Initially a science fiction anthology title with some continuing features starring SF protagonists, the series became a supernatural-fantasy title beginning with issue #202, for which it received a new logo. Deadman’s first appearance in Strange Adventures #205, written by Arnold Drake and drawn by Carmine Infantino, included the first known depiction of narcotics in a story approved by the Comics Code Authority. The “Deadman” feature served as an early showcase for the artwork of Neal Adams.
Death is the loneliest state of existence, a fact that Boston Brand never stopped to consider…at least not until he died. But after an assassin’s bullet cuts down the famed circus aerialist, Deadman learns the hard way what it’s like to be truly alone and all he can do is pray that he would one day find love after death. Investigating an abandoned circus in the Wisconsin Northwoods, Deadman comes upon another ghost…the spirit of a female aerialist who was rumored to have been murdered by her husband, the owner of the circus. The two spirits fall in love…but even death can’t protect her from her still-living husband’s jealousy as he unleashes a horde of side show horrors to keep them apart. But that’s only the tip of the supernatural iceberg and something even more sinister is under way.
EHT Comics 