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!
Happy birthday to Deathstroke's
co-creator, Marv Wolfman!
Today the Deathstroke Files celebrates the 73rd birthday of Deathstroke the Terminator's legendary co-creator, Marv Wolfman. Wolfman's first professional work was in 1968 as a plotter for DC Comics' Blackhawk (1956) #242. Marv has worked as a writer and an editor for both DC Comics and Marvel Comics and continues to put out great stories to this day.
He has written some of the most important comic book titles ever published in the United States including DC Comics' House of Secrets (1956), Green Lantern (1960), Superman (1939), Action Comics (1938), Adventure Comics (1935), Batman (1940), The New Teen Titans/Tales of the Teen Titans (1980), thelandmark maxi-seriesCrisis on Infinite Earths (1985), Vigilante (1983), The New Teen Titans/The New Titans (1984), andof course, Deathstroke the Terminator (1991).
Wolfman also made significant contributions to the Marvel Comics Universe, not only as its one-time Editor-in-Chief, but with seminal runs as a writer on titles such as Amazing Spider-Man (1963), Daredevil (1964), Fantastic Four (1961), Marvel Two-in-One (1974), Nova (1976), and Tomb of Dracula (1972).
In addition to his mainstream work, Wolfman also had successful runs on some independent comics like Sable (1988) for First Comics, a creator-owned series The Man Called A-X (1994) for Malibu Comics' Bravura imprint (volume 2, however, landed at DC Comics), both Rob Liefeld's Brigade (1992) and Darren G Davis' 10th Muse (2000) at Image Comics and Defex (2004) for the Aftermath imprint of Devil's Due Productions. The man's work is prolific!
Wolfman has left comics at times to make some pop culture contributions in other genres of speculative fiction. After the release of Transformers: The Movie in 1986, fans and many parents were outraged at the death of Optimus Prime and were resistant to his successor, Rodimus Prime during season three of the animated television series. To assuage angry fans and toy buyers, in Wolfman was charged with co-writing a two-part story that aired in early 1987, which resurrected Optimus Prime after the original season finale had aired in 1986. In 1999, Wolfman developed the series Transformers: Beast Machines to air on Fox television. In addition to his work in television, in 2005, Wolfman wrote a prose novelization of his watershed comic book, Crisis on Infinite Earths, and then he novelized the film, Superman Returns in 2006, which almost by most accounts was the superior way to experience the story.
Wolfman is still putting out excellent comic book work today. He returned to his New Teen Titans creation, Raven, for two well-received limited series, Raven (2016) and Raven: Daughter of Darkness (2018). Originally written for the ultimately canceled Superman Confidential (2007), Wolfman's Man and Superman 100-Page Super Spectacular (2019), which Wolfman himself describes as “...the best Superman story I’ve ever written,” was a critical success as evidenced by a 9.6 rating on comic book review aggregator, ComicBook Round Up.
No matter how much I write here, I can never come close to doing Wolfman's career justice. With that said, happy birthday, Marv Wolfman!
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)
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.
Lady Deathstrike skewering
Wolverine's face.
Art by Rafael Albuquerque
Today's post is not about Deathstroke and I blame the E. Remington and Sons company (yes, that Remington) for this. This post has nothing to do with Deathstroke the Terminator due in large part to the QWERTY keyboard and its innovator, Christopher Latham Sholes, who placed the "i" key right next to the "o" key just prior to Remington purchasing his company. With some minor adjustments, Remington utilized Sholes' design on their widely successful Remington No. 2 typewriter, setting the standard for the key positions on the modern keyboard. As a result of this, there has been a veritable multitude of times that I have wanted to type the word "Deathstroke," only to inspect my work before publication and see that I had typed "Deathstrike" instead. The mature, rational response would be to recognize that my typing skills are sub-par and then strive to improve them, but blaming Sholes and Remington is remarkably time-efficient and infinitely more satisfying. So, just in case my constant typing of "Deathstrike" the universe is attempting to guide me toward a creating a profile on Marvel Comics' Lady Deathstrike (though mathematics suggests this is not the case), this is a profile on Marvel Comics' Lady Deathstrike.
My old nemeses, the positions of the "i" and "o"
keys on a QWERTY keyboard
Image Source: Wikipedia
Debuting in Daredevil (1964) #197, Yuriko Oyama was the daughter of Kenji Oyama, the Japanese crime lord known as Lord Dark Wind, who also controlled the Oyama Heavy Industries company. He was instrumental in creating the process that allowed the super-metal, Adamantium, to bone matter, which he hoped would be used to create an army of super-soldiers for Japan.
Lady Deathstrike
Art by Rahzzah
During World War II, Lord Dark Wind was terribly scarred following a botched kamikaze attack. Decades later, still carrying the shame of failing his country, Lord Dark Wind had the faces of Yuriko and her two brothers scarred in kind. Years later, after her brothers had died serving her father, Yuriko resisted Lord Dark Wind by working with Daredevil to free Kiro, her lover, from suffering her brothers' own fates. Lord Dark Wind had targeted the assassin, Bullseye, to recover the Adamantium from his bones. Knowing this, Yuriko and Daredevil traveled to Lord Dark Wind's private island to confront him. During the battle, Yuriko killed her father, seemingly freeing Kiro from his servitude. But instead, Kiro killed himself out of loyalty to his fallen master. This shocking turn of events so shook Yuriko, that she ended up devoted herself to assuming her father's quest for Adamantium dominance.
Yuriko reinvented herself as a samurai taking the name, Lady Deathstrike and sought to track down Bullseye using a device that could detect Adamantium, but the device instead led her to Wolverine. After suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of Wolverine and Alpha Flight's Vindicator, Yuriko made her way to the so-called Mojoverse, to seek the services of Spiral. Spiral transformed Yuriko in her "Body Shoppe" into a cyborg complete with Adamantium bones, limbs, and extended, razor-sharp claws on all of her fingers. Though she took over Oyama Heavy Industries upon her father's death, she also operated as a professional assassin.
Still wanting to avenge her defeat at the hands of Wolverine, Lady Deathstrike turned to the Hellfire Club's White King, Donald Pierce, who formed a group made up of other cyborg soldiers called the Reavers. With the Reavers, Lady Deathstrike would take her revenge on Wolverine, going to far as to literally crucify the savage X-Man, leaving him to die. Lady Deathstrike has had an uneven record of fighting against Wolverine and the X-Men and in some cases fighting alongside them. She has also clashed with Captain America and was responsible for slicing off the legs of the former X-Man Sunfire. During the Marvel Superhero's Civil War, Lady Deathstrike even served in the United State government's legion of convicted criminals: The Thunderbolts. Her last clash with Wolverine, during the Death of Wolverine storyline, might have even been successful were it not for the interference of Kitty Pryde.
There you have it. I hope that the universe is satisfied with this look at Lady Deathstrike. Though to be honest, the universe needs to make up its mind about some things because I typed "Deathstroke" instead of "Deathstrike" about six times while putting together this post. In any event, before I get back to Deathstroke business tomorrow, posted below are both sides of Lady Deathstrike's entry in the loose-leaf Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Master Edition (1990) #17. As always, for best viewing results, open the images below into their own tabs to enlarge.
It is apropos that the phrase, "there is nothing new under the sun," has appeared in a myriad of different sources. One source feeding off of a prior one, changing the wording to fit specific circumstances, but leaving the general meaning intact. This concept can also be applied to works of art, be they visual art, music, literature, or even comic books. Do we have Superman without Hercules or Doc Savage? Does Batman exist in a world without the Scarlet Pimpernel or Zorro? Is there a Darth Vader without Doctor Doom or Darkseid? Jack Kirby didn't think so (Lookin' at you, George Lucas).
Deathstroke is no exception to this phenomenon. Many people point out the similarities between Deathstroke and Marvel Comics' Taskmaster. Given their occupations, color scheme, and George Pérez as a co-creator it seems reasonable that the Taskmaster may have influenced the creation of Deathstroke, though the time between their debuts probably rules that out. I personally see more similarities to Takao Saito's Golgo 13 than the Taskmaster, but that post has already been written.
What can be argued is the Deathstroke has inspired his share of...we'll be diplomatic and call them homages, some of which we will examine here. For the purposes of this post, an homage will have the following characteristics. One, the homage must be a "badass" mercenary that is a master of both melee weapons and firearms regardless of their personality. Two, the homage must have a mostly-full body costume with a completely covered face. And three, a really, really ominous codename that evokes impending death.
The second and most obvious (and ridiculously successful) example is Deadpool. Created by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld in 1991 for Marvel Comics' New Mutants (1983) #98. Though Liefeld still denies it, Nicieza has pretty well confirmed that Deadpool, in his original form, was indeed an homage to Deathstroke, who was a favorite character of the pair (I mean Wade Wilson, really?). Deadpool would eventually morph into his the lunatic, fourth-wall breaking, "merc with the mouth" form we all know today through the subsequent work of writers Joe Casey and Christopher Priest. While I have to admit, I did enjoy both of the Deadpool films, the character itself doesn't really appeal to me. I feel the image to the left accurately captures my take on Deadpool in the form of an old school SAT-style analogy. With that being said, let's move on to the next Deathstroke homage.
Art by Dan Norton and Karl Kesel
Next up is a Deathstroke homage from Homage Studios' Jim Lee and Bandon Choi. Debuting in the pages of WildCATS: Covert Action Teams (1992) #1 was a Kherubim half-breed that threw his lot in with the Daemonite Helspont, the sworn enemy his own people. Pike was Helspont's number one agent of death and destruction against Lord Emp's WildC.A.T.S. team.
The visual and thematic similarities to Deathstroke are more than obvious. Mercenary? Check. Master of firearms? Check. As comfortable killing you with swords as he is with guns? Check. Battlesuit with a full-face mask? Check. Use of an energy battle staff that can be separated into two smaller staves? Check. Threatening name? Pike, as in "your head on a!" Check. Pike is a stone cold brutal killer that is not beyond turning his back on a lover if she failed to follow his orders. After Flashpoint, Pike found himself in conflict with Katar Hol, the Savage Hawkman. Let's just say that Pike has more than just a passing resemblance to Deathstroke and move on.
Deathtrap
Art by Juan Ferreyra
Jim Lee and Brandon Choi were not done "homaging" Deathstroke when they created Pike. No, they had one more menacing merc for us in the form of the dastardly Deathtrap. First appearing in Stormwatch (1993) #1, Deathtrap, aka Seamus O'Brienn, was once affiliated with a Northern Irish separatist group during the ethnic and religious conflict from the 1980s and 90s known colloquially as "the Troubles." Deathtrap later became a thorn in the side of Stormwatch, and Stormwatch member Backlash specifically. After Flashpoint, Deathtrap found himself both up against and later aligned with the New Suicide Squad.
Unlike other Deathstroke homages, Deathtrap had some unusual powers. Not only was Deathtrap a highly skilled mercenary with guns and melee weapons, but Deathtrap could also instantly fashion firearms out of whatever materials were at his disposal. As apparent from the image to the left, he once created a gun made from wood and another one from, of all things, floor tiles. Deathtrap is without a doubt one of the stranger Deathstroke homages.
One of the newest Deathstroke homages came to us from Rob Liefeld (there's that guy again), Joshua Williamson, and Eduardo Pansica and is the only one on this list that has actually faced Deathstroke in combat. In Deathstroke (2011) #13 the assassin Deadborn was hired to take out Deathstroke himself. Deadborn was created in a government lab that attempted to create another super soldier after they created Deathstroke. Deadborn was considerably larger and stronger than Deathstroke and highly durable causing him great difficulty when engaging him one-on-one. But Deathstroke, with the aid of Zealot, got the upper-hand on Deadborn ending the conflict by cutting off his arm.
Dearborn vs. Deathstroke
Art by Eduardo Pansica
If anyone looks hard enough, it's possible to examine almost anything to the point that the inspirations that spurred it into being become apparent. Deathstroke the Terminator has undoubtedly inspired a number of creators to come up with their own badass assassins. Death-Stroke, Deadpool, Pike, Deathtrap, and Deadborn are just the ones that came to my mind first. It's even getting to the point that Deathstroke's homages have homages (Red Tool? Death Masque? anyone?). In any event, if there truly is nothing new under the sun, then I suppose (Deathstroke) imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery. Deathstroke...often imitated; never duplicated.
Death Masque (with a "q)
Art by Fernando Pasarin
& Carlo Pagulayan
Christopher Priest's current run on Deathstroke (2016) is easily one of the finest that the character has ever had. The most recent story arc, "Arkham," could be accurately described as equal parts action adventure and gaslit head trip. But Priest's "Arkham" introduced a pretty cool, yet familiar (and I mean really familiar) new addition to the Deathstroke supporting cast in the form of Death Masque ("with a 'q'").
To set the stage for Death Masque's debut without spoilers, I'll just say that Slade found himself a patient/inmate at Arkham Asylum after being declared criminally insane. Once inside, Slade is drugged to the extent that his reflexes and rapid healing abilities are compromised, In addition, even though Slade can still hear Wintergreen's simulated voice via an implant containing his Ikon Suit AI, he was told repeatedly by Arkham staff that the implant doesn't exist and instead the voices that he hears are nothing more than hallucinations. During a holographic virtual group therapy session with some of Arkham's most notorious residents (Mr. Freeze, Dr. Destiny, Prof. Hugo Strange, Victor Zsasz, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum), session leader, Dr. Candace Evans, asked Slade if he could hear Wintergreen at that moment. Slade replied that his combat AI implant was not compatible with the group therapy system, making it appear that he was making excuses with his sanity looking to be further in question. But one member of the therapy group appeared to be more than a little out of place amongst Gotham's murderous elite, was a young man known only as Devon.
Devon began the session having a bit of fun (at least unwelcomed by Dr. Evans) by assuming the virtual form of Harley Quinn. Devon assumes a his "true" form and claims to the group that he has been in hiding inside Arkham for 87 years, with the exception of his recent "zapping" to the planet, Pulor where he was the subject of, what one must assume was unwanted experimentation. Later in the session when Slade asked the group that if given the chance, would anyone not kill him, only Devon raised his hand in the affirmative. Later when trying to escape, Slade encountered Devon, who was also keen to escape. Upon reaching the asylum grounds, both Slade and Devon were caught in an apparent Zeta beam and transported to who knows where.
Death Masque after accidentally
scaring an old man to death.
Art by Fernando Pasarin
When we next see Slade, he is laying on the floor of his cell dazed from the drugs used to pacify him. Dr. Evans visits his cell to check up on him. Slade asked the doctor how he got back to Arkham, but she informed him that not only had he not left Arkham, but that he had been there for 23 straight days. Slade told Dr. Evans that he had been gone to two weeks fighting the Pulorians with Dev, only for her to ask, "Who's Dev?" To prove he is not insane, Slade guided Dr. Evans and a security force along the route he used to escape, only this time there was a brick wall blocking the way. At this point, Slade was questioning his own sanity. But Dev...well...
Dev is next seen very much on the outside of Arkham Asylum searching for Deathstroke, but he is wearing a strange black and white amalgamation of Deathstroke's costume with a suspiciously looking ill-fitting cowl, not unlike that of Marvel's own resident #*&%@$$, Deadpool, and is calling himself Death Masque ("with a 'q'"). Death Masque next locates Slade's son-in-law, Hosun, (but not before he inadvertently triggered an old man's heart attack by appearing full costume in his bedroom due to breaking in a house at the wrong address) to aid in his search for him and the rest of the story can be found in Priest's recently completed "Arkham" story arc.
Death Masque is definitely the most "meta" character that Priest has introduced into Deathstroke's mythos. With his quick quips and his propensity to break the fourth wall, Death Masque is an obvious parody of Marvel Comics' Deathstroke rip-off, Deadpool. But Priest's use of Death Masque works at the story-level and at the meta-commentary level as well. Priest uses his own Marvel past to reference his stints on both Deadpool and Black Panther to really great comedic effect, which a title like Deathstroke needs from time-to-time. One particular battle scene, pictured below, is such an overt meta-reference to Priest's own Deadpool writing debut, that Death Masque himself ponders the possibility of a Marvel lawsuit just for mentioning it. Other meta-zingers include declaring"Wakanda forever," after calling Dr. Evans "hot," addressing Deathstroke, "Mr. Liefold," as an obvious nod to Deadpool's "creator" Rob Liefeld, and even while criticizing Slade himself after they both got caught in a Zeta beam by declaring that, "This is why you'll never get a movie!" I won't spoil the remainder of Death Masque's misadventures with Deathstroke as "Arkham" concluded, but let's just say I can't wait for more of Death Masque's brand of...heroics? We'll go with heroics.
Death Masque channeling Christopher Priest and his Marvel past.
Art by Fernando Pasarin & Carlo Pagulayan
Yep, Death-Stroke just said that $#!+.
Art by Steve Leialoha
If imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery, then Marvel Comics writer, Chris Claremont must have really loved Deathstroke. In 1981, Claremont was more than five years into his seminal run on Uncanny X-Men (1963), which had experienced a revival and was one of the most popular and best selling comic book titles of the late 1970s and into the early 80s.
But in the fall of 1980, Marv Wolfman and George Pérez relaunched DC Comics' Teen Titans with the New Teen Titans (1980). Wolfman and Pérez returned popular DC teen characters such as Robin, Wonder Girl, and Kid Flash in addition to a newly renamed Changeling, the angst-filled Cyborg, the dark and mysterious Raven, and the alluring alien sex-symbol, Starfire. And by issue #2, Wolfman and Pérez introduced an extremely charismatic, one-eyed, Terminator in blue and orange battle gear. The popularity of the New Teen Titans heroes (and a certain bad-ass villain) skyrocketed the title to the top of the sales charts and made itself serious competition to Claremont's band of mutant heroes.
By 1981, in addition to his duties on Uncanny X-Men, Claremont also wrote Marvel's Spider-Woman (1978) title. In Spider-Woman #39, Claremont decided to poke a little fun at his "distinguished competition" by lampooning Wolfman and Pérez's breakout villain, Deathstroke. Claremont's "master assassin," Death-Stroke (the hyphen means it's original), was contracted by Yakuza gangsters to murder Dan Ishima, a friend of Spider-Woman's alter ego, Jessica Drew. To assist Death-Stroke in his deadly work is his murderous crew of mercenary assassin named, the Terminators (that's correct: Death-Stroke and his Terminators). Once Spider-Woman arrived on the scene and engaged Death-Stroke in hand-to-hand combat, she made relatively quick work on him, despite his use of self-described "snazzy moves," and an always dangerous, "energy blade" that was capable of slicing a steel girder in twain. Death-Stroke would not make another appearance until his final one about a decade later in 1991 in the pages of Captain America (1968) #395 where he was killed while auditioning for a spot in the Red Skull's Skeleton Crew. That's right, Death-Stroke died during a job interview.
Whether it's his cleverly (?) hyphenated name or the ease of his defeat at the hands of Spider-Woman, Death-Stroke was clearly Claremont having a bit of fun at Wolfman, Pérez, and DC Comics' expense. Marvel apparently got the joke as evidenced by his ridiculous death. But I suppose as a parody character Death-Stroke isn't the worst I've seen. I mean he's no Red Tool...or Death Masque for that matter (I know; I'm sorry). In any event, enjoy the eight panels of glory that was Death-Stroke vs. Spider-Woman posted below.
As the DC and Marvel Universes merged during 1996 inter-company crossover, forming the Amalgam Comics universe, a number of characters from each fictional universe also merged into completely new people. A funny thing happened though when DC's Slade Wilson (AKA Deathstroke the Terminator) and Marvel's Matt Murdock (AKA Daredevil) merged as the two he's somehow became a she. Enter Slade Murdock: Dare the Terminator. As a courtesy for the remainder of this post, I will combine the original character names with a plus sign in an effort to clearly describe the Amalgam character and their constituent identities with the DC character listed first.
As depicted in the DC Comics-published Assassins (1996) #1, Dare the Terminator (Deathstroke + Daredevil) was former big time New Gotham City power attorney, Slade Murdock, who walked away from practicing law when she no longer had faith that the law could truly provide justice. Having been trained by her father to fight, Slade became a successful mercenary despite the fact that she was both blind and had lost an eye to a bullet from the assassin Deadeye (Deadshot + Bullseye). Slade earned the name Dare because of her reputation for accepting dares posed to her regardless of how outrageous they were. Knowing this about Slade, New Gotham City mayor Enigma Fisk, AKA the criminal mastermind the Big Question (the Riddler + the Kingpin), had her abducted so that he could have prosthetic devil horns permanently affixed to her head to make her look like a literal "daredevil."
Wanting her eliminated, the mercenary Tombstone the Ravager (the Ravager + Tombstone), hired the assassin Catsai (Catwoman + Elektra) to take out Dare. After an initial confrontation between the two, Dare and Catsai joined forces to kill Tombstone instead. The two assassins then formed what would become a close friendship with one another. Evntually the pair took a contract from a mystery client to kill Mayor Fisk. En route to the Big Question's tower office, Dare and Catsai manage to fatally dispatch both Deadeye and Lethal (the Cheetah + Kraven the Hunter) as well as lay out Wired (Manhunter + Cable) after a wicked brawl. In the final showdown, even though Dare lost her remaining eye, her horns, and apparently her life to the Big Question, Catsai did manage to land the death stroke (See what I did there?) on him, to put him down for good. Luckily for Dare, Dr. Strangefate (Dr. Fate + Dr. Strange) would later bring her back to life. Little else is known about Dare other than she had two daughters; Jericha (just mentioned and not actually appearing in any book) and Terra-X (Terra + Terrax the Tamer).
