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Peacemaker (comics)
Encyclopedia
The Peacemaker is the name of a series of superhero
es originally owned by Charlton Comics
and later acquired by DC Comics
. The original Peacemaker first appeared in Fightin' 5
#40 (Nov. 1966), and was created by writer
Joe Gill
and artist
Pat Boyette
.
-team title Fightin' 5
#40 (Nov. 1966) When that series was canceled with issue #41, the Peacemaker received his own title that lasted five issues cover-dated March to November 1967, with the Fightin' 5 as a backup series. Some of penciler-inker
Pat Boyette's artwork for a projected sixth issue later appeared online.
Following Charlton Comics' demise in the mid 1980s, DC Comics
acquired The Peacemaker and released a four-issue mini-series
(Jan.-April 1988).
diplomat
so committed to peace
that he was willing to use force as a superhero to advance the cause. He uses an array of special non-lethal weapons, and also founds the Pax Institute. Most of the villains he goes up against are dictators and warlords.
Smith later learns that his peace-through-violence efforts were the result of a serious mental illness
brought on by the shame of having a Nazi
death camp commandant for a father. He believes his father's spirit haunts him continually and criticizes his every move, even as he tries to live down his past.
Becoming a particularly deadly vigilante who would kill at the slightest notice, he begins to believe that the ghosts of the people he killed, or who were killed in his vicinity, are collected inside his helmet and can offer him advice and commentary. For a time, the Peacemaker serves as a U.S. government agent under the auspices of Checkmate
, a special-forces unit, hunting down terrorists until his own behavior becomes too extreme. He eventually crashes a helicopter to destroy tanks controlled by the supervillain
Eclipso
and is reported dead.
His soul shows up in the realm of Purgatory in the Day of Judgment
series. A team of heroes has shown up to recruit the soul of Hal Jordan
. The guardians of Purgatory do not like this and Peacemaker, along with other dead vigilantes, rally and provide enough of a distraction so the group can return to Earth.
vol. 2, #65, as a member of the "League-Busters".
(Living Assault Weapons), reunited with the other heroes acquired from Charlton. He appeared to have been killed by the supervillain Prometheus
in Infinite Crisis #7.
, he found himself in a Bialya
n pyramid that happened to be the same one Dan Garrett
found the scarab in years before. While inside, he accidentally came into contact with alien technology that allowed him to receive the scarab's database in his mind, explaining the inability of the Reach
to control Garrett and Reyes. The Scarab was taken away with only a partly functioning AI with the higher instructions, including the ones needed to control the host, left in the pyramid and downloaded into Smith's mind. Upon witnessing Jaime's rebellion, the Reach implanted Peacemaker with a scarab himself, which was dormant until a Sinestro Corps
Power Ring
contacted the AI and assigned him control of Space Sector 2, including the Reach Empire. He was sent to kill Jaime, but Jaime interfaced with Smith's scarab and helped him face his inner fears. Gathering enough courage for a last stand, Smith forcibly cut the scarab from his spine, leaving him injured but not dead. He helped defend Jaime's family from a Reach attack, and has continued to serve as a sort of mentor to the third Blue Beetle. At the conclusion of the current Blue Beetle series, Peacemaker leaves El Paso; before he departs, he bids farewell to Jaime and advises him to learn to become his own man. Later, he makes an appearance in Final Crisis Aftermath: Escape, as a detainee and potential recruit of the Global Peace Agency
.
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
es originally owned by Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1946 to 1985, having begun under a different name in 1944. It was based in Derby, Connecticut...
and later acquired by DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
. The original Peacemaker first appeared in Fightin' 5
Fightin' 5
The Fightin' 5 are a Charlton Comics Special Forces paramilitary team, similar to DC Comics' Blackhawks. They debuted in Fightin' 5 #28, , and were created by Joe Gill and Bill Montes.-Publication history:...
#40 (Nov. 1966), and was created by writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
Joe Gill
Joe Gill
Joseph Gill was an American magazine writer and highly prolific comic book scripter. Most of his work was for Charlton Comics, where he co-created the superheroes Captain Atom, Peacemaker, and Judomaster, among others. Comics historians consider Gill a top contender as the comic-book field's most...
and artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
Pat Boyette
Pat Boyette
Pat Boyette Pat Boyette Pat Boyette (July 27, 1923, San Antonio, Texas – January 14, 2000, was an American broadcasting personality and news producer, and later a comic book artist best known for two decades of work for Charlton Comics, where he co-created the character The Peacemaker...
.
Publication history
The Peacemaker first appeared as a backup series in Charlton Comics' espionageEspionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
-team title Fightin' 5
Fightin' 5
The Fightin' 5 are a Charlton Comics Special Forces paramilitary team, similar to DC Comics' Blackhawks. They debuted in Fightin' 5 #28, , and were created by Joe Gill and Bill Montes.-Publication history:...
#40 (Nov. 1966) When that series was canceled with issue #41, the Peacemaker received his own title that lasted five issues cover-dated March to November 1967, with the Fightin' 5 as a backup series. Some of penciler-inker
Inker
The inker is one of the two line artists in a traditional comic book or graphic novel. After a pencilled drawing is given to the inker, the inker uses black ink to produce refined outlines over the pencil lines...
Pat Boyette's artwork for a projected sixth issue later appeared online.
Following Charlton Comics' demise in the mid 1980s, DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
acquired The Peacemaker and released a four-issue mini-series
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
(Jan.-April 1988).
Fictional character biography
The Peacemaker is Christopher Smith, a pacifistPacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
so committed to peace
Peace
Peace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...
that he was willing to use force as a superhero to advance the cause. He uses an array of special non-lethal weapons, and also founds the Pax Institute. Most of the villains he goes up against are dictators and warlords.
Smith later learns that his peace-through-violence efforts were the result of a serious mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
brought on by the shame of having a Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
death camp commandant for a father. He believes his father's spirit haunts him continually and criticizes his every move, even as he tries to live down his past.
Checkmate (comics)
Checkmate, a division of Task Force X, is a fictional covert operations agency within the DC Comics universe. It first appeared in Action Comics #598 and proceeded to have its own ongoing title in Checkmate!...
, a special-forces unit, hunting down terrorists until his own behavior becomes too extreme. He eventually crashes a helicopter to destroy tanks controlled by the supervillain
Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
Eclipso
Eclipso
Eclipso is a fictional supervillain in the DC Comics Universe. The character is the incarnation of the Wrath of God and the Angel of Vengeance that turned evil and was replaced by the Spectre...
and is reported dead.
His soul shows up in the realm of Purgatory in the Day of Judgment
Day of Judgment (comics)
Day of Judgment was a DC Comics limited series and crossover storyline during the autumn of 1999. The limited series was written by Geoff Johns, with art by Matthew Dow Smith....
series. A team of heroes has shown up to recruit the soul of Hal Jordan
Hal Jordan
Harold "Hal" Jordan is a DC Comics superhero known as Green Lantern, the first human shown to join the Green Lantern Corps and a founding member of the Justice League of America. Jordan is the second DC Comics character to adopt the Green Lantern moniker...
. The guardians of Purgatory do not like this and Peacemaker, along with other dead vigilantes, rally and provide enough of a distraction so the group can return to Earth.
JLI Peacemaker
Another operative using the name Peacemaker appeared only once, in Justice League InternationalJustice League International
Justice League International is a DC Comics superhero team written by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis, with art by Kevin Maguire, created in 1987.-Publication history:...
vol. 2, #65, as a member of the "League-Busters".
Mitchell Black
Mitchell Black, a surgeon, was recruited by the "Peacemaker Project", an organization unaffiliated with the Pax Institute and the US government's "Project Peacemaker". Black would reappear in the miniseries titled L.A.W.L.A.W. (comics)
The L.A.W. was a six-issue American comic book limited series, published by DC Comics.The starring team "The L.A.W." consisted of Charlton Comics characters Blue Beetle, The Question, Judomaster, Captain Atom, The Peacemaker, Nightshade, and Sarge Steel...
(Living Assault Weapons), reunited with the other heroes acquired from Charlton. He appeared to have been killed by the supervillain Prometheus
Prometheus (comics)
Prometheus is the name of three fictional characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics.The first Prometheus debuted in New Teen Titans vol. 2, #24 and was created by Marv Wolfman and Eduardo Barreto . The second version debuted in New Year's Evil: Prometheus Prometheus is the name...
in Infinite Crisis #7.
Peacemaker in Blue Beetle
Another individual appearing in the pre-Flashpoint Blue Beetle series has claimed both Smith's name and the Peacemaker identity, both things confirmed by several hints, such as his catchphrase of "loving peace so much, he'd kill for it." spoken by La Dama to define him. However, divested of his trademark helmet, he was shown using the 'Mitchell Black' identity before settling again on his real name. A year prior to his meeting with Jaime, during a fight against IntergangIntergang
Intergang is a fictional organized crime group in Superman and other DC comics. Armed with technology supplied by the villainous New Gods of the planet Apokolips, it is a potent foe who can seriously challenge the most powerful superheroes...
, he found himself in a Bialya
Bialya
Bialya is a fictional country appearing in many comic book series published by DC Comics. It was notably featured in issues of Justice League International as written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis. It originally appeared in Justice League #2 -Fictional history:It has existed as a country since...
n pyramid that happened to be the same one Dan Garrett
Blue Beetle
Blue Beetle is the name of three fictional superheroes that appear in American comic books published by a variety of companies since 1939.-Publication history:...
found the scarab in years before. While inside, he accidentally came into contact with alien technology that allowed him to receive the scarab's database in his mind, explaining the inability of the Reach
Reach (comics)
The Reach are a villainous race of cybernetic insectoid aliens in the DC Comics universe. They are unintentionally responsible for the creation of the dynasty of super heroes known as the Blue Beetles.-Fictional history:...
to control Garrett and Reyes. The Scarab was taken away with only a partly functioning AI with the higher instructions, including the ones needed to control the host, left in the pyramid and downloaded into Smith's mind. Upon witnessing Jaime's rebellion, the Reach implanted Peacemaker with a scarab himself, which was dormant until a Sinestro Corps
Sinestro Corps
The Sinestro Corps is a group of fictional characters, a villainous analogue to the Green Lantern Corps in the DC Universe. It is led by the supervillain Thaal Sinestro.-Before the Corps:...
Power Ring
Power ring (weapon)
A power ring is a fictional object featured in comic book titles published by DC Comics. It first appeared in All-American Comics #16 .-Origin:...
contacted the AI and assigned him control of Space Sector 2, including the Reach Empire. He was sent to kill Jaime, but Jaime interfaced with Smith's scarab and helped him face his inner fears. Gathering enough courage for a last stand, Smith forcibly cut the scarab from his spine, leaving him injured but not dead. He helped defend Jaime's family from a Reach attack, and has continued to serve as a sort of mentor to the third Blue Beetle. At the conclusion of the current Blue Beetle series, Peacemaker leaves El Paso; before he departs, he bids farewell to Jaime and advises him to learn to become his own man. Later, he makes an appearance in Final Crisis Aftermath: Escape, as a detainee and potential recruit of the Global Peace Agency
Global Peace Agency
The Global Peace Agency is a fictional law enforcement organization in the . The organization first appeared in the series OMAC by Jack Kirby, set outside the DC Universe...
.
Miscellaneous
- The Peacemaker was briefly shown in flashbacks in Alex RossAlex RossNelson Alexander "Alex" Ross is an American comic book painter, illustrator, and plotter. He is praised for his realistic, human depictions of classic comic book characters. Since the 1990s he has done work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an...
and Mark WaidMark WaidMark Waid is an American comic book writer. He is well known for his eight-year run as writer of the DC Comics' title The Flash, as well as his scripting of the limited series Kingdom Come and Superman: Birthright, and his work on Marvel Comics' Captain America...
's comic Kingdom Come as a member of Magog's Justice Battalion, along with the rest of the Charlton 'Action Heroes'. In them, he is wearing an outfit more reminiscent of Boba FettBoba FettBoba Fett is a character in Star Wars. A bounty hunter hired by Darth Vader to find the Millennium Falcon, he is a minor villain in both Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi....
. He was apparently killed with the other team members when Captain AtomCaptain AtomCaptain Atom is a fictional comic book superhero that has existed in three basic incarnations. Created by writer Joe Gill and artist/co-writer Steve Ditko, he first appeared in Space Adventures #33 . Captain Atom was created for Charlton Comics but was later acquired by DC Comics and revised for...
exploded.
- The character is used as the basis for The Comedian in Alan MooreAlan MooreAlan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
's WatchmenWatchmenWatchmen is a twelve-issue comic book limited series created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colourist John Higgins. The series was published by DC Comics during 1986 and 1987, and has been subsequently reprinted in collected form...
.
- In the final issue of 5252 (comic book)52 was a weekly American comic book limited series published by DC Comics that debuted on May 10, 2006, one week after the conclusion of the seven-issue Infinite Crisis. The series was written by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, and Mark Waid with layouts by Keith Giffen...
, a new Multiverse is revealed, originally consisting of 52 identical realities. Among the parallel realities shown is one designated "Earth-4". As a result of Mister Mind "eating" aspects of this reality, it takes on visual aspects similar to the pre-Crisis Earth-4, including Peacemaker and the other Charlton characters. The names of the characters are not mentioned in the panel in which they appear. Based on comments by Grant MorrisonGrant MorrisonGrant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer, playwright and occultist. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings, as well as his successful runs on titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, The Invisibles, New X-Men, Fantastic Four, All-Star Superman, and...
, this alternate universe is not the pre-Crisis Earth-4.