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.

DEATHSTROKE BY: Hyperwerks' Karl Altstaetter

This edition of DEATHSTROKE BY comic book industry veteran Karl Altstaetter. Altstaetter has provided one-off art for numerous DC and Marvel Comic titles as well as a number of Image/Extreme/Awesome/Maximum work for Rob Liefeld, notably for his Bloodstrike properties. In addition to his work-for-hire, Altstaetter co-founded the comic book publisher Hyperwerks, known for the titles Deity, Catseye, Saint Angel, and Rostam: Tales of the Shahnameh, which are available digitally by clicking/tapping here. Altstaetter's piece below, simply titled Deathstroke, holds its visual power in the simplicity of its minimal coloring and cloud rendering contrasting with the complex visual detail of both Deathstroke's costume and the dot matrix-like texturing of the sky. If you want to check out more of Altstaetter's artwork, be sure to visually stroll through his DeviantArt gallery at this link.

Deathstroke
Art by Karl Altstaetter

Beware The Batman Deathstroke Bust By Varner Studios

Cartoon Network's Beware The Batman (2013) aired for little over a year, but in its only season, Deathstroke played a prominent role. But because of its truncated initial run, Beware The Batman did not produce much merchandise and not much of that was aimed at adult collectors. But Diamond Select Toys has changed all that with the DC Animated Deathstroke Resin Bust which will retail for around $59.99 USD sometime in the Fall of 2019. But don't delay, only 3,000 of these deadly beauties will be made. The product description appearing below comes from shop.diamondselecttoys.com.

Product Description:

Batman beware, Deathstroke is the newest installment in DST's line of animated-style busts! Based on his appearance in Beware the Batman [sic], this approximately 6-inch bust of Slade Wilson shows him brandishing a sword and sits atop a pedestal inspire by the show's architecture. Limited to only 3,000 pieces and hand-numbered, it comes packaged with a numbered certificate of authenticity in a numbered full-color box. Designed by Barry Bradfield, sculpted by Varner Studios.

DEATHSTROKE COVERED: Titans (2008) #31 by Fabrizio Fiorentino

This edition of DEATHSTROKE COVERED spotlights the cover to Titans (2008) #31 penciled by Fabrizio Fiorentino. This was just one of a line-wide slate of DC Character Spotlight themed covers that graced comic book shop shelves in January of 2011. The simplistic design more than accomplished the goal of highlighting Deathstroke by eliminating the visual background noise of scenery and background characters in favor of minimal branding and title graphics, not unlike the current crop of DC Comics minimum graphics variant covers. Fiorentino's Deathstroke is rendered in the foreground like a coiled cobra ready to strike at any moment. But the background logo, which prominently incorporates a sniper scope's crosshairs has since become synonymous with Deathstroke, so much so that I chose it for this blog's Favicon. Despite the inverted direction of the guards on the Deathstroke sword, this is one of my favorite Deathstroke-centric covers.

Art by Fabrizio Fiorentino

Keanu Reeves as Slade Wilson by Bosslogic

I have no idea if Joe Manganiello will ever play Slade Wilson again, but an Australian artist named Kode Abdo, aka Bosslogic, has an intriguing idea as to who might be an excellent successor if for whatever reason Manganiello doesn't return. Who could fill the shoes of the world's greatest assassin? The answer is Ted "Theodore" Logan, Jack Traven, Johnathan Harker, Neo, and John Wick himself, the Keanu Reeves. But if you're still not sure if he could pull it off, check out Bosslogic's alteration of a screenshot from Reeve's upcoming video game Cyberpunk 2077 (2020) adding grey hair and a beard, a sword, and the trademark eyepatch. The results? PERFECTION! Sure, this is most likely just a fanboy/girl pipe dream, but this could really work.

Pop quiz, hotshot! Deathstroke has been hired to take you down. What do
you do? What do you do? You DIE is what you do!
Original image altered by Bosslogic (aka Kode Adbo)

DEATHSTROKE VS: The Janissary

The Janissary
Art by Gabriel Morrissette

In March of 1993, writer, Steven Grant stepped in for Marv Wolfman for four bi-weekly issues of Deathstroke The Terminator (1991). Grant's first issues (#s 22-23) made up a two-part story titled "The Quality of Mercy," in which Deathstroke was hired by a U.S. government agency to take down a Neo-Nazi leader named deHaan for kidnapping the son of an American diplomat and holding him prisoner at his militaristic compound. Slade, wary of the offer, ultimately accepted the job because he wanted to, in some way, make up for losing his own two sons. 

Slade managed to infiltrate deHaan's compound and free the boy but found himself confronted by deHaan. deHann claimed that he himself was working with the agency and begged for an explanation as to why he was being "burned," specifically mentioning a man named Campbell. But out of nowhere, the rescued boy shoots and kills deHaan before Slade could get any more information.

Slade was right to be suspicious of this job as the real purpose for his involvement in this operation was simply to flush the boy put into the open. Once the boy was free, the government agents killed him at their first opportunity. The same agents then tried to take out Slade in an effort to cover their tracks, but, being ridiculously overmatched by the Terminator, failed miserably. Having been both deceived and double-crossed on this job, Deathstroke was out for blood.

In Deathstroke The Terminator #23, once Campbell found out that his men failed to eliminate Deathstroke, and fearing for his life, he hired a young, "up-and-comer" assassin known only as the Janissary to terminate the Terminator. The self-professed "Top Five" mercenary, while recognizing the monumental task put to him, was so confident he could handle Deathstroke that he offered Campbell a money-back guarantee.

After a few days, Slade made his way to a Los Angeles Federal building to infiltrate the offices of the Defense Intelligence Agency. After tearing through the D.I.A., Slade kidnapped and "aggressively interrogated" Agent Shea in a secluded desert location until he learned where Campbell was holed up. By the time Slade returned to L.A. word was out that he was in town resulting in an unplanned car ride with an old government contact named Kleiner. Just as Slade explained to Kleiner that he and deHaan were set up by Campbell, the Janissary launched his first surprise attack on the Terminator.

Janissary getting the drop on Deathstroke.
Art by Gabriel Morrissette

After a short, but incredibly destructive melee on the streets of L.A., Slade made his escape as he felt that taking care of Campbell was a higher professional priority than dealing with the hotshot merc. Slade next boarded a train in an attempt to keep a low profile while zeroing in on Campbell's safehouse. Unfortunately for Slade, Janissary tracked him to the train and took a hostage demanding that Slade change into his professional gear so it wouldn't appear that he killed a normal "helpless fossil." Slade obliged and the two assassins left the train for their decisive battle, which is depicted below with art by Gabriel Morrissette.

After besting the Janissary, Slade showed uncharacteristic mercy toward him by allowing him to live. Though it was never explained in the story, it seemed that Slade probably saw a lot of his son Grant in the Janissary, which was probably a callback to the reasoning Slade used to accept the original job in Deathstroke The Terminator #22. It seems to me that this version of the Janissary would be a pretty intriguing foil for Deathstroke at some point in the future. He was shown to be skilled enough to hold his own against Slade hand-to-hand in this story, but add some time, experience, and a burning desire for a face-saving rematch and it could add up to a story I'd definitely be interested in reading.

On an unrelated note, is it my imagination or does this version of the Janissary bear a striking resemblance to Marvel Comics' Death-Stroke? I wonder if that was intended? Nah!

Marvel Comic's Death-Stroke and DC Comics' Janissary. Hmmmm.
Art by Steve Leialoha and Gabriel Morrissette

Professor Hugo Strange's 1986 Who's Who Entry

Renegade psychiatrist and/or mad scientist (depending on the era and medium), Professor Hugo Strange is one of the most misunderstood and underutilized villains in all of comics. "Officially created" by Bob Kane with Bill Finger for Detective Comics (1937) #36, Strange was nearly the first recurring super-villain to plague the life of Batman, debuting just after Doctor Death and the Monk (aka the Mad Monk). A master of psychology and psychological warfare, Strange holds the distinction of being the first super-villain to correctly deduce the secret identity of Batman as millionaire playboy, Bruce Wayne and has driven the Dark Knight to the very edge of insanity on more than one occasion, most recently during the "Night of the Monster Men" crossover.

But Hugo Strange didn't restrict his malicious machinations to just the Caped Crusader. Deathstroke (2016) scribe, Christopher Priest brilliantly used Strange during the instant classic "Deathstroke: Arkham" story arc to push Slade Wilson to the brink of lunacy in an effort to "fix" him by executing a maddeningly sadistic gaslighting campaign that has to be seen/read to be truly appreciated. It can honestly be stated that given Slade's fate after "The Terminus Agenda," Deathstroke was never the same after Strange was through with him. Posted below is a scan from Professor Hugo Strange's 1986 Who's Who entry from issue #18 (XVIII) featuring art by Denys Cowen and Art Nichols.

Art by Denys Cowan and Art Nichols

Deathstroke September 2019 Solicitations

DEATHSTROKE #47 

written by CHRISTOPHER PRIEST

art by FERNANDO PASARIN and CAM SMITH

cover by CARLO PAGULAYAN and JASON PAZ

variant cover by SKAN

After being pronounced dead, Slade Wilson awakens in his daughter’s apartment with no memory of how he got there. Meanwhile, Jericho’s newly discovered powers continue to escalate, severing the now-godlike Joseph from his own humanity. Will absolute power corrupt Deathstroke’s good son?

ON SALE 09.04.19

$3.99 US | 32 PAGES

FC | RATED T+

This issue will ship with two covers.

Please see the order form for details.

The Deathstroke Files Would Like to Wish President Trump a Hap...a 73rd Birthday.

June 14, 2019, marks the 73rd birthday of the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. The following image from Convergence: The Atom (2015) #2 is posted in his honor.

Tiny orange hands!
Art by Steve Yeowell

Super-Team Family #2614: Deathstroke vs. Daredevil!

Despite occupying competing fictional realities, DC Comic's Deathstroke and Marvel Comic's Daredevil seem like they would mesh together well in a tradition super-hero/super-villain relationship. So much so that the were literally combined in Amalgam Comics' Assassins (1996) in the form of Dare the Terminator. Ross Pearsall from Super-Team Family: The Lost Issues blog agrees with this notion as one of his recent homages cover pits the "world's greatest assassin" against the "man without fear" with the fate of Jericho in the balance in Super-Team Family #2614, "The Trial of Joseph Wilson." 

This, of course, is a "rematch" from Super-Team Family #2377 and features art from superstar pencilers, Deathstroke's legendary co-creator, George Pérez and Klause Janson of Daredevil (1964) and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986) fame. If you like the work that Pearsall is doing on Super-Team Family: The Lost Issues, please consider donating to his Patreon by clicking on this link to help make it possible for this fun labor of love to continue.

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

The Deathstroke Files Remembers the Tragedy at Pulse.

Image Source: IDW

In the world of comic books, violence is glorified. Whether it is a thunderous right hand from Superman, a slash of the sword by Wonder Woman, or a boot to the face by Batman superhero comics depend on violence to drive their action and, in many cases, to resolve the narrative conflict. The "good guys" win, "evil" is punished, and all is well...in comic books. I've yet to encounter a case where the fantasy, fictionalized violence, which only appears literally within the pages of a comic book has resulted in any real-life bloodshed (damned paper cuts notwithstanding).

When real-world violence occurs it is always tragic. While narrow definitions classify civil authorities as "good guys" (and the majority truly are), and the authors of violence as "bad guys," whether or not the "evil" is punished resolves nothing for the victims of violence whose lives are fundamentally changed (if not ended) or for the family members of those who were needlessly murdered. Just knowing that the "bad guy" has died or been captured doesn't instantly help these people cope with their new, and profoundly different realities. And unlike the fantasy world of comic books, people in the real world don't return from the grave. They are gone; forever.

But a funny thing happened after the horrendous shootings at the Pulse night club on June 12, 2016. The fantasy worlds of comic books and the all-too-real one merged in a way that sought to bring some much-needed relief to the survivors of the attack and to those who lost loved ones because of it. Veteran comic book writer, Mark Andreyko organized a 144-page anthology masterpiece from IDW, with assistance from DC Comics, called Love is Love that featured works by some of not only comic book heavyweight talent, but also some pretty big names from Hollywood. Comic book giants like Grant Morrison, Brian Michael Bendis, Jim Lee, Gail Simone, G. Willow Wilson, Tom King, and Deathstroke's legendary co-creator George Pérez joined forces with literary masters such as J.K. Rowling and Brad Meltzer in addition to TV and film folk like Matt Bomer, Patton Oswald, Taran Killam, Morgan Spurlock, and Wonder Woman (2017) director Patty Jenkins. All of these brilliant professionals and hundreds more volunteered their time and their tremendous talents to produce this anthology, with all of its sales proceeds going to help the Orlando tragedy's survivors and the families of the deceased in their long and challenging recovery.

Characters from all over the wide and varying landscape of fiction appeared in support of those affected by the tragic events at Pulse. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Catwoman, Nightwing, Batwoman, Harley Quinn, Archie Andrews, Kevin Keller, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, the Spirit, Cassie Hack, Apollo, Midnighter, assorted Green Lanterns, Harry Potter, Albus Dumbledore, Hermine Granger, and Ron Weasley coming together to support consensual love in all its forms. But one feature character that seemed completely out of place at first was none other than Deathstroke the Terminator. Deathstroke's views concerning violence and death seem ill-fitted to the anthology's themes of love, tolerance, and acceptance rather than the cruel, cold violence normally associated the Slade Wilson. But the one-page story (posted below), penned by SNL alumnus, Taran Killam, injects Slade with a dose of humanity, albeit a very temporary one.

Written by Taran Killam, Art by Barry Crain

The Deathstroke Files remembers the victims, survivors, and family members who were forever changed by the horrific events at the Pulse night club. For those of you who have not yet purchased this beautiful anthology and still wish to help, Love Is Love is still available at many comic book retailers, book stores, Amazon.com, and Comixology.