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Deathwish may have superficially been like several other ’90s anti-heroes, his backstory was even darker and more harrowing than Frank Castle’s.
Milestone Comics may be best known for the electrifying hero Static, but it had a stable of other worthy defenders, as well. Much like how Static combined elements of Spider-Man and Black Lightning, Hardware was Milestone’s answer to Iron Man and DC Comics’ Steel. Whereas Tony Stark was a noble businessman and John Henry Irons was a heroic inventor, Curtis Metcalf was far more self-centered and almost antiheroic. That began to change, however, when the armored hero faced a violent vigilante.
Deathwish was a Milestone vigilante whose name and actions recalled the movie series of the same name and The Punisher. While Deathwish may have superficially been like several other ’90s anti-heroes, his backstory was even darker and more harrowing than Frank Castle’s. This in turn had a huge impact on Curtis Metcalf going forward, with Hardware toning down his own violent tendencies.
Issue #5 of the classic Milestone Hardware by Denys Cowan and Dwayne McDuffie comic book series introduced Deathwish, whose street-style clothing and facepaint made him less of a supervillain and more like one of the cliche vigilantes of the era. Hardware became entangled with the foe when he began investigating several prostitute slayings in the Dakota area, one of which involved his friend Deacon Stuart.
Deathwish had already gained quite a reputation for these acts and was also known for his giving his victims a choice of how they would meet their end. Though he wasn’t specified as having any superpowers, he was apparently tough enough and fast enough to put quite a beating on the armored Hardware, in spite of how rugged said suit was supposed to be.
Eventually, Hardware implicates Deathwish in the recent crimes, but not until after hearing the vigilante’s grisly backstory. Deathwish was revealed to be a family man named Wilton Johnson who was the sole survivor of a horrific incident in which his wife and child were brutally killed. Bent on revenge, he slaughtered the ones behind the crime and later took to killing all of those involved in sex crimes. A fractured psyche morphed him into the monster that he swore to fight against, and in a brief bit of sanity, he stops fighting Hardware and turns himself over to the police.
Deathwish’s actions would begin to affect Hardware, who had himself begun to question his violent means. Beforehand, Curtis Metcalf cared little about whether or not he killed those who stood in his way of petty revenge against Edwin Alva, and hearing the story of Deathwish began to make these actions haunt him. Afterward, Curtis swore to be more heroic in his actions, taking extra care not to kill except for when absolutely necessary.
Deathwish himself would return for his own mini-series, which was notable for starring a transexual character as a protagonist. Since then, Deathwish has yet to show back up, but he was definitely somewhat of a change of pace for his era. Grim and gritty characters like The Punisher as well as Spawn and several characters from Image Comics were all the rage in the ’90s, but beneath the veneer of depth and conflict was little more than big muscles and plenty of pouches.
Deathwish subverted this, namely by adding in elements of sexuality and questioning masculinity. The result showed the logical fruition of what someone like Frank Castle would become, removing some of the allure of the vigilante mentality. Though upending these tropes may have made him best suited for the ’90s, Milestone’s return may see the company’s original vigilante stalk Dakota once more.
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