Justice League #41 Variant Cover by J.G. Jones

I'd kind of forgotten that Deathstroke is showing up in Justice League this month, as is the Red Lion character from his series. Bleeding Cool included a variant cover to that book among a list of 14 a few days ago. Feast your eyes, folks.

May 2018 Deathstroke Solicitations

The amount of anticipation I felt for The Lazarus Contract is dwarfed by how much I look forward to the Deathstroke vs Batman story within the Deathstroke book.

DEATHSTROKE #31
Written by CHRISTOPHER PRIEST • Art by CARLO PAGULAYAN • Cover by ROBSON ROCHA and DANIEL HENRIQUES
Variant cover by JEROME OPENA 

“DEATHSTROKE VS. BATMAN” part two! 

The war between Deathstroke and Batman escalates when the Dark Knight foils one of Deathstroke’s assassination attempts! Meanwhile, a mysterious package brings Commissioner Gordon to Bruce Wayne’s doorstep, and Adeline Kane—Slade Wilson’s ex—sets her sights on Batman! 

On sale MAY 2 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T+

We already knew about Deathstroke being involved in Justice League: No Justice as a member of Team Entropy. Here's a look at the wraparound cover for that book.

And the surprise revelation this month is a hardcover omnibus of volume three.

DEATHSTROKE BY TONY S. DANIEL OMNIBUS HC
Written by TONY S. DANIEL and JAMES BONNY
Art by TONY S. DANIEL, SANDU FLOREA, TYLER KIRKHAM, PAULO PANTALENA and others
Cover by TONY S. DANIEL and SANDU FLOREA 

Tony S. Daniel’s entire run of DEATHSTROKE is collected in one hardcover! 

Slade Wilson’s life is turned upside down after he learns that his involvement in a top-secret mission was wiped from his memory. Now a mysterious enemy known as Odysseus has targeted Deathstroke and everyone involved in the decade-old mission. But Slade’s journey leads him to Gotham City—and into conflict with both Batman and Harley Quinn! 

Includes DEATHSTROKE #1-20, DEATHSTROKE ANNUAL #1-2 and a story from DC SNEAK PEEK: DEATHSTROKE #1. 

On sale OCTOBER 24 • 560 pg, FC, $75.00 US • ISBN: 978-1-4012-8475-6

Interesting. There's no doubt that Mr. Daniels has his fair share of fans but I didn't think this run warranted a hardcover omnibus. It has its moments and the art is often spectacular but much of the material, which was mostly inconsistent with the character's history, appears to have been cast aside with DC's Rebirth. I get that they want to give Deathstroke the proverbial "push" over the next few months/years but doing it partially through this series seems peculiar.

Deathstroke Is A Member Of Team Entropy This May!

Abbreviated text from this IGN article.

The conclusion of DC Comics event Dark Nights: Metal will bring about some big changes for the Justice League comic line, IGN has learned from DC. 

Following the events of Metal, which ends on March 14 with Issue #6, there will be a four-issue weekly miniseries that kicks off on May 9 called Justice League: No Justice co-written by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, and Joshua Williamson with art by Francis Manapul. 

Upon concluding, ‘No Justice’ will set the stage for a family of Justice League comics starting in June, with the flagship title being written by Snyder and the others by Tynion, Williamson, and more. No artists have been revealed for any of these titles. 

... 

The plot of ‘No Justice’ sees Brainiac warn the Justice League about a cosmic-level threat on the way to destroy Earth. When the heroes find out that even the combined might of the Justice League (including some unlikely new recruits) isn’t enough to stop it, Brainiac advises them with a plan. His strategy involves the heroes allying with villains and splitting up into four specialized teams. The fate of a different alien world depends on the success of each team, but if they fail, it’s game over not just for Earth but the entire DC Universe.

A "family" of Justice League titles. The groups include traditional heroic league members, magic users, aliens and...villains.

Might we get a team of reformed villains once all tis is said and done? Luthor, Lobo and Harley Quinn arguably meet that description. Deathstroke has walked that tightrope for decades. Maybe Justice League Dark takes a whole new meaning.

The dynamic would be pretty terrific, if handled correctly. Deathstroke has history with all of those characters, if one chooses to take volumes two and three of his series into account. You could pull Clayface from Detective Comics and Captain Cold from the Flash books flirted with being on the side of the angels for a while. I'm only speculating but this could be a cool deal.

Good News / Bad News Delivered by Bleeding Cool

First the bad news: It should have struck me that a Batman/Deathstroke book to accompany Deathstroke's regular series was too good to be true, but I was blinded by hopeful optimism. Alas, it it instead a story-within-the-series.

It seems like a hell of a tale, though. Right-click the image below and open it in a new tab (and thanks again to BC for providing the information in this format, I love that).

“Deathstroke vs. Batman” part one! Beginning this month, a six-issue series-within-a-series featuring the ultimate showdown between DC’s fiercest rivals! 

When Batman discovers a mysterious package containing DNA test results proving that he is not Damian Wayne’s biological father, the Dark Knight sets his sights on his son’s true father — Deathstroke! But Damian Wayne can’t really be Slade Wilson’s son — can he? And who sent the package — and why? The ultimate custody battle ensues as the World’s Greatest Detective and the World’s Deadliest Assassin clash in this instant classic!

Rose and Damian as brother and sister. Hilarious. I can't wait for this.

The good news is that Deathstroke does make a guest appearance in another book in April. It was a matter of time, really.

Written by Dan Abnett, art by Viktor Bogdanovic, cover by John Romita Jr. and Sandra Hope. 

“Payback Time,” part one!

The Silencer has been targeted by every hit man, meta-mobster and weapons-depot dropout that the Leviathan organization has to offer — now it’s time for Honor Guest to take the fight back to them! Too bad Deathstroke has other plans. 

Silencer squares off against Slade Wilson as we kick off a brand-new epic! And this duo’s devastating past run-in will leave you speechless! 

32 pages, $2.99, in stores on April 25.

That cover makes it look like the barrel of her gun is nearly poking out of the back of his head!

There's potential there for Deathstroke to hang around for a few issues so let's keep an eye out for that. I'mcurious about this character anyway so if he showed up in the back end of a trade, I'd be all over that.

Our favourite mass murdered also see the fourth book of volume one reprints, called Crash Or Burn, released on May 9th.

Deathstroke returns in these 1990s tales to battle the Vigilante, Fire and Blood, and Janissary! 

Then, Slade Wilson must enter the Black Dome — and he might not make it out alive. 

Collects Deathstroke, The Terminator #21-25, plus Deathstroke, The Terminator Annual #2, featuring the origin of Gunfire!

If there's one character more forgettable than Gunfire, it's certainly Janissary. That was his one and only appearance.

And on top of all that, he will appear in a Titans trade paperback reprinting the dismal Total Chaos storyline that crossed over the Titans family of books at the time.0

A threat from the future has come to the present to destroy the Titans: Donna Troy’s son, Lord Chaos! Bringing with him a futuristic army, the would-be hero turned despot faces Titans past and present in the heroes’ greatest conflict to date. However, when the battle becomes too much for even these super-teams, will they be able to turn to their greatest foe, Deathstroke, for assistance?

This timeless crossover from one of the greatest creative teams of all time is finally here! Collects New Titans #90-92, Deathstroke, the Terminator #14-16 and Team Titans #1-3.

Get it for Nightwing's mullet. I'm pretty sure he was still rocking that thing at that point.

And finally, he has significant involvement in the New Teen Titans Omnibus hardcover third volume.

In this third massive collection of the hit 1980s series, now back in print, the team battles the villainy of H.I.V.E., faces the evil Dr. Light, witnesses the trial of Deathstroke, and tries to rescue the dark hero known as Raven from her own father, Trigon. 

Collects Tales of The Teen Titans #42-68, The New Teen Titans (second series) #1-9 and Tales of The Teen Titans Annual #3.

336 pages! If you're buying specifically for Slade, you might want to track down a trade of The Judas Contract and leave it that. The trial is entirely forgettable. Almost as forgettable as Gunfire. Most of the rest of the material doesn't include Deathstroke at all.

Still, a pretty high-profile month for him. That's always comforting.

Deathstroke Vs. Batman

Credit to Bleeding Cool.

Looking forward to an official announcement for this when the April solicitations are revealed. I assumed it's a mini-series and not a replacement to the regular Deathstroke title. To my knowledge, Deathstroke still sells well enough to continue for a while longer.

I'm curious as to the reason for the feud as well. It isn't as though these two haven't crossed paths numerous times in the past. They did in the City of Assassins story from volume one (issues 6 to 9) and in issue 4 of volume three in early 2015. Sandwiched between the two was a lengthy scrap in Detective Comics 710 in 1997, the cover to which, interestingly, was also done by Lee Weeks.

More recently, Deathstroke (and Deadshot) appeared briefly in part 3 of The War Of Jokes And Riddles in the main Batman book...

...and of course Batman also showed up in Deathstroke's current book. And that encounter was pure genius. Two strategic masterminds "fighting" one another without throwing a punch. It had been quite some time since I'd read something that cleverly done.

Christopher Priest wrote that issue so naturally expectations will be high for the Deathstroke/Batman book. He's set himself a high bar but there's every reason to believe he'll deliver.

Is it Worth It? Resurrection Man (2011) #5

I own about 90% of Deathstroke's appearances in comic books. There are some that I've put off adding to the collection until more interesting or significant material has been acquired but I'm now in a position to close those questionable gaps.

Now that I have this site, I'm going to review certain guest-appearances based on whether they are worthwhile from the perspective of a Deathstroke fan specifically. So we're not reviewing a book based on its overall quality, just the Deathstroke parts.

That's an important distinction because Resurrection Man #5 is a very good book. But if you get it for Deathstroke's part only you may be disappointed.

We jump in mid-story. It seems that in the previous issue, Mitch Shelley, the titular Resurrection Man, has just been blown to bits by some lady named Suriel from the Special Angel Task Force. The bulk of the book from that point on is flashback and that's where Deathstroke comes in.

Deathstroke is on the payroll to clear a path for Mitch Shelley's lab techs as they study the remains of a US Army Patrol that was ambushed. While Shelley is a complete, heartless asshole, 'stroke is all business. The creative team does a good job of displaying his efficiency briefly for a book that isn't about him.

There is little interaction between the characters though. Deathstroke could be replaced by any mercenary character and it wouldn't really make a difference in the story. So on that level, since Deathstroke is really just a grunt, there's no real point in having it in the collection. But it does back fill some of his history so it's not a total waste.

Some numbers/stats/notes:

• This book was released the same month as Deathstroke, volume 2, #5.
• Deathstroke first appears on Page 4.
• Deathstroke appears on seven pages.

The highlight is his sudden appearance on the splash page.

Final judgement: Four eye patches out of 10.

Samurai 'Stroke

It's brief, as I suspect his actual "screen time" is, but you can catch of glimpse of a feudal Japan version of Deathstroke on the rather amazing Batman Ninja trailer.

Here's the whole two minutes of awesomeness, providing brief looks at the Damian Wayne Robin, Harley Quinn, Catwoman, etc. It looks extremely well done.

March 2018 Deathstroke Solicitations

Released earlier today:

DEATHSTROKE #29
Written by CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
Art by DIOGENES NEVES and TREVOR SCOTT
Cover by RYAN SOOK
Variant cover by SHANE DAVIS and MICHELLE DELECKI 

“Chinatown” finale!

Deathstroke takes on China’s New Super-Man, the massively powerful Dr. Ikon and even members of his own team! It’s an action-packed climax that brings the events of the entire series full circle as both heroes and villains struggle with the question of how to stop the World’s Deadliest Assassin once and for all! 

On sale MARCH 7 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T+

No longer wearing the black and white outfit for this cover...

And our boy shows up in at least one issue of Justice League, though he may take something of a back seat to one of the co-stars from his own series!

JUSTICE LEAGUE #41
Written by CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
Art by PETE WOODS
Cover by DAVID YARDIN
Variant cover by J.G. JONES 

“JUSTICE LOST” part two!

What does justice mean in a lawless world? This is the question the team must struggle with when the League finds itself trapped between warring factions, helpless refugees and mercenaries with advanced weaponry, all manipulated by Deathstroke’s frenemy the Red Lion.

Meanwhile, Batman forces a showdown between himself and the League’s biggest fan. 

On sale MARCH 21 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

The solicitation for April's trades was also made available. We've known for a while that the fourth book from the current volume would be released that month, but the text specifies that it "Collects DEATHSTROKE #21-25 and a story from the DC UNIVERSE HOLIDAY SPECIAL #1."  I wasn't aware of that last part.