Industry icon and Superman/Spider-Man scribe Mark Waid names his dream DC Comics Absolute Universe contribution, and it sounds amazing.
During a recent appearance on John Siuntres’ Word Balloon Comics Podcast, Waid was asked if there was any Absolute Universe title he would be interested in tackling for DC Comics. “I’m not sure that I would have an Absolute take on some of these characters because I’m just so invested in how I’ve been thinking about them for 60 years,” Waid responded.
“So that said, I do have an Absolute Deadman thing that I would love to do. I don’t know if anybody’s doing anything with that, but I love that character. There’s so much to be done with that character,” Waid continued.
“There’s some Deadman in my future somewhere, whether it’s Absolute or whether it is somewhere in the DC universe. But what a great character.” Waid went on to say of the character and Deadman’s wider legacy in the realm of DC Comics, “It’s very common now, very Quantum Leap-ish, but that was a brand-new concept in 1967. And it’s a great, simple hook for a character, and I love it.”
Who is Deadman in DC Comics?
Deadman explains his death and origin in DC’s Knight Terrors.Image via DC Comics
Boston Brand, better known as the spectral Deadman, made his debut all the way back in Arnold Drake and Carmine Infantino’s opening story from 1967’s Strange Adventures #205, “Who Has Been Lying in My Grave?,” which charted the supernatural superhero’s origin story. Once a high-flying circus acrobat, Brand was shot down mid-performance by a hook-handed assassin, only to be given the chance to hunt down his own killer by the spirit of the universe itself, Rama Kushna.
In the nearly six decades since then, Deadman has become an indelible if often underrated part of the wider DC Comics mythos. Apart from his own various adventures, Deadman has fought both alongside and against some of the DC Universe’s most powerful and iconic characters as a part of teams such as the Justice League Unlimited, White Lantern Corps, and Bizarro League.
DC Comics’ Absolute Universe has re-imagined and reintroduced some of the publisher’s most beloved characters, usually in overtly brutal fashion. Set within the confines of what was previously the unreachable reality known as the Elseworld, the Absolute Universe came into the form it is today thanks to Darkseid, who, after being seemingly obliterated, was able to ascend to an entirely new form of existence, merging his consciousness with the very fabric of the Elseworld reality entirely.
Currently, fans of Waid’s work are looking forward to his main story from the upcoming Superman/Spider-Man crossover anthology one-shot, set to arrive in stores everywhere on March 25. While discussing what the issue has in store for readers, Wade promised the chance to see the Man of Steel take on Doctor Octopus, all while Marvel’s premier Wall-Crawler tackles the threat of Brainiac.
DC Comics’ Absolute Universe series can be found anywhere comics are sold.
