A villain published by DC Comics. Deadshot first appeared in Batman #59 in 1950.

Floyd Lawton was the youngest son of an influential Mid-Western family. Floyd's older brother Eddie was an athlete and A student, and everyone expected his younger brother to be like him. Floyd was rebellious and, therefore, became a troublemaker to avoid the expectations of others.

Floyd and Eddie's parents had a tumultuous relationship, with their mother slowly poisoning the relationship between her husband and his sons. Floyd's mother eventually asked Eddie to kill George, his father, and Eddie agreed. After locking his brother in the boathouse of the family home to insure that he wasn't involved, Eddie returned to the house to commit patricide. Floyd escaped and followed his brother, preventing him from killing his father, though George was wounded, paralyzing him from the waist down. The two sons struggled for the gun, which went off, killing Eddie.

George Lawton covered up the killing and sent his wife away, refusing to divorce her, instead forcing her to live in a small home on the outskirts of the town. Floyd moved away from the town and lived the life of a playboy for a while, until he met and married a woman. They had a son, who they named Eddie after his deceased brother. Eventually, however, Floyd's self-loathing for the part he played in his brother's murder caused him to be too difficult to live with, and the two divorced.

Not long after, Lawton took up a career as a criminal. Dressed in a tuxedo and tails with a top-hat and armed with dual revolvers, Lawton appeared on the scene in Gotham City, calling himself Deadshot. Lawton tried to pass himself off as a hero, but was revealed to be a criminal intent on robbery by Gotham's defender, Batman. Lawton was subsequently sent to jail.

Upon his release, Lawton reequipped himself with a new costume including a mask with telescopic sights and two guns that were converted into writs bands, called wrist magnums. In his new costume, Deadshot again clashed with Batman, but failed repeatedly to defeat him. Batman has speculated that Lawton pulls his shots, subconsciously wanting to fail.

When Task Force X, a branch of the government, brought the Suicide Squad back into existence populating it with super-criminals, Lawton as Deadshot was among its first recruits. He served with them for a number of years during which he was given psychological evaluations by a staff member named Marnie, who eventually fell for Lawton.

During this time, Floyd's mother had Lawton's son, Eddie, kidnapped to force Lawton to kill his father. Lawton pursued Eddie's kidnappers killing most of them, but not before Eddie was killed. Returning to his mother, Lawton shot her, paralyzing her and returned to the Suicide Squad.

After this time, Lawton's mental state became more erratic and he eventually became a danger to others as well as himself. When the Squad was disbanded, Lawton returned to his mercenary lifestyle, but later rejoined the Squad.