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"Trick or treat, freak!"
—Deadman to Destiny


Boston Brand was formerly a circus acrobat who was murdered during a trapeze performance by a mysterious assailant. The Hindu goddess, Rama Kushna, took pity on him and gave his spirit the power to possess any living being, bringing justice to those who deserve it, becoming the supernatural hero Deadman.

Biography[]

Early Life[]

Boston Brand was a circus performer known for his death defying trapeze act, but he was infamous for fooling around with married women and having a knack for irritating the wrong people. Eventually, karma caught up with Brand. During a packed weekend show, Brand was shot by an unknown assailant in the middle of his act. Brand's spirit made a perfect landing, but he looked down and saw his body down in the middle of the ring surrounded by his colleagues. Instead of moving on, Brand's spirit was called by the goddess Rama Kushna. She took pity on him and gave him the power to possess the living, so he could bring his killer and others to justice.

Justice League Dark[]

About five years later, Rama Kushna sensed a spike in homicides caused by Destiny's madness threatened to break down the walls between the planes of existence and even affect the afterlife. She tasked Deadman with gathering Constantine, Zatanna, and the Justice League to end this threat. Deadman travels to Wayne Manor and temporarily possesses Bruce Wayne in the bathroom to wrote down "Constantine" all over the nearby walls.

Deadman possesses Batman again when talking to Zatanna once again and tells her she needs to go see John, he quickly loses possession of Batman through Bruce's force of will. Boston later travels with Zatanna and Batman in the backseat of the Batmobile heading towards the House of Mystery. Boston complains about the backseat stating that not even his kid could fit there, and ask Zatanna to put in a good word for him but to his chagrin she did the exact opposite. But they are attacked by a magical whirlwind summoned by an unknown sorcerer. The trio narrowly manage to get inside John's house in time where they are joined by Black Orchid, the spiritual embodiment of the House. The group gathers to share information, and after a quick discussion and some argument between John and Zatanna, form a team to investigate the cause and reason for these supernatural occurrences.

The heroes visits a friend of Constantine and Zatanna's named Ritchie Simpson, but outside the house they find shroud spirits of Death waiting to collect Ritchie's soul upon his upcoming demise. At the Hospital where the posed man where held, Batman, Deadman, Constantine, and Zatanna narrowly manage to escape from a living feces beast conjured to consume the man, and Zatanna proceeds to destroy the monster.

Constantine tricks Destiny into bringing him and Deadman within his protective shield, allowing Deadman to wound Destiny, before Constantine, Batman, and Blood destroy the Dreamstone and Destiny's body, leaving Ritchie, whose soul is dragged to Hell by the shroud spirits.

After the House of Mystery is magically rebuilt, Black Orchid invites Boston into the house bonding as kindred spirits.

Powers and Abilities[]

Powers[]

Ghost Physiology: Deadman has no physical body. Deadman's visage in the afterlife represents the manner in which he appeared during his final moments as a living human being. As such, he consistently appears wearing ghastly white face mask, and a red acrobat uniform.

  • Flight: Boston can defy gravity, hovering and floating through the air. He does not seem capable of flying at high speeds, however.
  • Invisibility: Boston is invisible to mundane humans. However, mages and mystical entities can perceive him easily.
  • Intangibility: As a spirit, Boston can pass through solid objects and people as though they were illusions. However, he cannot interact with the physical world outside a host. Only magical attacks can harm him.
  • Possession: Deadman can inhabit a living human body and manipulate it as his own. However, this power is limited by the mystical and mental strength of his host. The non-magical Batman was able to force him out, and powerful magicians such as Faust and Destiny are easily able to be freed of him.
  • Amortality: As he is already dead, Boston is immune to natural causes of death and is unkillable due to him not being alive in the first place. Although certain spells can still hurt him.
  • Clairvoyance: As a spirit himself, Boston can perceive other spirits unseen by mortals. The Hindu goddess Rama Kushna sometimes offers him guidance.

Abilities[]

  • Occult Knowledge: Boston has encountered and experienced entities that living humans are unaware of during his time as a ghost. He recognized Shrouds by sight and knew their role.
  • Acrobatics: When he was alive, Boston was a talented circus acrobat.

Appearances[]

Films[]

Comic Books[]

Trivia[]

  • It was implied by Zatanna that Boston's womanizing ways are why someone killed him, although it is unknown if the Hook (the man who killed him) did so as a personal reason or was hired by some other man to do it.
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