A Deathstroke Appearance on DC's Legends Of Tomorrow! (Or is it?)

The Arrow and Flash TV shows never really hooked me, even after I found out that Deathstroke would appear in the former.

I watched one episode of Arrow in which Slade was shown in a flashback scene on an island. If I recall correctly, he had no dialogue and I thought his uniform seemed a little on the "low budget" side.

Bottom line, I wasn't particularly taken in. It just didn't seem like he was particularly important. As I understand it, his role grew as the season continued but I've read feedback to the effect that he was beaten far too easily when the time for the final confrontation came. None of it seemed particularly compelling.

I gave Legends of Tomorrow a try because it featured a larger segment of the DC Universe. In truth, I find the show kind of stupid but did get a hell of a surprise during this past Thursday's episode.

Season One, Episode Six : When a malfunction sends the Waverider crashing into 2046 Star City, our heroes face a startling version of their own future where they never stop Savage and never return home. The city is in ruins and overrun by criminals, which thrills Rory. Sara is despondent over the destruction of her home and stunned when she learns what happened to her old friend, Oliver Queen.

There's a different Green Arrow in town and he's fighting a different Deathstroke.

The outfit seen from a shadowed distance initially caused me to believe that we were getting the real deal. Depending on how old Slade was in the Arrow series, the comics version has some years on his, so it wouldn't be outrageous that he'd still be kicking asses 30 years hence, in his mid-50s or so.

It wasn't Slade Wilson, however, but his son Grant, as portrayed by Jamie Andrew Cutler.

His screen time was limited but he displayed a bit of crazy and had a good scrap against the Arrows. The time-travelling nature of Legends, and its tendency to unravel potential future timelines, makes it unlikely that we'll see the character again, but it was a good jolt to see the least-used Wilson kid take the spotlight for a change.

Got to love Grant. Aside from a brief appearance in New Teen Titans #1, released on Halloween 1980, the guy died in his first ever "full' appearance the following month.

And yet he still manages to maintain a presence 35 years later. His identity has been copied several times, not only by his sister but also by a number of even less exemplary characters. He's been included in numerous flashbacks and was even suddenly alive in more recent Deathstroke books. Hell, he was even a zombie during Blackest Night. That's a lot of longevity milked out of one issue.

He hasn't been talked about much here yet...but maybe he should be. I'll figure out how I want to approach that. In the meantime, nice to see you again, Grant, no matter how brief it was.

Triple 'Stroke This Fall!

DC has been teasing a "Rebirth" even for what seems like weeks and weeks.  Naturally, that raised some question as how another relaunch, reboot, or whatever other "re" word you want to use, would affect our favourite badass. It was revealed today.

First things first though. Let's  check out the May solicitations.

DEATHSTROKE #18
Written by JAMES BONNY
Art by TYLER KIRKHAM
Cover by TYLER KIRKHAM
On sale MAY 25 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+ 

After a bitter betrayal by a trusted comrade, Slade Wilson finds reluctant allies in his estranged children, Rose and Jericho. But as an all out battle looms, he must also join forces with the one and only Ra’s al Ghul…who may have his own hidden agenda. Could this uneasy family reunion spell doom for Deathstroke?

Love seeing Rose on the cover, even if it's in that odd Captain Harlock style outfit.

I'm as tired of "fresh starts" as anyone but may find myself welcoming this one. Deathstroke's origin and family life was already inconsistent within the New 52 books themselves, never mind all the material that took place beforehand. And Rose was unrecognizable.

Now Rebirth begins the following month, in June, with the following books:

AQUAMAN REBIRTH #1
BATMAN REBIRTH #1
THE FLASH REBIRTH #1
GREEN ARROW REBIRTH #1
GREEN LANTERNS REBIRTH #1
SUPERMAN REBIRTH #1
TITANS REBIRTH #1
WONDER WOMAN REBIRTH #1 

New #1 Issues (Shipping twice monthly):
AQUAMAN #1
BATMAN #1
THE FLASH #1
GREEN ARROW #1
GREEN LANTERNS #1
SUPERMAN #1
WONDER WOMAN #1 

New Issues (Shipping twice monthly):
ACTION COMICS #957
DETECTIVE COMICS #934

So...No 'stroke, unless volume three continues while these books are published. You wouldn't think so, but that only would account for 26 issues that month. Seems low.

Deathstroke does not reappear until the fall (month unspecified).

BATMAN BEYOND REBIRTH #1
BLUE BEETLE REBIRTH #1
CYBORG REBIRTH #1
DEATHSTROKE REBIRTH #1
EARTH 2 REBIRTH #1
SUICIDE SQUAD REBIRTH #1
SUPERGIRL REBIRTH #1
TEEN TITANS REBIRTH #1
TRINITY REBIRTH #1 

New #1 Issues (Shipping twice monthly):
CYBORG #1
DEATHSTROKE #1
HARLEY QUINN #1
JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #1
SUICIDE SQUAD #1 

New #1 Issues (Shipping monthly):
BATMAN BEYOND #1
BLUE BEETLE #1
EARTH 2 #1
GOTHAM ACADEMY: NEXT SEMESTER #1
SUPERGIRL #1
SUPERWOMAN #1
SUPER SONS #1
TEEN TITANS #1
TRINITY #1

So not only does Slade warrant a rebirth special, his ongoing book will be published twice a month. That's pretty good news for fans of the world's best mercenary.

Also can't help but notice that there's a Titans book and a Teen Titans book. Slade once led a Titans team and he certainly has plenty of history with the various versions of that group over the years. Could he be involved there as well?

For that matter, he's spent some time on The Suicide Squad as well so perhaps he'll have a presence with that bunch.

Tired as hell of reboots, relaunches, etc, but this one may prove to be worthwhile.

Deathstroke, the Terminator Vol. 3: Nuclear Winter

Even though DC's solicitations are only released to April, I came across the following on Amazon.ca this weekend.

Deathstroke, the break-out villain from the 1980s sensation The New Teen Titans and current star of the hit TV series Arrow stars in his own graphic novel series!

In these stories, hunted by the CIA and the Teen Titans, Deathstroke is in trouble--he may be dying. But his chances for survival lie with a figure from his past, half a world away in Cambodia. 

While his pursuers believe him to be dead, Deathstroke takes refuge on Titans island--and when he regains his strength, he's shocked to learn that the island has been taken over by the forces of the evil Lord Chaos. How will he escape with his life?  

Collects Deathstroke, The Terminator #14-20.

Christ, I own these books and that still seems confusing as hell.

I initially doubted that the cover displayed with the solicitation would be the one that will actually appear on this compilation. But options may be limited. Half of the issues included in the book have covers on which 'stroke is wearing a short-lived "new" uniform. Check out that ode to "generic" over at right.

Terrible. Thankfully he was back in his real suit by issue #21.

While the cover to 18 might be more appropriate for a compilation of issues originally sold 24 years ago, it seems unlikely that they would use a "look" that barely resembles the character that they're trying to promote on TV, video games, perhaps movies, etc.

So if DC continues their tendency of using a slightly-updated version of one of the issues contained in the compilation, their best option may be #15, displayed at the bottom of this post. And the issue in which Rose first appears, no less.

Amazon lists a release date of June 28th.