| Peacemaker | |
|---|---|
Peacemaker from Blue Beetle vol. 7, #7 (Nov. 2006), art by Cully Hamner. |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Originally Charlton Comics, now DC Comics |
| First appearance | (Smith) Fightin' 5 #40 (November 1966) |
| Created by | (Smith) Joe Gill (writer) Pat Boyette (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | - Christopher Smith - Unknown - Mitchell Black |
| Team affiliations | (Smith) Checkmate Shadow Fighters (Unknown) League-Busters (Black) L.A.W. |
| Abilities | (All) Body armor, flight pack, communications helmet, advanced military weapons |
The Peacemaker is the name of a series of superheroes 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.
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The Peacemaker first appeared as a backup series in Charlton Comics' espionage-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).
The Peacemaker is Christopher Smith, a pacifist 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.[1]
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.
Another operative using the name Peacemaker appeared only once, in Justice League International vol. 2, #65, as a member of the "League-Busters".
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. (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.
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.[2] However, divested of his trademark helmet, he was shown using the 'Mitchell Black' identity before settling again on his real name.[3] A year prior to his meeting with Jaime, during a fight against Intergang, he found himself in a Bialyan 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,[2] which was dormant until a Sinestro Corps Power Ring contacted the AI and assigned him control of Space Sector 2, including the Reach Empire.[4] 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.[4] 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.