¡Una Playera de Deathstroke Para el Día de los Muertos!

For those of you who love Deathstroke and will be participating in the Dead of the Dead festivities at the end of the month, have I got a t-shirt for you! Designer and artist SquareDog has created a t-shirt with a simply amazing calavera-styled logo inspired by everyone's favorite mercenary assassin. It can be ordered from TEEPUBLIC and if you order today, it can be yours by the 31st (allow 7-10 days for arrival). You can also get the SquareDog's Deathstroke logo on other items like a coffee mug, a phone of laptop case, or even a plain old notebook.

SquareDog's cool Deathstroke calavera logo is just too sweet!
See what I did there? Calaveras?...Sugar skulls?...Too sweet?
I kill me.

DEATHSTROKE COVERED: DC Bombshells Ravager Variant Cover by Emanuela Lupacchino

In August of 2015, DC Comics released a series of variant covers featuring their DC Bombshells characters. For Deathstroke (2014) #9, Emanuela Lupacchino penciled a stunning movie poster-inspired Bombshell version of a pirate Ravager. This outstanding cover is pictured below both with and without title graphics.

An 8-Bit Deathstroke to Honor 31st US NES Launch Anniversary

Happy US Anniversary NES!
Deathstroke 8-Bit image by
Michael Ferguson (AKA sonikuu4)

Thirty-one years ago today, October 18, 1985, the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES, was first made available on American shores. After the home console gaming industry collapsed in 1983 as signified by the symbolic and soon-to-be legendary burying of Atari on September 26, 1983 in an Alamogordo, New Mexico landfill, Nintendo Corporation of Japan felt like it could take advantage of the fall of the industry leader by learning from its biggest mistakes. 

Nintendo would create the Famicom (short for "family computer,") in Japan in 1983. The Famicom was the original incarnation of the NES, which would make its way to our neck of the woods shortly. But unlike Atari, who failed to restrict third-party developers from accessing its hardware system thus opening the figurative floodgates for a deluge of sub-par, crap games, the Nintendo's machines locked out third-party developers unless they were granted Nintendo's blessing to create for the new console. The resulting first-party quality control and licensing strategy allowed Nintendo to not only protect it's brand from bad games, but also ushered in a new revenue stream to the company at the same time. This move paid off huge not only for Nintendo, but for home-gamers as well as the once terminal industry rebounded and established market dominance over all other forms of modern entertainment.

So the now question is, "What does all this have to do with Deathstroke?" 

The answer is to this question is, "Nothing of which I am currently aware as Deathstroke never appeared in a NES game."

Then the next question is, "Then what is all this Nintendo stuff doing on a Deathstroke blog?"

The answer is to this question is, "I don't know other than the really cool NES-style 8-bit Deathstroke image that I found on DeviantArt that is pictured on the top-left of this blog post."

So the natural response to that statement is, "Works for me."

DEATHSTROKE BY: Clayton Henry

Here is some Deathstroke art by Marvel stalwart, Clayton Henry. Though better known for his X-Men work, Henry does Slade Wilson proud with this action shot.

Funko Mystery Minis DC Comics Super Heroes Deathstroke Figurine

It's no secret that Funko makes some pretty great vinyl figures, but one of their newest lines is beyond cool. The Funko Mystery Minis DC Comics Super Heroes are 3-inch vinyl mini figurines rendered in a chibi style that are packaged randomly. The Deathstroke figurine is available at a 1/12 ratio and is pictured below. Someone this deadly never looked so cute.

Gunfire in 1994's Skybox DC Master Series Trading Card Set

Skybox released the DC Master Series in 1994, which featured fully painted artwork with gold foil embossed lettering. Gunfire was the spotlight for card #80; the front and back of which are featured below.

Priest's Deathstroke to Look at Real World Gun Violence

Deathstroke scribe, Christopher Priest announced at the New York Comic-Con that he would be tackling a serious, real-life issue in January's Deathstroke #11. During the DC Comics Secret Originals panel at the convention, Priest announced that the theme of the issue would be that of epidemic gun violence and that the story is to be set in the city of Chicago. 

Chicago has been the focus of much media attention, specifically during the presidential election for its high rate of gun violence and gun-related deaths. It remains to be seen how Priest will craft an anti-violence story in a comic starring a character known for cold-blooded killing and high bodycounts, but I have every faith in Priest that it will be outstanding.

A "History of Deathstroke!" by VariantComics

This post isn't so much for the hardcore Deathstroke fan, but for the fan that either wants to educate a comics newcomer or to straighten out a misinformed Arrow viewer as to what makes Slade Wilson such a freakin' cool villain. VariantComics put out the aptly named "History of Deathstroke!" video a few years back that sufficiently but succinctly introduces Deathstroke, summarizes his origin, details his powers and abilities, spotlights his major DC rivals, and provides a pretty good best of Deathstroke reading selections. The video is posted on YouTube, but can also be seen below. A word to the wise; the Deathstroke content only runs until approximately 6:56.

Looking at Snyder's Tweet for DCEU Deathstroke Clues

On September 29, 2016 Zack Snyder, director of the DCEU's Justice League, sent out a cryptic Tweet that sent the hearts of DC fans, well, atwitter. The image appears to show Snyder working on a piece storyboard art wearing a Batman gauntlet. This type of visual tease is not uncommon in the social media age in Hollywood and DC's movie chief, Geoff Johns, has used the tactic brilliantly to promote upcoming events for years. Snyder's original Tweet is pictured below.

DC Extended Universe then worked some photoshop wizardry on Snyder's image to enhance the storyboard image and Tweeted it as shown below.

A closeup of the storyboard appears to show a meeting between Deathstroke and what I can only assume is Lex Luthor, due to the bald head and bucket of Champagne. This scene could show a meeting between Lex and Slade to negotiate a contract to assassinate Batman, thus setting up The Batman. Whatever it actually shows, I can't wait for it.

Deathstroke The Terminator Secret File From Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files & Origins 2003

Here is the Deathstroke the Terminator entry from Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files & Origins 2003.

Blog Update

I'm absolutely loving doing this Deathstroke blog and I will continue to do it for a long as it's fun. My plans for this blog are long term, but at the end of the day, I'm doing this in my spare time for no money. My actual professional life is about to change in a big way within the next few weeks and my spare time, at least in the short term, will be reduced while I'm transferring to my new job. I will try to continue to post at least one piece of Deathstroke info per day, but posts may miss a day here and there until I get established in my new gig. Thanks to everyone that stops by here from time to time for making this little space of mine a great deal of fun.

Deathstroke and Friends (?) Micro-Heroes: Post Flashpoint Edition

Now for the third round of Micro-Heroes related to Deathstroke, but this time from the post-Flashpoint era. And still, I don't know who made these.

Deathstroke

Grifter, Steve Trevor, Amanda Waller

Deathblow, Black Canary

Pike, Hawkman, Lobo

Rose Wilson/Ravager

SUICIDE SQUAD

Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Black Manta

Captain Boomerang, Joker's Daughter

Batman

Superman, Wonder Woman, Hephaestus

Catwoman, Lex Luthor, Bizarro (B0)

Ra's al Ghul

Clock King

Jericho's 1990 Who's Who Entry

Here is a scan of the 1990 Who's Who entry from issue #1 for Jericho with text by comics legend and Deathstroke and Jericho co-creator Marv Wolfman, art by Tom Grummett and Al Vey, and colors by Anthony Tollin.

DEATHSTROKE'S DIRTY DEEDS: The Contract on the Atom, Ryan Choi

Following the Blackest Night event in 2009-2010, DC launched its Brightest Day initiative, which was meant to an optimistic counterbalance to the death-centric mood of Blackest Night. As many fan favorite characters returned from the dead, there was a sense rebirth and renewal to the whole line in general, with the notable exception of the Titans: Villains for Hire Special (2010) #1. The only thing reinvigorated here was Deathstroke's role as a stone cold killer.

In a non-linear style featuring numerous flashbacks, the Titans: Villains for Hire Special told the story of how Slade recruited a new team of assassins with whom he would go into the killer-for-hire business. With his new partners, Cheshire, the Tattooed Man, Cinder, and Osiris in place, it was time to take care of their first target; the new Atom, Ryan Choi. 

After defeating the Floronic Man, Choi returned to his home and found that he had unexpected guests as pictured below.

A battle between Choi and the Titans ensued but was interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Choi's girlfriend, Amanda. Deathstroke orders his team to stand down, much to there confusion. Choi, from behind a barely opened door convinces Amanda to leave and thanks Slade for not harming her. Slade's sense of professional honor is at play here as he refuses to harm Amanda because she is not part of the contract on Choi.

The fight resumed, but after a valiant struggle against the entire team, Choi met his end.

With the job done, Slade delivered Choi's body to the client, Dwarfstar, inside a unique container.

Choi's death proved controversial as many comic fans were upset at the time that one of the few prominent Asian-American characters in comics had been killed off. Choi, however, would be resurrected as part of the Convergence event in the Convergence: The Atom (2015) mini series. Choi and Ray Palmer would work together to take down Deathstroke, and then to get a measure of revenge against him by way of shrinking Slade's hands down to about the size of Donald Trump's hands... I just couldn't resist.

UPDATE: Ryan Choi's Atom has just been announced along with the Ray, Vixen, and Killer Frost as part of the new Steve Orlando penned Justice League of America series. Choi will first appear in a Justice League of America: The Atom (2017) #1 one shot on January 4, 2017 before the February JLA Premier.