The bumbling fool presented on HBO Max's Peacemaker is so endearing that many viewers may be convinced that Christopher Smith must have always been this way. However, in the pages of the source material, Peacemaker has rarely had a moment to crack a smile between the father who was a Nazi, and the perennial decline of his mental health. Smith has been put through hell all in the name of peace but his mission hasn't always been for naught.
He's managed to bring some good to the world despite his flawed moral philosophy, a fact the show struggles to communicate in favor of more comedic moments. Peacemaker, through the world of Charlton Comics and now DC is a revolutionary who works to put down the people he holds responsible for perpetual war and tries his best to outrun a horrendous familial legacy. An antihero with more than enough bad to his name, Peacemaker nevertheless contends with some evil actors by embodying his moniker to the fullest.
10 He Prevents A War (Earth-Four)
Joe Gill and Bill Montes' Fightin' 5 #40-41 tells the story of Smith resorting to his more aggressive tactics, recounting the time he had to prevent a border war between two South American nations. Weapons dealer Emil Bork is selling his stock to both nations, fueling the violence descending upon the continent.
The Peacemaker is sent by the President and initially attempts to solve the matter diplomatically; however, Smith soon realizes that Bork will not be defeated this way and takes up his helmet to become the Peacemaker. He ultimately kills Bork following the dealer deploying cobalt bombs to kill Smith. The Peacemaker manages to destroy the bombs and redirects one to Bork's craft, ending the threat of war in South America.
9 He Foils World Domination
The seas are plagued by a mysterious villain known only as "the Commodore" in Gill and Pat Boyette's Peacemaker #1. Instigating conflicts between different countries' fishing fleets, the Commodore is bent on domination of the seven seas, believing them to be his domain.
The Peacemaker makes his way to one of the boats being attacked and follows the saboteurs back to their submarine. There, Smith is brought before the Commodore where he is clued into the villain's plans. Refusing to allow the rogue to have his way, the Peacemaker destroys the engine and saves the crew.
8 He Enlists To Serve In Vietnam (New Earth)
Given his family's history during World War II, it is perhaps surprising that Smith chooses to enlist in the armed forces when he turns 18. This past is briefly alluded to in Paul Kupperberg and Tod Smith's Peacemaker #1 and adds some particular depth to the titular character's perpetual war on... well, war.
Perhaps it was his experience perpetrating violence that eventually drives him to strive for peace. Or it disillusions him to the very idea of peace, convincing Smith that war is humanity's natural state—something no sane man can change. Perhaps the Vietnam War's greatest lasting legacy in the DC Universe is the reckless vigilantes it may have birthed.
7 He Founds A Charitable Organization For War Victims
Throughout Kupperberg and Smith's miniseries on Peacemaker, the character operates primarily in Geneva. The primary reason is that he founded the Pax Institute, a charitable organization dedicated to helping war victims, which is based out of Geneva.
Christopher Smith's understanding that what he seeks to destroy has many victims imbues the Peacemaker with a lot of heroic ideals. It seems pretty outlandish to imagine John Cena's DC Extended Universe version doing something this monumental for war victims, besides hosting a Comedy Hour to benefit them.
6 He Stops Making Weapons To Prevent War
Wolfgang Schmidt, Christopher Smith's father, was a Nazi general in charge of a concentration camp located in Poland. Smith spends most of his vigilante career trying to make up for the evil perpetrated by his lineage and this fact receives a clever update in Peacemaker via Auggie Smith being a white nationalist.
Determined to forge his own path, Christopher returns to his birth country of Austria to take over his father's business, which manufactured weapons. Altering the production line to instead construct housewares and appliances for the people, the Peacemaker doubled down on his mission to enable peace rather than encourage war.
5 He Fights For His Reality
DC Comics' massive 1985-86 event Crisis on Infinite Earths touches every corner of the universe. To match the threat of the Anti-Monitor, most heroes, villains, and vigilantes have to bring their weapons to bear to save their very reality.
Christopher Smith admirably heeds such a call by fighting alongside the esteemed Justice League member Cyborg in Philadelphia; the foes he faces are the Anti-Monitor's Shadow-Demons. While the Peacemaker is already living with an unstable mind, this battle further exacerbates it with a head injury Smith suffers. Nevertheless, he survives and lives to lead one final mission in the pre-New 52 continuity.
4 He Dies On A Rescue Mission
Amanda Waller has a history with the Peacemaker in the comics but through recruiting him for Task Force X, better known as the Suicide Squad. Instead, she brings him on as the leader of the Shadow Fighters; he leads such fearsome (and admittedly, lower-tier) DC characters as Creeper, Doctor Midnight, Major Victory, Commander Steel, Wildcat II, and Manhunter.
This team is sent to the Caribbean island of Parador on a rescue mission in Robert Loren Fleming and Audwynn Jermaine Newman's Eclipso #11-13; however, by the time they reach their destination, the titular villain has already taken over the majority of the island. They are brought down and the entire team, including the Peacemaker, is presumed KIA.
3 He Tries Being A Diplomat (Prime Earth)
With DC's Flashpoint, a new continuity is born for creators to reimagine heroes and villains both new and old. Christopher Smith receives the same treatment in Inferior Five #1, written and drawn by Jeff Lemire. Amanda Waller lays out an interesting dossier for the man now known as Peacemaker, perhaps the most interesting of which is that he tried being a diplomat before taking on the war for peace.
As Waller phrases it, Smith's entire existence is dedicated to the "elimination of war." It's certainly a great thing that the peaceful actors working in the world have a champion on their side; however, they may find some reservations in his methodology. Even Waller has to admit, though... he tried being nice.
2 He Works To Repel An Alien Invasion
In Lemire's short story following the Peacemaker, it's further revealed that he not only fought against the original Dominator invasion, but he's currently working to prevent another. Rendering the people of Earth pawns to a higher race to do as they wish is undoubtedly a measure of war.
It's implied that Smith either interrogates or simply beats the Dominator before leaving his body to collect dust in the bunker. If the Peacemaker is willing to work with Waller to combat war, it carries with it another implication: he's certainly willing to get his hands dirty if it means keeping his world clean.
1 He Fights Doctor Manhattan
DC's Doomsday Clock serves as a sequel to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' 1986-87 comic Watchmen, an enormously influential work in the industry. Peacemaker is among the many heroes brought to Mars to confront Doctor Manhattan, who is thought to have caused an explosion that rocked Russia.
While initially peaceful, an offensive is launched by the heroes against Manhattan. This ends the only way it can against such a godly force of nature: Manhattan defeats all of them, including the Peacemaker, and leaves them on Mars in Geoff Johns and Gary Frank's Doomsday Clock #9. While not the most ideal ending, Cena's rendition manages to survive a bullet to the neck and a building collapsing on him. The war for peace will continue.