Lord Death Man

Latest revision as of 05:10, 19 April 2025

Lord Death Man in Robin v3 #16.

Lord Death Man is a male comic supervillain who features in DC Comics.

Biography

Pre-Crisis

Death Man in Batman v1 #180.

Lord Death Man

Death-Man mastered yogi techniques that controlled his breathing and allowed himself to appear dead. Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson attended a penthouse gem showing when Death-Man and his gang arrived, saying he'd take the goods because while the living couldn't take their wealth with them after death he was already dead. Bruce and dick changed into Batman and Robin as Death-Man fled the penthouse, shooting down the security guards. The Dynamic duo nabbed him, but he gloated that he was the specter of death, beyond their grip. Death-Man was sentenced to death, but told the judge he was beyond human judgment, and seemingly dropped dead in the courtroom. Batman was haunted by the grim villain, and his macabre claims, so he insisted the GCPD dig up his grave, and found Death-Man lying there. A news report soon came in that Death-Man reappeared on the scene, and had robbed and killed again. Batman and Robin caught up with him fleeing in a funeral hearse, and cornered him in a junkyard. After a drawn out battle Death-Man again told them they had no power over him, and dropped dead again. Bruce attended a socialite event where a yogi was buried alive, but unearthed unharmed because he used meditation techniques to put himself in suspended animation. Having tumbled onto the same trick Death-Man used he dug up his grave again, only to find it empty. Death-Man and his gang were waiting for the heroes, shooting at them, and promising he would bury Batman in the grave he once lied in. Death-Man and Batman struggled over the grave when a bolt of lightning hit Death-Man, killing him, and he tumbled into the grave. Batman thought it ironic that a freak accident carried out the state's death sentence. (Batman v1 #180)

Post-Crisis

Targeting crime fighters in Japan in Batman Incorporated v1 #2.

Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.

At some point, he came to attain true regenerative powers making him truly able to return from the death. This allowed the flesh of his body to regenerate from any wound though the flesh on his head was gone leaving his skull fully exposed to others. (Batman Incorporated v1 #2)

In Japan, he decided to eliminate all crimefighters in the country and decided to target Mr. Unknown and his sidekick Jiro Osamu. Kidnapping the vigilante, he used acid to burn off his hands whilst he was unconscious and then proceeded to brutally kill him. However, Jiro escapes and Lord Death Man orders his henchmen to kill all Japanese crimefighters. Later, Mr. Unknown's base was visited by Batman and Catwoman where the former had arrived in Japan in order to recruit a local crime fighter for Batman Incorporated. The pair were then beset upon by Lord Death Man's henchmen. After defeating them, Batman learnt that that they were waiting not for them, but for Jiro, the body double. Jiro arrives at his girlfriend Misaki's apartment, where he finds her being held hostage by Lord Death Man. Jiro pulls out a gun and shoots Lord Death Man. However, Misaki was suddenly thrown to a tank of water, just as Batman and Catwoman arrive. Catwoman jumped in to save her, but she was attacked by a giant octopus. (Batman Incorporated v1 #1)

Post-Flashpoint

The Murder Buddha in Talon v1 #16.

Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.

Once Batman defeated him by learning his one yogic gimmick, Death Man was somehow able to replicate the qualities of the Lazarus Pit within his own body, but at the cost of his sanity. (Batman Eternal v1 #46) Moving to Japan, Death Man set himself up as Lord Death Man — head of the Japanese underworld. He killed Mister Unknown and bombed a busload of children before Batman and Catwoman locked him in a safe that was launched into space. (Talon v1 #17)

Ra's was out of viable Lazarus Pits and required Lord Death Man's Lazarus blood to restore his daughter Talia and grandson Damian to life. (Batman Incorporated v2 #13)

Lord Death Man who had been freed from his imprisonment in the facility came to escape into the tunnels. Before he can do anything to them, he collapsed from the gas, allowing Calvin and Anya to escape into a clear hallway, as the toxins dispersed. Soon, Lord Death Man revived in the caves, only to get stabbed in the back by Calvin. He turned and warned that the non-lethal wounds were a clear sign that his attacker was not of the League. Warning that Calvin was no match for his infinitely retentive memory, Lord Death Man then tugged the blades from his back and thrusted one of them into Calvin's heart, leaving him dying on the cavern's floor. The cavern later suffered from flooding until a harpoon damaged the side causing the water to subside. Lord Death Man attempted to remind the Talon that Doctor Darrk wanted them both dead, and so it would behoove them to work together to get out of the tunnels before the tunnels begin to flood again. Calvin refused, reaching into the water to grab a shark, and launched it at his foe. Doctor Darrk would establishe a new lab where he imprisoned Lord Death Man once again with more effective restraints and returned to the plan to extract the Shelley formula for Ra's al Ghul. (Talon v1 #17)

Overview

Personality and attributes

It was said that Lord Death Man lived to take the life of others. (Batman Incorporated v1 #1)

He was deemed a murderer who was too dangerous to be set free. (Talon v1 #17)

Powers and abilities

He came to master yogi techniques that controlled his breathing and allowed himself to appear dead. (Batman v1 #180)

Notes

• Death Man was created by Robert Kanigher and Sheldon Moldoff where he made his first appearance in Batman #180 (May, 1966).

Alternate Versions

• In Batman: The Jiro Kuwata Batmanga v1 (1960), an alternate version of Lord Death Man appeared in the setting of the manga adaptation. As billionaire Bruce Wayne and his young ward Dick Grayson attend a jewelry auction, the lights go out and “as if from the depths of hell” the shrill laugh of one called Lord Death Man and his henchmen steal the priceless jewels and escape. Suddenly, Bruce and Dick leave and transform into Batman and Robin and chase down Lord Death Man’s men and the deathly looking rogues himself with the use of batarangs and grappling ropes. When incarcerated and sentenced to death, Death Man dies in the court room to Batman and Robin’s surprise. Seeing him buried wasn’t enough, for Lord Death Man infiltrated Bruce Wayne’s dreams, saying “I’m used to giving nightmares, not getting them.” Bruce suggests they take a vacation to Jamaica and even in paradise, they have to race back to Gotham City when heard over the radio Death Man has killed once again. Once tracking him down to a junkyard, Batman attacks and discovers his ability to die and revive himself is horrifically true. In Part Two, Batman discovered Lord Death Man was using a Yoga method to illustrate he was death, then awaited for his men to dig him from his grave. Chapter Three pitted Batman and Lord Death man against one another, in the end Lord Death Man met his demise with an explosion in the skies.

In other media

Television

• In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Lord Death Man appeared in the setting of the animated television series in the episode "Bat-Mite Presents: Batman's Strangest Cases!" where he was voiced by actor Diedrich Bader. Lord Death Man appears in an adaptation of the manga story. The story is mostly faithful to the original, save for the implication that he parachuted to safety following a collision with power lines. Bat-Mite implicates this was a change in "the American dub", lamp-shading the segment being done in the style of early anime.

Appearances

• Batman v1: (1966)
• Batman Incorporated v1:
• Talon v1:

External Links

• DC Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry

This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.[[Category:Japanese Supervillains