Deadshot

(DC, 1988-1989)
™ and ©1988 DC Comics, Inc.

Floyd Lawton, a.k.a. Deadshot, first appeared in Batman #59 in 1950. Like Bruce Wayne, Lawton was raised into a rich family which was destroyed when his parents were gunned down by criminals. Unlike Wayne, however, Lawton’s rage led him to a life of crime.

In a story called “The Man Who Replaced Batman,” he appeared in a black mask and tuxedo and began using his marksmanship skills to round up criminals. He figured if he could upstage and get rid of Batman, he’d then be free to control Gotham City’s underworld. Batman stopped him, however, and he disappeared until 1977. He then reappeared in his current costume, fighting—and losing to—Batman several times. In jail he was approached by Amanda Waller and Rick Flag in Legends #2, recruiting Lawton to join the Suicide Squad. But it seemed Lawton agreed out of a desire more to get killed than to escape jail. This mini-series finally begins to explain why.

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