He’s like a overtly religious Lyle Lanley trying to sell Gotham City a monorail to heaven. It’s the classic tale of a snake oil salesman. The key to Blackfire’s character is that he gives Gotham’s hopeless something to believe in that isn’t immediately villainous or terrifying. “Batman: The Cult”, written by Jim Starlin, beautifully drawn by Bernie Wrightson, and colored by Bill Wray, tells the story of Deacon Blackfire’s subjugation of Gotham City’s homeless and poor, his rise to power over the entire helpless city, and his eventual (obvious) downfall. You’ll probably get a sense of what broadly happens over the course of its four oversized issues, and that’s only because Blackfire’s current “circumstance” in “Batman Eternal.” With that in mind, I suppose I’ll mark this article as having light spoilers for the events of “The Cult” and recommend that everybody read this tremendous Batman tale either way. If Azrael is incarcerated at the Gotham City Police Department, Deacon Blackfire and Azrael develop an animosity towards each other as both villains consider themselves to be God's rightful representative.As I always try to, I’m going to explain to you why this story is so very good without spoiling the whole thing for you or giving you a detailed plot rundown. Moments later at the Gotham City Police Department, Deacon Blackfire is handed to Aaron Cash and the police officers with him to have him locked up in their cells. After the cultists are defeated, Batman disables the electrical generators powering the sacrificial cage, defeats Deacon Blackfire, and frees Jack Ryder. Batman arrives at the Lady of Gotham statue where he fights Deacon Blackfire's cultists to get to Deacon Blackfire and Jack Ryder. He is seen at the Lady of Gotham statue about to sacrifice Jack Ryder when he gets too close in investigating Deacon Blackfire's cult. Deacon Blackfire is the villain behind the "Lamb to the Slaughterer" side quest. Deacon Blackfire makes his debut in Batman: Arkham Knight, voiced by Marc Worden.A homeless shelter run by Blackfire is mentioned in one of the radio channels in Batman: Arkham Origins.Deacon Blackfire refuses multiple times, and his disillusioned army turns on him and appears to beat him to death.īetween their first encounter and the time of Eternal, the Deacon has taken over the body of Maxie Zeus, in attempt to regain entry into this world. Batman is able to break the pipe he is chained to, and in a reversal of their confrontation in "The Cult", orders the Deacon to kill him to prove himself in front of his followers. Batman however, brought up the question of why Deacon Blackfire wouldn't kill him himself, if he was as powerful as he wanted his army to believe. He attempted to do the same with Batman, keeping him chained and drugged in his basement for 7 days and 7 nights, but the Dark Knight's resiliency led to Deacon ordering his devotees to kill him. The Deacon had an army of devoted homeless and underprivileged, but he also kept many of them drugged under his control. In the same issue, flashbacks are shown of the previous time Batman encountered the Deacon. When Batwing and The Spectre (as Jim Corrigan) uncover the secret of the Asylum, both are captured by Blackfire and his demonic army. In The New 52 (a reboot of the DC Comics universe), Deacon Blackfire is an evangelist who is the center of the occult power permeating Arkham Asylum, with Joker's Daughter as his enforcer. Blackest NightĪs part of the Blackest Night event, Blackfire's corpse is reanimated by a black power ring and recruited to the Black Lantern Corps in Blackest Night: Batman #1 (October 2009). Blackfire's army turns on him and kills him. Batman refuses, and instead savagely beats Blackfire in front of his army. After a brutal search through the sewers, Batman confronts Blackfire, who demands that Batman kill him, making him a martyr. Batman eventually breaks his conditioning, but its aftereffects make it difficult for him to capture Blackfire. Blackfire captures and brainwashes Batman, temporarily making the Caped Crusader a member of Blackfire's cult, during which Batman breaks his cardinal rule of not killing. Blackfire uses this army to begin a violent war on crime, which escalates into him taking over the entire city, resulting in it being isolated from the rest of the country. He forms an army in the sewers beneath Gotham City, largely composed of the homeless. Blackfire is a conman and cult leader who may be over 100 years old. Fictional character biographyĭeacon Blackfire is the main antagonist in the four-issue miniseries, Batman: The Cult. He first appeared in Batman: The Cult #1 (1988) and was created by Jim Starlin and Bernie Wrightson.
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