Deadman is a DC Comics superhero created by Arnold Drake and Carmine Infantino in the anthology series, Strange Adventures.
He is a ghost who was formerly a circus acrobat named Boston Brand who was murdered by a mysterious assailant. His spirit was granted the power to possess any living being by a god called Rama Kushna in order to search for his murderer. However, Brand found himself feeling personally obliged to help others in addition to his search using his power to intervene more intimately than what is normally possible.
The series, which was a mixture of the TV series, The Fugitive and a supernatural premise precursor to Quantum Leap, was best known for the early work of Neal Adams whose naturalistic art style would soon deeply influence the medium.
While the initial series was short-lived, the character has become a popular supporting character who eventually found out the truth about his murder and came to accept and enjoy his role as an intervenor in mortal's lives.
DC Comics published a slipcased hardcover edition collecting the original Deadman stories on December 1, 2001.
A deadman timer is an electronics/computer concept. It is a process which occurs without user intervention. The term deadman's switch is also used for some types of processes.