Deadman is included in this list because of a revelation in a short story, “On the Stairs”, written by Neil Gaiman that appeared in Solo #8. Deadman is sitting on one of the steps of a high circular stairway conversing with a young woman who’s idly sat on the stairs most of the day. Brand tells her about how some of his experiences as a ghost have felt. In recounting these experiences, he mentions that there are other ghosts like him who briefly possess bodies. Brand says: “Back in the eighties, I romanced someone like me for a couple of months. Mostly I’d pick male bodies. Mostly she’d pick female.” From this disclosure it can be inferred that Deadman has possessed female bodies to derive some kind of romantic or sexual satisfaction, and possibly that the female spirit possessed a male form while at the same time Brand inhabited a man. Gaiman’s short story is the only indication in decades of the Deadman’s appearances that the character may have experimented sexually in his afterlife.
Please also read the Berenice Yoon Milonas and Sam profiles.
Art by Lan Medina and José Villarrubia from Deadman: Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love #1.
Deadman created by Arnold Drake and Carmine Infantino. The character first appeared in Strange Adventures #205. Please consult Wikipedia and Toonopedia for further info on Deadman.
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