Green Arrow vs Deathstroke, the history

 At the moment, Deathstroke Year One is telling Slade first days as a mercenary and Green Arrow was there(Yeah, I know, another retcon). As always, here's the history between the two. One of DC's best rivalries that most people forget. But only main continuity stuff,  of course. 

Crossroads

Starting in Green Arrow #84 from march 1994, this two part story is comics at its finest. A very fun and relaxing read at the same time, written by the great Alan Grant(that sadly passed away recently, Grant was easily one of the most legendary names in comics). Yes, Oliver and Slade don't fight here, they work together, it's somewhat of a light hearted adventure but it establishes the dynamic between the two. And it was the first time the two meet. A must read. 

Before I forget there is this really great gag about how the two look similar, the humor is just on point. 

The Death Doctor

In Deathstroke The Terminator #39, Oliver and Slade would meet again as they find themselves on the same case. Again, they don't fight, Oliver shows up more for a cameo than anything else. Still, this is part of the history between the two but I must say, it is a skippable read. 

Identity Crisis

The big one. One of the most infamous moments in DC comics history. How Slade deals with Flash and Green Lantern here is nothing short of ridiculous plot armour. However, how he fights the rest of the heroes  makes sense. Slade was created to be, and used to be, a heavy weight character. The type of combatant that with strategy can beat almost anyone. Well, I guess everyone knows how this ends. But, I'm not going to consider this a win for Slade. due to how the fight ends.

Crawling Through the Wreckage

After Identity Crisis and Infinite Crisis, Deathstroke would be Oliver's main antagonist for a while. Of course, Oliver knew this day would come so he prepared himself and gave Slade a run for his money. 

Taking place in Green Arrow #62 from 2006, Oliver, technically, beats Slade. I have to say, the dynamic here is great. Oliver is the ultimate underdog and he knows this, so he's not playing around. A good villain is the one who makes the hero do stuff like this. 

Road to Jericho

At the end of that confrontation, Slade lets himself get arrested, some time later after escaping prison he goes after Green Arrow once again and this time Oliver has no chance. Slade dominates the entire fight, even with Black Canary at his side, Oliver stands zero chance of winning. Thanfully, the Justice League shows up at the end to save them. No contest, point for Deathstroke. 

World of Difference

So, Oliver was fighting some werewolvess, because comics are that awesome, he and others got infected, searching for a cure Oliver cross paths with Deathstroke once again. Even with werewolf powers and Emiko's help, Slade still comes on top. This story is collected in Green Arrow Vol. 9: Outbreak.

Honorable Mention: Deathstroke The Balkan and Green Arrow The Children of Vakhar. 

Deathstroke annual #2 from 2016 sees Slade being hired to go up against a mercenary known as the Balkan. Easily top 5 best Deathstroke stories ever made and a must read alone.  2018's Green Arrow #39 shows the fallout of that mission as Oliver tries to repair the damage caused by Deathstroke. Not a fight between the two but a good read. 

Deathstroke Year One

The latest solo adventure for Deathstroke sees Slade at the beginning of his career as a mercenary, filling in some gaps and retconing some aspects of his origin. Naturally, since we're talking about comics, a character has to make a cameo, this time being Green Arrow of course. They fight and the younger, hotheaded and unexperienced Slade loses. Very interesting but as you can imagine this creates some issues. Regardless of that, points for Oliver. 

In Conclusion

When it comes to these two, quality over quantity is the key. Almost every time the two are together in a page something important is about to go down. And now, the results. 

That's it for today, if needed this post will be updated again in the future. Until then, take care and have a good one.

Deathstroke Inc. #11 Review

 Yes, Slade. It has to be orange. 

Year One - Part 2 

Writer: Ed Brisson 
Artist: Dexter Soy

Colorist: Veronica Gandini

Letterer: Steve Wands

Editor: Paul Abernathy
Cover: Mikel Janin 

Year One continues, as we see Slade in one of his first contracts. We get more action with this one, more guns blazing and blood flowing through the pages.The comic still makes time for character development and interactions that still feel for the most part cohesive with what we already know about Deathstroke. And this is starting to remind me of Jason Aaron Punisher, which I'm a big fan so thats a plus. The highlight to me, once again, is the attention to detail when it comes to the character history. For instance, Deathstroke and Green Arrow used to have a big rivalry post Identity Crisis. So, Oliver showing up here feels appropriate and interesting.  As a fan, I'm been dying to see the two fighting once again(last time we had  Green Arrow vs Deathstroke was back in 2016 if I'm not mistaken). Solid issue. Definitely looking forward to the next.

DC vs. Vampires: All-Out War #1 Review

 Deathstroke, vampire hunter

All-out war, Part 1 

Writer: Matthew Rosenberg and Alex Paknadel
Artist: Pasquale Qualano

Colorist: Nicola Righi

Letterer: Troy Peteri

Editor: Ben Abernathy
Cover: Alan Quah

Yes, I went in expecting nothing from this comic. Oh, boy, how wrong I was. 

This "survivors trapped/living in hiding" type of narrative is very well used, how they are surviving feels very believable. Need to tip my hat here due to the attention to detail. Deathstroke however was my biggest surprise here, the character is very well utilized, his plan is very cohesive with the character. Azrael story was the highlight, there's is a lot of potential for him in this series and seeing him with Bane makes it even better. The humor was another thing that worked really well. Same needs to be said about the artwork. The ending hypes up the next issue, but regardless of that, I'm definitely going to be excited whenever a new issue from this series comes out.

Slade Wilson: Contract Journal - Part 3 - The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans

 Back when crossover used to be a thing 

What X-Men was doing for Marvel, Teen Titans was doing it for DC. This is no surprise for anyone, one title even influenced the other. The creation of Terra was supposed to be a "dark" version of Kitty Pryde just as one example. 

And since crossovers used to be a thing during the 80, why not a crossover with the two? The result was what many consider the best Marvel/DC crossovers. 

Apokolips . . . Now!

Writer:  Chris Claremont
Artist: Walt Simonson

Colorist: Glynis Oliver

Inks: Terry Austin

Letterer: Tom Orzechowski

Editor: Len Wein
Cover: Walt Simonson and Terry Austin

This might sound weird, but for a comparison, this comic feels like a summer blockbuster. Think about the first Avengers movie, you had these characters you learn to care about coming together to stop a villain who wants to conquer the world. Obviously, the situation here is much different but the feeling you get reading is somewhat similar to watching that movie for the first time, you just know you're in for something special. 

As the comic opens, we're presented to the X-Men, so if you're here but only read Teen Titans you would not feel lost, the group is brilhant presented and made easy to understand the basics of them. 

And the plot is also made clear, Darkseid wants the Phoenix. (And of course, we're presented to the basics about the Titans and Deathstroke, in case you only read X-men) 

Darkseid hires Slade to collect residual energy from places where the Phoenix had appeared, when doing so, he gets attacked by the X-men. Meanwhile, the Titans attack the X-men mansion. With help from some parademons, Deathstroke captures the X-men and brings them to Darkseid, and a character named Ravok captures the Titans. Both groups get put inside a machine, Darkseid uses their energy to summon the Dark Phoenix. 

He leaves, letting the two groups to escape the machine and unite. And here is the point I have to stop just to comment about how cool and unique it is to see so many characters from completely different places interacting. It is the type of thing you would never see today.

They catch up to the bad guys, the art and text working tremendously well to sell the action. Cyclops using the Phoenix Force manages to trap Darkseid in the Source Wall, this sequence is gorgeous to look at. As you can expect i did simplify the plot a lot, however the plot is simple, maybe this is one of the reasons it is so good. 

The simpler the plot, the better for the characters, the interactions that you can't get anywhere else, the action, the artwork, etc. The plot is not bad by any means, it is good, i want to make that clear. 

The plot works, the art is great, everyone has enough space to be memorable, you get everything a crossover promises with this one. Maybe the only downside is how text heavy it can be at certain times. Still, this is a 100% recommendation for anyone who likes super hero comics. 

Dark Crisis #2 Review

Oh no, not the Titans Tower 

FALL OF THE TITANS

Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Daniel Sampere

Colorist: Alejandro Sánchez

Letterer: Tom Napolitano

Editor: Paul Kamisky
Cover: Daniel Sampere and Alejandro Sánchez 

I have lots of mixed feelings about this. The art was great, all the fights looked cool but the story felt... slow? 

To start, I must say that Beast Boy being alive is a good thing, I'm relieved for that. (And it's funny since almost the same happened way back in New Teen Titans #10 and 11) Again, the artwork was amazing, and that was my favorite part about it. Seeing Kyle at the end was my second favorite thing, the ending here definitely hypes up the next issue. 

But, we're promised this big fight between Dick and Slade and the whole thing was posted by the artist on social media or some site posted it.  It was so short that I felt tricked(?). And the lack of original ideas is bothering me. The identity of this event is the theme about legacy, However everything else has been done before. But of course, one could just say that's how comic books are theses days and that's fair.  This comic ain't bad by any means, although it can feel very basic.