DC's Shadow War Checklist

Ra's al Ghul is dead! This titanic turn of events ignites a three-way bloodbath written by Joshua Williamson that features Deathstroke and his Secret Society vs. Batman and Robin vs. Talia al Ghul and the League of Shadows! Somehow I don't think that everyone's going to make it out alive.

Appearing below is a graphic checklist for the entire event, which runs from March 2022 through May 2022 within a bookend two-issue mini-series, a one-shot, as well as monthly titles Batman (2016), Robin (2021), and Deathstroke Inc. (2021).

Image Source: DC

Blog Update: Deathstroke on TV Database UPDATED!!! (3/20/2022)

Added episodes of Titans, DC Super Hero Girls, and Young Justice to the Deathstroke On TV Database! The list should be up-to-date as of March 20, 2022.

Jim Lee's Deathstroke Sketch for the Book Industry Charitable Foundation

DC Comics' Publisher, and comic book megastar, Jim Lee is doing his part to raise money for the Book Industry Charitable Foundation by creating and then auctioning sixty sketches of DC characters in sixty days. Lee's 17th sketch was of none other than the dastardly Deathstroke.

Originally formed as the Borders Group Foundation in 1996, the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (aka Binc) describes themselves as "a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to assisting booksellers in need," which includes owners and employees of local comic book stores. This joint venture between Lee and Binc was created to help those comic book retailers adversely affected by the industry-wide shutdowns triggered by the current COVID-19 pandemic. For any book of comic book retailer or employee that is facing financial hardship due to the COVID-19 closures, click this link for information about Binc and what assistance may be available.

For sketch number 17, Lee decided to try something a bit different by making it the second half of a diptych when juxtaposed with the previous day's sketch of the Huntress. Posted below are Lee's Deathstroke and Huntress sketches as well as an in-progress image of the diptych as well as the completed piece.

Deathstroke by Jim Lee for the Book Industry Charitable
Foundation

The Huntress by Jim Lee for the Book Industry Charitable
Foundation

Lee bringing it together.

Lee's completed diptych

Blog Update: Deathstroke on TV Database UPDATED!!!

Hey all! I just wanted to let everyone know that I just updated the Deathstroke on TV Database! I included new episodes of Arrow, Teen Titans Go!, Titans, as well as the new CW Seed offering Deathstroke: Knights and Dragons. So, as far as I know, the TV database should be up-to-date as of this writing.

Deathstroke in Batman: The Adventures Continue (2020)?

Beginning with Batman: The Animated Series (1992), the DC Animated Universe (the DCAU for short) has brought tales of DC Comics' greatest heroes to literally generations of television viewers. The DCAU is also responsible for creating numerous iconic characters that eventually made their way to the main DC Universe like Harley Quinn, Renee Montoya, Mercy Graves, Livewire, and Batman Beyond himself, Terry McGuiness. Though the television series have since ended (you can still catch then on the DC Universe streaming service and home video) the DCAU lives on through direct-to-video animated films, most recently last year's Justice League vs. the Fatal Five (2019), as well as numerous comic book adaptations.

The newest comic book foray into the DCAU is Batman: The Adventures Continue (2020) brought to life by the writing team of original Batman: TAS producers Paul Dini and Alan Burnette and artist Ty Templeton, who also penciled the very first comic book series based on Batman: TAS, The Batman Adventures (1992). This new comic book begins just after the television series The New Batman/Superman Adventures (1997) ends. The cover of the new series is posted below and features a rather interesting addition never before seen in the proper DCAU: Deathstroke the Terminator.

Deathstroke never appeared in an episode of the original DCAU, but there he is,
above Harley Quinn, the Riddler, and Killer Croc. Art by Dave Johnson.

As of this writing, Batman: The Adventures Continue has only released two issues with no real sign of Deathstroke just yet. But as the cover above suggests it is only a matter of time before the world's greatest detective and the world's deadliest assassin officially lock horns for the first time in the DCAU.

Super-Team Family #2919: Kingpin vs. Deathstroke!

It's been a while since I've visited this space on the old blog-o-nets, but I ran across this and could not resist putting it on here. It's Wilson vs. Wilson in this edition of Super-Team Family Presents as Marvel's very own Kingpin of Crime goes to war with DC's world's deadliest assassin.

Be sure to check out my original post on the Super-Team Family: The Lost Issues blog by clicking here.

The Deathstroke Files Recognizes the 27th Anniversary of the Death of Superman

Superman (1987) #75 Deluxe version
 still inside the black polybag

After the Crisis on Infinite Earths rebooted the DC Universe, John Byrne, fresh off a red hot run on Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four, rebooted Superman in the Man of Steel (1986) miniseries. The reboot strategy was a shot in the arm for the Superman franchise as the following year, the incumbent Superman (1940) title was renamed Adventures of Superman, to make way for a brand new Byrne-written and penciled Superman (1987), joining the original Action Comics (1938) series to provide three successful monthly Superman titles.

But by 1992, less than two years after DC Comics launched the man of steel's fourth monthly ongoing title, DC Comics' original hero was in the midst of a sales slump. Byrne had left the character and the Superman team, led by editor Mike Carlin, planned for the wedding of Clark Kent and Lois Lane to play out from 1991 and to culminate in 1993's Adventures of Superman #500 as a way to boost sales. But, Warner Bros., DC Comics' parent company blocked the storyline from happening in the comics until it had already played out on television in the ABC television series Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. 

Frustrated that the wedding story had to be put on old, the Superman creative teams met in 1991 to figure out what they would do next, At previous editorial summits, writer Jerry Ordway would jokingly suggest killing off Superman, but when Ordway made the joke again in 1991, the room fell silent. As they were stuck for a storyline and pressed for time Carlin and Dan Jurgens ran with the idea. The intent was never to permanently do away with the man of steel, but to shake up the public that Carlin felt had taken Superman for granted. Comic book fans had embraced ultra-violent heroes like Wolverine, the Punisher, Lobo, Spawn, and to a certain extent Batman, thinking that a traditional superhero like Superman had become passe. Carlin wanted to remind the world how important Superman was by showing them a world without him. Beginning with Superman: The Man of Steel (1991) #17, The Death of Superman story ran through all the monthly Superman titles and some issues of the Justice League culminating in the now legendary Superman (1987) #75 in which the fatal battle between Superman and the savage Doomsday ended 27 years ago today.

So, was the Death of Superman story a success? Well, Superman (1987) #75 was the highest selling single comic book of 1992, surpassing six million copies sold. In addition to Doomsday, The storyline itself launched other successful DC Comics' characters such as the John Henry Irons version of Steel, the Connor Kent Superboy, and the villainous Cyborg Superman. DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation have since produced three animated films based on the story, Superman: Doomsday (2007), The Death of Superman (2018), and Reign of the Supermen (2019). Blizzard Entertainment and Sunsoft released The Death and Return of Superman (1994) videogame adaptations for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the Sega Genisis. Original story contributors, Roger Stern, and Louise Simonson released prose novelizations of the story titled, The Death and Life of Superman (1993) and a younger readers version called Superman: Doomsday and Beyond (1993) respectively. BBC 5 radio even adapted the story into a two-and-a-half hour full-cast radio drama called Superman Lives! (1993).  The feature film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) adapted the part of the story as part of its overall setup for Justice League (2017).

Superman funeral scene from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

So, in honor of this historic comic book, below are posted the original standard cover for Superman (1987) #75 as well as a variant homage cover from Deathstroke (2016) #7, which saw the man of steel tangle with the Terminator. Thank you and congratulations to everyone involved with producing this important piece of Superman and DC Comics history!

The iconic cover to Superman (1987) #75
Art by Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding

Variant cover for Deathstroke (2016) #7
Art by Shane Davis, Michelle Delecki, and Alex Sinclair

The Deathstroke Files Celebrates the 24th Anniversary of the U.S. Release of the Sony PlayStation

Twenty-four years ago today, on September 9, 1995, the United States' video gaming public was granted one of the greatest gifts they would ever receive. That gift was none other than the OG Sony PlayStation. I was one of the lucky ones that pre-ordered a PlayStation from a Walden Software store for $299 (a full $100 less than the rushed-to-market Sega Saturn), which allowed me the honor of picking up my PS three days before the official release date. Unfortunately, after paying for the console pre-sale, I couldn't afford any games at the lanch. But, I was still thrilled at the free hardware demo disc that showcased the new console's 3D graphics capabilities and the PlayStation Demo 1 preview disc that included playable demos of Jumping Flash!, Destruction Derby, Wipeout, Battle Arena Toshinden, and ESPN Extreme Games among others, which were packaged with the console. 

Regardless of a gamer's personal preference in hardware, the PlayStation's legacy is unquestioned as its current incarnation, the PS4, has more than doubled the sales of Microsoft's Xbox One console and has a 57% market share. In honor of this significant anniversary in gaming history, posted below are images of an original Sony PlayStation console with a custom Deathstroke-inspired paint scheme by UK hobby artist Stu Blue. Be sure to check out Stu Blue's DeviantArt gallery here. Happy gaming!

Happy Birthday, George Pérez From the Deathstroke Files!

Deathstroke's legendary co-creator,
George Pérez

Today, the Deathstroke Files celebrates the 65th birthday of Deathstroke the Terminator's legendary co-creator, George Pérez. Pérez's storied comics book career began in 1974 for Marvel Comics' black-and-white magazine imprint, Curtis Magazines, in the horror title Monsters Unleashed (1973) #8  in the issue's fourth feature; a  14-page story titled, "A Martian Genesis." Much of Pérez's early work was for other Curtis titles including a regular run on Deadly Hands of Kung Fu (1974) and some issues of Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction (1974).

Pérez's actual Marvel Comic's premiere was in Creatures on the Loose (1969) #33, the first of a short five-issue run on the title, but this run opened the door for higher-profile titles like The Inhumans (1975), The Avengers (1963), and the Fantastic Four (1961). Pérez became a Marvel mainstay for the next five or so years adding a comic book adaptation of the film, Logan's Run (1976) and a six-month stint on the team-up book Marvel Two-in-One (1974) to his already impressive résumé.

By 1980, Pérez was taking penciling jobs from Marvel's "distinguished competition," DC Comics, the first of which was a Firestorm back-up tale, "Firestorm Is Back in Town," from The Flash (1960) #289. But it was Pérez's second DC job that signaled the project that would his legacy as one of the most influential comic book artists in the history of the medium. DC Comics Presents (1978) #26 would play host to the debut of Pérez and writer Marv Wolfman's seminal creation, the New Teen Titans. But in addition to the New Teen Titans' soon to be released series, Pérez was also penciling,  The Avengers for Marvel Comics and Justice League of America (1960) for DC Comics at the same time.

The following month would witness the launch of one of DC Comic's most important titles ever with The New Teen Titans (1980) #1. This watershed comic figuratively exploded in popularity, eventually outselling the reigning sales champion, Marvel Comic's Uncanny X-Men (1963), making DC Comics a serious threat to Marvel's long-standing industry dominance. Of major importance to this blog, The New Teen Titans #2 gave birth to a certain "world's greatest assassin," Deathstroke the Terminator, who served as the premier antagonist in the series' apex story arc, "The Judas Contract."

After departing from the Teen Titans' titles, Pérez and Wolfman would again collaborate on the genre-changing maxi-series, Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), which altered the foundations of the DC Comics Universe as well as signaling an end to comics' Bronze Age. Following Crisis, Pérez would redefine and reinvigorate a Golden Age classic for the new post-Crisis era with Wonder Woman (1987) #1. Pérez would return to Marvel to pencil the now classic Infinity Gauntlet (1991) (though he departed the series midway through issue #4 due to creative differences), the alternate future tale Hulk: Future Imperfect (1992), and the Epic Comics series Sachs and Violens (1992).  The remainder of Pérez's was spent bouncing around many different publishers for projects like Malibu Ultraverse's Ultraforce (1994), a Marvel Comics relaunch of The Avengers (1998), a truncated creator-owned project for Image Comics in George Perez's Crimson Plague (2000), CrossGen Chronicles (2003) and Solus (2003) for CrossGen Entertainment, the intercompany crossover JLA/Avengers (2003), DC Comics' New 52 relaunch of Superman (2011), and his creator-owned George Perez's Sirens (2014) for Boom! Studios.

Pérez announced his retirement from comic book work in early 2019 due to vision complications from diabetes, but he has already established a body of work worthy of any comic book industry hall of fame. Happy birthday, George Pérez!

Blog Update: I Got Issues

I've been experiencing network issues of late so trying to operate this blog has been challenging, to say the least. Sometimes I have service and sometimes I don't without any way of knowing which it will be at any given time. I have no idea when it will be fixed so posts may be inconsistent for a while. I'm trying to hang in there but, well, this just sucks. Sorry.