Upon beginning my re-reading of this miniseries, I asked myself why I have left this story so late. I had done the Neal Adams Deadman stories of the late 1960s and early 1970s last year back around May and while I had some criticism of them, okay, lots of criticism, I felt that they were very important comics for their time, spearheading the Bronze Age of comics. Brave and the Bold 86, by Bob Haney and Neal Adams, was the last story of a series that followed Deadman from his death to the end of his quest, finding his killer. However, due to the popularity of the character, DC decided to continue with Deadman and numerous creators, like Len Wein, Jim Aparo and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, all had their time with him. But the original story remained unfinished. What happened to the Sensei, the boss of a group of murders who hired Deadman’s killer? What about Deadman himself? Does he pass onto the next life? What about the other characters like his brother? All these questions were left unanswered. Fortunately, not for long. Andrew Helfer, with the aid of the returning Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, launch this miniseries to end Deadman’s story arch. But, upon
finishing my re-reading of this miniseries, I realised why I had left this story so late…
Deadman (vol 2) 1-4 was published from March to June 1986. It was written by Andrew Helfer with art by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. I have read the story in the Deadman: Book Five trade paperback.
So, the last we saw of Deadman, at least chronologically, was Brave and the Bold 86, in which Deadman, his brother Cleveland and Batman, went to Nanda Parbat to protect it from Sensei and his League of Assassins. In the end, Deadman and his allies seemingly save Nanda Parbat, but Sensei escaped in the snowy mountains. That all is the background that you really need for this story as without reading Brave and the Bold 86, you may be slightly confused about the first issue and why Deadman is present in a physical form which the likes of Batman can interact with. In Nanda Parbat, Deadman’s spirit effectively manifests itself physically, as if he is alive once again. However, upon leaving Nanda Parbat, he will return to his ghostly ways. Also, Nanda Parbat is a strange place where the spirits live and where Rama Kushna, who placed Deadman on his mission to find his killer, exists in a spirit form. Am I boring you yet? Well, we aren’t the only ones. Helfer starts the story with Deadman sick and tired of being in Nanda Parbat after recovering from being poisoned during his duel with Sensei and his League of Assassins. Although Batman and Cleve try to convince Deadman to stay, Boston Brand isn’t having any of it. Before leaving, Deadman confronts Rama Kushna, telling her that he is leaving. However, she warns him, telling him that his battle with Sensei was only a shadow of the next battle, one to take over Nanda Parbat. But Deadman being as ignorant as usual, ignores her words and tells her that he is leaving to spend time with those he loves, with the help of Cleve’s body which he can possess. Later, as Deadman leaves with Cleve while possessing Batman’s body, Sensei meditates in the snow, watching Deadman’s plane take off into the sky. Upon arriving home at Hill’s Circus, a place which continually seems to close down before magically reopening every time a writer feels like using it. Cleve notices some thugs stealing money, but Deadman possesses one of the criminals and with the help of Cleve, they are taken out. When Lorna, Tiny and Vashnu appear, Cleve becomes the hero. That night, Cleve suddenly awakens with hand cramp, before hiding a hand-written note from his brother which basically explains the events of Strange Adventures 205-216. This would have been fine, if it weren’t for the fact that the recollection was so long and lettered in a terrible font. I’ve never been a fan of that hand-written type of font that comics started to use often from Batman: Year One, but here, the production value of it is utterly appalling. The lettering is sometimes really thick, meaning that all the letters just converge into one meaningless shape and it ultimately makes for frustrating reading. Regardless, Deadman possesses Cleve’s body and speaks to Tiny, who believes that Deadman is still out there in spirit. Vashnu then also senses Deadman controlling Cleve, telling him that he must return to Nanda Parbat. But, once again, Deadman ignores Nanda Parbat and spends several days working out as Cleve, before using his body to present the grand return of Deadman. Despite the warnings from Vashnu, Boston begins his Deadman act. However, as before, Deadman is shot, but this time, his brother is the one paying the price. In some strange form of limbo, Cleve confronts his brother about his death angrily, before Rama Kushna tries to drag Cleve away to his final resting place. But Deadman fights back against Rama Kushna and he throws himself into the mouth of death, seemingly saving his brother. That is where the first part ends and with the exception of the last few pages, which are beyond all comprehension and entirely subjective in what the hell is actually going on, Helfer’s story starts off well. Of course, we know the warnings about Nanda Parbat will have a huge impact, but so far, with Deadman basically being partially responsible for his brother’s death, it creates an interesting situation. But, with the second part, Helfer reverses everything (continued)
as Cleve stops his brother from sacrificing himself, resulting in Cleve’s death as Deadman returns to the real world. Now, out of that mind-bruising piece of the story, Deadman finds his brother’s killer, named Lotus, possessing her and attempting to kill her with her own gun. But she fights back, sensing Deadman’s presence. Suddenly, a dwarf named Loomis appears, who shoots Lotus for killing Cleve. Before Lotus dies, Loomis tells her that she should have stayed in Nanda Parbat. Once she dies and Loomis leaves, Deadman follows Loomis to Vashnu, who senses Deadman nearby. Enraged, Deadman possesses Loomis and confronts Vashnu, believing him to have known about the death of Cleve. However, Vashnu tells him that he did not, but Deadman didn’t heed his warning about Nanda Parbat. Vashnu then explains that centuries ago, Rama Kushna looked after humanity, but belief in her eroded as humans fought each other in dangerous battles. Rama Kushna then found a blameless man who had been abused by the forces of evil. She made him an offer to seek out those who murdered him and to continue the mission of ensuring that good defeats evil. The man agreed, but as the years passed, the man grew tired, but Rama Kushna declined to let him rest. He then left Nanda Parbat, planning his revenge. He took control of the Society of Assassins, using their leader, Sensei, to control them and fight to take over Nanda Parbat. Deadman questions why he is involved and Vashnu tells him that Rama Kushna knew that the Hook (who murdered Boston Brand) would be linked to Sensei and she wanted to use Deadman as a vessel to fight against the rebellion. But Sensei knew of Deadman’s purpose, explaining why he killed Cleve. Together, leaving Hill’s Circus behind, Deadman, Vashnu and Loomis head to Hong Kong, where Deadman finds the abandoned headquarters of the Society of Assassins. However, as Deadman possesses some of the assassins to cause a fight, Sensei detects him and his guards use a special laser weapon on Deadman, which reveals him in his physical form and knocks him out. This is where the story starts to lose its way badly. The whole idea that Deadman wasn’t actually chosen at random by Rama Kushna is a daft idea, not just because it makes everything before hand pre-determined, but also because it just makes everything so much more confusing. If Rama Kushna wanted to use Boston Brand, then how did Sensei know beforehand? Did Rama Kushna know that the Hook would kill Boston and begin his mission? Things just don’t add up and it’s not really worth trying to work it out, as the whole background of the character is changed so quickly and sloppily. Anyway, most of the third part features Deadman trapped in some weird bubble, while the real villain appears and explains himself. Out of Sensei’s body comes the man who Rama Kushna found and enlisted years ago. Yep, the shock value doesn’t realty work as we all knew that he would be the real villain as Helfer told us. This is the third story in a row in which the revelation of the real villain isn’t actually a surprise. Anyway, the man, who isn’t actually named from what I can remember. He’s just called the man. I guess we’ll just call him the Badly Clothed Immortal. Anyway, he admits that he sent Lotus to kill him as he needed him out of the way in order to successful invade Nanda Parbat. He once believed that Rama Kushna was a force for good, but as time went on and those he loved died and he wasn’t permitted to move onto the afterlife, he would use his curse to undo Rama Kushna’s goodness. The Badly Clothed Immortal then tries to convince Deadman to join him, but he fails in doing so. The rest of the third part is basically Deadman being tortured, while Loomis searches for Deadman and Vashnu speaks to Rama Kushna spiritually, with her telling Vashnu that all hope is lost. Although Deadman does escape from being tortured and he does quickly find Loomis, they are both captured and thrown in prison, where they witness the Badly Clothed Immortal’s army march towards Nanda Parbat. Strangely, for the first two parts, the plot is actually fairly lengthy, and it can feel slow. The third and fourth parts are not plot-heavy at all, but they feel even slower than before. This could partly be down to the Badly Clothed Immortal, a villain with a backstory that makes us all yawn. We’ve seen villains like him before where their powers are twisted and used for evil. A basic villain like that isn’t going to achieve anything in story terms and ultimately, decreases the quality of the story. Imprisoned, Deadman is surprised to find Sensei with him, who tells him that he has not been in control of his own body for over a decade due to the Badly Clothed Immortal’s spirit. This is another aspect of the story I don’t really like, as it feels like a cop-out when Sensei reveals that he hasn’t been the real villain since the start. Later interjections such as these ruin the impact of the original stories and destroy the mystery that once surrounded Sensei and his plan. Anyway, the Badly Clothed Immortal then barges in and takes Deadman away and when he awakens, he finds soldiers and tanks pointing their weapons at him, with the Badly Clothed Immortal threatening to kill a group of children. Vashnu then begs for Rama Kushna, who tells him that his sacrifice could begin the end of the Badly Clothed Immortal and his plan. Vashnu agrees and with Rama Kushna’s power, hovers into thar air and releases Deadman, before being shot and killed. Thanks to Vashnu’s sacrifice, Deadman escapes and consults Rama Kushna, who is slowly losing power due to the Badly Clothed Immortal’s attacks. Deadman too is starting to suffer as well. Hang on. If Deadman is starting to lose his power, he would surely die when Rama Kushna dies. Therefore, the same would happen to the Badly Clothed Immortal, who I guess wants to die after years of being trapped. But he seemed to only really want to (continued)
go after Nanda Parbat as it is Rama Kushna’s paradise. Helfer leaves many aspects of the story unclear and this is one of them. However, Rama Kushna tells Deadman that he must pass the circle of fire. When he does so, Deadman becomes dead again, in a sense that his physical form present in Nanda Parbat is gone. He is now as he usually is a dead spirit. As the Badly Clothed Immortal attacks Rama Kushna’s spirit, the cave begins to collapse. Taking him by surprise, Deadman throws Badly Clothed Immortal into Rama Kushna’s pit, where Rama Kushna gives him a painful experience in the only thing he wanted: death. Later in the rubble, Loomis finds Deadman dying (wait, how does that work). Anyway, in his dying words, he tells Loomis to take care of himself, before turning to dust. Suddenly, a plane arrives, piloted by Deadman, who is somehow alive again and with Loomis and the others, they fly away to safety, concluding this hellhole. I’ve always been critical of stories which start with a perfectly good and popular idea, before somebody comes along and changes it all. Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Universe is a classic example of that, as the impact of The Dark Knight Returns is ruined by Dark Knight III: Master Race. In some cases, a dramatic change in a character or overarching story can be beneficial. Swamp Thing under Alan Moore is the prime example of a fundamental change working effectively. So is Dennis O’Neil’s Question one could argue. Helfer has tried to do the same here by altering completely Deadman’s story, but it has fallen incredibly flat. Why? I could argue that the inclusion of the Badly Clothed Immortal completely ruins the mystery behind Sensei, but the same could be argued of Swamp Thing by Moore. I think the main problem is to do with character. The Badly Clothed Immortal, as a villain, is too dull and uninteresting. There isn’t really anything unique or really even creative about his character. His story has been told before by countless other writers and artists and due to that, it lacks impact. That is the key aspect of what this story lacks. Without impact, Helfer simply writes a story which trashes some of what made the original Deadman overarching story good. I may not be the biggest fan of Neal Adams’s writing direction of the Strange Adventures title in the 1970s, but this is certainly not the direction I would have wanted this to have gone…
Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez has always been one of those artists whose quality depends on the inks. Usually, when inked by the likes of Dick Giordano or Dan Adkins, his work is amazing in both storytelling and linework. However, this is an example of Garcia-Lopez inking himself, which can be very mixed as on some occasions, his art looks great when inked by himself, but on other occasions, it can appear very rough as if it was inked incredibly quickly. Fortunately, this isn’t one of those situations, but the art isn’t his best. The storytelling is great and despite the story itself not being a masterpiece, it does give it style and a sense of visual impressiveness. Yet, some of the finishes can look unrefined. Some linework doesn’t have the grace which other inkers could give it. But, like I said before, this is far from his worst art and ultimately, his art is the best aspect of the whole miniseries.
VERDICT
Overall, Deadman: Circle of Fire is a disappointing conclusion to the original story arch that begun in Strange Adventures 205. While it may have a good start featuring both Deadman and his brother Cleve, the story quickly becomes confusing and incredibly abstract. It completely ruins the mystery behind Sensei, replacing it and him with a dull immortal villain who fits the definition of the bog-standard evil supervillain. Garcia-Lopez’s art may be more than passible, perhaps not his best, but it’s a shame his talent was used on a story like this which leaves far more questions than answers. If you want a good Deadman story from the 1980s, read the stories by Mike Baron and Kelley Jones. They are far better.
Story: 3/10
Art: 7.5/10
Next Week: JLA: Tower of Babel (JLA 43-46). Written by Mark Waid with art by Howard Porter, Drew Geraci, Steve Scott and Mark Propst. Expected by 07/02/2021.
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