Peacemaker (Comics)
Peacemaker is the title of a series of comic publications that have been published by the US publishers Charlton Comics and DC Comics (since 1984) since 1966 .
The comics of the Peacemaker series describe mostly adventure and spy stories, but also contain elements of science fiction , especially of the superhero genre.
Release dates
The first Peacemaker story was published in the back of the comic book Fightin'5 # 40 in November 1966 . The author of this story was the writer Joe Gill , the graphic implementation of the story was done by the artist Pat Boyette .
Following this story, and another Peacemaker story that appeared in Fightin'5 # 41, the publisher Charlton Comics, in whose program Fightin'5 appeared, began to put the material at the center of an independent series, briefly entitled Peacemaker . Between March and November 1967, a total of five issues of the series appeared every two months.
After Charlton Comics had ceased operations in the early 1980s, DC Comics publisher acquired the rights to the Peacemaker fabric. DC exploited the rights, among other things, in a four-part miniseries published between January and April 1988.
action
Peacemaker describes the adventures of a young pacifist diplomat named Smith, who - according to the advertising slogan of the original series from the 1960s - "loves peace so much that he is ready to go to war for it". To realize his vision of a peaceful world, Peacemaker makes use of an arsenal of non-lethal, high-tech weapons such as a rocket backpack, difficult-to-penetrate armor, communication helmet and military combat equipment.
In the course of the early Peacemaker stories, the title hero turns against various dictators, arms dealers and so-called warlords in crisis areas. He also founds the so-called "Pax Institute", an institution dedicated to research into effective ways to secure peace.
In later stories in the series, it is finally revealed that Smith's twisted idea of achieving peace through the use of force came about as a result of a nervous breakdown while learning of his father's work as a concentration camp commanding officer during World War II. Since then, Smith feels haunted by the ghost of his dead father, who ceaselessly criticizes him for his actions. As Smith's mental state deteriorates, his tendency not to kill under any circumstances turns into a vigilante who uses even the slightest cause to kill his opponents. In an argument with the monstrous Eclipso , Smith then apparently dies.
Smith's successor in the Peacemaker identity will be an anonymous man who appears on Justice League International # 65 and who will succeed Mitchell Black, a surgeon who works for Smith's Pax Institute. Alan Moore's miniseries Watchmen also features the Peacemaker-based character "The Comedian".