DC Finest: Deadman: How Many Times Can a Guy Die?

by Neal Adams (Writer/Illustrator), Arnold Drake, Jerry Grandenetti (Illustrator)

Boston Brand was a circus acrobat—until a bullet ended his life and began his mission. As Deadman, he walks the line between life and death, possessing the living to seek justice for the murdered and the forgotten. This collection brings together his most haunting and heroic tales from the Silver and Bronze Ages of DC Comics.

DC Finest: Deadman – How Many Times Can a Guy Die? collects the most iconic early appearances of Deadman, including stories from Strange Adventures #205–216, Aquaman #50–52, Justice League of America #94, The Brave and the Bold #79, 86, 104, 133, The Phantom Stranger #33, 39–41, World’s Finest #223, 227, The Forever People #9–10, Challengers of the Unknown #74, and Superman #183. These stories follow Boston Brand’s journey from vengeful spirit to reluctant hero, as he uncovers conspiracies, confronts cosmic forces, and crosses paths with DC’s greatest icons. Featuring groundbreaking art by Neal Adams and others, this volume is a must-have for fans of supernatural superhero storytelling.

Genres: Graphic Novels Comics

576 pages, Paperback

First published May 26, 2026

About the author

Neal Adams was an American comic book and commercial artist known for helping to create some of the definitive modern imagery of the DC Comics characters Superman, Batman, and Green Arrow; as the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates; and as a creators-rights advocate who helped secure a pension and recognition for Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Adams was inducted into the Eisner Award's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1998, and the Harvey Awards' Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1999.

Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Gary Sassaman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This 572-page volume features all of the earliest Deadman stories, starting with Strange Adventures 205, and covers the years 1967 through 1977. Created by Arnold Drake and Carmine Infantino, who drew only the first issue, Deadman soon became one of the DC heroes most associated with Neal Adams, who took over with the character’s second issue and went on to draw and eventually write the rest of Deadman’s run in that title, through issue 216. Adams also drew the first two Batman/Deadman team-ups in The Brave and the Bold (issues 79 and 86), both which are included here, along with issues 104 and 133, drawn by Jim Aparo, and written by Bob Haney. Adams continued Deadman’s tales in a three-issue arc as a backup feature in Aquaman, but Deadman was one of those 1960s heroes who never quite fit in to the then-DCU, and this volume echos his character arc of roaming the Earth, searching for some peace. This volume also includes some unwieldy stories in Forever People 9 and 10 by Jack Kirby, plus appearances in Challengers of the Unknown 74, Justice League of America 94 (with some art by Adams), and (in a fit that made more sense) Phantom Stranger issues 33 and 39-41. There’s also a couple of awkward World’s Finest stories (223 and 227) and a Superman Family appearance (issue 183) that really don’t work at all. For those that don’t know, Deadman is famed circus aerialist Boston Brand, who is murdered in mid-performance and forced to haunt the world until he finds his killer, a man with a hook for one hand. With the many writers who tackle the character in this book, I’m not really sure Deadman ever got any real peace, but Neal Adams sure made him look good while he was looking. The artist’s work on Deadman was mind-blowing in the staid 1960s world of DC’s various house looks dictated by editors.