New Teen Titans #2 (1980)
by Marv Wolfman & George Pérez
Weird how THE Titans villain is barely on the cover of his first appearance.
But Deathstroke has a proper introduction on the first page, getting down to business.
You just have to love his no-nonsense attitude. He’s not getting any shenanigans from his would-be employers, the Hierarchy of International Vengeance and Eliminations.
Yep, that’s what H.I.V.E. stands for.
They may be dumb enough to try hiring Deathstroke without paying him, but at least they’re not dumb enough to do it in person.
Deathstroke continues to not give a crap.
All of this was an excuse to analyze Deathstroke, so that they’ll be able to get a Terminator of their own.
Yeah good luck with that.
Meanwhile the New Teen Titans, who have been formed only for a week, are fighting a bunch of smugglers.
This is SO early in their career that Starfire doesn’t even know English yet, so she doesn’t understand Robin’s warnings and ends up destroying the evidence they need.
You would think that in a universe full of telepaths and universal translators this wouldn’t be a problem. Surely there’s SOME wat to teach her quickly?
Yeah that’s one way to do it.
This is in fact the FIRST time we learn Starfire’s people absorb languages through physical contact!
That’s quite unique, I’m not aware of any precedent.
Fanservice aside, that’s an incredibly useful ability that doesn’t get used all that often.
If you’re wondering what Deathstroke has to do with all this, he’s watching them.
He already shows some respect for them, but something doesn’t feel right to him…
…so he calls his butler Wintergreen to do some research.
Deathstroke is VERY often compared to Batman, and while I think the parallels are overrated it can’t be a coincidence.
Meanwhile, the Hierarchy of International Vengeance and Eliminations has received the voluntary to become the next Deathstroke.
His origin is the long debunked myth that humans only use 10% of their brain.
That freaking myth just refuses to die, doesn’t it? I don’t mind finding it in a 1980 comic, but even in 2023 you STILL see that around.
After a few subplots, the Teen Titans move to the important stuff. Fanservice!
Not all Titans join the pool party. Raven is busy with her plots, and Cyborg is investigating the robots from the earlier incident… only to be attacked by a new villain, The Ravager.
If there’s one villain trope that I absolutely love, is when the bad guy is obsessed with revenge against heroes who have no freaking idea of what they’re talking about.
He’s no match for Cyborg’s sonic weapons. He should consider himself lucky that Marv Wolfman doesn’t know how decibels work, because “a million decibels or so” would AT THE VERY LEAST CREATE A BLACK HOLE.
But The Ravager doesn’t really have to fight Cyborg, because then Deathstroke shows up to kidnap him.
Turns out The Ravager is a big fan of Deathstroke. As much as I hate the fact that the “100% of your brain” refuses to die, at least in THIS version it has a somewhat realistic downside.
Well that accomplished nothing.
Yeah increasing your brain power means nothing if you start out as an idiot.
Seriously, I know this version of the Titans is new, but do the math!!!
He’s lucky that Deathstroke joins the fight.
Deathstroke wastes no time showing off.
The Ravager is not a complete pushover. He does give a good fight to the Titans…
…until he uses too much brainpower, as Deathstroke warned him.
That’s when Raven shows up, just as The Ravager is dying.
Raven decides to grant one last wish to The Ravager.
And THAT is why Deathstroke hates the Titans. Because his idiotic son got himself powers that he couldn’t control.
Oh yeah, jumping ahead a bit, we learn in the last page that The Ravager was Deathstroke’s son.
Uhm, not that I want to question the logic of a guy who uses 90% of his brain, but… The Ravager died because he used his own powers, wouldn’t that have happened even if the Titans didn’t fight back?
And so the first encounter between the Titans and Deathstroke ends with the heroes letting him go.
A decision I’m sure they won’t ever regret.
Historical significance: 10/10
As far as the Titans are concerned, it’s essential reading. Bonus for Starfire learning English!
Silver Age-ness: 2/10
Kept to a minimum.
Does it stand the test of time? 7/10
It still has all the signs of being the beginning of the series, and Wolfman isn’t QUITE juggling the large cast as well as he will eventually do. Deathstroke’s introduction, while certainly novel, is a bit too convoluted and the reason why he hates the Titans feels a bit forced.
I guess it’s not TOO different from Doom hating Reed for no reason, but unlike Doom we’re not supposed to think Deathstroke is in any way detached from reality.
Still, despite the growing pains, even 43 years later it’s not hard to see why this series became a sales juggernaut. Having George Pérez certainly helped, he’s on fire in this run!!!
How close is this to the modern character?: 8/10
Analyzing the history of Deathstroke would mean going through the entire history of the Titans, which is HUGE.
He does begin with several aspects already established. The importance of family in his backstory, his reluctant admiration for the Titans, the tendency to both show off and to back up his claims, and the ability to do stuff WAY above his weight class (this won’t be the last time he anticipates the moves of a Flash).
Over the years he’s basically lost “The Terminator” as part of his name, for rather obvious reasons.
But he’s also moved away from the Titans more than once… he’s had his own regular series, he’s been a Green Arrow villain, and there’s always a big push to make him a Batman villain.
Which I hope never succeeds: he’s a great villain and I’m fine with him fighting other heroes, but he is THE Teen Titans villain at this point. That’s where he shines!
And of course, out of the many incarnations I absolutely MUST mention his version in the 2003 Teen Titans cartoon. While admittedly his characterization is not 100% the same, Ron Perlman gives one of the very best villain performances EVER.
THE best villain voice of ANY adaptation of any villain.
Funnily enough, the cartoon couldn’t even use his name! Well technically it DID: he’s called Slade the entire time, which is his actual last name.
I totally understand why they didn’t use “the Terminator”. But why was Deathstroke off the table!?!?
“Funnily enough, the cartoon couldn’t even use his name! Well technically it DID: he’s called Slade the entire time, which is his actual last name.”
Typo time, again. “Slade” is his first name: Slade Wilson–unless the cartoon, which I never saw, changed it.
This run of the Titans certainly did shine, and a large part of the reason was because Wolfman and Perez came up with memorable villains. Deathstroke was more than a credible threat, and he also had a well-developed personality that could grow and change. In a later issue, he meets one of the Titans at a diner to air their differences. It was one of the most memorable and moving scenes in the Titans comic, and it came from a villain!
For some reason I often forget Slade is his first and not his last name. Weird since his daughter Rose is more known by her full name than her codename… I guess it’s because he’s always either Slade Wilson or Slade, but rarely Mr. Wilson?
But yeah, Deathstroke being the most impressive Titans villain is doubly impressive because there are so many well-written villains there. The only reason he’s the only one in the retrospective is that he’s the only one to break out of the series to become a major player.
I really liked Deathstroke. Right up until Identity Crisis, when he made half the Justice League look like fools.
Not the worst thing about Identity Crisis, by a long shot, but still awful.
I think it was part of the push to make him “evil Batman”. So in the period where we had Bat-God being able to do anything, by that logic we needed to have Slade-God.
And it was awful.
I haven’t kept up with DC enough to know if he’s returned to being regular old Deathstroke or not.
Frankly, this is one lame introduction to such a character.
It would’ve made sense if they started with Ravager, and after a few issues daddy shows up -for example, Ravager starts feeling sick due to his enhancment and Slade comes in but it’s too late… and then he blames the Titans.
But as it is, you wasted a topical moment AND the potential that Ravager could’ve brought.
Meh!
Wow!! What a little time-blast back to 1980!! Jimmy Carter had just done his best to destroy the country, the ‘Not Ready For Prime-Time Players’ had all just descended on Tinsel-Town, “Magnum, PI”and “Dallas” were the TV shows to beat, “Caddyshack” and “The Empire Strikes Back”, were, respectively, the biggest movies of the year, Tom Cruise was in limbo between high school and superstardom, and DC takes a desperate gamble to keep Marvel from burying them by dusting off the ‘Teen Titans’! Why not-?? Nothing else was working!! And, to think, the glory days of ‘Batmania’ were only a mere dozen years in the past! I agree with the Archeologist that the second issue of “The New Teen Titans” was one of the very finest single issues of the entire series! It just had everything! George Perez at the top of his game on the art! A beautiful job on the coloring that I do not believe was ever matched, ever again, on this series! ( although issue# 4’s “Against All Friends” did come close ) A great story featuring an as-yet uncongealed team of new Teen Titans- but Deathstroke. As far as I am concerned, this guy is quite overrated. A seriously middle-aged, half-blind dude with absolutely no superpowers whatsoever can chronically and habitually make mincemeat out of superpros like Kid Flash, Beast Boy, ( the “Changeling”, in those days ) Wonder Girl, and Starfire, the alien powerhouse! I am so sure! I don’t know why the Archeologist is so resistant to the idea of making Deathstroke a member of the Bat-Rogue’s Gallery, because Deathstroke is more in line with the types of non-superpowered psychotics that generally plague Gotham City! And, as has been covered in great detail, Deathstroke is simply an evil version of the Caped Crusader! The gimmick-weaponry, the penthouse apartment such as Batman and Alfred co-habitated from 1969 to 1982, and, yes, the trusty manservant Wintergreen! You could even go so far as to say that Deathstrokes’ late son Grant-the Ravager- was Deathstroke’s teenaged protege!! Evil versions of Batman, Alfred, and Robin! Who could not see this-?? Deathstroke’s destruction of the newly-formed Teen Titans squad in this issue is echoed in issue #13 of Deathstrokes’ own short-lived series, when a freshly-escaped Deathstroke evades Superman, and actually takes DOWN the Flash, ( again, as in this issue-but it’s worth noting that the only reason it happened in this issue of ‘Deathstroke was because Wally seriously undersestimated his opponent- “I’m the Flash, and you’re just a punk with a pole!!”) incredibly, the Green Lantern, but was finally bagged by- Aquaman!! I LOVED it!! It happened for the same reason as to why Deathstroke defeated the Flash- Deathstroke seriously underestimated his opponent!! Never, NEVER underestimate a King of Atlantis- even when he’s on dry land!! So, “The New Teen Titans”#2 was an exciting foreshadowance of the next four years’ worth of comic-book excitement to come!! It is significant to note here, that when Robin, Kid Flash, and, most crippling of all-George Perez-all left the “Teen Titans” series in the mid-Eighties- so went the series!! I would strongly advise future comic-book professionals to not forget the lesson here! Good characters and dynamic creators/artists are what sell comics- not mediocre-to-poor replacements, and seriously less-than-iconic characters! Thank you for the privilege of your time, and Excelsior!
Deathstroke can work as a Batman villain, sure, but Bats already has tto many villains and definitely doesn’t need more.
Batman “already having too many villains” is a matter of opinion- my impression has always been that there is something about Gotham City which breeds and/or attracts psychotics to it’s streets. Not Metropolis, not Gateway City, not Midway City, not Coast City- just Gotham City. ( Central City gets it’s fair share of psychos, however ) Deathstroke has stayed out of Gotham, for the most part, going, as he will, where his contracts take him. He does kinda strike me as a Metropolis/New York kinda guy. Bigger fields, bigger prospects, etc.