The Deadman #1 Review

 

The Deadman #1 Review

Writer: W Maxwell Prince

Artist: Martín Morazzo

Colorist: Chris O’Halloran

Letterer: Good Old Neon

Editors: Chris Rosa & Paul Kaminski

Cover Artist: Martín Morazzo

Variant Cover Artists: Tula Lotay; Frank Cho & Sabine Rich; Mike Choi; Hayden Sherman & Mike Spicer; Martín Morazzo & Chris O’Halloran

Publisher: DC Comics

Price: $3.99/$4.99

Release Date: June 3, 2026

 

The Outer Gotham Rural Hospital is where people come to die. Sure, the doctors and nurses try to imbue hope into hopeless situations. Sadly, there's not much they can do for the patients in "the Hospice Hotel."

 

Dr Barrows, Sasha, and Tammy may not be able to offer their charges more than painkillers and kindness. Yet someone walks the halls who can ease them onto the next level of their existence. Who is Boston Brand? And why do they call him The Deadman? Let’s slip on our scrubs, leap into The Deadman #1, and see!

 

Story

Sasha is new to nights at the Outer Gotham Rural Hospital. So as Dr Barrows and Tammy offer Sasha insights on how to approach her work, Boston listens. When Tammy inadvertently passes through Boston, his spirit awakens forgotten memories. While she recalls something that bound her with her grandmother in life, Boston feels the love that time and death have not vanquished. Then, sensing a patient’s end, Boston follows Tammy down the hall.

 

After perceiving events from the staff’s perspective, readers follow Boston Brand’s journey in The Deadman #1. While the story introduces memorable characters, Boston emerges as someone immensely intrigued by those around him. At times, he may wish he had chosen another role in the afterlife. Still, he enjoys a much fuller life than those who linger in Robertsville.

 

Yet in W Maxwell Prince's story, a threat emerges to threaten Boston's future. He may not be your typical hero. Nor may he seem especially brave. Still, Boston Brand vows to fight it. For while he loves people, he also loves their stories. And despite his wishes that he had been braver when his life ended, Boston enjoys serving others in The Deadman #1.

 

Art

As another soul departs the hospital, the moon forces apart the clouds to gaze down with its crater-eyes. Dr Barrows greets the nurses at their station, while the halls are devoid of family members lingering after visiting hours have ended. As Tammy approaches Boston, he doesn't step aside. Instead, he glows brighter when she passes through him, casting the nurse briefly into shade. When Boston levitates, his white coat and outstretched arms evoke an angel. And when he intervenes at a moment of transition, Boston conjures an image of fragile life from his palm. Then, departing the hospital, Boston leaves behind whisps of cosmic ether as he travels toward another favorite part of his day.

 

As Martín Morazzo packs pages with panels, Chris O’Halloran fills this nighttime world of The Deadman #1 with colorful souls that brighten the darkness. The hospital may resound with muted tones of gray, beige, and green. Yet in the rooms of the dying, green walls suggest the willpower that helps those lingering eke out their final moments. Dr Barrows wears blue scrubs under his white coat, while the nurses who bring comfort to the dying wear violet uniforms. At the frightening moment of death, yellow souls depart gray bodies. Boston wears orange clothing as he savors the thoughts and memories of the living. Yet, his clothing turns red when others' actions infuriate him.

 

As Boston welcomes readers into his world and guides them through his extraordinary evening, Good Old Neon fills gray boxes with black lowercase letters. The letters grow bold with intonation and enlarge when expressing anger. They shrink when relaying minutiae of his existence, or when Boston lowers his voice. Other souls sustained in their moment of death summon yellow dialogue balloons. Like Boston, they were too frightened to venture onto the next phase of their existence. Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this story with us.

 

 

Final Thoughts

Love may help the world grow round, but it also makes the afterlife a kinder, gentler place. As Boston Brand adheres to the strictures of his calling, he finds leeway to exercise kindness. Even when others regard the dying as monsters, he seeks to dispense compassion. Yet as a danger arises that threatens his calling, Boston Brand vows to fight it with all his soul in The Deadman #1.

 

Rating 9.2/10

 

To look inside see my preview of The Deadman #1.