DEADZONE

Real Name: John "Johnny" DeZoan

Identity/Class: Human mutate

Occupation: Serial killer

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Krak, "Pops", Snapp Simone, other criminals at Brinkstone Penitentiary (but only kind of because he didn't care much for them)

Enemies: Warden Banning, Benson, Dan the cameraman, Mr. Gwun, Doctor Hardy, Inner City Mages, Deputy Kennison, Louis the moron, Moon Knight (Marc Spector), Shadow Cabinet (Cover Girl/Zena Z., Don G./Paulo Santacosta, Psycho/Peter Slate, Scout/Kim Hong, Sheriff/Jaime Vasquez), Tombstone (Lonnie Lincoln), Stitch, many unidentified criminals in the New York City area (some Joes, Bobs and Jimmys were probably included, but I honestly don't give a **** about cannonfodder)

Known Relatives: Marge DeZoan (mother, deceased), John (father, last name unrevealed)

Aliases: "Deacon" John

Base of Operations: Mobile in the New York City area;
   formerly Brinkstone Penitentiary in Hartford, Connecticut;
   formerly somewhere in New York City, New York

First Appearance: (Mentioned) Marc Spector: Moon Knight#44 (November, 1992); (seen) Marc Spector: Moon Knight#45 (December, 1992)

Powers/Abilities: Deadzone was mutated by a combination of several electrical surges that interacted with the drugs pumped into his body before his execution. His failed execution traumatized his nerve-endings, leaving him in a confusing state of constant pain and pleasure, rendering him immune to any additional pain, though he was not invulnerable or resistant to physical harm. Deadzone channeled the immense electrical energy constantly coursing through his body through his Neuro-Lash directly into the nervous system of his victims, targeting their pain and pleasure synapses at the same time and overloading them in the process. His attack caused a systemic shock, which brought his victims to the brink of death. Most died of the experience or were left in a deep coma.

DeZoan was a disturbed, deeply religious fanatic, who believed he was given a mission by God to punish criminals.

Height: 6'1" (by approximation)
Weight: 190 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Brown

History:
(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#48 (fb) - BTS) <25 years ago> - John was born as the unwanted child of courtesan Marge DeZoan and a mobster named John.

   While John grew up his mother often disciplined him with whips and prods.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#49 (fb) - BTS) - Johnny's mom often told him that his criminal "Uncle" Benson liked to bring home his work.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#48 (fb) - BTS) - Johnny DeZoan never felt comfortable in the legitimate world, but wasn't truly accepted by the mob patriarchy either. Becoming an angry outcast Johnny was arrested for his first crimes as a teenager. He was eventually tried and convicted for a series of prostitute murders on questionable evidence.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#44 (fb) - BTS) - John DeZoan was sentenced to death. He was held at a new prison in Connecticut, the Brinkstone Penitentiary, were he was going to be executed by electrocution.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#48 (fb) - BTS) - During his time on death row DeZoan became religious and became a mail-order preacher, alienating himself from his fellow death row inmates. He eventually killed some of them out of frustration.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#44 - BTS) - Protests by the anti-death penalty movement forced Brinkstone Penitentiary to delay DeZoan's execution from early in the day to midnight.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#45 (fb) - BTS) - As part of his "mission" DeZoan attacked two fellow inmates after his execution was delayed.

   Following these incidents Warden Banning ordered to pump DeZoan full of Thorazine...

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#48 (fb) - BTS) - ...and a combination of unauthorized drugs to keep him sedated until his execution.

BTS - The execution was further delayed by the protests.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#45) - Minutes before 2 AM (though a clock showed it was 3 AM, the story kept referring to it being 2 AM even in later issues) DeZoan was finally strapped into the electric chair watched by reporter Kim Hong, her cameraman Dan, Warden Banning, Deputy Kennison, Doctor Hardy and a priest. Deputy Kennison asked Warden Banning to reschedule the execution once again until the demonstration outside the prison was under control again, but Banning didn't want to because DeZoan had already killed two fellow inmates since the last reschedule and he didn't know how long the Thorazine given to DeZoan would keep him sedated. Banning made it clear that at precisely 2 AM DeZoan would be executed.

   At 2 AM the lever was pulled and electricity surged through John DeZoan's body. At the same moment Moon Knight's agent Psycho replaced a light bulb in his cell with an overload inducer created by Frenchie DuChamp and then switched on the light to cause a prison wide blackout. Kennison assumed the electric chair had overloaded the circuits and DeZoan was declared dead by him when no life signs were shown on the monitors. Kennison ordered to unstrap DeZoan's corpse, but at that moment DeZoan awakened, somehow empowered with electricity.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#45 - BTS) - DeZoan tried to kill all the onlookers of his execution, but reporter Kim Hong somehow survived relatively unharmed.

   DeZoan made his way to cells and saw criminal Peter Slate tell Moon Knight where the Demogoblin's cell was.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#45) - DeZoan grabbed Slate by the neck from behind and asked him who his angelic-looking friend was.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#46 - BTS) - The protest against DeZoan's execution outside Brinkstone Penitentiary continued. The protesters were not aware that DeZoan's execution had already gone through, but with unexpected results.

   DeZoan nearly killed Slate, who refused to give DeZoan whatever device Moon Knight had given to him, leaving him in a deep coma. DeZoan then released the other prisoners in the block from their cells by disrupting the automated cell lock system with his new electric powers, planning on taking down as many of them as possible after they aided him against Moon Knight.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#46) - DeZoan and a group of criminals faced off with Moon Knight. DeZoan asked Moon Knight for the device Slate refused to give him so he could escape the prison (he obviously didn't know what it was). The other prisoners attacked Moo Knight while DeZoan gloated about surviving his execution because of a brown-out during his execution and a sudden power surge afterward, which somehow sent electricity through his body that interacted with the sedatives given to him earlier. Moon Knight wouldn't believe it because he had made sure DeZoan's execution would not be interrupted by his plans, but he wasn't aware of the reschedule of the execution. DeZoan watched Moon Knight fighting the criminals and was impressed by his weapon. After everyone else was down DeZoan threatened to kill the last one standing because it was always his plan to kill as many of the prisoners as possible. Moon Knight hurled his truncheon at DeZoan, who caught it and used his powers to override the weapon's security system and gain access to all its functions, turning it into an electrically charged whip. DeZoan used his new weapon against Moon Knight then fled the scene while Moon Knight knocked out DeZoan's last two followers.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#46 - BTS) - Moon Knight lost DeZoan in the crowd during a massive prison riot. DeZoan took advantage of the situation and stole a guard's uniform.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#46) - DeZoan watched Moon Knight ascend into the sky before he escaped himself posing as a guard, ready to continue his "mission" with the powers and weapon given to him by God (in his mind his survival, stealing Moon Knight's weapon and getting away was all God's will).

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#47 (fb) ) - DeZoan started calling himself Deadline and used his new powers and weapon in an attack on the Yorkville Athletic Club where Tombstone and his men were training regularly. Deadzone killed all the criminals at the fitness studio.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#48 (fb) - BTS) - Written in the criminals' blood DeZoan wrote Deadzone on the ground of the fitness studio.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#47 (fb) - BTS) - Shadow Cabinet's Sheriff found out about the incident and showed Moon Knight the footage of Deadzone's attack on Tombstone's men.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#48 - BTS) - The press was reluctant to label Deadzone a criminal because he went after criminals.

   When Moon Knight investigated the crime scene at the fitness studio he was approached by Tombstone, who suggested an alliance against Deadzone, but Moon Knight declined.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#48) - Deadzone took down Mr. Gwun and his gang in Chinatown. He fled when the police arrived on the scene, leaving Gwun behind in a near death state.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#48 (fb) - BTS) - Cover Girl tipped off Moon Knight that Deadzone was going after Stitch and his gang.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#48) - Later Deadzone attacked some moron named Louis, who was supposed to bring girls to his drug-dealing boss Stitch and the rest of the gang. Deadzone held up Louis' catatonic body to the armored door's peephole to get into Stitch's headquarter in the South Bronx. Deadzone was in the process of taking down the whole gang, ignoring a bullet wound to his leg, when Moon Knight arrived to stop him, saving Stitch in the process. Deadzone claimed they were on the same side, but Moon Knight disagreed and tried to take him down. Deadzone took several hits to the head and Crescent Darts to the body, but in the end Deadzone was victorious, leaving Moon Knight laying on the ground after a severe attack with the Neuro-Lash. Deadzone fled when he heard police sirens. Moon Knight got back to his feet moments later and was glad to have at least saved Stitch.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#48 (fb) - BTS/Marc Spector: Moon Knight#49 (fb) ) - Deadzone killed mob hustler Paulo Santacosta, secretly Don G. of Moon Knight's Shadow Cabinet.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#49 (fb) ) - Deadzone attacked a bookie, who survived, a West-Side Madam, who didn't, and the Inner City Mages' street gang leader, who died.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#49) - Mobsters had a meeting at the Benson Estate on the outskirts of the Westchester outskirts. They felt save due to the patrolling armed guards, trained dogs, electrified fences, hidden perimeter alarms and cameras. It didn't work! Deadzone easily got through the fence, the dogs and the guards and then was going to take down the mobsters inside the mansion, but they had all already committed suicide.

   Moon Knight lured Deadzone into a trap by making it known that Tombstone would visit the grave of Paulo Santacosta. Deadzone attacked Tombstone's chauffeur and was surprised when it was Moon Knight. Deadzone tried to electrocute Moon Knight, but the hero's new truncheon disrupted the charge temporarily. Deadzone pumped more electricity into Moon Knight, who used his new truncheon once again to interrupt the charge. Moon Knight used Crescent Darts to knock down Deadzone, who despite his immunity to pain, was not invulnerable. Tombstone picked up Deadzone to kill him, but Moon Knight saved him only to be attacked again by Deadzone. Moon Knight had enough, used his new truncheon once again to disrupt Deadzone's electricity, and then beat him into unconsciousness, leaving him to be picked up by Lt. Vasquez, who called an ambulance for DeZoan when he found him at Santacosta's grave.

SECRET WARS III HAPPENED

(Moon Knight IX#25/1 - BTS) - Steven Grant visited Zodiac at the Myrmidon Prison and told him that he had considered paying criminals to take him out. He was pretty sure that Deadzone would do it for less than four figures.

Comments: Created by Terry Kavanagh, James Fry & Chris Ivy.

Throughout the storyline Moon Knight blamed himself for the creation of Deadzone and rightfully so. It was completely Moon Knight's fault that DeZoan survived his execution and was mutated into Deadzone. It was also Moon Knight's high-tech truncheon repurposed by DeZoan as his Neuro-Lash.

Fun fact: Deadzone had his own trading card! Yeah, baby!

Profile by Markus Raymond.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Deadzone should not be confused with:

Mr. Gwun should not be confused with:

Stitch should not be confused with:

Marge DeZoan

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#48 (fb) - BTS) - Marge DeZoan was a courtesan working for the mob. At some point around 25 years ago she became pregnant from a criminal named John, whom she named her son after. She fell out of favor with the mob after the birth of her son and was reduced to the lower ranks of the syndicate she was working for. She withered away, turning from a vibrant, beautiful woman to a bitter, weathered hag. She often disciplined her son with whips and prods from her work as a courtesan.

--[Marc Spector: Moon Knight#48 (fb)]

Mr. Gwun

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#47 (fb) - BTS) - Gwun was a criminal bookie in New York City's Chinatown.

   Gwun blackmailed drug-addicted baseball player Andrew Wharton to throw the next game.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#47) - Gwun's bodyguard picked up Wharton after the game and pulled him into Gwun's limousine. Gwun was dissatisfied because Wharton didn't throw the game that night and offered him a lot of money to throw the next game because he knew Wharton's drug addiction was expensive. As a bookie Gwun needed Wharton's team to lose because many people in Chinatown were betting on his them. Wharton reminded Gwun that he didn't agree to anything the previous night and took the gun from Gwun's bodyguard, using it to threaten Gwun. In return the driver pulled a gun on Wharton. Moon Knight saved Wharton.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#48 (fb) - BTS) - Moon Knight left Gwun to be picked up by authorities after the failed deal with Wharton. Gwun's lawyer assured him that without Andrew Wharton's testimony there was no way the authorities could press charges against him.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#48) - Gwun had a meeting with his men in a restaurant in Chinatown to make arrangements to ensure Wharton would not testify against him. Moments later Deadzone attacked them and after taking down all of Gwun's men, Gwun himself fell victim to Deadzone's electrical attack. Deadzone left Gwun laying on the street in a state between life and death when the police arrived.

--Marc Spector: Moon Knight#47 ([Marc Spector: Moon Knight#47 (fb)], Marc Spector: Moon Knight#47, [Marc Spector: Moon Knight#48 (fb)], Marc Spector: Moon Knight#48

Stitch

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#48 (fb) - BTS) - Stitch led a drug dealing operation in an abandoned tenement in the South Bronx. The building had five-inch thick steel-reinforced brick walls and a single armored door. Cover Girl tipped off Moon Knight that Deadzone was going after Stitch and his gang.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#48) - Stitch was hanging in his crack house in the South Bronx with his homeys, waiting for Louis to bring in some girls. But the little mofo got caught by Deadzone, who tricked the doorman to get in to Stitch's crib. Deadzone was all zip and zap, bringing the pain to Stitch's homeys. Deadzone was ready to give the pain to Stitch next, but Moon Knight appeared and gave Deadzone a beating. Deadzone retaliated, but totally left without giving the hurt to Stitch when he heard the coppers coming.

--Marc Spector: Moon Knight#48 ([Marc Spector: Moon Knight#48 (fb)], Marc Spector: Moon Knight#48

images (without ads)
Moon Knight: Marc Spector#47, Cover (main)
Moon Knight: Marc Spector#45, p5, pan2 (head shot)
Moon Knight: Marc Spector#46, p7, pan5 (empowered)
Moon Knight: Marc Spector#48, p9, pan2 (Mr. Gwun)
Moon Knight: Marc Spector#48, p12, pan4 (Stitch)

Appearances:
Moon Knight: Marc Spector#44 (November, 1992) - Terry Kavanagh (writer), Gary Kwapisz (pencils), Jimmy Palmiotti (inks), Joey Cavalieri (editor)
Moon Knight: Marc Spector#45-49 (December, 1992 - April, 1993) - Terry Kavanagh (writer), James Fry (pencils), Chris Ivy (inks), Joey Cavalieri (editor)
Moon Knight IX#25/1 (September, 2023) - Jed MacKay (writer), Partha Pratim, Alessandro Cappuccio & Alessandro Vitti (artits), Tom Brevoort (editor)

First Posted: 07/06/2019
Last updated: 10/18/2024

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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