Painkiller is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...

and

supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero. Supervillains are oft ...

appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

s published by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

. The character, created by writer

Tony Isabella Tony Isabella (born December 22, 1951) is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, artist and critic, known as the creator and writer of Marvel Comics' Black Goliath; DC Comics' first major African-American superhero, Black Lightning; and as ...

and artist Eddie Newell, debuted in ''

Black Lightning Black Lightning (Jefferson Pierce) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character, created by writer Tony Isabella and artist Trevor Von Eeden, first appeared in ''Black Lightning'' #1 (April 1977), during ...

'', Vol. 2 #2 (March 1995). The character is depicted as an enemy of

. In 2018, Jordan Calloway began portraying the first screen adaptation of the character in

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

's live-action Arrowverse television series ''

''. While Painkiller's real name has never been revealed in the comics, Calloway's character Khalil Payne took on the moniker and donned a similar appearance after developing the comic character's

enhanced strength Superhuman strength is a superpower commonly invoked in fiction and other literary works such as mythology. A fictionalized representation of the phenomenon of hysterical strength, it is the power to exert force and lift weights beyond what is ...

, powers of Anesthesia, anesthetization, and a venomous touch.

Publication history

Painkiller debuted in ''

'', Vol. 2 #2 (March 1995), written by

and illustrated by Eddie Newell. The character dies just two issues later in ''Black Lightning'', Vol. 2 #4 (May 1995).

Fictional character biography

Painkiller, a high-level mob enforcer, is hired by the Brothers Who Rule to stop

's pursuit of them. Painkiller sets a trap for Black Lightning as well as the cops, a crack house full of teenagers, where he plans to kill Black Lightning and force the cops to open fire on the teenagers. However, Black Lightning's powers provide a level of protection from Painkiller's abilities and Black Lightning is able to prevent the massacre before battling with Painkiller, a battle that ultimately kills the latter.

Powers and abilities

As a metahuman, Painkiller exhibits superhuman strength and can induce anesthetization on any part of the human body, thus dulling the senses of his victims. He is also a skilled fighter and has knives on the ends of his dreadlocks which he uses as additional weapons.

In other media

Painkiller appears in

television series ''

'', portrayed by Jordan Calloway. The character debuts in the series' second episode "Lawanda: The Book of Hope" as Khalil Payne and recurs throughout the Black Lightning (season 1), first season before becoming a series regular in the Black Lightning (season 2), second season. Khalil is introduced as a high school track star who wanted to go to college and eventually the Olympics. However, a stray bullet severed his spine, leaving him paralyzed. Embittered and depressed, Khalil breaks up with his girlfriend, Lightning (DC Comics), Jennifer Pierce, and drops out of school. Crime lord and 100 (DC Comics), 100 leader Tobias Whale, offers Khalil working legs in exchange for becoming his right hand. Khalil accepts and receives cybernetic enhancements that grant him enhanced strength and the ability to generate a paralytic agent via arm-mounted dart launchers; becoming "Painkiller". Despite his allegiance with Tobias, he still has feelings for Jennifer and expresses regret. In season 2, Tobias places a bounty on Khalil after the latter refuses to carry out a hit, and goes on the run with Jennifer. Though they later return in exchange for Khalil receiving police protection, Tobias gets ahold of him and rips out his spinal implant, eventually killing him. By the season two finale however, Khalil is revealed to have been resurrected. By season three, Khalil ends up in the A.S.A.'s custody and forced to serve them after being implanted with an obedience chip. Later in the season, Jennifer (having become Lightning by this point) fights him and later helps nullify his Painkiller programming with Technocrat (comics), TC's help, granting Khalil control of his body again. In season four, Painkiller started operating in Akashic Valley. He does managed to help the Pierces by apprehending Looker (character), Looker and slaying Ishmael (character), Ishmael. Following the death of Tobias Whale, Technocrat (character), T.C. helps Khalil and Painkiller get rid of the kill order at the cost of Khalil's memories of the Pierce family. A ''Black Lightning'' Spin-off (media), spin-off, titled ''Painkiller'', was under development for the CW in autumn 2020. Jordan Calloway was set to reprise his role as Khalil Payne, described to have undergone a transformation from a supervillain to someone who strives to "bring justice where he once gave out punishment" while simultaneously struggling "to deal with and harness his darker side, Painkiller". The Television pilot#Backdoor pilot, backdoor pilot aired as the seventh episode of the fourth season of ''Black Lightning''. The project was shelved the following year in May.

References

{{Black Lightning Characters created by Tony Isabella DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics supervillains Fictional assassins in comics