Liefeld's Claim That Deadpool Was Not Based on Deathstroke Fails the Smell Test...Because He's Full of Crap!

Rob Liefeld: In denial, delusional,
or full of crap?

Rob Liefeld based Deadpool on Deathstroke. For years comic book fans have openly acknowledged, in one way or another, that Marvel Comics' Deadpool is, at the very least, an "homage" (I'm being polite) to DC Comics' Deathstroke the Terminator, a fact that Deadpool's co-creator, Rob Liefeld vehemently denies. As of this writing, the Google search string "is Deadpool a ripoff," yielded close to 74,700 results. About 30,900 results are returned if the prepositional phrase "of Deathstroke," is added to the end of the original string. Even the animated film, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies (2018), riffs on the notion that there is more than just a passing similarity between the two characters. I have even addressed the "homage" phenomenon before on this blog (click here to read the "Deadpool and other Deathstroke 'Homages'" post).

Please don't misunderstand, I kid about this topic from time to time on this blog relative to Deadpool and Deathstroke, but I'm not saying that this is practice is by definition a bad thing. Comic book companies and creators have a long tradition of "borrowing," or to put it more rudely, "ripping off," character archetypes or other such defining characteristics from industry competitors dating back to the earliest days of the super-hero genre ("SHAZAM!"). If not for these homages/ripoffs we wouldn't have characters like Wolverine (Timberwolf), Aquaman (Namor the Sub-Mariner), Black Cat (Catwoman), Swamp Thing (Man-Thing), Quicksilver (the Flash), Miracle Man (the original Captain Marvel/Shazam), or even Thanos (Darkseid). Recently DC Comics launched The Terrifics (2018), which is basically a send-up of Marvel Comic's Fantastic Four, and I'm having a blast reading it. Given the long-standing practice of "homaging" characters in comic books, why does Rob Liefeld continue to deny that he did essentially the same thing when creating Deadpool?

At the 2018 LA Comin-Con, Liefeld was asked point blank "Did you, for the first issue of Deadpool, did you ever use Deathstroke as your...?" Liefeld didn't even let the question come completely out of the fan's mouth before he launched into a histrionic fit/diatribe that began thusly:

I DID NOT! I CAN DO THIS! If we had Deathstroke here: buccaneer boots, buccaneer gloves, half an effin’ mask, chainmail! WHERE IS THE CHAINMAIL?

Let me tell you guys how it went: "Hey guys, Todd McFarlane, he’s kind of blowing up on Spider-Man. I need a Spider-Man in my book. Oh, wow, so, I also like Wolverine. He’s my favorite character. Black and red, black and red. Can I tie him into Wolverine’s origin? So, can I do Spider-Man with guns and knives?” "Liefeld, Cable’s blowing up for us. We’re selling a million copies of New Mutants. Whatever you want to do Liefeld." YEAH! 

I didn’t even hear about this until 10 years ago when it became cool to (unintellegible). I don't see it. I never have seen it! Like, strap me up! I'll do the lie detector that [Brett] Kavanaugh wouldn't! I'll sit there; ask me that question! Give me, give me the golden lasso! I really don't get it! That's why it's like, I just look at people and I go, "How are...I don't, yeah." There's your answer.

To view the question and Liefeld's answer in their entirety, the video is posted below.

OK. At this point, Shakespeare might have said that the gentleman "doth protest too much, methinks." First, I'd like to address Liefeld's statement, "If we had Deathstroke here: buccaneer boots, buccaneer gloves, half an effin’ mask, chainmail! WHERE IS THE CHAINMAIL?" Liefeld seems to be making the argument that just because Deadpool doesn't look like Deathstroke, then that means that Deadpool can't be based on Deathstroke. Unfortunately for Liefeld, that argument has already been proven deficient in a court of law is it was used by Fawcett Publications when they were sued by National Comics Publications (who would become DC Comics in the 1970s) for copyright infringement [National Comics Publications Inc. v. Fawcett Publications Inc. et al, 191 F.2d 594 (2d Cir. 1951)]. Even though some cosmetic details were changed, like Captain Marvel's suit was red instead of Superman blue and his cape was white instead of Superman red, the court ruled that Fawcett's Captain Marvel was too similar to the core concept of National's Superman to be coincidental and therefore was plagiarized. So Liefeld basing his argument that Deadpool could not be based on Deathstroke because Deadpool didn't have buccaneer boots and chainmail wouldn't even come close to holding up in a court of law. 

For the sake of argument, let's take Liefeld at his work that it was Spider-Man that played a huge part in his creating Deadpool. This is obvious, especially in Deadpool's red-and-black color scheme and the large eyes thickly outlined in black. But when Liefeld added the guns and swords motif in addition to making him an assassin it made him a little too close to Deathstroke for Deadpool to be at least a factor in his creation. Apparently, Liefeld feels that it is completely acceptable to homage Spider-Man, but not Deathstroke? Additionally, his lie detector and golden lasso comments were nothing more than toothless quips to elicit laughs from the crowd. So, Deadpool not based on Deathstroke? STRIKE ONE!

Deadpool's first appearance in
New Mutants (1983) 

Next, let's examine statements made by those directly involved in Deadpool's creation including then New Mutants co-plotter, Fabian Nicieza and Liefeld himself. When Liefeld sent his original concept art for his new character to Nicieza, he called Liefeld and stated bluntly that, "this is Deathstroke from Teen Titans." Nicieza further acknowledged the similarity between the characters by giving him the name "Deadpool," which is not unlike "Deathstroke." Nicieza further connected the characters by giving Deadpool the real name of Wade Wilson, which was a straight-up riff on Deathstroke's name, Slade Wilson. So while it was Nicieza that came up with names "Deadpool" and "Wade Wilson", it was Liefeld's "original" design that first made the obvious association with Deathstroke.

Liefeld himself took a stab at writing Deathstroke (2011) in early 2012. As part of promoting his run, Liefeld was interviewed by Jeffrey Renaud for Comic Book Resources (CBR). In the interview, Liefeld admitted to an affinity for Deathstroke, confirming that he chose to write and pencil his title. Later in the interview, Liefeld confessed that he passed on working with other characters because he had no connection to them. His connection to Deathstroke was further cemented when Liefeld said, "I've always been in awe of Hawkman and Deathstroke -- and 'always' means since I was a child." This comment from Liefeld corroborated earlier statements by Nicieza that both he and Liefeld were huge fans of the Teen Titans comics growing up. Because childhood "awe" drew Liefeld to work professionally on Deathstroke as an adult, it is reasonable to think that some of that same Deathstroke "awe" found its way into the creation of Deadpool. Deadpool not based on Deathstroke? STRIKE TWO!

The third piece of evidence I'll present against Liefeld's claim that Deadpool wasn't based on Deadpool is that if you look at other characters Liefeld has created, it becomes apparent that Liefeld definitely has a signature character type that looks suspiciously like Deathstroke. In my earlier post, "Deadpool and other Deathstroke 'Homages'", I included the aforementioned Deadpool and the character Deadborn that he created for his run on Deathstroke (2011), based upon a loosely assembled list of Deathstroke traits. Those traits included being an assassin or mercenary, utilizing a full-face mask, having an ominous or foreboding character name, preternatural skill with firearms and melee weapons, having superhuman strength, agility, or reflexes, and having white hair. I wanted a way to objectively compare these "homages" to Deathstroke himself. Using the six traits described above, I came up with an admittedly ridiculous scale that gages a character's similarity to Deathstroke. The Deathstroke Homage Scale (or DHS) awards one point for each characteristic that a given character has in common with Deathstroke. Using the 2/3 standard, if a given character gets a score of 4 or higher, the character will be considered an "homage" (not a "ripoff") of Deathstroke.

So what happens when characters are evaluated with the DHS? Chris Claremont and Steve Leialoha's Death-Stroke was by design an homage to/parody of Deathstroke the Terminator, so if any character would score high enough to be considered an homage to Deathstroke on the DHS it should be him. Marvel's Death-Stroke earned a DHS score of 4, making him a Deathstroke homage. I next took a character that I knew could not possibly be a Deathstroke homage, Superman. Superman's DHS score was 1, making him definitely not a Deathstroke homage.

Now let's see what happens when seven different Liefeld-created characters are evaluated using the DHS. The characters evaluated were Deadpool, Cable, Bloodstrike, Deadborn, Lethal, Jagger, and Crypt. The results appear below.

All seven Liefeld characters that I evaluated with the DHS were, in fact, Deathstroke homages, including Deadpool (DHS score of 5). Some will say that not every single character that Liefeld has ever created can be considered a Deathstroke homage so this exercise is flawed and should be discounted. But, this exercise was not about showing that every single character that Liefeld ever created was a Deathstroke homage, but was instead just to illustrate that a large number are and that Deathstroke-like traits are ubiquitous in Liefeld creations over his entire career. Liefeld is so drawn to the Deathstroke character type that during his run on the Savage Hawkman (2011), he pitted Hawkman against the Jim Lee and Brandon Choi-created mercenary Pike, himself a Deathstroke homage (DHS score of 5). Deadpool not based on Deathstroke? STRIKE THREE!

With three strikes, Liefeld should be out as far as his claims that Deadpool was not based on Deathstroke. But Deathstroke is not the only character that Liefeld has homaged over his career. The following list represents a number of other Liefeld-created characters and the established characters from which they were homaged.

• Avengelyne: (Angela, Vampirella, Warrior Nun Areala)
• Badrock: (the Thing)
• Bloodwulf: (Lobo)
• Brigade: (X-Force)
• Copycat: (Mystique)
• Cougar: (Timberwolf, Wolfsbane, Tigra, Talon, Feral)
• Deadlock: (Wolverine)
• Diehard: (Captain America, Deathlok)
• Domino: (Longshot)
• Feral: (Tigra, Talon)
• Glory: (Wonder Woman)
• Masada: (Giant Man, Colossal Boy, Giganta)
• New Men: (the X-Men)
• Riptide: (Mera)
• Shaft: (Green Arrow, Hawkeye)
• Suprema: (Supergirl)
• Supreme: (Superman)
• Troll: (Puck)
• Vogue: (Black Widow)
• Youngblood: (Freedom Force, JLI, Suicide Squad, G.I. Joe)

Deadpool not based on Deathstroke? STRIKE FOUR! Out for real this time!

Rob Liefeld based Deadpool on Deathstroke. He continues to deny this and I don't know why. The evidence is clear. Liefeld's claim they don't look alike so Deadpool can't be based on Deathstroke utterly falls apart under historical and legal scrutiny. Both Liefeld's and Fabian Nicieza's previous public statements on Deadpool's creation and Deathstroke as a favorite character of both men contradict Liefeld's own recent, and very public denial. When quantifiably compared to Deathstroke, Deadpool, and many other Liefeld creations are too similar to the Terminator to be simply coincidental. Lastly, Liefeld has a long and proven track record of borrowing character designs and characteristics from other well-established characters. Rob Liefeld based Deadpool on Deathstroke and it is 100% OK that he did. I just wish Liefeld would believe that himself.

Who (Supposedly) Killed Grant Wilson First?: Post Flashpoint Edition

Grant Wilson died, but not really, in
two entirely different ways, both of
which were witnessed by his father
Slade Wilson. Totally makes sense.

Story editing at DC Comics after the launch of the New 52 had developed a reputation for being rather iron-fisted. Many comics professionals, including Rob Liefeld and George Pérez, left gigs at DC allegedly due to too much story and art interference on the part of editors. It seems strange that an editorial staff that garnered a reputation as notorious micromanagers would be so lax in their treatment of Deathstroke's continuity. I've already discussed the curious case regarding Slade Wilson's multiples fathers in an earlier post, but it seems that DC allowed multiple versions of Grant Wilson's apparent death, a seminal event in Slade Wilson's life and career, in less than two short years. Let's explore the "first" deaths of Grant wilson below.

Version one of Grant's death was shown in 2012's Deathstroke (2011) #6. Slade was hired to recover a briefcase that he was told contained nuclear technology documents. A few contact betrayals later, Slade opened the case to find Grant's old Ravager mask covered in fresh bloodstains. Slade believed that the mask was meant to be bait for him, but found it hard to believe that Grant could be alive. In a flashback, we see Grant tied to a chair being savagely beaten by the Midnighter, with Deathstroke on his way to save his son. Midnighter appears to has some vendetta against Slade as his comments seem to suggest something personal is motivating his actions as Midnighter is next shown to place a time-bomb, with 57 seconds remaining, near Grant telling him, "Like your dad always says...it's about the statements.'" As Slade closed in on his son's location, the bomb detonates, apparently killing Grant. These events are pictured below.

Version two of Grant's death was depicted in the 2013 Villain's Month issue, Teen Titans (2011) #23.2: Featuring Deathstroke. As relayed via a flashback, Slade took a job to stop a North Korean missile launch and brought Grant with him as his partner. After the rather cacophonous operation at the missile installation was complete, Slade and Grant hid out in home of an old acquaintance of Slade's. The North Koreans not only managed to figure out where Slade and Grant were laying low (Duh!), but also somehow managed to send in a military hit squad replete with two, count them, two military helicopters without the scientifically enhanced and battle-wise Deathstroke being aware of them until it was too late (Um...OK). As the North Koreans bust through the front door with all guns blazing, Grant was cut down in a hail of bullets. Grant's death distracted Slade to the point that some random North Korean soldier shot him in the head, putting out his now-famously missing eye. Slade goes into berserker mode and takes out the whole squad, but Grant was lost to him forever, or at least as far as Slade believed. These events are pictured below.

So which is it, blown up by the Midnighter, or gunned down by a North Korean military hit squad? Grant's apparent death, while not as final as Slade first believed, greatly influenced Slade Wilson's family life and career, which in turn shaped the character we all know him to be today. As such, there should be some degree of continuity stability for such a foundational event from Deathstroke's past. I wrote in the post regarding Slade's father(s) that I understand the need for retcons at times, but these conflicting versions of Grant's supposed death were published a little more than a year-and-a-half apart (February 2012 to September 2013) with no explanation, or even acknowledgement, as to why the past had apparently changed. Grant's multiple choice death scenario is either a case of absolutely ludicrous staff editing, or the newly-returned original Wally West (Wow, talk about a retcon.) is right and Dr. Manhattan truly is playing with us all.

Deathstroke's Blue Period(s)

The great Spanish artist Pablo Picasso was known for his "Blue Period" in which most of his work was dominated by the color blue. Oddly enough, Deathstroke the Terminator also had his "Blue Period." In fact, he's had several of them. On multiple occasions, Slade dropped the familiar blue and orange getup and switched to blue and silver gear. So, let's take a short trip through Deathstroke's Blue Period(s).

The "Nuclear Winter" storyline in Deathstroke the Terminator (1991) #s 17-20 is our first stop. Deathstroke was dead (for the nth time) and his body was recovered by the Cheshire-led Brotherhood of Evil. Cheshire and company nurse him back to health and in payment for such a service, he has to join them. For whatever reason, Cheshire dresses Slade up in the costume you see below. He wasn't in this costume long, but it was long enough to be the look used for his DC Cosmic Teams trading cards.

Then, toward the end of "The Borgia Plague" storyline, Slade is caught in an explosion that all but destroyed his body. He somehow survived this, but lost his memories in the process. However his metahuman healing ability, pushed to the extreme (90s reference) to rebuild his broken body worked so hard that in addition to healing his injuries, it de-age him about 20 or so years worth. As part of his new start in life, as shown in the "Night of the Karrion" storyline, Slade adopted the blue costume pictured below. Notice the armor is absent from his chest and abdomen regions, but his shoulders, knees, shins, and crotch (Priorities, man!) are ready for combat. Deathstroke held onto this look for about three years.

The blue and silver look even made an appearance in the New 52 as Rob Liefeld revived it for an origin tale in Deathstroke (2011) #0, which is pictured below. Thankfully for us, Slade came to his senses and adopted the familiar blue and orange look we've all come to know.

Deathstroke's Post-Flashpoint/New 52 Daddy Issues

Originally, I planned to do some silly geneology-styled family tree for this post, but the affairs of the Wilson family are seldom simple. It seems at one point or another everyone tries to kill everyone else (Or at least Slade) due to one unforgivable transgression or another. While Slade manages to reconnect time-to-time with his two youngest children at some level, his relationship with his father is never as repairable. Complicating matters even further is the fact that after the Flashpoint event remade the DC Universe, Slade seems to have more than one father. So let's delve into the issues of Slade's two dads (Yep, I just referenced that crappy sitcom).

Nathaniel Wilson

In Deathstroke (2011) issue #8 (the final issue of Kyle Higgins' run), Slade's father, Nathaniel Wilson, was formally introduced. Nathaniel fancied himself a hardened street-level criminal and con man who always had things going on. In reality, he was a life-long loser who, during Slade's childhood, regularly moved he and Slade from town to town because he owed everyone who was a criminal anyone large sums of money due to the frequent failures of his own criminal enterprises.

When desperate, Nathaniel would stoop to common street muggings just to raise enough cash to keep his illegal "creditors" at bay, though he would still get roughed up as a continual reminder that his debts were far from being paid in full. These violent events often played out in front of a young Slade who would normally then himself pay a physical price as his father's proxy victim after the humiliation of getting beaten up by the mob debt collectors.

Eventually, Nathaniel's debts became more than he could ever pay. To settle a $10,000 debt to the criminal, Rossi, Nathaniel took Slade to secluded area of the Grand Canyon. When Rossi arrived, Nathaniel handed over his own son to him as payment for the debt. It was this particular event that built the fire in Slade to not only begin his own dark business pursuits, but to be the best in the world at them, if for no other reason than to show his father that he was far better at them than Nathaniel could ever have been. To further drive this point home, once Nathaniel became old and feeble, from time to time, Slade would visit his bed-ridden father's home in Gary, Indiana to place cutouts of newspaper articles chronicling his various exploits on a bulletin board facing his bed. As Nathaniel could neither speak, nor could physically remove the articles from the wall, he had little choice but to confront the facts that Slade had indeed far surpassed anything he ever accomplished in his life.

OR...

Charles Henry Wilson,
A.K.A. Odysseus

In Deathstroke (2014) #1-6, Tony S. Daniel introduced us to Slade's father, Charles Henry Wilson, also know as the super-villain, Odysseus. Charles Wilson was a former CIA. operative that went missing after an assignment in Russia went bad. It is revealed that Charles had a metagene that allowed him great physical and psionic abilities and that this gene was passed down to his grandson, Joseph, (A.K.A. Jericho). Somehow Charles' body was recovered by the League of Assassins who in turn abducted Jericho to use his power to bring Charles back to life as Odysseus. Upon his resurrection, Odysseus had the ability to control the minds of large groups of people, as he demonstrated on a groups of fighters in Syria. It is also revealed that it was Charles' metagene DNA that was used to bring about the enhancements of Slade's physical and mental abilities, turning him into the Deathstroke that we all know and love.

Some online Wikis claim that after the Russia debacle, that Charles actually survived and went into hiding by adopting the Nathaniel identity. The problem with this theory is that Nathaniel and Charles simply can't be the same person because, as Slade claimed in Deathstroke (2014) #3, "I haven't seen my father since I was twelve." If that were the case, then who exactly was the Nathaniel Wilson that Slade visited in Gary, Indiana since Slade was clearly an adult in Deathstroke (2011) #8? Furthermore, in Deathstroke (2014) #4, Slade seems a bit taken aback when he realizes that Victor Ruiz and his Dead Bastards group want him to take Odysseus out. Slade states that, "...you want me to kill my own father," and further claimed that if Ruiz hadn't, "monkeyed with my brain. I would have never agreed to it." It seems to me that he might not have been as hesitant to kill Nathaniel as he is to kill Charles, especially after the whole being sold to a mobster to settle Nathaniel's debt bit.

This multiple fathers conundrum may just be a simple case of a retcon, or even just poor title editing. Regardless of which father is the real father, it's safe to say that Slade's father completely sucked. Not that Slade of father of the year material, but then again, he hardly had a descent role-model in in that department. I'm going to continue trying to sort this Nathaniel vs. Charles business out and I will post an update if I am finally able to crack this mystery in the future.