Neal Adams returns to one of the characters with which he most closely identified – Deadman. He didn’t launch the property in the 1960s, but he stepped in close behind original artist Carmine Infantino, and illustrated his early appearances in Strange Adventures and Aquaman.

In recent years, Adams has returned to writing and drawing comics for DC. Given his legendary status in the industry, he has seemingly been given carte blanch to write and draw and property he so chooses. Unfortunately, it is not always with stellar results.

This first issue of a six-issue miniseries revisits Deadman’s final encounter with his assassin, Hook, and the killer’s master, known as Sensei. Sensei killed Hook, who in turn was “killed” by Batman – a rather debatable point to be sure, and readers are not given a clear answer here. Hopefully with the recap out of the way, Adams will be on the path to telling an entertaining story.

His artwork is as dynamic as ever, though upon closer examination, some portions seem poorly finished. It’s almost as if they are printed from an original pencil sketch, but a sketch from Adams carries more weight than finished inks from most artists.

Having written and drawn new Batman, Superman, and now Deadman stories in the past 10 years, I guess it’s only a matter of time before Adams resurrects the Green Lantern/Green Arrow adventures from the early 1970s. Like I said, his newer efforts are often hit-or-miss, but always interesting.

Rating: 6/10