Cyborg From 1985's Who's Who #5

Regardless of specific comic book continuity, Victor Stone, aka Cyborg, became the symbolic embodiment of the future's promise to overcome the challenges and tragedies of today through the continued advancement of knowledge and technology. Even though he was created in 1980, it's apropos that a character born of state-of-the-art technology has really come into his own in the twenty-first century. Two years before the real world's Jarvik 7 artificial heart was implanted in a human, Marv Wolfman used cutting-edge technology to reconstruct over half of Victor Stone's body following a catastrophic lab explosion at S.T.A.R. Labs. Now, in a world of routine artificial hip replacements, cochlear implants, and voluntary embedding of microchips in the human body, a character like Cyborg seems more prophetic that fictional.

Even though he has been associated with other superhero groups, like the Doom Patrol or more recently the Justice League, Cyborg will be forever linked with the New Teen Titans. Cyborg lengthy tenure with the began with the team's revival, putting him squarely on a collision course with the original Ravager, Grant Wilson, and his father, Deathstroke the Terminator. In fact, Grant's first ever act as the Ravager from New Teen Titans (1980) #2 was an attack on Cyborg, from which he needed an unexpected assist from the Terminator to avoid defeat. This event made Cyborg the first Teen Titan to cross figurative swords with Deathstroke. Posted below is a scan from Cyborg's 1985 Who's Who entry from issue #5 (V) featuring art by both Deathstroke's and Cyborg's legendary co-creator, George Pérez, and Romeo Tanghal.

Art by George Pérez and Romeo Tanghal

The Deathstroke Files Celebrates Cinco de Mayo With Spanish Who's Who (Quien es Quien) Profiles

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo! To commemorate this Mexican (and increasingly American) holiday I thought that it would be cool to repost some Deathstroke-related Who's Who entries, but this time en Español. Much like the Mexican army at the first Battle of Puebla, all of the Who's Who entries below, with art by the legendary George Pérez, are real winners. ¡Por favor, disfruta!

This Who's Who entry is certainly a fan edit, but I posted it anyway.

DEATHSTROKE COVERED: New Teen Titans (1980) #34 By the Legendary George Pérez

The cover for New Teen Titans (1980) #34 is amazing in multiple ways. First, it is a prime example of a trademark George Pérez multi-character scene. Secondly, it is jarringly symbolic as it clearly illustrates Deathstroke's desire to terminate the Teen Titans. Thirdly, this comic marked only the fifth ever appearance of Deathstroke, still commonly referred to as "Terminator," and, despite his popularity with fans, Deathstroke had not appeared in New Teen Titans in two years, though Chris Claremont and Walt Simonson did use him for Marvel and DC Present: The Uncanny X-Men and the New Teen Titans (1982) #1. 

And lastly, (bear with me here as I admit that this one is a stretch) if one looks at the cover as a photograph taken in the middle of an in-progress action, Deathstroke is firing at the Titans from the viewer's left to right. If the action continued along that path it is reasonable to assume that all of the Titans would be struck by Deathstroke's gunfire. That is, all of the Titans except one. Raven, Robin, and Kid-Flash had not yet been shot because the line of fire had yet to reach them. But the line of fire had already passed through Terra, and she had not been shot. In a certain context, this cover foreshadows the yet-to-be-revealed relationship between Deathstroke and Terra as well as Terra's role as a mole within the group as the reason she was not shot on the cover (I know, it sounds a little conspiracy theorist on my part, but it was fun to speculate). Anyway, the cover is posted below and as always, for best viewing results, open the image into its own tab.

Art by the Legendary George Pérez

The Changeling (Beast Boy) Entry from 1985's Who's Who #5

Here is a scan of the 1985 Who's Who entry from issue #5 (V) for Gar Logan, fka the Changeling, aka Beast Boy. Gar participated in the reformation of the Teen Titans and was with them for their fateful first contact with the Ravager and Deathstroke the Terminator. He also fell very much in love with Deathstroke's mole in the Teen Titan's, Terra. Following the events of the "Judas Contract," Changeling challenged Slade to a battle to the death due to his involvement in Terra's death. But when Slade arrived for the battle in civilian clothes, instead of fighting one another, he and Gar discussed the issues between them. As a result, the two rivals came to a mutual state of respect.

For best viewing results, open the image below in its own window.

Text by Marv Wolfman
Art by George Pérez and Romeo Tanghal

The Teen Titans Entry from 1986's Who's Who #23

Deathstroke made his debut in the pages of New Teen Titans (1980) #2 and Slade Wilson has been bound to the teen super-team, in all its subsequent incarnations ever since. Posted below is a scan of the 1986 Who's Who entry from issue #23 (XXIII) for the Teen Titans with art by the legendary, George Pérez. For best viewing results open the image in a new tab.

Art by George Pérez

The Terminator's 1987 DC Comics Backing Board Card

In 1987, DC Comics had a rather novel merchandising idea to solve a self-inflicted problem. Batman had undergone a popularity renaissance due to the astronomical success of Frank Miller's DC magnum opus, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986). DC wished to capitalize on the renewed demand for the character (a demand, which hasn't "Wayned" since. PUN!!!). Non-sports trading cards had also jumped in popularity by the mid-1980s, thanks in no small part to the Topps trading card company's wickedly sickening Garbage Pail Kids cards. But DC had a problem exploiting their characters in trading cards because they were legally barred from using Batman, or Batman-related characters. In the 1960s, DC had licensed the character's image for trading cards exclusively to Topps. Therefore, DC faced the prospect of launching a trading card set without being able to use one of their hottest properties (something that DC actually did in 1992 and 1993). What was DC's solution to this tricky situation? Thinking "outside of the box" by thinking inside the box...the acid-free comic book storage box that is.

DC's deal with Topps covered products defined specifically as trading cards; individually produced and cut trading cards. What the deal did not cover were backing boards, which were made from acid-free, glossy cardboard and used to support a comic book inside of a sealable storage bag. So in 1987, DC Comics Backing Board Cards were created allowing DC to get in on the trading card market using Batman and Batman-related characters, all while not violating their agreement with Topps. Sold in packs of three backing boards, the key to this not-card series was that the card images were printed on comic book backing boards, but ones that looked an awfully lot like a small, uncut trading card sheet. Because the consumer had to cut the images out of the backing boards (along conveniently present dotted lines) to turn the boards into "something resembling" trading cards, technically, DC was not selling actual trading cards at all. The backing board cards were popular enough that a second series was released in 1989. Luckily for DC, Topps' exclusive rights to Batman expired by 1994.

An uncut backing board from 1987's DC Comics Backing Board Cards
Image Source: Cosmic Teams.com

So, what's all this business and legal mumbo-jumbo got to do with Deathstroke? The first set of backing board cards in 1987 included a card for the Terminator, as Deathstroke was commonly known at the time. Most of the individual card images featured in the set were from stock artwork that DC used for things like t-shirt designs or children's' birthday or Valentines' Day cards. The Terminator's card #44 utilized recycled artwork by Deathstroke's co-creator, the legendary George Pérez, that he originally produced for the Terminator's Who's Who profile. The nicely cut front and back Terminator card images are posted below.

Deathstroke card #44 front image
Art by George Pérez
Image Source: The Trading Card Database

Deathstroke card #44 back image
Image Source: The Trading Card Database

Deathstroke's 36th Anniversary

New Teen Titans (1980) #2

Deathstroke the Terminator made his comic book debut on the very first page of New Teen Titans #2 on September 11, 1980. In the "Terminator," as he was commonly called, his creators, Marv Wolfman and George Perez, unleashed upon the Teen Titans and the rest of the DC Universe the most deadly and bad-ass mercenary/assassin it had ever seen. Enhanced reflexes, elite combat training, and the ability to utilize 90% of this brain capacity made the Terminator an instant fan favorite full of believable menace and instant dread at first sight. Deathstroke even previewed 1980s grim and grit five years before Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns defined the decade in comics.

Wolfman and Perez's Deathstroke clearly influenced the work of many aspiring comics creators. Rob Liefeld, for example, said in a 2012  interview with Comic Book Resources that he had "always been in awe of...Deathstroke -- and  'always' means since I was a child." This affinity for Slade was evident in many of Liefeld's future creations such as Cable, Deadpool, Shatterstar, Chapel, Battlestone, etc. as they all share more than just a few similarities to Deathstroke's look, methods, or personality. Liefeld loved the character so much that he even wrote and penciled Deathstroke's title for a while not even a year after the New 52 era began.

Yet Deathstroke was more than just gunplay and hand-to-hand combat. The Judas Contract storyline in 1984 (Tales of the Teen Titans #s 42-44 and Tales of the Teen Titan's Annual #3) demonstrated that Slade's strategic mind was just as deadly as any of his guns, swords, or round-house kicks. Slade played the long game with the Teen Titans having the unbalanced Terra infiltrate the team to gain their trust and the feed information about the Titans' personal lives to Slade with devastating results. Deathstroke has proven to be the villainous total package capable of tormenting the likes of the Teen Titans, the Suicide Squad, and the Justice League as well as being a credible rival for Batman, Green Arrow, and Nightwing. He continues to be featured prominently in comic books, television shows, video games, and soon-to-be feature films some 36 years after his dynamic debut.

The first comic book panel ever to feature Deathstroke

RAVAGER ROLL CALL: Grant Wilson

The name "Ravager" is an important one in the Deathstroke mythos, but it is also a name with many, many meanings. In a series of features called RAVAGER ROLE CALL, I'll investigate the individuals and groups that have had the audacity to call themselves a "Ravager." 

Grant Wilson, the first Ravager

For our first stop on the roll call, it's only fitting to start at the beginning with the first Ravager, Grant Wilson. However, due to the DC Universe's penchant to restart from scratch every few decades or so, Grant Wilson's story is different depending on whether it was told before or after Flashpoint. Therefore Grant's story will be told in two parts with the first part focussing on the Pre-Flashpoint days.

Grant Wilson made his comics debut in New Teen Titans (1980) #1. He grew up hearing fantastic stories told to him by his father about the world's greatest mercenary, Deathstroke the Terminator. Grant's father, Slade Wilson, somehow neglected to tell young Grant that he actually was the terrible Terminator himself, which would come back to haunt him in time. The elder Wilson's stories had a great impact upon the future of Grant as he revered the legend of Deathstroke so much that he aspired to one day be just like him.

After military schooling, Grant moved into a Manhattan apartment with his girlfriend, Carrol Sladky. The two had long relationship, but not necessarily a good relationship as Grant's wandering eye resulted in some dalliances outside of their relationship. In addition Grant began associating with members of the H.I.V.E. organization and had become more aggressive toward Carol. As a result of Grant's erratic behavior, Carol moved out of their apartment.

Grant's first contact with the Teen Titans came when Starfire's ship destroyed the apartment he used to share with Carol when it crash landed after she escaped from her Gordanian abductors. Grant went to Carol's new place to tried to convince her to mover back in with him. Carol asked him to leave, but Grant would't take "no" for an answer. As he violently grabbed Carol's arm Starfire and Wonder Girl arrived and witnessed the assault. Starfire reacted and unleashed a starbolt, which knocked Grant across the room and into a wall. Grant recovered from the blast and left, swearing vengeance as he did so.

Grant turned to H.I.V.E. who promised to give him powers that would exceed even those of the Terminator, so that he could have his revenge on the Titans. After the procedure, Grant was christened "the Ravager" as he accepted the same H.I.V.E. contract to kill the Teen Titans that Deathstroke had earlier turned down because H.I.V.E. refused to pay him in advance.  The Ravager's first target was Cyborg as he confronted him at S.T.A.R. Labs. The two began to battle with the Ravager enjoying early success. Cyborg, however, gained the upper-hand and had Grant reeling. Only the interference of the Terminator stole the victory from Cyborg. During a verbal confrontation with Grant, the Terminator tried to convince him to let the contract go as he knew that Grant's powers were killing him. Refusing to back down, Grant vowed to get his revenge and made off to confront the Titans. Deathstroke followed after him.

As the Ravager began his assault on the Titans, he was joined by the Terminator and the two assassins fought side-by-side. The Ravager and Deathstroke were dominating the Titans when Starfire began to unleash her starbolts at Grant. Grant became overwhelmed at when dodging the starbolts as his powers were extracting their final tolls on his body. He collapsed during the battle as his body began to rapidly age and become frail. As Grant died he asked the Terminator, "D-Did we do it? D-did we kill the Titans?" Taking mercy upon the dying Ravager, Raven cast an illusion in his mind showing him the bodies of the Titans slain before him. As Slade witnessed his son's final breath, blaming the Titan's for his son's death he collected Grant's body and made his leave. Slade assumed responsibility of Grant's contract to kill the Titans beginning his legendary vendetta with the team.

As he died, Raven showed the Ravager the illusion of his revenge over the Teen Titans.

Unlike his New 52 incarnation, Grant Wilson really did die at this point never to return to life. Though the original Ravager did return in a fashion when he was resurrected by black ring during the Blackest Night storyline attacking his father and sister (and a Ravager in her own right), Rose Wilson. Only the intervention of his brother Jericho saved Rose and Slade from the undead wrath of the Ravager.

The Terminator in DC Heroes Role Playing Game

In the heart of the Dungeons and Dragons heyday of the 1980s, Mayfair Games in 1985 released DC Heroes Role Playing Game. Pencil and paper RPG players could now go on adventures as Superman, Batman, or any number of other DC Comics heroes or (gasp) villains. Over the course of it's popular run (its third edition released in 1993) there were 70 or so expansion adventures sold for the game covering everything from the Justice League of America, the Legion of Super-Heroes, Watchmen, Jonah Hex, the Suicide Squad, the New Gods, and more. Because the New Teen Titans was one of the best selling comic book titles at the time, many of its characters were prominently featured in the in the game, as illustrated in the box art, which is pictured below (Deathstroke appears on the box as well).

Deathstroke in the bottom left corner of the box image
of the game's 1st edition

In addition to the box art, an introductory campaign module was included with the game set showcasing the New Teen Titans, with Deathstroke appearing solo on the cover. 

Deathstroke appearing solo on the Titan's solitaire module

Further evidence of the Teen Titan's 1980s popularity could be seen in the house ads that DC Comics ran to advertise the game's release. As pictured below, the New Teen Titans and Deathstroke were trusted to promote the game's release.

Pictured below is a scan of Deathstroke's (listed as Terminator) gameplay data. This image is very small, but it's the only one I could come up with.

Terminator''s stats entry from the game's 3rd. edition

The Teen Titans were also featured in a metal figures set that accompanied the role playing game. Deathstroke was included in the set as shown in the images below.

Box for the New Teen Titans and
Adversaries metal figure set

Deathstroke, again, inside the bottom left corner of the box, but in the
bottom right corner of the set's picture guide

My First Encounter with Deathstroke

I am not a Deathstroke expert, nor am I one of the lucky folks that can claim that they have followed the character from his first appearance in New Teen Titans (1980) #2. I grew up in a very small town some 35 miles from that nearest real comic shop and even a subscription through the mail was out of the question for me. In fact, the reason I started this blog in the first place was to learn more about the character that had always fascinated me through the years even if I wasn't always able to follow his exploits month-to-month. 

My very first exposure to Slade Wilson wasn't even through a traditional comic book, but rather through a New Teen Titan's black and white budget format reprint digest. I purchased it from a grade school book fair in 1982 for the discounted price of $1.49. The digest featured a forward by Marv Wolfman and an original cover by George Pérez (front and back covers pictured below). It collected the New Teen Titans introductory story from DC Comics Presents (1978) #26 as well as the first several issues of the New Teen Titans (1980), which, as the back cover tells us, included the debut of the "Terrible Terminator" in #2. Even the absence of interior coloring couldn't hide all the Deathstroke coolness from his half-dark mask, to his choice and use of weapons, to the way he completely handled the starring cast. Sadly, my copy of this digest didn't survive the 80s, but if your are interested in a rare bit of comics nostalgia merchandise, copies of this digest are still out there to be had if you look in the right places.

The Terminator (A.K.A. Deathstroke) Who's Who Entry from 1986

Here is a scan of the 1986 Who's Who entry from issue #23 (XXIII) for The Terminator with art by Deathstroke's co-creator, the legendary George Pérez.