Deadman Returns!
It seems trite to say that it was a cold and stormy night in Gotham, but it was, on the night that Deadman Boston Brand returned to that most forboding of cities in the USA. A den of scum and villainy that more often than not seemed more suitable for being burned off the face of the Earth like Pompeii, or washed out to see like Atlantis, and yet somehow it still persisted and small beacons of hope and light would continuously fight back the darkness.
Perhaps this is why Deadman was called back there. He had spent many months in the Himalayas since the great war with Mordru (and Mordru) and was beginning to feel a certain sense of spiritual peace. But then something like a pang of hurt, or guilt, drew him back to the reality that far too much evil was still being practiced, especially in this supposed bastion of civilisation. And despite it's many defenders such as Batman, Robin, Ragman and Huntress, there was always a need for more people to fight away the darkness.
So Deadman came back, pouring from the soil of his grave and into the cemetery he knew so well, looking around at the cold and stormy vista from East to West, and finally floating his way into the city itself. "It feels crap to be home."
Nothing much had changed in Gotham in the year or so he'd been away, by all appearances. Just by scanning through some news archives he read that he Riddler and Scarecrow were apparently now reformed, that crime boss Rupert Thorne was now dead, and that Max Shreck was making inroads into Metropolis, but... "These things are transient. Reformation is only as permanent as the criminal wants it to be. Death is no object in this world full of mystics. And corrupt business tycoons always crawl back to the relative safety of Gotham when their plans go bust."
He floated past the window of Andrei's Gondola, one of his favourite restaurants from his mortal days. It wouldn't hurt to go inside, take a body, and maybe enjoy a meal... And then he sees a very familiar criminal face at one of the tables.
Perhaps this is why Deadman was called back there. He had spent many months in the Himalayas since the great war with Mordru (and Mordru) and was beginning to feel a certain sense of spiritual peace. But then something like a pang of hurt, or guilt, drew him back to the reality that far too much evil was still being practiced, especially in this supposed bastion of civilisation. And despite it's many defenders such as Batman, Robin, Ragman and Huntress, there was always a need for more people to fight away the darkness.
So Deadman came back, pouring from the soil of his grave and into the cemetery he knew so well, looking around at the cold and stormy vista from East to West, and finally floating his way into the city itself. "It feels crap to be home."
Nothing much had changed in Gotham in the year or so he'd been away, by all appearances. Just by scanning through some news archives he read that he Riddler and Scarecrow were apparently now reformed, that crime boss Rupert Thorne was now dead, and that Max Shreck was making inroads into Metropolis, but... "These things are transient. Reformation is only as permanent as the criminal wants it to be. Death is no object in this world full of mystics. And corrupt business tycoons always crawl back to the relative safety of Gotham when their plans go bust."
He floated past the window of Andrei's Gondola, one of his favourite restaurants from his mortal days. It wouldn't hurt to go inside, take a body, and maybe enjoy a meal... And then he sees a very familiar criminal face at one of the tables.