Publisher DC Comics | ||
First appearance Titans (vol. 1) #20 (October 2000) Member(s) Breathtaker
Killshot
Provoke
Shock Trauma
Stranglehold | ||
Fictional team history
The Hangmen herald themselves as next-generation assassins. They were hired by the nation of Qurac to assassinate the mercenary Cheshire. They target her daughter Lian Harper, but she is saved by her father Roy Harper in his Arsenal alias.
During the Infinite Crisis storyline, the Hangmen joined up with Alexander Luthor, Jr.'s Secret Society of Super Villains. Ever the opportunists, the mercenary group used the Society's full-scale assault on Metropolis as a cover to loot the city. When Dr. Psycho discovered their duplicity, he psychically forced a group of citizens to literally tear the Hangmen limb from limb.
During the Final Crisis storyline, the Hangmen also try to apply for membership in Libra's Secret Society of Super Villains. They explain that Doctor Psycho was the one who faked their deaths. They also request the deaths of every single Teen Titan as Libra had promised favors to every member who joins. The third Spectre attacks Libra, attempting to kill him. The Spectre fails and leaves, but not before slaying the Hangmen with ropes of energy.
A new team of Hangmen are fought by Batman and Robin during Bruce Wayne: The Road Home. Killshot was also among the villains involved in an ambush of the JSA.