Arkham Asylum From 1985's Who's Who #1

Christopher Priest's "Arkham" story arc from Deathstroke (2016) #s 36-40 was figuratively insane in its portrayal of the literal insanity within the tortured walls of Gotham's Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Slade Wison found himself an unwilling patient/inmate in the infamous institution courtesy of his ex-wife, Adeline Kane, and colleague, Wintergreen following his disastrous confrontation with Doctor Ikon. Without giving away too much of the story, let's just say that the next six issues of Deathstroke are full of deep character examination and therapy, copious amounts of gaslighting, sanity-doubting, new friends (Yay, Death Masque "with a 'Q'"), alien invasions (maybe?), an accidental (?) murder, and all of the twisted, tormented Batman villains one could want in a Deathstroke tale. In honor of Priest's brilliant "Deathstroke: Arkham" story, posted below is a scan of the 1985 Arkham Asylum Who's Who entry from issue #1 (I) with art by Steve Bissette and John Totleben.

Deathstroke DC Rebirth Era HeroClix

It's been well over two years since I've covered any WizKids HeroClix merchandise so I felt it was time to delve back in the little plastic warriors to see what was new. Needless to say, I was ecstatic when I found DC Rebirth era HeroClix derived from some of my favorite story arcs from Christopher Priest's critically-acclaimed  Deathstroke (2016) run. Imagine my joy as I discovered not one, but three versions of Deathstroke representing "The Professional," "The Lazarus Contract," and "Defiance" story arcs. In addition, there was a Rebirth design Ravager, Adeline Kane, Jericho, Kid Flash (Wallace West), Power Girl (Tanya Spears from the "Twilight" arc) and the inexplicably back-from-the-dead, Terra. Furthermore, all of the above characters, save for Adeline Kane, also had a separate HeroClix depicting their short-lived Defiance costumes. Images of the Rebirth era HeroClix and their accompanying stat cards are posted below. As always, for best viewing, open each image into its own tab.

RAVAGER ROLL CALL: Bill Walsh, aka The Jackal, Part Two

Ravager II

Last time on RAVAGER ROLL CALL, we were introduced to the man who would become the second Ravager. That man was Bill Walsh, aka the mercenary and freelance terrorist known as the Jackal. Walsh and Slade Wilson met while at the elite,  Camp Washington military training facility. Walsh soon resented Slade as he continually outshined him during training, and, according to Walsh, stole the affection of Adeline Kane, a trainer at Camp Washington. Walsh washed out of the program, but Slade not only stayed but married and had to sons with Adeline. Walsh moved on to assume the role of the terrorist, Jackal, while Slade volunteered for an experimental procedure that gave him his superhuman abilities. Slade used his new abilities to become the super-assassin and mercenary, Deathstroke the Terminator. Years later, Deathstroke and the Jackal would clash when Walsh kidnapped Slade and Adeline's youngest son, Joseph. All Walsh wanted was the name of one of Deathstroke's clients. Despite pleas from Adeline, Slade refused to give up his client and attempted to take down the Jackal and his entire crew. Though Deathstroke accomplished this feat, it was not in time to keep Walsh's man from cutting Joseph's throat. Furious that Slade hid his activities as Deathstroke and that he chose his professional ethics of the safety of his son, Adeline tried to kill Slade, but her shot only resulted in the loss of an eye. Adeline left Slade, taking both boys with her. And now...the rest of the story.

Years later after the events of "Titan's Hunt," Slade had every intention of retiring from the mercenary game to become a big game hunter in Kenya. Adeline had formed the organization, Searchers Inc. and was hired to safeguard a highly dangerous target. This job had her guarding a mystery object on a moving train that had departed from Stuttgart, Germany. Though she had a sizable amount of backup, a helmeted figure flying a single-seat helicopter engaged the security team and boarded the train. He then took out a crew of guards and stole a mysterious canister, which was the reason for such heavy security. The thief next climbed back on top of the train and advanced toward the train's engine. Once entering the engine, he shot the engineer and Adeline. The then addressed her by her name, telling her, "Long time, no see. See you still got your looks." He then grabbed her by her collar, told her to, "Say 'hi' to Slade for me when you see him in Hell," and then threw her from the moving train. He then boarded his copter and made his escape.

The second Ravager, in disguise, throwing a gut-shot Adeline from a
moving train.
Art by Steve Erwin.

At same the time Slade found out about Adeline, a helmeted figure was hovering over Slade's Kenyan hunting lodge taunting him over a loudspeaker. "Hi there, Slade. Been a damn long time. Slade, Buddy, thought you'd like to know your wench didn't even squeal when I gut-shot her." Slade and Wintergreen took cover in a Jeep and tried to draw the copter away from the house. The pilot didn't take the bait, instead, he unleashed a missile at the Jeep, turning it over. Slade reached his power staff and returned fire. Slade demanded to know who attacked him, but the loudspeaker only responded, "Your past, Wilson. But don't worry we'll meet again. It's our destiny." The copter then fired another missile, this time destroying Slade's hunting lodge, then made its getaway.

Slade and Wintergreen next made their way to Stuttgart to check on Adeline. But, Slade chose to leave when Adeline once again lost consciousness before she could give him any more information on her attacker. After doing a bit of...let's say aggressive investigative work, Slade discovered that the item stolen from the train was Plutonium. Meanwhile, the helmeted figure delivered the Plutonium to his client in the Quraci military. While this figure was receiving his next orders, he took off his flight suit to reveal another, more familiar one. This suit is almost identical to the one once donned by Grant Wilson. The mystery man then identifies himself as the Ravager.

After some more aggressive investigation, Slade discovered that his mystery attacker was working for General Avral Kaddam, the newly ascended Quraci leader, and likely delivered the Plutonium there. Deathstroke and Wintergreen journeyed to civil war-torn Qurac and met up with a contact they had inside the rebel forces. Once he got the schematics of the General's compound from the rebels, Deathstroke then infiltrated the general's headquarters figuring that Adeline's attacker would be there. Even though Slade was right, the newest Ravager had laid a trap from him there.

Deathstroke ambushed by the
Ravager
Art by Steve Erwin

As Deathstroke maneuvered through the general's compound, the Ravager opened fire, ambushing Slade. While Slade was recovering, the Ravager revealed himself, wearing a version of Grant Wilson's old suit. The shock of this image threw Slade off of his game as the two mercs engaged one another. The Ravager taunted Slade by claiming that he was in fact Grant seeking revenge on his father.  Slade regained his composure and after a savage physical exchange, Deathstroke took the upper-hand and was about to slay the Ravager, only for General Kaddam to shoot Slade in the back, thus saving the Ravager. As Kaddam was about to finish Deathstroke, the Ravager convinced Kaddam not to kill Slade as he still needed for Deathstroke to suffer. As the rebels drew closer to taking the base, Kaddam and the Ravager tried to make their exit, but they were pinned down as Wintergreen had arrived to try to protect Slade. But as Wintergreen descended the steel staircase, the Ravager opened fire bringing the metal structure down and Wintergreen with it. After the Ravager and Kaddam had fled, U.S. forces came onto the scene taking an unconscious Deathstroke and Wintergreen into custody as the Ravager had a man inside the CIA that framed Slade for treason for supposedly backing General Kaddam instead of the U.S. backed rebels in the Quraci civil war. Meanwhile, after some time had passed, the Ravager is shown on the deck of a sailboat that has been loaded with the stolen Plutonium, with the unmistakable view of Washington D.C. in the background.

Slade played possum as he and Wintergreen were being transported by U.S. forces. Slade noticed that his guards' commanding officer was wearing a ring with the Ravager's logo on it. Understanding his dire situation, Slade sprung into action, taking down his captors and escaping into war-torn Qurac. Meanwhile, the Ravager and General Kaddam were leading a crew of men preparing to detonate a nuclear device at the site of trade treaty signing by the U.S. President. General Kaddam laments that had Deathstroke not interfered in his plans, that they would have had enough Plutonium to bomb multiple treaty signings around the world simultaneously and send the message to the rest of the world that he, and not the West, was in control of the Middle-East. 

When Slade reached in Washington he prepared to confront to Kaddam and the Ravager as they were moving on the Senate house. The two killed their way to the underground tram system that links the Senate house to the Capitol Building where they planned to set the nuclear device to destroy Washington D.C. and stop the treaty signing. As Deathstroke arrived he began tearing through Kaddam's forces as he pursued the terrorist pair. Kaddam panicked when he heard the distant screams of his dying men and broke for the tram to set the bomb in place. But before Kaddam reached the tram, the Ravager, using Deathstroke's stolen power staff, shot him in the back, killing him while declaring that, "I can't let you screw up my plans."

The Ravager reveals his true motive.
Art by Steve Erwin.

As Slade reached the Ravager, he was disarmed by a blast from his own power staff. The Ravager then revealed himself to Deathstroke, but at first glance, Slade didn't recognize him. After the Ravager mentioned Camp Washington, Slade realized that he was looking at his old classmate, Bill Walsh. Walsh explained that he blamed Slade for ruining his chances with Adeline and for his washing out of Camp Washington. As the two mercenaries engaged in swordplay, Walsh reminded Slade of their previous encounter the night that Joseph Wilson was muted by a knife to the throat. Slade then understood that Walsh and the Jackal were the very same man. This revelation enraged Slade to the point that his emotions were compromising his concentration and fighting technique, allowing the Walsh to take the upper hand in the fight. Walsh explained that though he took two bullets to the chest that night, he survived. It took nearly two years for Walsh to recover, but when he did, he planned his revenge against Deathstroke. 

Walshes next revelation was equally devastating for Slade as he admitted to being the H.I.V.E. agent who recruited Grant Wilson to undergo the very procedure that allowed him to become the first Ravager, which ultimately killed him during his failed attempt to kill the Teen Titans. Walsh claimed to have known the procedure would be fatal and that recruiting Grant was no coincidence, but instead was calculated revenge against Slade. As the two killers continued to fight, Kaddam's nuclear device beeped, indicating that it was armed. Walsh declared that he never intended to leave their confrontation alive and that they would both go out in thermonuclear glory. But as Walsh gloated about his impending victory over Slade, Deathstroke managed to ironically slice Walsh's throat with his sword. As Slade prepared to deliver the literal death-stroke, Walsh managed to kick him off the platform and onto the tram tracks. Walsh jumped down to the tracks as well to finish Slade. As the two old soldiers grappled for Walsh's sword, Slade wrestled it away from Walsh and plunged it deep into his abdomen, fatally wounding him. As life took its leave from Walsh's body, Slade ran the blade in even deeper. The last words Walsh ever heard were the ones in which Slade exclaimed that because of all the pain Walsh had caused his family, that "I can't kill you enough." While the immediate threat posed by Walsh was over, Slade remembered that the nuclear was still set to go off. Slade reached the device with 10 seconds left on the timer. As Slade frantically pulled multi-colored wires away from their connections, the timer stopped with but single second to spare.

The epic climax of Deathstroke versus the Ravager is posted below. Art by Steve Erwin.

RAVAGER ROLL CALL: Bill Walsh, aka The Jackal, Part One

Art by Steve Erwin

In this edition of the Ravager Roll Call, the focus is on the second Ravager, Bill Walsh, aka the Jackal, who played critical roles in the grim history of the Wilson family. Slade Wilson and Walsh met decades ago during their training days at the top military school,  Camp Washington. Walsh's rivalry with Slade began simply enough as both men were strongly attracted to one of their trainers, Captain Adeline Kane. Walsh claimed that he and Adeline were "becoming an item," when Slade's arrived at the camp, but Adeline and Slade eventually fell for one another, thus leaving an exceedingly jealous Walsh out in the cold. Walsh further resented Slade because of his uncanny aptitude for combat and military tactics, which made Walsh's skills look ordinary by comparison. In time, Walsh washed out of Camp Washington for which he blamed Slade for humiliating him to the point that his reputation was destroyed and his military career came to an end. 

Years later, after Slade had established himself as the world's deadliest assassin, Deathstroke the Terminator, he and Walsh clashed again resulting in a tragedy that would scar the lives of the entire Wilson family forever. Slade operated as Deathstroke for years without ever sharing this side of himself with his then-wife, Adeline or his sons, Grant and Joseph. One of the Terminator's many confirmed kills was powerful Quraci colonel named Akba Kabar. While Slade was away from home on a job, a crew of identically dressed mercenaries attacked the Wilson home. Drawing upon her military past, Adeline fought off the Jackal's men, but not before one of them launched a gas grenade rendering her unconscious. When she awoke, Adeline discovered that her youngest son, Joseph had been kidnapped.

When Slade returned home, it was evident that he was aware of the attack as he knew exactly how to contact the kidnapper to arrange a face-to-face meeting. With the arrangements finalized, Slade donned his professional gear and revealed himself to his shocked and distraught wife to be Deathstroke the Terminator. Adeline pleaded with Slade to do whatever it took to bring Joseph home safe.

Enter the Jackal
Art by George Pérez

Slade and Adeline arrived at the rendezvous point where they met by Walsh, now a Uganda-based freelance terrorist known as the Jackal, along with more of his men. Slade knew the Jackal by reputation but did not recognize him from their Camp Washington days. The Jackal told Slade and Adeline that the ransom price for Joseph's safe return was not cash, but information. As one of his men pressed a bush-knife to young Joseph's throat, Walsh explained that his objective was to obtain the name of the person who hired Deathstroke to kill Col. Kabar. Adeline begged Slade to give up the name, but he refused to do it because it would violate his professional code of ethics to expose the identity of a client. Instead, he was confident that his enhanced abilities and mercenary skills would be enough to ensure Joseph's safe return.

Slade then sprung into action and quickly took down the Jackal's men. He then turned his attention to the Jackal. Deathstroke fired two bullets into the Jackal's torso. Unfortunately, Slade didn't act fast enough as Walsh's man had already begun to cut Joseph's throat as Slade's sword cut him down. Slade and Adeline rushed Joseph to the hospital, where his life was saved, but his vocal cords were too damaged to be repaired. Joseph would never be able to speak using his own voice again.

Slade gambled with his son's welfare and paid a heavy price.
Art by George Pérez 

While Joseph was recovering in the hospital, Slade prepared to leave once again as he had accepted a new contract. But before he could leave, Adeline confronted Slade about his lies, his secret life as a contract killer, and the consequences that those choices visited on their entire family. She was livid that Slade put his professional reputation as an assassin above the life of their son. Slade would hear none of it, determined to leave for his next assignment. As he turned around, Adeline aimed a gun in anger at the back of Slade's head meaning to end his life. As she fired the gun, Slade's enhanced reflexes allowed him to survive the attack, but at the cost of one of his eyes. As Slade lay unconscious, Adeline left him for dead. Once it was clear that he would live, Adeline took Joseph and Grant to start a new life without the danger and tragedy that Slade would inevitably bring to them.

Adeline Kane Wilson has had enough!
Art by George Pérez

Years later, Walsh would again target one of the Wilson boys to hurt Slade, but this time with devastating results. The international terrorist organization, H.I.V.E., attempted to hire Deathstroke to eliminated the Teen Titans. Slade refused the job, but H.I.V.E. was not done recruiting super-assassins. Slade's oldest son, Grant, had grown into an angry young adult with a serious hatred for the Teen Titans as he held them responsible for the relationship troubles with his girlfriend. An agent of H.I.V.E. convinced Grant that he could take his revenge on the Teen Titans by undergoing a procedure to give him power enough to destroy them. Grant accepted the offer and the contract from H.I.V.E., assuming the Deathstroke-inspired identity of the Ravager. After Grant fell short in his first battle with Cyborg, Deathstroke joined forces with his son for the showdown with the Titans. But as Grant was about to taste victory against the Titans, his body ultimately failed him as the procedure that created the Ravager caused him to age decades in just a few seconds. Because Slade blamed the Teen Titans for Grant's death, he assumed the contract on the Teen Titans and a vendetta was born. A number of years later, Slade would discover that the H.I.V.E. agent responsible for Grant's recruitment, and ultimate death, was none other than the Jackal, Bill Walsh.

In part two of this feature, we'll examine Walsh's final, and most personal assault on Deathstroke as he assumed Grant Wilson's Ravager persona, and nearly terminated the Terminator.

Christopher Priest's Out With The New and in With The Old Continuity.

DC's Rebirth initiative is attempting to keep the things about the New 52 that worked, while at the same time returning certain bits of traditional continuity to the DCU that fans had vehemently voiced displeasure with their alteration or outright elimination following Flashpoint. Having returned Wintergreen to the fold in an earlier issue, this week's release of Deathstroke (2016) #3, writer Christopher Priest returned three more classic elements of the pre-Flashpoint continuity to Deathstroke's post Rebirth title by way of a simple, yet powerful two page flashback which is pictured at the end of this post. The three returns to previous continuity are as follows.

1. Joseph Wilson's throat was once again slashed in retaliation for Slade's assassination of a Quraci army colonel. This retcon seems to eliminate the New 52 version of Jericho, who could speak because his throat was never cut.

2. As eluded to in issue #2, issue #3 confirmed that Rose Wilson is once again Slade's daughter with Lilli Worth, not his wife Adeline as had been depicted in numerous issues within the New 52 continuity.

3. Adeline Wilson was again the one that took Slade's eye in a failed attempt to kill him for allowing his secret life as an assassin being responsible for the abduction and attempted murder of Joseph. This effectively negates the North Korea explanation for his missing eye as detailed in Teen Titans (2011) #23.2.

Two Eyes? Deathstroke Don't Need No Stinking Two Eyes!

Throughout Deathstroke's many incarnations one signature design element is almost always present: His half-dark mask. But the reason that the left side of the mask is dark is that underneath that side he has lost an eye. Over the course of the years readers have been shown the fatal fate of his right (our left) eye, which like most things in the DC Universe is a multiple choice affair. Below, we take a look at Slade's missing eye(s). (Ha! See what I did there?)

The original, and in my opinion best story of Deathstroke losing his eye was told in Tales of the Teen Titans (1980) #44 as the third chapter of the now legendary Judas Contract storyline. Adeline Kane accuses Terra of working with the Terminator to bring down the Teen Titans. Adeline is joined by her son Joseph and tells the origin of both Deathstroke, and her son Jericho. Slade has been acting as a mercenary and assassin for years without ever telling his wife, Adeline. A rival mercenary, known as the Jackal, arranged for an armed attack on Slade and Adeline's home resulting in the abduction of their son Joseph. Once they track down the Jackal, he wants Slade to give up information regarding his clients. Slade refuses this request citing his own professional ethics. Slade trusts that his enhanced reflexes and training will allow him to rescue Joseph without betraying his professional ethics. Slade did rescue Joseph, but not before one of the Jackal's men had begun to slit his throat, rendering poor Joseph unable to ever speak again. These events are depicted below.

Adeline was furious to the point of hate with Slade as he valued his professional ethics and reputation far more than the life of his own son. Adeline tried to take Slade's life shooting him at close range, but his enhanced reflexes saved his life as Adeline's bullet only took Slade's eye.

Jumping to the New 52 continuity, Teen Titans (2011) # 23.2 depicts Slade taking a job to sabotage a North Korean nuclear facility with his son Grant , the Ravager, as his partner. After completing the job, Slade and Grant hole up in the home of one of Slade's old friends. Long story short, the North Koreans find their hiding place and attack it with extreme prejudice. The onslaught of the house resulted in the both "death" of Grant and the loss of Slade's eye as depicted below.

The last tale of Slade's missing eye took place in Deathstroke (2014) #s 1-2. Deathstroke was hired to take out an old associate named Possum.

But it turns out that the Possum job was a set up and that Possum was hired by Odysseus to kill Deathstroke. Possum speaks a codeword that triggers Slade to reveal coded information via a post-hypnotic suggestion. Once Slade reveals the information he is mentally incapacitated. Possum takes Slade's swords and begins slicing him to shreds. Slade turns the tide and apparently kills Possum, but just for the moment. As Slade escapes he is met with a ninja-like hit squad also sent by Odysseus. Between the mental trauma of the hypnosis and the physical attacks of Possum and Odysseus' hit squad, Slade's healing factor was pushed beyond its limits. In dire straits, he manages to make his way to a safe house run by the mysterious I-Ching.

But Slade got much more than even he bargained for as I-Ching's methods seems to have caused Slade's healing factor to restore his body not only to health, but to youth as well as pictured below.

Slade apparently required more proof than
a restored and functioning eye to prove that
he had indeed been rejuvenated. Why this
was that proof is beyond me.

Fast-forwarding to the end of the Godkiller storyline in Deathstroke (2014) #10, after Deathstroke kills the (Greek not Teen) Titan Lapetus, Hephaestus informs Slade that the killing of a gods comes with a blood sacrifice that must be made by the killer. To not make the blood sacrifice would bring the wrath of the remaining members of the Greek pantheon down upon Deathstroke himself. After refusing to sacrifice either of his children, Slade sacrifices the one thing he knows he can live without as seen below.

They apparently took it.

Deathstroke's Man, Wintergreen

Deathstroke's right hand,
Wintergreen

Marv Wolfman stated said on multiple occasions that Deathstroke was envisioned as an evil version of Batman. Given this, it was only appropriate that Slade Wilson should have his version of Alfred in the form of William Randolph Wintergreen. Wintergreen debuted alongside Deathstroke the Terminator in New Teen Titans (1980) #2 as Slade Wilson's butler, though in subsequent appearances his role would expand beyond that of a mere manservant.

In his past, Wintergreen worked both with Britain's MI-5 and in the British Army's Special Air Service (SAS). It was during his time with the British army that he met and befriended a young Slade Wilson. Once, when General Sampson sent Slade on a suicide mission, an angry Wintergreen defied Sampson's orders not to interfere with the mission, going after his friend rescuing Slade from a bomb in the process. Years later, when a vindictive General Sampson sent Wintergreen on a suicide mission resulting in his capture as a prisoner of war in Viet Nam, it was a newly super-powered Slade Wilson that disobeyed orders to rescue his old friend. It was this act of defiance that cost Slade his military career, but gained him a lifelong business partner and friend with Wintergreen even serving as Slade's best man in his wedding to Adeline Kane.

Not the way he wanted to go out,
but not entirely unexpected either.

Over the years, Wintergreen would act as Slade's manservant, client contact, weapon's procurer, intelligence collector, sounding board, confidant, and more. Wintergreen was by Deathstroke's side through Grant's death, and the terrible events of the Judas Contract, and the apparent deaths of both Joseph and Adeline. When Slade seemingly walked away from the Deathstroke role, it was Wintergreen that ran the search and rescue organization Vigilance, Inc. on Slade's behalf. Wintergreen remained a faithful and devoted friend to Slade up until he was killed by Jericho, who was controlling Slade's body at the time. His last words while looking at Slade's face were, "I suppose it was only a matter of time." Jericho, in an act designed to inflict further psychological damage to his father, decapitated Wintergreen and had his head mounted like many of the hunting trophies Slade had collected from his days as a big game hunter. Wintergreen would not rest entirely in peace as he was temporarily resurrected by a black ring as one of the Black Lanterns sent, along with both Grant and Adeline Wilson and Wade DeFarge to attack both Slade and Rose Wilson during the Blackest Night storyline.

After the Flashpoint event, Wintergreen was alive and well and serving alongside Deathstroke as his right-hand man. But, like so many other people in the New 52 reality, he was a bit different than before as he was now a black man and Slade's defiant mission rescued him was from Somalia instead of Viet Nam. How this version of Wintergreen supposedly died was never shown to readers, but to honor his fallen friend, Slade took on Wintergreen's son, Alex Peabody, as his new partner and arms dealer.

Fast-forward to the days of DC Comics Rebirth. On a mission to Africa to kill the Clock King on behalf of a group of family members of his supposed victims, Slade learns that his associate, Jazaki, means to betray him and has someone that he holds dear as a captive. Wanting proof to back up these claims, the Clock King only responds with the word, "Kenilworth." Slade immediately recognizes the word as an emergency codeword he created for his closest family and friends to use if they are in grave danger. Slade, as instructed by the Clock King, makes his way to the compound of Al Lajna, Jazaki's rivals who are willing to do side jobs like guarding Jazaki's prisoners, thinking that his son Grant must be the one being held there. A few "BANGS," and "BATABATABATAs" later, and Deathstroke has saved not a captured Grant, but a captured...Wintergreen! It has yet to be explained how Wintergreen is once again a white guy from Great Britain, but hey, Dr. Manhattan works in mysterious ways. It turns out that Wintergreen wasn't dead, but that Slade had faked his death as a way for Wintergreen to retire. Suffice it to say that Wintergreen is back and that is a good thing for both Deathstroke (Jackass!!) and Deathstroke fans.

Even during a good scolding, there is alway time to teach a lesson.