Deadline #2

History

Deadline was written by Bill Rosemann — a longtime Marvel editor making his debut as a writer — with interior art and inks by Guy Davis, best known for his work on Sandman Mystery Theatre and The Marquis, and painted covers across all four issues by Greg Horn. The series ran from April to July 2002 under editor-in-chief Joe Quesada, and was collected in a trade paperback in November 2002. Rosemann's editorial background informed the series' unusually procedural, newsroom-grounded tone, and Davis's expressive, slightly distorted linework gave the book a noirish atmosphere that set it apart from the glossier superhero titles of the period.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Deadline #2 was released on May 1, 2002, with a cover date of July 2002; it is titled 'Deadline, Part 2.'
• The issue is part of a four-issue miniseries — the debut vehicle for Katherine 'Kat' Farrell (Earth-616), a Daily Bugle reporter and new addition to the Marvel Universe whose first appearance is in Deadline #1.
• Written by Bill Rosemann (his series writing debut) with pencils and inks by Guy Davis; colored by Dave Stewart and lettered by Dave Sharpe; covers across the series by Greg Horn.
• In this issue, Farrell's investigation into the Judge (Michael Hart) takes her to Doctor Pow's underground 'hospital' in Chinatown — a facility treating super-criminals who cannot seek conventional medical care — and then to the Bar with No Name, a known super-villain hangout, where Bullseye provides her a lead.
• The issue features appearances by prominent Marvel characters including Bullseye, the Tinkerer (Phineas Mason), Doctor Octopus, Spider-Man, Batroc the Leaper, Tombstone, and Robbie Robertson, among others, situating Kat firmly within the established 616 universe.
• The villain at the center of the arc, the Judge (Michael Hart), is a former defense attorney who specialized in cape-related cases before being appointed to the bench; the Tinkerer is later revealed to have accidentally killed Hart's wife and mortally wounded him before attempting to resurrect him — a plot element developed across issues #2–4.
• Kat Farrell's character — a skeptic of superheroes who champions ordinary first responders as the real heroes — directly carried over into The Pulse (2004–2006), written by Brian Michael Bendis, where she served alongside Ben Urich and Jessica Jones as part of the Daily Bugle's superhero-beat team.
• The complete miniseries (#1–4) was collected in a trade paperback (ISBN 9780785110101) published by Marvel in November 2002.

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