Hitman (comics)
Hitman is a violent, darkly humorous and occasionally romantic comic book from DC Comics, written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by John McCrea. The series stars Tommy Monaghan, an Irish American hitman from Gotham City who only takes out contract killings on "bad guys". In Monaghan's first appearance in The Demon Annual #2 (part of the "Bloodlines" crossover), he is bitten by an alien, inexplicably awakening superhuman abilities within him. Now possessing the powers of X-ray vision and the ability to read minds with telepathy, he sets himself up as "Hitman", an assassin who specializes in killing superhumans. Despite the convoluted setup, Hitman rarely pays attention to it, often going out of its way to prevent Tommy from using his abilities; in more than one story arc, he suffers a blow to the head that gives him a headache which is just strong enough to prevent him from concentrating enough to use his powers. The series alternates between down-to-earth antagonists and plotlines and over-the top ones: a story arc involving the Mafia and the British SAS follows an issue featuring a homicidal, radioactive Santa Claus. Even at its most gloriously ridiculous, the characters are realistically portrayed, if not necessarily sympathetic. Despite its bizarre and often iconoclastic nature, the series is firmly entrenched in the DC Universe: Batman, The Joker, Catwoman, Green Lantern and Superman all guest star at various points. The character has also been featured in a number of guest appearances in titles like Sovereign 7, Resurrection Man and (improbably enough) JLA. Although the character was given "Hitman" as a codename in his first appearance, he only referred to himself by that name once in his own series, and then only in the first issue; the rest of the time, he is referred to by his given name, although he was sometimes called "Hitman" in the aforementioned appearances in other publications.
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