Tuesday, June 16, 2015

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.