What Do You Get The Merc Who Has Everything?

Why, for Christmas next year, you could get him Deathstroke's Arsenal!

My God, look at this thing.

Deathstroke, as anyone visiting this blog knows, currently has his own series with DC Comics. I have yet to read beyond the first volume, but thus far I am not crazy about making the character young and the various changes that have taken place in his background.

As such, I am becoming far more interested in the "Arkhamverse" version, the Slade Wilson that appears in the Batman video game series. I love the armour design, how true they are staying to his origin and the attention he is getting in terms of merchandising. If rumours of a Suicide Squad video game are true (and with a movie involving that team coming out next year, it would make complete sense) then we are likely to see more of Arkham-stroke. Hope so.

In any event, while the 30" figurine posted earlier cost nearly a grand to acquire, this jolly little display comes in at an only slightly more affordable $850 or so. But you have time to save, it will only be available in the third quarter of next year.

For more details and photography, check out the Project Triforce website.

March 2016 Deathstroke Solicitations

First things first: The regular series.

DEATHSTROKE #16
Written by JAMES BONNY
Art and cover by TYLER KIRKHAM
Variant cover by CHRIS BURNHAM  

On sale MARCH 23 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+ 

Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for details. 

Aww yeah—it’s Deathstroke versus Red Hood! If Slade Wilson wants to find his missing daughter, he’ll need to escape the sights of the deadliest Bat-family member of them all. Who’s behind all the firepower being thrown at Deathstroke? Stay tuned for the answer!

Didn't see that coming, though it may not have been so hard to anticipate. A past issue of Red Hood and the Outlaws seemed to hint that Rose and Jason Todd had a relationship. It might be a whole lot of fun to see how dad deals with his little girl's boyfriends.

It also appears that we have a pretty intense guest-appearance to look forward to.

GREEN ARROW #50
Written by BENJAMIN PERCY
Art by SZYMON KUDRANSKI
Cover by SHANE DAVIS and MICHELLE DELECKI DAVIS
Variant cover by AARON KUDER 

On sale MARCH 16 • 48 pg, FC, $4.99 US • RATED T 

Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for more information. 

In our anniversary 50th issue, Green Arrow and Deathstroke race across the globe to find the Miracle Man, whose blood can cure any disease! And the Tarantula returns—but even with her assistance, she and Green Arrow are no match for the perfect assassin!

I'm going to try to find the variant covers mentioned above. I know that there is a Dawn of Justice theme to some of the books in March in preparation for the movie's release, but I didn't think Deathstroke was among them this time. We'll see what we find.

Arkham Knight #5 Solicitation

Just as I mention that I want to provide more detail about the Arkhamverse version of Deathtroke, he shows up in Arkham Knight Genesis #5, set to be released on December 16th. Get a load of this cover:

How did the Arkham Knight, once a penniless criminal, amass hundreds of tanks and a veritable army of mercenaries to take down the Caped Crusader? With the help of the world’s most dangerous assassin: Deathstroke the Terminator!

But of course!

The game will probably be a Christmas present for me so I'm avoiding any and all material related to it for the time being but I can't wait to dive in face first.

It doesn't appear as though 'stroke is involved in the sixth (and final) issue of the mini-series. DC's March solicitations should be available next week so we'll see where else he pops up.

So...Can I borrow $929?

Great Caesar's Ghost! Would you look at this thing??!

I don't play a lot of video games, but I did get the first three of the Arkham series. I was very much looking forward to seeing Deathstroke in Arkham Origins and thought they did a good job introducing him (and hinting at a larger role down the road in the "post-credit scene").

The blog so far has been about the character's comic book appearances, for the most part, but I have begun building pages specific to action figures and his various video game appearances too. That will include comic book versions of the Arkham games.

But this guy is so awesome, he can't wait for my slow ass to be done page-building. Feast your eyes on this 30-inch bad boy.  

Downside: He'll cost you a cool grand and the interchangeable arm holding the Batman cowl is only included with an "exclusive" edition, limited to 750 pieces. There will be 1500 of the regular edition.

More details, and photography, on this page (which, mind you, gets the standard edition count wrong at the top of the page).

Deathstroke's Who's Who Page

Taking a few minutes to post something I just came across in a seldom-used folder on my computer.

I don't believe the original scan is mine, but I also don't recall where I got it. I do know I cleaned it up some; straightened it, sharpened it, that sort of thing.

Open the image in a new tab to see a larger, easier to read version.

For those joining us late, in 1985 released a series of fact sheets about all its characters in a book called Who's Who in the DC Universe and this is Deathstroke's entry at the time.

Note that he is only referred to as The Terminator here, as opposed to Deathstroke. So since the characters were displayed alphabetically, Slade's profile was not include until volume 23, cover dated January 1987.

I don't know if this is a coincidence, but using the Terminator name specifically meant that Terra's fact sheet was next to be displayed in the book alphabetically.

Terra had an...interesting...relationship with Deathstroke, infiltrating the Titans for him in a story that eventually built up to The Judas Contract. It's considered a classic Titans story and it was during that era that Deathstroke truly came into his own. A great deal of detail was provided about his background, family, etc, including the introduction of his son Joseph as Jericho. Deathstroke evolved beyond being a standard gun-for-hire character.

It also included Dick Grayson adopting the Nightwing identity so the story's impact was felt for quite some time.

Unfortunately, much of that background has since been unraveled and Slade's history is now a cluttered, nonsensical mess, but that's a rant for another day (probably several more days, in fact).

Deathstroke #15 Solicitation

Written by JAMES BONNY
Art and cover by TYLER KIRKHAM 

On sale FEBRUARY 24
32 pg, FC, $2.99 US
RATED T+ 

Deathstroke versus an army of Bizarros! As the battle within Lexcorp intensifies, the hunt for Slade’s missing daughter takes a surprising turn! Is a betrayal looming…or will it be something far, far worse?

Deathstroke 15 Neal Adams Variant Cover

This is a cool thing for me. Neal Adams was one of the artists that I became a fan of when I began reading comics, longer ago than I'd like to admit.

In February, 25 DC Comics will feature variant covers by the man himself (inked by a variety of people), with a twist; they are all reproductions of his past work but with a different character on display.

Deathstroke is among those honoured. See below.

It was vaguely familiar but I couldn't quite recall the original version so I had to track it down. Deathstroke replaces Deadman from the cover of Strange Adventures #207 (December 1967).

Adams did the interior art for that book as well. Nothing against the current team, but I'd kill for him to do an issue of Deathstroke.

SA 207 is hardly Adams' most iconic work, granted, but a neat deal nonetheless. I just like to see 'stroke included in these if only because he's among the heavy-hitters.

Editorial Interference Is Not a New Thing

I recently took advantage of a Halloween sale by Mile High Comics to close some gaps in my collection and that little bundle of joy arrived this afternoon.

I bought ten books in total, including issues 116 and 117 of Nightwing. Those issues close out the "Renegade" storyline that began in number 112 of the series. In that story, Dick Grayson pretends to be a villain operating under that new name. Complicating best laid plans, Deathstroke comes by for a visit to convince Nightwing to train his loopy (well, to be fair, she's probably still being drugged by old dad at this point...) daughter Rose.

A trade paperback of the storyline came out in late 2006. The cover to that book is at right but it is basically a slightly reworked version of the cover to issue #113.

Here's where the editorial interference appears to come in: DC was in the midst of its Infinite Crisis event at that point. The story is humming along just fine from issues 112 to issues 114. And as is often the case, 114 concludes with a teaser for the following issue, which reads...

Dick Grayson keeps on keeping his enemies closer when Lex Luthor comes into play! And now that all of his actions as Renegade have gotten Oracle's attention, you can be sure Dick's ex is going to be on the scene as well.

And the cover displayed with that blurb appears on the left.

All sounds pretty cool, but none of it happens. Not even close. Luthor is nowhere to be seen, although we do get Deathstroke's attempt to use Rose and Nightwing to take down Superman for Villains Inc.  No sign of Barbara "Oracle" (at the time) Gordon, either.

That group of villains, incidentally, dropped a chemical explosive on Nightwing's then-home of Bludhaven during the Infinite Crisis events. This took place between issues 115 and 116 of Nightwing.

So rather than continue the story of Deathstroke's manipulation and Rose's training, in #116 we instead get an issue of Nightwing running around town trying to ensure that his supporting cast is safe and feeling responsible for the situation. Deathstroke and Rose don't appear at all yet once again the cover is somewhat misleading in regards to their involvement.

So clearly plans were changed at the last minute.

'Stroke and Rose return in issue 117 for the conclusion. Nightwing proves to Rose that Deathstroke is a shit dad (and that the sun rises in the East, I suppose), even though he had pretty well done that at the end of 115, and she bails on her pops as a result.

The expected skirmish between Deathstroke and Nightwing is a good one in this book as 'wing uses his acrobatics and agility to dodge blows more so than to deliver them. Pretty consistent with past battle, in my opinion.

The following month was DC's "One Year Later" event in which every book was "fast forwarded" to, well, a year later. Not sure if the Renegade story had to be wrapped up quicker than intended as a result but obviously the Infinite Crisis event and the destruction to Bludhaven that came with it forced changes onto the Renegade storyline.

So what happened to Rose a year after running out on her crap dad and telling him she hates him? Why at some point she became a member of the New Teen Titans!

With some exceptions, she was a regular in the series until its conclusion at issue 100 (October 2011).

As for Deathstroke, he went on to the Green Arrow book to give that character a hard time in a story called Crawling Through The Wreckage. More on that later.

Deathstroke #14 solicitation

Fresh off his scrap against the Suicide Squad, let's see what's in store for our favourite merc.

Written by JAMES BONNY
Art and cover by TYLER KIRKHAM
Adult Coloring Book Variant cover by EMANUELA LUPACCHINO
On sale JANUARY 27 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+ 

Slade Wilson would move heaven and Earth to get his daughter back—and not even LexCorp will stand in his way! But after barely surviving a tussle with the Suicide Squad, how can a battle-ravaged Deathstroke take on Lex Luthor’s forces?

Bonny had been named as co-writer for a few months but now gets sole billing. For DC, he's also worked on The Savage Hawkman before Rob Liefeld took over that book. Tony Daniels is no longer involved with Deathstroke, at least for this issue.

Interesting, seems Rose will continue to appear in the book, even if she sounds like something of a victim.

Strange variant theme this month; colouring book style. That's it below.

A Little Ravager Art from Secret Origins #7

Just a brief post today. I was again filling some gaps on the (New)(Teen) Titans, Volume 1 and Rose Wilson pages and came across an image I thought I should share, in case some people missed it.

The art below is by Robson Rocha (pencils), Oclair Albert (inks) and Mike Atiyeh (colour). As stated in the subject line, it is copied from issue #7 of Secret Origins, which came out late last November.

One of the three back-filling stories included in the book continues Superboy's habit of whining about who he really is, his purpose for being created, etc. Since the delightful Rose Wilson was a supporting character for much of his ongoing series, she makes a cameo appearance in flashback form.

Saying that she wanted to "help" might be quite kind, if my memory is sound, but that's neither here nor there...

Too bad Rose wasn't used a bit more in this story. However, one of the (many) frustrating things about the Superboy series was that Rose's appearances were often limited to about a page an issue, if that. So while her inclusion in SO7 is not at all impactful, it's at least appropriate in its brevity.

Recent Updates: Showcase '93

Earlier this week, six issues of Showcase '93 were added to the guest appearances page above.

Deathstroke, technically, is not a guest in this book but it was the most appropriate page in which to include this series. Showcase, for those who may not remember, was an anthology book that ran monthly from 1993 to 1996. 'Stroke appeared in one of the regular stories in issues 6 to 11 during the first year of publication.

That story was called "The Kobra Kronicles" and included several other characters such as Peacemaker, Deadshot and Katana (Huntress is on the cover at right, but appears in one of the other stories). It was written by Mike Baron and continuity buffs would have to assume that it took place between issues 20 and 21 of Deathstroke's own book (volume 1) based on the uniform he wore.

I am struggling to find my copies of this book, but I admit I don't have found memories of it. My lasting impression is that Deathstroke was often out of character. He seemed a little too jovial and more like a wise-cracking type. It's been many years though so perhaps my opinion would change if I read it now.

And that suit sucked. The funny thing about it is that it was only used in Deathstroke's own book for about four issues, during the Nuclear Winter storyline (issues 17 to 20), yet he wore it in six issues of Showcase and several issues of another book called Chain Gang War. That outfit was featured more outside Deathstroke's own series than in it!

The Chain Gang War book only lasted one year but Deathstroke was involved a fair bit.  I only own the issue at left so I'm still trying to determine if all the issues are worthwhile to own but that one certainly was.

The Chain Gang was a group of vigilantes that kidnapped criminals and jailed them in a place they referred to as a the House of Correction. Essentially, they sought to clean up the city and weren't above killing to do it.

Deathstroke's appearance originally looks to be based around a war crime committed many years before for which Slade wants to dish out punishment. Well...that, and the family of one of the people held captive by the Chain Gang hires 'stroke to break him out. Money matters to our boy too! He tracks the gang down then gets to knocking heads.

This is a pretty solid, and probably often overlooked, guest spot by Deathstroke. The only criticism is that after kicking the members of the gang around for a few pages, he gets captured far too easily.

In all, he shows up in eight issues but I believe that in a number of them, it's only for one page or so. Once I determine which issues "matter", I'll list them on the guest-appearances as well.

Deathstroke #13 solicitation, and a look at sales figures.

Revealed earlier today:

DEATHSTROKE #13
Written by TONY S. DANIEL and JAMES BONNY
Art and cover by TYLER KIRKHAM
On sale DECEMBER 23 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+ 

The showdown between Slade Wilson, the Suicide Squad and Amanda Waller looms in what’s left of Belle Reve Penitentiary...but first he’ll have to face off against a deadly new super-villain who could bring an end to Deathstroke’s “Suicide Mission”!

Some of the solicitations for books being released in December make mention of a variant cover, but Deathstroke's does not, unfortunately. I didn't see any guest appearances by 'stroke in other books, either.

And yesterday, DC Comics announced the cancellation of a handful of their books. The last volume of Deathstroke did not last very long, so I was pleased to see that this one is continuing. Still, I wanted to take a look at sales figures to see if my confidence was warranted and, for the moment at least, it appears to be.

65 Batman Beyond 2..............35,000
66 Inhumans Attilan Rising 3....34,919
67 Grayson 10...................33,990
68 Starfire 2...................33,659
69 Deathstroke 8................33,648
70 Red Skull 1..................33,246
71 Batgirl 42...................33,168

The info above is lifted from comichron.com. I don't know if digital sales are included (I don't believe so) and are considered estimates regardless, so they shouldn't be considered pinpoint accurate no matter how specific the number.

Still, it gives a good idea of how well a book may be performing (or not). Grayson and Starfire are pretty good company, I think, and absolutely appropriate considering the history those characters have. We should continue to have a Deathstroke book for the forseeable then, it would appear.

Man, The Titans Get Hunted A Lot...

For a rather mundane title, "Titans Hunt" seems to come up a lot.

I was reminded of this while reading an interview with writer Dan Abnett about the coming Titans Hunt book from DC Comics. Being that there are large gaps in this blog's "(New) (Teen) Titans" page, this seemed like a good time to fill them a bit, since Deathstroke is so often involved with that group.

I've added some covers and a couple of issues from the New Titans series that ran from 1984 to 1996. My Titans fanhood has come and gone over the years, so I can't claim to be an authority on them, but it seems to be consensus that the 14-issue period between numbers 71 and 85 is referred to as Titans Hunt (see Comicvine for an example).

Deathstroke was very prominent in the book during that period, spending much of the time leading a ragtag group of Titans family members on a search for the abducted team. As the rather dramatic cover at right displays, he ultimately finds himself needing to combat a possessed version of his son and needing to make a pretty tough decision.

Those books came out in the early 90's. The other Titans story to take that name featured a totally different team and was released several years later.

Starting in 1996, Dan Jurgens wrote and drew a Teen Titans book featuring a mostly new team of young heroes, along with the Atom and Captain Marvel Jr. Titans Hunt ran from issues 21 to 24 of that series. The basis of the "hunt" is that one of the team members, nicknamed Risk, appears to have killed a villain in battle and is wanted by the authorities as a result.

Deathstroke steps up to the plate in issue #22 (also now added to the Titans page) and captures the team over the course of five pages for some anti-alien group called The Veil. Sounds very similar to how he took on his son's contract with HIVE against the original Titans way back in his first appearance, doesn't it? Can't imagine that's a coincidence.

The only slight downside is that Deathstroke is still wearing the blue and black outfit that he changed to briefly at the end of the first volume of his own series. There have been worse redesigns, I suppose, but I could never get used to the hubcaps on the shoulders. And what the hell did they replace his staff with? A cattle prod?

That's Risk getting acquainted with Slade's boot heel, for those who are unfamiliar with him.

'Stroke must have seen something in that character that I didn't at the time because he recruited him for his team in the Titans East story that ran in early 2007 (that's him over Slade's left shoulder below), almost a decade later.

Risk had lost an arm in a battle against Superboy Prime during Infinite Crisis (first panel below) and has since encountered him again to similar results (second panel).

Yikes. Why don't you just get lost before he start going after your legs? Love the sound effect consistency, however.

Anyway, I doubt Slade will be recruiting Risk for anything again any time soon.

One last thing about the East storyline; there actually seems to be a Tiny Titans version of it, released shortly after the original.

Slade's looking pretty suave in that suit!

Hard to imagine the story being made kid friendly (obviously they're not being fully faithful to the original version) but it's tempting to buy it anyway. They're using mostly the same Titans East characters so maybe a Tiny Rose Wilson appears too? If she does, I'll bet she doesn't carve her eye out to be more like dad. ;-)

Anyway, now we need to pay attention to see if Slade is involved in the upcoming story that takes the Titans Hunt name. I haven't seen his name in the solicitations yet, but he has such a strong connection to that team that it shouldn't surprise anyone if he makes an appearance.

Deathstroke #12 solicitation

Written by TONY S. DANIEL and JAMES BONNY
Art and cover by TYLER KIRKHAM 

On sale NOVEMBER 25 

32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+ 

Slade continues his “Suicide Mission”! To get at Amanda Waller, he’ll go through any super-villain that gets in his way—including Catwoman! Good thing he’s getting a little help from Harley Quinn!

A meeting with Catwoman is interesting. I don't recall too many meetings between those two in the past which is mildly odd since Slade has had dealings with many members of Batman's entourage, good and bad.

And in a brief update to a prior (August 10th) post, DC is indeed releasing a second trade paperback from the volume one material in December. It will include issues 10-13 and the first annual, as expected, but also issue #68 of the Superman series of the time.

The above book has been added to the guest-appearances page. 

“Say yer prayers varmint!”

DC Comics is preparing to reveal its November solicitations but have teased us with 25 variant covers with a Looney Tunes theme including, of course, Deathstroke.

Fun stuff! The work is by Ryan Benjamin and, of course, Warner Bros. Animation.

Though it's not at all difficult to find, I shall post the solicitation for Deathstroke's own book and/or any guest-appearances he might make in November.

August 10th updates

Continuing to list Deathstroke's publishing history, here's what was added to certain site pages earlier today:

Volume One: Issue #31, part five of the World Tour.

This was a good time to be a Deathstroke fan. If Amazon.ca can be trusted, a second compilation of the first volume will be released at the end of the year collecting issues 10-13 and the first annual (which featured one of my favourite cover all-time, at right). If plans are to continue doing so, no doubt the World Tour will be included as it was a fun, self-contained story within the series. It's very accessible to current readers.

Volume Three: Issue #8, part of the Godkiller story line, released July 22nd.

Guest-Appearances: Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S. issues one and two.

Deathstroke's contribution to these two books is rather brief, but at least his background with Steve Trevor is recognized. Trevor appeared in the last two issues of Team Seven as a member of that group. He crossed paths with Deathstroke as a result, but I don't recall a specific cause for the animosity that Slade shows towards Trevor in  A.R.G.U.S. Mind you, in light of how the entire Team Seven project all went to pot, Slade might just want to put a bullet in anything that reminds him of it.

The page for Volume Two is pretty well done aside from minor corrections and details, and Volume Three gets updated more or less as books are released.  As the page for Volume One continues to fill up, as well as the guest-appearances page and the one dedicated to Rose Wilson, then new ones will be created to cover Deathstroke's appearances in the digital books dedicated to the Arkham series of video games and to the Arrow TV show. Looking forward to that, actually, because much of that material will be new to me.

Deathstroke 11 solicitation

Written by TONY S. DANIEL and JAMES BONNY
Art by TYLER KIRKHAM
Cover by TONY S. DANIEL
Monsters Variant cover by E.M. GIST 

On sale OCTOBER 28 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+ 

It’s the Suicide Squad vs. Deathstroke! He’s battled gods, slain his enemies, and even sacrificed parts of himself he never thought he could live without! But Deathstroke’s biggest challenge still lays ahead, and if he wants to succeed he’ll need to defeat the assembled might of the Suicide Squad! Will this be his chance to get back at Harley Quinn after their previous battle?

Right on. I don't want to crap on a story I have yet to read, but the notion of Deathstroke assassinating gods was not particularly appealing. Another meet up against the Suicide Squad though? All over that.

This "Getting Young" Thing Is Getting Old.

I finally received the first volume of the current Deathstroke series in the mail last week. Entitled "Gods of War", it collects the first six issues, including some sketches and the variant covers.

Now it's difficult to maintain a blog about a character yet avoid spoilers because you're "waiting for the trade". If you're still waiting to pick up this book yourself, stop now and come back (please) when you haven't because there will be some spoilering going on.

Those who are still here are likely aware that Slade Wilson's youth was restored in this book. I had heard something to that effect, but misunderstood it.  I believed that he was going through a "Batman Begins" type of flashback in which his past was being back-filled. I didn't think he was literally going to be young again. But he is.

I don't care for this decision. It takes away a number of things that made Slade stand out among the pack.

In the character's first volume, Wintergreen refers to Slade as being in his 40's. If so, based on hair colour, it's late 40's. And characters that age are in a small minority.

His missing right eye has been "restored", too. Relatively unique features are being done away with. Furthermore, you'd be hard-pressed to read a random page and to differentiate him from Bruce Wayne.

It's not even particularly original. The reason Wintergreen referred to Slade's age in volume one was that Slade had become young again in the last few issues of that series.

Issues 53 and 54 of the first volume featured a two-part story called "The Borgia Plague" and, as you might have guessed from the title, it revolved around a biological weapon.

The story concluded with Deathstroke being caught in an explosion. And when he was later found in the rubble (in #55), he was about half his age.

There are a number of differences between the current "de-aging" and the one from volume one. From issue 55 until the conclusion of the series in #60 (June 1996), Slade was still missing his right eye and his hair was blond. His hair colour was consistent with prior flashback material from the Teen Titans series. I don't know why Tony Daniels saw a need to change it for volume three.

As you can see from the cover of #55, the newfound youth also led to a uniform change.

Deathstroke also lost his memory as a result of the de-aging in volume one, but it was restored by the time the series concluded. None of the other changes that were made to the character lasted very long, either.

His next appearance was in Detective Comics 708 (April 1997), written by Chuck Dixon.

This is the first chapter of a three-part story called "The Death Lottery". In this book, Slade's hair is still blond, but he seems to be back to his normal age, as evidenced by a supporting character at his African retreat asking him if he feels old after hunting a lion (to which Slade replies that he's not old, he's bored). No explanation is given so one assumes that the effect just wore off with inactivity. Sure, why not?

Slade would then show up in a few issues of Nightwing, as well as Green Arrow, Azrael and Robin. But the next story to be centered around him would be a three-part tale in The Titans called "The Immortal Coil". Running from issue 10-12 (December 1999 to February 2000), it was written by Devin Grayson and involved several characters that had a history with Slade, including Cheshire but most prominently his ex-wife, Adeline. It also marked the return of the traditional Deathstroke outfit.

So within a couple of years, all the changes that had taken place at the end of volume one were essentially erased gradually and seldom referred to, that I know of. Since I'm a bit behind, perhaps this "younging" is also already on the way out. Hope so because it takes away from the character instead of making him more interesting.

Deathstroke to Guest Star in "Robin, Son of Batman" #4 in September

The 10th issue of Deathstroke's own series, in which the Godkiller storyline concludes, is released in September. But our (anti) hero also makes an appearance in Robin, Son of Batman #4. Here's what we have to look forward to:

ROBIN, SON OF BATMAN #4
Written by PATRICK GLEASON
Art and cover by PATRICK GLEASON and MICK GRAY 

On sale SEPTEMBER 16 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T 

It’s Robin vs. Deathstroke! The troubles in Maya’s past come back to haunt her. Will Damian and Goliath be forced to leave her to fend for herself, or can they find a way to help their new ally?

The best assassin in the world against a kid raised within a league of assassins. Should be spectacular!

Regardless of that similarity in their backgrounds, Deathstroke and the Damian Wayne version of Robin have had little interaction. The most prominent, to my recollection, was in the 11th and 12th issues of the Batman and Robin series that began in 2009.

At some point, Damian had had a chip implanted in his spine which, unbeknownst to him, enabled his mother (Talia Al Ghul) to control his actions remotely. Mom recruited another highly shitty parent to control Damian from a distance and attempt to beat Batman (who, at the time, was Dick Grayson).

Slade wanted Grayson to know who was pulling the strings and this caused him to reveal a little too much information (see below). Knowing who the enemy was, and understanding that their nervous systems were electronically linked, Grayson used electric shocks to Damian's heart to incapacitate Slade from afar.

Not too sure about the science behind that, but...it worked! And later, while Deathstroke was recovering in a hospital bed, Grayson dropped by and punked him out. But we won't dwell on that ugliness.

The episode also caused Damian to swear to kill Slade one day. With the September 2010 reboot of DC's comics line, it's often a little unclear as to what is still in continuity and what isn't. Most, if not all, of that series appears to still be in play though, so it'll be interesting to see if that scene is referenced.

Deathstroke 9 Bombshell variant

For the second year in a row, DC Comics has "bombshell"-themed variant covers planned for August. While some of the male characters, such as Aquaman and Green Lantern, are displayed in 40's propaganda poster style in their respective variants, several of them give way to female supporting characters in order to fit the theme. And Deathstroke is among those stepping aside.

The art is by Emanuella Luppachino and Tomeu Morey.

That's pretty neat. I haven't found the current version of Rose Wilson particularly appealing but if this Rose was to appear in the Bombshells series that is planned for that month as well, I'd certainly give that a look.

Rose Takes a Brief Step Forward, Then Back Again

There are very few books I buy on their actual release dates. I prefer trades and Comixology digital versions. As a result, I'm often a few months behind the ongoing DC Comics storylines.

I recently picked up issues 33 and 34 of Superboy (August and September cover dates, respectively. Rose Wilson has appeared frequently in that book, but usually for only a page or two at a time and frankly, she's not particularly appealing.

Those issues had a pleasant, albeit brief, surprise though. A Rose Wilson that is much closer in appearance to the one that existed in the pre-Flashpoint DC Universe.

The Superboy series is, in my opinion, a confusing, bloated mess of alternate realities, time travel, etc. Perhaps it is easier to follow when read in large chunks in one sitting, but when grabbing an issue or two from time to time, there is just too much bending of natural laws to follow with confidence.

So what's going on here? In a N.O.W.H.E.R.E. facility (Rose's employer), one of the Superboys is in the position of fighting alternate versions of himself. Rose is defending the facility and in order to improve their odds, Superboy changes her into an apparently more successful version from a different reality.

Much more dad-inspired. Maybe Slade's not as shitty a father in that reality. But then again, she DID take him down, according to the text bubble, so...

Of course, it was not meant to last. All the characters involved return to their usual appearance, then there's the question as to whether it ever really happened, and so on and so forth.

But for a moment it was a cool to see Rose as, I believe, most fans prefer to see her. Granted, if she hates her dad so much, it may not make sense to base her appearance around his anyway. Based on the second volume of Deathstroke, she does still seem to have a hate-on for him, but with that volume apparently being ignored now, who knows any more?

Her outfit gets changed yet again when she showed up in Red Hood And The Outlaws this past February.

My understanding (I have yet to read the book) is that the story deals with addictions. In light of Rose's pre-flashpoint background, her inclusion in such a storyline would make sense. But again, with DC, who knows anymore whether her past drug addiction (thanks again, dad!) even took place?

Also, based on reviews, Rose has some history with Jason Todd. That could be interesting, but I suspect we won't be told a whole lot in the one issue. Although you know, I would buy the hell out of a book featuring those two as a couple, like a Green Arrow/Black Canary or Grifter/Zealot combo.

Oddly, once again we have a cover switch. The original solicitation featured the cover below:

Both are said to be by artist R.B. Silva so I wonder why the change? Did he just want to make life easier for himself and feature a less complex uniform?

In any event, Rose is also included in the following, and final, issue of the series.

When #13 Became Lucky

I mentioned before that I tuned out the post-Flashpoint Deathstroke series when Rob Liefeld was announced as the writer after the first few issues. I still wanted to record them on the Vol. 2 page above though and in doing so I realized how quickly DC Comics changed gears when it became obvious that handing the book over to Liefeld was the furthest thing from a solution.

The solicitations for that volume's books are still easily located online and of course I include the blurb when I copy them onto this blog. Here's how the 13th issue was promoted back in the summer of 2012 (typically hideous Liefield cover included).

DEATHSTROKE #13 

Written by ROB LIEFELD
Art and cover by ROB LIEFELD 

On sale OCTOBER 10 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+ 

Deathstroke and Zealot learn the terrible fate of the planet Kheran and brace for the long-lasting repercussions it will have on the DC Universe.

And...None of that actually happened.

I didn't realize it right away because I intended to buy the book in trade paperback format following Liefeld's departure. When I saw Liefeld's name still attached to the book at this point, I guess I ignored it.

Liefeld is still credited in the issue #13 that actually hit shelves, but only for plot. And that plot has absolutely nothing to do with Zealot or the planet Kheran (thank the comic gods) so I'm not even sure that credit is warranted. The story is far more similar to what we saw in the first few issues of the series; a huge, flashy and loud fight against a big bastard named Deadborn. Zealot does appear, but only briefly and is essentially sent packing.

Here's the significantly-cooler cover that was used, which actually flows into the story. Page one is included below as well.