Boston Brand (New Earth)

{{DC Database:Character Template
 * Image                  = DC Universe Presents Vol 1 1 Textless.jpg
 * ImageText              = Deadman
 * RealName               = Boston Brand
 * CurrentAlias           = Deadman
 * Aliases                =
 * Identity               = Secret
 * Alignment              = Good
 * Affiliation            = Justice League, Formerly White Lantern Corps, Sentinels of Magic, Seven Soldiers of Victory, Justice League of Apostles
 * Relatives              = Cleveland Brand (twin brother, deceased), Lita Brand (niece)
 * Universe               = Earth-One; New Earth
 * BaseOfOperations       = Realm of the Just Dead


 * Gender                 = Male
 * Height                 = 6'0"
 * Weight                 = 201 lbs
 * Eyes                   = Blue
 * Hair                   = Bald
 * Hair2                  = Black (as Boston)
 * UnusualFeatures        = 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.


 * Citizenship            = American
 * MaritalStatus          = Dating
 * Occupation             = Daredevil
 * Education              =


 * Origin                 = Transformed into a wandering spirit by the Hindu goddess Rama Kushna
 * PlaceOfBirth           =
 * Creators               = Arnold Drake; Carmine Infantino
 * First                  = Strange Adventures #205


 * Quotation              = I never cared about life until I lost it.
 * Speaker                = Boston Brand
 * QuoteSource            = Brightest Day Vol 1 0


 * HistoryText            =

Origin
Boston Brand is a ghost. A walking Deadman if you will. He was formerly a circus acrobat who was murdered during a trapeze performance by a mysterious assailant known only as "the Hook." So he could search for his murderer and obtain justice, the Hindu goddess, Rama Kushna, gave his spirit the power to possess any living being. While he was searching for his killer, he felt obliged to help others. He used his power to alter circumstances that benefited the innocent and corrected any wrongdoing.

Ultimately, Boston found out the truth about his murder and came to accept his role as one who intervenes in mortals' lives.

Various Missions
Over the course of several years, Rama Kushna has had Deadman confront the sorcerer Caldera during multiple times. Due to this, he's altered the fate of the souls of several deceased superheros. Two of them are Flash (Barry Allen) and Robin (Jason Todd). During the Robin incident, he tried to possess the Joker, but was driven out by the man's insanity.

Youth and Hell
In the Sins of Youth incident, Deadman was one of the dozens of heroes reduced to a pre-teen age by Klarion the Witch Boy, and an alien machine owned by Doiby Dickles. He's still the same spirit, but now has a small "d" on his chest. He assisted "Secret" in confronting Teekl, Klarion's companion, in an effort to restore everyone. He also joined in the fight against mystically created, and mystically altered, villains.

During the Day of Judgment incident, Boston Brand traveled with a group of heroes to the frozen wastelands of Hell. Their goal was to restart the demonic fires, thus recalling all the demons from the earthly plane. An accident stranded Brand and the others under the frozen waters of the River Styx. This forced them to live out what was to them, Hell. To survive this situation, Brand concentrated on the pain from the sharpshooter's bullet. This survival tactic gave him an epiphany... "he needed to die in order to learn how to live."

Blackest Night
The corporeal remains of Boston Brand were recently raised by a Black Lantern Ring making him one of the of the Black Lantern Corps. Deadman, having newly learned of Blackest Night attempted to possess his corpse but was unable to control its actions and was forced to leave the body due to the agony involved. He did however receive impressions of what was going on in Blackest Night and was able to inform the Lanterns on how to defeat Nekron. He was one of twelve individuals resurrected by the power of the white light, startled to find himself among the living once more.

Brightest Day
Following the Blackest Night, Boston is now the only person still in possession of a White Lantern Ring. The White Entity reveals to Boston that it is dying and his task is to find the chosen one who will take over for the Entity. Boston begins to search for the chosen one with the help of Hank Hall and Dawn Granger, the latter of which Boston falls in love with.

While searching for the chosen one, Deadman's ring reaches 100% and transforms him into a White Lantern, transporting him to Hawkman and Hawkgirl. The Entity tells them that in order to reclaim their lives, they need to learn to live apart from each other as they value love over life. The couple refuses to be separated again and the Entity says "So be it", reducing them to white dust in front of Deadman's eyes.


 * Powers                 =
 * Possession: He has the ability to possess other living creatures. While doing this, he maintains full control over his selected target, and can even speak through them. A host body gifted with a particularly willful spirit however, has been known to exorcise Deadman's presence from their form. Typically whenever Deadman abandons a host form, they maintain no knowledge or memory of their actions while possessed. Deadman can only possess one human being at a time. Prolonged attachment to a specific host places Deadman at risk of a permanent bonding (the nature of which has been known to vary from time to time).


 * Invisibility: He cannot be visibly perceived by other human beings. This is an automatic ability, and one that Deadman has no control over. Beings gifted with supernatural prowess (Madame Xanadu for example), may be able to see Deadman's true form.


 * Intangibility: He can pass through anything and everything. This is an automatic ability, and one that Deadman has no control over.

Body Possession: the health and nature of whichever host body he is possessing at the moment may place certain physical limitations on this ability. If Deadman possesses the body of an out of shape, middle-aged man, he will not be able to tumble as dexterously as he would were he in possession of a more athletic specimen.
 * Flight: Sometimes called Spirit Travel, he possesses the ability to fly between the lands of the living and the lands of the dead. By extension he is able to levitate, float and fly in both worlds. When possessing a human form however, Deadman is limited by whatever physical restrictions apply to the host body.
 * Abilities              =
 * Master Gymnast: Deadman is a professional acrobat and gymnast.
 * Occultism
 * Strength               = Deadman possesses the physical strength level of whomever he is possessing at any given moment.
 * Weaknesses             =


 * Equipment              =
 * Transportation         =
 * Weapons                =
 * White Lantern Ring


 * Notes                  =
 * Trivia                 =
 * Boston's brother, Cleveland Brand, occasionally posed as the Deadman during performances.


 * The character of Deadman made an appearance in the Season three episode of Justice League Unlimited entitled "Dead Reckoning". Actor Raphael Sbarge provided the voice for Deadman.


 * Deadman's trapeze outfit was the inspiration for Dick Grayson's original Nightwing costume.


 * Recommended
 * Deadman (Volume 1)
 * Deadman (Volume 2)
 * Deadman (Volume 3)
 * Deadman: Exorcism
 * Deadman: Lost Souls

}}
 * DC                     =
 * Wikipedia              = Deadman
 * Links                  =
 * Deadman biography page at the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe