Everything old is new again

Deathstroke the Terminator Nos. 6-9
DC Comics
Creators: Marv Wolfman, Steve Erwin and Will Blyberg
Cover date: January-April 1992

Among the April 2018 solicitations for DC Comics is this blurb for Deathstroke No. 30: "'Deathstroke vs. Batman' part one! Beginning this month, a six-issue series-within-a-series featuring the ultimate showdown between DC’s fiercest rivals!"

I've read some issues of the current Deathstroke series and enjoyed them, so I mean no disrespect to writer Christopher Priest or artist Carlo Pagulayan when I raise the question: Are fans really clamoring for this face-off? Isn't this a bit of old news? These two characters squared off long ago in a truly excellent tale that avoided a number of potential pitfalls. Go check it out; it's well worth your time!

Let's give this tale a little bit of context. Deathstroke debuted alongside Marv Wolfman's and George Perez's The New Teen Titans in 1980. Longtime Titans foes the H.I.V.E. tried to hire the mercenary, Slade Wilson, to slay the teenage heroes, but he refused, preferring to avoid conflict with costumed vigilantes. So the H.I.V.E. set about engaging Deathstroke's services by involving his estranged son, Grant. Grant accepted the contract, but died while attacking the Titans, and Deathstroke, a man of honor, felt bound to complete his son's contract against his own better judgment.

This touched off a long antagonistic relationship between the Titans and Deathstroke that reached its conclusion in "The Judas Contract" storyline in 1984. Deathstroke finally fulfilled the terms of that original contract by successfully capturing all of the Titans and turning them over to the H.I.V.E. The heroes survived and escaped, but Deathstroke saw his obligation as fulfilled when he turned the Titans over. That wasn't the end of the character's history, however.

Deathstroke proved popular and was used as a villain in many other DC Comics. Some of those appearances made for good stories; some were less well conceived, especially in light of the character's ongoing appearances in the New Teen Titans title. Deathstroke made amends with the various Titans characters following "The Judas Contract" and even served as an ally to the team in the "Titans Hunt" storyline several years later. The character was still a mercenary for hire, but one with a rigid code of honor and ethics. Not everyone, especially a superhero, would agree with all of Deathstroke's decisions and actions, but the character was given more depth by Wolfman's continued use of him. He certainly wasn't a hero, but he could be someone readers could root for in a number of situations.

Following the "Titans Hunt" storyline, Deathstroke was given his own title. Many of the stories in this book took Wilson to foreign countries, often ones at war, where killing and mercenaries could be viewed outside the moral absolutes of most superhero stories. Wolfman's continued great writing and characterization made Deathstroke a more multi-faceted character, and Steve Erwin and Will Blyberg gave the art a crisp, clean, dynamic appearance.

The first story arc of the title re-examined Deathstroke's origin and added details to it while taking Wilson on an emotional journey through all of the tragedies of his life. I'm sure the addition of Batman in the second story arc was an attempt to pull in more readers with a more superhero-centric tale. But including a character like Batman could have backfired for the book.

Deathstroke is the title character of the book, which is also a new book to comic stands. It wouldn't be good to have the title character losing a fight. But neither is Batman a character DC would want to see put to shame in a matchup. Remember, the height of Batmania began in 1989 and is still going very strong in 1992. So they could fight to a draw? That wouldn't be satisfying for fans.

Instead, Wolfman smartly avoids having the characters go head-to-head. Remember, this Batman was very different from the Batman of today in one key regard. He's the world's best detective, an excellent combatant and a brilliant tactician. That has been — and always should be — a part of the Batman mythos. But in the early 1990s, Batman was still willing to work alongside other heroes, to trust other heroes and to listen to what other people had to say. Also, remember that Deathstroke at this point had very recently been an ally of the Titans.

In the "City of Assassins" storyline, Wolfman has Batman and Deathstroke working toward a common goal rather than at odds. There is an initial confrontation, and Deathstroke, an enhanced human, does have the upper hand against the Dark Knight, who while in peak form, is still human. But from the outset, Batman suspects that Deathstroke might be on the side of the angels after consulting with Nightwing for information about the mercenary. When others are quick to assume Deathstroke to be one of many bad guys in the scenario, Batman looks at the evidence of what has happened and rightly concludes that assumption is incorrect.

As an added bonus, this storyline also is the one that introduces the third character to bear the name Vigilante in the DC Universe. I strongly recommend it if you've never read it before. And even if you have, it is well worth another look if you haven't read it in a while!

I Was On A Roll And Then I Ruined It

Panic In the Sky trade paperback collection (1993)
DC Comics
Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, Louise Simonson and Roger Stern, writers
Jon Bogdanove, Tom Grummett, Dan Jurgens, Bob McLeod, Brett Breeding, Doug Hazlewood, Dennis Janke and Denis Rodier, artists

Last time, we talked about the Superman: Exile trade collection -- one I read recently for the first time and very much enjoyed. A large part of that story involves Superman running into Warworld, being forced to take part in its gladiatorial-style contests to the death, and the Man of Steel's attempts to change that system. In Exile, Warworld is under the control of the Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths version of Mongul.

In this trade collection from a few years later, Warworld, now under the control of Brainiac, is headed for Earth  to enslave the populace. Unlike Exile, I read this story arc in the Superman titles of the time -- Action Comics, Adventures of Superman, Superman and Superman: The Man of Steel. I was drawn to "Panic In the Sky" because Superman assembles a large team of heroes to assist him in fighting off the Warworld invasion. Several of my favorites at the time play roles in the story. The group Superman assembles is a hodge-podge of heroes and anti-heroes because there is no current Justice League team in DC continuity at the time of this story.

One of the nicer things about this trade collection, which I purchased along with the Exile trade, is the inclusion before each chapter of the various writers' and the editor's thoughts on the story and how it came about. Turns out "Panic In the Sky" was initially envisioned as one of those all-consuming crossover stories DC did every year at that time. Only later was that notion turned down and the story moved to being told solely in the various Superman titles for a few months.

I very much enjoyed "Panic In the Sky" when it first appeared in single issues, and it isn't a bad story as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Guy Gardner, Kilowog, Fire, Ice, Flash, Captain Marvel, Booster Gold, several of the New Gods and more battle to save Earth from the schemes of Brainiac and the forces of Warworld. But honestly, rereading it now in trade format 20 years after I first experienced it, the story doesn't hold up quite as well as I remembered.

In one of his text pieces, writer Dan Jurgens wrote about superheroes -- especially Superman -- merely reacting to threats after someone has been hurt or some crime has been committed. One of the goals of this story was to depict the heroes -- again, especially Superman -- being more proactive. But the Superman depicted here is just as reactive as usual. Sure he assembles a team of heroes to come together and go into space to fight Warworld before it reaches Earth, but only after Brainiac sends his robotic Head-Ship to attack Metropolis, wreaking a great deal of destruction, and announcing to the Man of Steel that Brainiac is now in control of Warworld and bringing the artificial planet to Earth. Superman has no knowledge of the threat before this initial attack, so he's still reacting. To make matters worse, some of the character interaction among the many heroes in this story makes Superman seem like kind of a weak leader. He's constantly being challenged by Guy Gardner and Orion, to name just two examples, and he's also shown as uncertain several times and uneasy leading all of these various heroes.

Another problem in hindsight is the inclusion of Deathstroke the Terminator among Superman's assembled team. Deathstroke had his own comic in the mid-1990s, and while he was still an anti-hero, his strong moral code was emphasized in his own title. The character became a bit more heroic than he was initially depicted and would be written in later comics. In another text piece by Jurgens, the writer expressed his initial concern about including Deathstroke; why would someone like Superman seek out such an individual for help? But Jurgens said he later came to see the value of Deathstroke's tactical contributions. Except, wasn't Batman known as the master strategist of the DCU heroes? With some of the things the character has been used for since "Panic In the Sky," Deathstroke really seems out of place in this story now.

Several other characters are barely used. Wonder Woman is among the heroes Superman assembles, but her role is limited to appearing in a few backgrounds and exposition scenes. She plays no real role in the battle against Warworld. Other heroes get the same treatment, showing up but contributing little. I was happy when these books debuted to see two of my favorites, Aquaman and Nightwing, included in the story. Happily, they get much more panel time and much more dialogue than Wonder Woman in the story, but sadly, neither contributes a vital role to the proceedings, I discovered upon rereading these issues.

That isn't to say that there is nothing of value here; Draaga's story in this trade continues from what was begun for him in Exile. His is a pretty compelling story and easily provides much of the heart of these issues. Supergirl/Matrix also has some interesting developments in this arc. And finally, events at the end of "Panic In the Sky" were directly used to help re-launch the Justice League title for this era. But all of these things also seem to make Superman a supporting character in his own titles for two months. That's really kind of sad for the hero known for inspiring all others.

I'll Keep My Eye On It, But ...

Team Seven 0-2
DC Comics
Justin Jordan, writer
Jesus Merino, Ron Frenz and Julius Gopez, artists

This DCnU title, launched during Zero Month along with a few others, promises a look back at the beginnings of the first appearances of superheroes in the New 52 DC Universe, much like Grant Morrison's Action Comics. Team Seven is a covert, government group put together as a response to the emergence of metahumans and extraterrestrials living openly among human society. It seems the government was a little fearful of these costumed adventurers popping up all over the place "five years ago."

Among the cast of this title are some very familiar faces. I confess I don't know the previous history of all of these characters, but the team is brought together under the guidance of John Lynch, a central character from the old Wildstorm title Gen 13. The operatives he assembles include Black Canary, Deathstroke, Grifter and Amanda Waller. Their first mission, as begun in these issues, pits this new team against an entire prison full of inmates and staff under the control of Eclipso.

The conceit of this premise is that story lines could (and presumably will) cross over into several other titles and characters' pasts, plus I thought the idea an interesting one. And this is an interesting and well-written title. The art is a little uneven as one might guess from three artists on three issues, but not bad. In fact, the book is good enough that I will likely keep my eye on Team Seven for times when they might cross paths with characters I continue to follow. But I'm just not sure I'm going to be a regular reader of the title. It's not bad, it's just not holding my interest enough to justify the expense right now.