Deadline (DC Comics)
Encyclopedia
Deadline is a fictional villain in the DC Comics
universe. He first appears in the story "Deadline Doom!" in Starman #15 (October 1989).
Will Payton. He is mentioned to be one of the best and highest paid super-mercenaries, along with Bolt
. Other stories suggest that while Deadline is a master of what he does, he is not as highly regarded as, for example, Deathstroke
or Deadshot
.
Deadline appears as a vacationer in Bialya
after it is opened up to supervillains. When the country is assisted by the Justice League
, Deadline is captured by Guy Gardner
.
Deadline later becomes part of a more villainous version of the Suicide Squad propping up the dictatorship in the Bermuda Triangle island of Diabloverde. His team is shown terrorizing civilians for fun. Amanda Waller
and her Squad take him out along with his colleagues while attempting to remove the dictator.
During the "Underworld Unleashed
" event, Deadline meets fellow mercenaries Deadshot
, Merlyn the Archer
, Bolt
, and Chiller, and bands together with them as the Killer Elite
. While operating within this group, they confront the mercernaries called 'The Body Doubles
'. The entire 'Elite' suffers multiple humiliating defeats.
He is hired by King Theisley of Poseidonis to assassinate Aquaman. Despite managing to get Aquaman out of the seas and into the sky, he fails to kill him. He also attempts to kill Steel at one point but fails that as well.
Deadline is shot and apparently killed by Warden Wolfe at Iron Heights
prison while trying to escape with cohorts Deadshot
and Merlyn
.
He later appears alive in the 2004 Deadshot mini-series. Writer Christos Gage
justified this by pointing out that at the time of the shooting Deadline had been dosed with Joker venom
, which has been established as having healing properties.
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
universe. He first appears in the story "Deadline Doom!" in Starman #15 (October 1989).
Fictional character biography
Deadline first appears as a mercenary with a contract on StarmanStarman (comics)
Starman is a name used by several different fictional DC Comics superheroes, most prominently Ted Knight and his sons David and Jack.Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Jack Burnley, the original Starman, Ted Knight, first appeared in Adventure Comics #61...
Will Payton. He is mentioned to be one of the best and highest paid super-mercenaries, along with Bolt
Bolt (DC Comics)
Bolt is a fictional character and supervillain in the DC Comics Universe. His first appearance was in Blue Devil #6 .-Larry Bolatinsky:...
. Other stories suggest that while Deadline is a master of what he does, he is not as highly regarded as, for example, Deathstroke
Deathstroke
Deathstroke the Terminator , originally simply the Terminator, and known by the Teen Titans as Slade, is a fictional character, a supervillain and sometimes antihero in the DC Comics Universe. He is a mercenary and assassin who first appeared in The New Teen Titans #2...
or Deadshot
Deadshot
Deadshot is a fictional character, a supervillain/assassin in the DC Universe and an enemy of Batman. He first appears in Batman #59 and was created by Bob Kane, David Vern Reed and Lew Schwartz....
.
Deadline appears as a vacationer in Bialya
Bialya
Bialya is a fictional country appearing in many comic book series published by DC Comics. It was notably featured in issues of Justice League International as written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis. It originally appeared in Justice League #2 -Fictional history:It has existed as a country since...
after it is opened up to supervillains. When the country is assisted by the Justice League
Justice League
The Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics....
, Deadline is captured by Guy Gardner
Guy Gardner (comics)
Guy Gardner is a fictional character, a comic book superhero published by DC Comics. He is a core member of the Green Lantern family of characters, and for a time was also a significant member of the Justice League family of characters.He was created by John Broome and Gil Kane in Green Lantern...
.
Deadline later becomes part of a more villainous version of the Suicide Squad propping up the dictatorship in the Bermuda Triangle island of Diabloverde. His team is shown terrorizing civilians for fun. Amanda Waller
Amanda Waller
Dr. Amanda Blake Waller is a character published by DC Comics. She first appeared in Legends #1 in 1986, and was created by John Ostrander, Len Wein, and John Byrne...
and her Squad take him out along with his colleagues while attempting to remove the dictator.
During the "Underworld Unleashed
Underworld Unleashed
Underworld Unleashed was a multi-title comic book cross-over event released by DC Comics in 1995. As well as the core story-line of the three-issue Underworld Unleashed mini-series, most of the DC titles published in November and December 1995 and a number of one-off titles were part of the...
" event, Deadline meets fellow mercenaries Deadshot
Deadshot
Deadshot is a fictional character, a supervillain/assassin in the DC Universe and an enemy of Batman. He first appears in Batman #59 and was created by Bob Kane, David Vern Reed and Lew Schwartz....
, Merlyn the Archer
Merlyn (DC Comics)
Merlyn is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe. He is an archer created by writer Mike Friedrich, artist Dick Dillin, and inker Neal Adams as an archvillain of the hero Green Arrow, and he first appeared in Justice League of America #94 ....
, Bolt
Bolt (DC Comics)
Bolt is a fictional character and supervillain in the DC Comics Universe. His first appearance was in Blue Devil #6 .-Larry Bolatinsky:...
, and Chiller, and bands together with them as the Killer Elite
Killer Elite
Killer Elite is a 1985 album released by the British heavy metal band Avenger. It was released by Neat Records.-Track list:The following is the track list for Killer Elite:-Personnel:*Ian Davison Swift - Lead vocals*Greg Reiter - Guitars...
. While operating within this group, they confront the mercernaries called 'The Body Doubles
Body Doubles
The Body Doubles are fictional characters, DC Comics villains created by Andy Lanning, Dan Abnett, and Jackson Guice. They first appeared in Resurrection Man #1...
'. The entire 'Elite' suffers multiple humiliating defeats.
He is hired by King Theisley of Poseidonis to assassinate Aquaman. Despite managing to get Aquaman out of the seas and into the sky, he fails to kill him. He also attempts to kill Steel at one point but fails that as well.
Deadline is shot and apparently killed by Warden Wolfe at Iron Heights
Iron Heights
Iron Heights Penitentiary is a fictional setting in the , a maximum-security prison which houses the many Flash rogues and superhuman criminals of Keystone City and Central City when captured...
prison while trying to escape with cohorts Deadshot
Deadshot
Deadshot is a fictional character, a supervillain/assassin in the DC Universe and an enemy of Batman. He first appears in Batman #59 and was created by Bob Kane, David Vern Reed and Lew Schwartz....
and Merlyn
Merlyn (DC Comics)
Merlyn is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe. He is an archer created by writer Mike Friedrich, artist Dick Dillin, and inker Neal Adams as an archvillain of the hero Green Arrow, and he first appeared in Justice League of America #94 ....
.
He later appears alive in the 2004 Deadshot mini-series. Writer Christos Gage
Christos Gage
Christos N. "Chris" Gage is an American comic book writer and screenwriter.-Early life:Gage is the son of author and journalist Nicholas Gage. He was born in New York, and grew up in Athens, Greece, and then North Grafton, Massachusetts...
justified this by pointing out that at the time of the shooting Deadline had been dosed with Joker venom
Joker venom
Joker venom, also called Joker toxin or Smilex, is a fictional toxin, a favorite murder weapon used by The Joker in the Batman franchise of movies, comics, and cartoons...
, which has been established as having healing properties.