Hitman (comic)

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Hitman was a monthly, in 60 issues (plus some special issues ) appearing comic series , which was published from April 1996 to April 2001 by the US comic publisher DC . The series was about Tommy Monaghan, an Irish-born professional killer (English Hitman ), who pursues his bloody profession in the fictional city of Gotham City . He had his first appearance in US The Demon Annual # 2 (1993), his last in US Hitman # 60 (April 2001). Hitman is one of the so-called antiheroes , i. H. Superheroes who are not clearly “good” or “bad” in the classic sense.

The series was authored by the Irish writer Garth Ennis , the drawings were made by the American John McCrea as a regular artist . Due to time constraints, McCrea was occasionally represented by other draftsmen such as Steve Pugh , Carlos Ezquerra and Doug Mahnke when it was not possible for him to finish his work on time.

Characteristic of the Hitman series was McCrea's idiosyncratic, expressionistic style of drawing and the tendency to overly drastic depictions of violence and death, which, however, often took place in a parodic manner : pseudo-superheroes such as B. Nightfist (who aims to fight the drug problem in Gotham City, but actually represents the drug problem himself ), only to be killed again very soon in one of the following editions. The Section Eight provides this type are superheroes.

action

Tommy Monaghan, a professional killer who lives and works in Gotham City , is the victim of an attack by Glonth, one of the seven shape-shifting, spinal cord- consuming aliens (see the Bloodlines series ) who were killed after a fight with Lobo (see U.S. Lobo Annual # 1 , 1993), fell to earth where they spread fear and terror. The bite inflicted on his neck and the virus that was transmitted in the process do not kill Tommy, but rather equip him with limited X-ray vision (along with deep black eyes ) and telepathic abilities.

In contrast to many of his professional colleagues, Monaghan has scruples. B. not someone whom he classifies as the “good” or who in his opinion do not deserve to die (which leaves a certain breadth of definition). These include children , police officers or superheroes (such as Batman , Green Lantern and Superman ). For this reason, he always works independently and never for a permanent client, to whom he is obliged and therefore should possibly shoot someone from the named groups of people.

Most of the time he stays at Noonan's, his favorite bar, which is run by Sean Noonan, a former killer, and a meeting place with his friends and colleagues (such as Ringo Chen, Hacken and Natt the Hat) who work in the same trade as Tommy himself .

Tommy's bookkeeping is handled by his best friend, Pat Noonan, Sean's nephew, until his death. In one of the first issues (see US Hitman # 6, October 1996), Pat is tortured and fatally injured by Johnny Navarone, a killer who is supposed to eliminate Monaghan, so that Monaghan finds him dying and shoots him with his own hands in order to relieve him of his pain .

In the course of the series, almost all characters are killed, only Baytor, Bueno Excellente, Hacken, Sixpack and Tiegel survive until the end of the series.

Characters

Noonan's clique

Noonan's is a nasty pub owned by Sean Noonan, the Hitman's foster father. It is a gathering point for all kinds of dodgy characters, but especially the starting point for the various professional killers based in Gotham City. Together with Sean Noonan and a few regulars, including mainly other professional killers, Hitman forms a loose circle that forms the main cast of characters in the Hitman series.

Noonan's clique include:

  • Sean Robert Noonan : The owner of "Noonan's Sleazy Bar" (German: "Noonan's shabby bar"), a shabby bar in the East End of Gotham City. Noonan, who fought in the Korean War , is a retired professional killer and a kind of father substitute for the orphaned Monaghan.
  • Patrick James "Pat" Noonan : nephew of Sean Noonan and the only one in the group who is not a killer. He grew up with Tommy.
  • Baytor : Demon who, after escaping (with Etrigan's help) from hell, is now the waitress in the bar. He speaks little, but often repeats the sentence “I am Baytor!”.
  • Thomas "Tommy" Monaghan : Irish killer who was raised by nuns in an orphanage .
  • Chop : A gross professional bully. Hacken is particularly noticeable because of his ignorance and the not very refined approach with which he does his "work".
  • Natt "The Hat" Walls : Hitman's colleague, with whom Hitman has been friends since they joined the army (including during the Second Iraq War ). Natt owes his nickname to his tendency to always wear a rapper's hat.
  • Ringo Chen : A professional killer from China . He is Tommy's fiercest competitor.

More figures

Since this is an antihero comic series, it is difficult to draw a precise separation between the characters who are on the side of law and those who commit crimes. In addition, Hitman plays in Gotham City and thus in a very dark city and criminal stronghold, which makes a division even more difficult. In the following a distinction is made between those who support Tommy more or less and those who specifically fight him.

In the listing, the secret identity is given in brackets (if available) .

Heroes

  • Batman (Bruce Wayne)

Batman is a vigilante who dresses up as a giant bat and wages a private guerrilla war against crime in the fictional city of Gotham City, the location of the Hitman series. Loathing Hitman's activities, the two of them fight, but he realizes that Tommy is keeping the darkest corners of Gotham clean.

  • Deborah "Debs" Crucible

She is a policewoman who is after Tommy professionally (as a policewoman ), then privately (as a woman ). Because of her corrupt colleagues, she was suspended and then discharged from service. Tiegel's relationship with Tommy is heavily strained by his morally questionable job.

  • Sixpack (Sidney "Sid" bacon) and the Section Eight (Engl. Section Eight )

A minor character in Hitman is Sixpack . He has problems with his body gases and fluids and was supposedly a real superhero in the past, but somehow he slipped into alcoholism . Today he sits at Noonan's and tells those present about his struggles against the forces of evil (including Doomsday ) and how he comes to the aid of Batman. The stories often end in such a way that he wakes up again and lies in his own urine , for which he finds a reason: "The [his opponents] must have bladder disorders!" In US Hitman # 52 (August 2000) shows up at Sixpack that he can create a force field for self-protection. Thereupon he saves the world from the many-angled people who come from a crack between the hells. Sixpack is the leader of his own superhero league called Section Eight. Section Eight seems like a bunch of rather incompetent wannabe superheroes at first and second glance, but ultimately they stay victorious in the fight against Mawzir and Lobo. Section eight is almost wiped out in the fight against the many-angled. Here, Sixpack faces the many-angled, who take him to the fight in their dimension and spare the earth for it. Sixpack is later seen at a meeting of a support group for alcohol addicts, suggesting that he defeated the polyglot. Besides six pack, Bueno Excellente also survived.

The other members are (original names in English in brackets):

  • Jean de Baton-Baton: Fight his opponents the French way, e.g. B. with a baguette that he uses like a stick .
  • Friend's Fire (English. Friendly Fire ): fire can fire beams from his hands, it is true, however, often members of his team.
  • Speister (English Flemgem ): Spits on his opponents with slime .
  • Bueno Excellente: Fights with the power of the pervert .
  • Schüttler (English Shakes ): Horrifies his opponents with shaking fits.
  • Dog welder (engl. Dogwelder ): Welds his opponents (mostly dead) dog to the body.

opponent

  • Moe Dubelz

He is one half of a pair of Siamese twins who share an entire body. His brother Joe is killed by Tommy, and Moe swears revenge for him. The brothers lead one of Gotham City's main mobs .

  • Mawzir

A demon from hell . He used to be five SS men who were hanged in the war . Those were turned into a single ten-armed demon by the arcannons, the masters of weapons in Hell. He was sent to Earth several times to bring artifacts to his masters , which led to a conflict with Catwoman , and to win Monaghan as another agent .

  • CIA agent Truman

He is jealous of metahumans because of their skills and tries to hire Tommy to kill super creatures for him. In the final arc of the story, "Closing Time" ("The Last Round"), it becomes apparent that he wants to reproduce the effects of bloodlines in order to create his own superheroes.

  • Johnny Navarone

One of the world's best killers, who is set on Tommy by Agent Truman and walks over corpses. He is responsible for the severe wounds of Pat Noonan, forcing Hitman to kill him. Later, Marc, the son of Johnny Navarone, who is an even better sniper, is also hired by Truman to kill Tommy.

He is one of the most important Mafia bosses in Gotham. He is so called because because of his health he always has to sit on the toilet and run his business from there. He is killed by the SAS, but Tommy is falsely blamed. Because of this, attempts are made several times to take revenge on Tommy.

When Natt and Tommy accidentally wiped out a group of British soldiers during the Iraq war , they are hunted down by the SAS.

  • The many-angled

The many-angled-ones are creatures that seem to be borrowed from the Cthulhu myth . They come from a crack between the hells and say themselves that they stole the sacred geometry of fallen angels, twisted it and made it their own. Besides, they are the science demons. In the three-dimensional universe they appear as two-dimensional, geometrical figures with mouths reinforced with teeth. In US hitman # 52, they try to take over the world, but are held up by Section Eight .

Publication in German

The US series has been fully translated into German and printed. The publishers Dino and Panini were responsible . Dino Verlag published issues # 1 to # 22 primarily as a second series in Lobo, but also in the form of two special volumes. There were also two specials and a special issue on Hitman and a Superman special with a story about Sixpack. Panini published the remaining issues of the series in the form of eight anthologies up to the end of # 60.

Award

  • US hitman # 34 (February 1999), Superman's appearance in “Of Thee I Sing”, won the 1999 Eisner Award for best single comic

Web links

Sources and literature