| Character Name: | Tattooed Man |
| Publisher: | DC Comics |
| Debut: | Abel Tarrant: Green Lantern (vol. 2) #23 (September 1963) John Oakes: Skin Graft: The Adventures of a Tattooed Man #1 (July 1993) Mark Richards: Green Lantern (vol. 4) #9 (2006) Lala Johnson: Black Lightning Season 1×1 (January 2018) |
| Creators: | Gardner Fox and Gil Kane |
| Alter Ego: | Abel Tarrant John Oakes Mark Richards Lala Johnson |
| Species: | Metahuman |
| Alliances: | Abel Tarrant Injustice Gang of the World The Society Suicide Squad Mark Richards The Society Justice League Titans |
| Powers: | Living tattoos |
The Tattooed Man is the name of three characters appearing in media published by DC Comics, primarily as an enemy of Green Lantern.
An original version of the Tattooed Man, Latavius "Lala" Johnson, appeared as a recurring character in the Arrowverse television series Black Lightning, portrayed by William Catlett.
The first Tattooed Man first appeared in Green Lantern (vol. 2) #23 (September 1963) and was created by Gardner Fox and Gil Kane.[1]
Abel Tarrant is a burglar and former sailor who wields special chemical tattoos that enable him to create constructs.[2] [3] He later reforms and becomes a tattoo artist before being forced to battle Guy Gardner.
Tarrant later returns to crime and joins the Suicide Squad before Mirror Master and Jewelee kill him.[4]
In Doomsday Clock, Tarrant is among the villains who meet with the Riddler to discuss the Superman Theory.[5] [6]
The second Tattooed Man was John Oakes, the main character of the Vertigo series Skin Graft: The Adventures of a Tattooed Man by Jerry Prosser and Warren Pleece. Oakes first appeared in Skin Graft #1 (July 1993).
Oakes is a cellmate of Abel Tarrant, who gives him cursed supernatural tattoos. He trains in Japan to control his abilities and absorbs the spirit of his lover Yuko following her death.[7]
The third Tattooed Man first appeared in Green Lantern (vol. 4) #9. Mark Richards was a former U.S. Marine who went missing following a helicopter crash and was presumed dead until he showed up in Gotham City as a hit man. He claimed that the tattoos covering his body were the sins of men he had killed and that by the art of "sin-grafting", which he had learned from the nation of Modora, in which he takes the sins of others and puts them on himself, he claimed to be redeeming the men and women he killed. All his victims had tattoos of their sins. He was eventually stopped by Green Lantern and Batman.
In Infinite Crisis, Mark becomes a member of the Society.[8]
He appears as one of a group of villains seeking to avoid being sent to the prison planet.[9]
In Trinity, reality is altered by the removal of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. In this world, Morgaine Le Fay's Dreambound recruit Richards to replace one of their fallen number. He becomes Sun-Chained-In-Ink and gains sun-based powers. As the series progresses, Richards comes to dislike the Dreambound, deeming them "losers". Reality eventually returns to normal, depowering Richards.
In Final Crisis, Richards becomes an honorary member of the Justice League while battling the Anti-Life Equation.
In DC's Brightest Day event, Mark appears as a member of Deathstroke's new team of Titans.[10] He is convinced to join by Deathstroke who offers to help him track down Slipknot, the person responsible for murdering his son.[11] After a breakout at Arkham Asylum, Richards was about to leave his team until Deathstroke reveals that he has captured Slipknot for him.[12] Deathstroke allows the two to fight to the death, with Richards winning after he beheads Slipknot.[13] After this act, Richards quits Deathstroke's team, declaring that he is done with killing.[14] When Richards returns to Liberty Hill, he discovers his old neighborhood is afraid of him and the gangbangers have forced citizens and even the police themselves to clean up the area. His former assistant explains to him that they have taken control of the community and made a fortune for themselves through crime. Richards was then confronted by Vixen who believed that he was responsible for the acts of violence committed by his former thugs. Vixen rescinds her offer of Justice League membership and attacks Richards.[15] After a brutal fight, Vixen willingly surrenders and Richards agrees to leave her and take care of his neighborhood in his own way.[16] Richards later rejoins Deathstroke's Titans. Upon returning to the labyrinth, Deathstroke reveals to them that the items the Titans collected were used to form a healing machine called the "Methuselah Device", intended to restore his dying son, Jericho.[17] After healing Jericho, Deathstroke declares that the machine can also resurrect the dead, including Richards' son. Richards initially accepts but after Cinder declares the Methuselah Device a curse, he joins her and Arsenal in fighting the other Titans to destroy it.[18] After Cinder sacrifices herself to destroy the Methuselah Device, Richards returns home.[19]
In 2011, DC Comics rebooted the DC Universe as part of "The New 52". During the Forever Evil storyline, Tattooed Man appears as a member of the Crime Syndicate of America's incarnation of the Secret Society of Super Villains. In the aftermath of the Crime Syndicate's defeat, he was seen with its members when the Justice League apprehend them.[20]
During the Heroes in Crisis storyline, Tattooed Man is shown as a patient at Sanctuary.[21] He was among those killed by Savitar after he escaped from the Speed Force, which is blamed on Wally West losing control of it.[22] In The Flash #796, it was revealed that the hero Gold Beetle replaced all of the dead heroes with clones from the 31st century.
Each of the Tattooed Man versions can bring their tattoos to life.
In the alternate timeline of the Flashpoint event, Tattooed Man is a member of Deathstroke's pirates before being killed during an ambush by Aquaman and Ocean Master.[23]
The Abel Tarrant incarnation of Tattooed Man appears as a character summon in .[30]