Who is that shaded man?
Well, the guy with the sunglasses just happens to be one of the coolest characters in the DC universe. His name is Tommy Monaghan, and he kills super-powered people for money...it's living right? He just wants to get the money, live a little, and chat with his friends. What distinguishes him from being a real piece of work is that he has a sense of morality and ethics. He won't shoot cops, or anyone that he considers to be "good".Tommy is different from other assasins in that he has superpowers. He has the ability to see through things (such as walls... and clothing...heheheheh!), and to read people's minds, making him effectively impossible to surprise.
How it all got started? It all started when a bunch of Space Alien Vampire parasites invaded our planet, during the "Bloodlines" crossover. They sucked people's spines and killed them....most of the time. Sometimes (Once in every issue to be exact!) some persons survived and gained superpowers. Hey, what can we say? It was DC's lowest selling year, and they wanted a bunch of new heroes....and failed miserably, as most of the heroes were unoriginal, and uninspired...all...save one...
Tommy was doing a hit when he saw one of the Parasite attack his target! After he was done with him, he attacked Tommy. Miraculously Tommy survived and gained his powers. Noticing a gap in the market, he became Hitman (It just sounded kind of snappy...tells you all there is to know), and targeted super-villains. I know it's a silly story. Tommy feels as stupid telling it, as any sane man would!
Actually, it all got started, before that.... before the "Bloodlines" crossover, before Garth Ennis joined DC comics, when he was just an unknown author doing underground comics. He created a hero who was very much like Tommy Monaghan. His comic was published by Fleetway, but was never successful, and its title and details remain forgotten
(I KNOW it's there because I read it once in an underground comic convention, and YES, IT WAS WRITTEN BY GARTH ENNIS AND ILLUSTRATED BY JOHN McCREA!!! DAMN I wish I'd bought it...it would be worth a fortune now! I am looking for it now, but I can't remember the title...anyone has some information?). Fortunately, Garth became successful, and when DC talked him into doing a mainstream title... he revived the character, and the rest is, as they say....history!
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