s still undeniably a Deadman figure, and came packaged with The Spectre – another character who is known for traversing the planes between the living and the dead.
In 2009, Mattel released a Deadman figure into a Target-exclusive six pack called ‘Legends of the League’, adding one more figure to the Justice League Unlimited line, which is now well over 100 different DC Comics characters in a perfectly matched aesthetic.
Late 2009 and early 2010 also brought us another Deadman figure by Mattel, this time in the DC Universe Classics line, wave eleven. This is the most accurate, classic and well-articulated figure of the bunch by far, and comes in two variants. There’s the traditional figure, and a rarer variation which actually has glow-in-the-dark skin and translucent extremities to emphasize the character’s spiritual powers – which is, once again, awesome.
Finally, the summer of 2010 will present another figure by DC Direct of Deadman – this time in ‘Black Lantern’ attire, within the ‘Blackest Night’ series of figures. Again, he won’t be in his traditional red costume, but at least we’ll be getting a figure of a skeleton-headed guy – which is an automatic win. I’ve never met a Deadman I didn’t like.
