dogmeatthedead

[dogmeatthedead]

Okay, so, I never post here but over the past few months I finally sat myself down and read through the full 90s run of Deathstroke the Terminator, which I've come to absolutely adore. Especially Slade's best friend, Wintergreen.

And I'm pretty sure no one's done this before so I figured I'd do it myself. I went through every issue and put together all of Wintergreen's journal entries in google doc form for anyone that cares enough about that sort of thing so.... Enjoy.

[dogmeatthedead]

Preach hhahah

Deathstroke in his own comics: Deep dive into the complexity of Slade’s psyche and his relationship with his children. Analysis of what makes someone a good or bad person.

Deathstroke in other comics: Okay but am I really being paid enough for this shit?

[dogmeatthedead]

Hey, this was fun to read. If you don't mind, I'm going to throw in my two sense as a long time Deathstroke Fan whose favorite run is the original.

The Deathstroke the Terminator run came out about 11 years after he was originally created. I'll say up front that Marv Wolfman's vision for Deathstroke was very different from how most people actually viewed him. He was a morally grey mercenary, don't get me wrong, but people tend to overly associate that with the character that he is now. They see the evil that he did during Judas Contract and run with that when about a year after that arc concluded (but shortly after in terms of Slade's actually appearances), Marv was already trying his hardest to disavow that version of the character.

Starting with Tales of the Teen Titans #54, "Blind Justice!" and going into #55 "Shades of Grey" Slade Wilson was on trial for being Deathstroke and Beast Boy wants to kill him for everything that happened to Tara. Hijinks ensue and the mini arc ends with Slade more or less manipulating Garfield into believing his version of events that took place during the Judas Contract. This version paints Slade as pretty much the scared victim and Tara as the evil villain. This establishes that Slade will change the version of events to make himself sound better.

In real life though, this is pretty much because Marv Wolfman has a radically different view of who Slade was and the direction he wanted to take Deathstroke than he had originally framed out. But the longer you read the Deathstroke the Terminator run, you see that it's basically a narrative retelling of Slade's adventures as told by either Slade himself or Wintergreen.

Now my personal head cannon that the entire Deathstroke the Terminator run is unreliably told by people in universe people trying their hardest to make Slade sound better than he really is; so the run really isn't out of character for the Deathstroke that we were seeing at the time.

Moving a little further from Tales of the Teen Titans into New Titans and around 5 years later, Slade comes back as pretty much an anti-hero helping clean up the Terminator Plague that he helped cause. Following that, he gets his soft launch issue, "Clay Pigeons."

At this point in time, Marv Wolfman could do no wrong with DC and Marv loved this character so in New Titans #70 Slade got his own issue that served as a soft launch for his own comic book series that would come out around a year later. In "Clay Pigeons" Slade is helping set up a better government in a small country and while he does it for a fee, he ultimately makes the "best" decisions to set up the "good" people in the country. It pretty perfectly sets the tone for what one could expect for the Deathstroke the Terminator books run.

During the year between New Titans #70 and Deathstroke the Terminator #1, Slade appears in quite a few other issues all of which continue to establish this "bad guy with a heart of gold" version of the character that Marv was working so hard to establish.

Deathstroke the Terminator when looking at the issues written by Wolfman, as a whole is a meditation on a broken man trying to reconcile violent actions and a violent nature with wanting a calm life, and ethics that have been twisted by trauma while still knowing deep down right from wrong. Loosely so I give you, but I think if there were to be a grand take away, it would be that. All of this is clouded through the view of the characters in universe, which I think was intentional from Marv.

Yeah, Slade tends to "change" quite a bit between arcs because not only is the narrative unreliable, with Slade trying to pivot the story between him being a stone cold killer and Wintergreen trying to show the man. All this leads to the feeling you get of the character changing so often. That and the fact that it's (off and on again) framed as being a telling of Wintergreen's journal. So a retelling of events rather than following as things actually happen which can lead to this tonal flip flopping.

As to your other point of Slade being at his most interesting "when he's a side character because he's closer to his original," I'd hope that by this point I've made it clear that unless your only counting the very first 9-10 issues that Deathstroke ever appeared in, the Slade that appears in the Deathstroke the Terminator book is very close to the original. Just not close to the version of the character that most people assume him to be, and for sure not the character that he's been bastardized into becoming.

Or I'm totally off and just waxing poetically about a book that I've read far to into. Which I totally admit, I've read far to into this book, and care way to much about the Marv Wolfman version of the character.

It's always good to see new readers get into the book, and I've just wanted an excuse to write something out. Hope you give the other books a chance, but guessing from your other posts, you have. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the rest of the run.

Deathstroke the Terminator Vol 1

Do you want to read Slade Wilson strike it out on his own in his first stand-alone comic? Read this.

This is one of those comics which could have been so good if it wasn't being held back by the time period it's being written in. Despite the fact that this comic isn't actually that long after the character was created it's clear they don't really know what direction they want to take him. Every arch seems like it's trying for a new 'take' on the character instead of being a connected story. And because of the time period a lot of those takes are very Action Hero or Cyber Tech which doesn't super work for Slade.

The stories that are the best tend to be the ones where he's almost a side character to someone else's story. Which I think is more just because those stories tend to have his characterization closer to his original (the morally gray mercenary who keeps ending up as people's mentor) not because Slade can't carry a story as the lead. Because there are also ones where he is the lead where it works, but again, those are the ones that stick more to his original characterization and are less trying to change the status quo.

Should you read it? There's some stories in here that are fun but I probably wouldn't suggest reading the whole thing. If it's guest starring someone (especially Vigilante) chances are it's one of the good ones.

#Deathstroke #Slade Wilson #william wintergreen #marvstroke #marv wolfman

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Can anyone tell me if this run is worth picking up or if it's more of the same like Priest's was?

Deathstroke by Dexter Soy Deathstroke Inc. #14

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Tales of the Teen Titans #44 (1984) by George Pérez & Marv Wolfman

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this man is a riot

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WTF how? I'd lurked for years before creating this blog so I can say I've been a Deathstroke fan for probs 10+ years. Crazy

[dogmeatthedead]

Hello here is a little compilation of my favorite moments with Slade and Billy :

Billy would take a bullet for Slade. That says it all

Their relationship in Deathstroke rebirth is less sentimental but the dialogues are hilarious. You can still see they love each other though.

Slade is not very talkative but he stands by Billy when necessary. I really liked this issue because it shows a very caring side of Slade. He doesn't say much but he's very attentive to Billy's emotions in this difficult time.

I love how their first meeting (my favorite version) consists of Billy saving Slade for the very first time. Obviously Slade didn't grow up with much support and kindness. He always stood up for himself and all of sudden he has Billy.

Billy beating the hell out of Slade to make him realize that he needs to pull himself together. A true friend.

Slade being the jerk we all love.

Also, Waller is iconic I'm so sad nobody seems to remember him, the guy was a diva and his face was so funny to me

Another very touching moment.

This panel makes me tear up. Years ago I couldn't even bring myself to read it, it was just too hard.

I love these two together.

[dogmeatthedead]

Wade Lafarge akka Ravager akka Slade's half brother :

I think it's a shame we still never got a chance to see this character in recent years. I had hope we would get to see him in Priest's run since the story revolved a lot around the Wilson family and well... Wade is probably the missing piece for the perfect dysfunctional family...

Seriously have you seen the guy? He's disturbed, he gives off a totally different version of what Slade could have become because of his background and genetics while also reflecting the kind of violent environment Slade grew up in. It's frightening to see the conflicted and violent character Slade is then seeing his younger brother, an even MORE disturbed guy. Just imagine having a half brother who wants you dead. That's brutal. I know it would be a problem to have him again as Ravager since Rose took the name after his death in Teen Titans Vol 3 (not to honour him at all, I don't remember exactly but I think it was more of a gentle nod to poor boy Grant) but hey, it's DC comics we're talking about, they added way worse changes to continuities.

Oh and I love his Ravager suit . Very elegant 🍷

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I love hating Addie. That’s what makes her such a good character (most of the time)

"Addie is perfect Slade is the asshole" Shut up. Both of them are assholes.

[dogmeatthedead]

Life Update

Hey,

Its been awhile and I'm probably talking into the void but since I haven't created anything original since August of 2020, I figure I should give some sort of update. If, for no other reason than to work though everything.

I graduated from college and now work full time. I also completed a long time goal of commissioning into the Army, and I'm now a 2LT in the National Guard. Far from being a stone cold badass like Slade but same branch at least! Since I do work a full time job now, I finally have some money to spend.

Which leads me to this: my comic book collection got stolen.

It was in a storage unit while I was moving apartment's and someone broke into it (something he had done before and the cops still did nothing) and stole the pride and joy of my collection.

They didn't get all of it as I have well over 3000 issues but they got almost all of my Deathstroke collection (something I have been growing since I was 15 years old) and countless other books. In total they got well over $3000 worth of books collected over those 8 years. The storage place only covers up to $2000 so I'm taking a bath on the losses.

But moreover those books had so much emotional value to me. I could tell you what was going on in my life at every point when I bought each book. I had a pretty tough time growing up, maybe one day I'll talk about it, but reading those books helped me through it in a way that I can't begin to vocalize.

The cops said that they can't do anything about it yada yada useless.

Anyway, I finally have a day job and I'm starting to rebuy the comics that were stolen. I started today with the single issues of Deathstroke the Terminator, and the TPB's but some are getting shipped to my old address (oops) so we'll see when I get them. Probably around Christmas.

I feel like I have to outline all this to get it off my chest and express the grief of losing my collection that meant to much to me during one of the worst times in my life. With me being able to rebuy my collection, I want to start making content again.

We'll see if that happened or not since I want to get reacquainted with the old lore again before I start making deep dives but I'm excited to start over and make the content that I've always wanted. Until then, I might make some posts about other comics. If I do, would y'all want to see it on this blog or should I make a side blog for other comics?

Missed the good ones here, and I'm happy to be coming back.

#deathstroke #slade wilson #im back #even if i am talking into the void

[dogmeatthedead]

AAHHHH I love this!! Pop Rocket appreciation! its about time!

So…I’m p sure I mentioned before that I’ve got the other fams included in my Batfam AU verse, so batfam can have friends(/frenemies)…

& one of the fams I included was Wilsonfam (Slade, Grant, Jericho, and Rose) and since learning that Slade at some point just??? adopted this girl he found in the streets, I’ve really wanted to include her as well (even tho she has sadly fallen off the face of the earth in canon and we never really got to see their dynamic or any real father/daughter relationship develop).

aNYWAYS… last time in canon we see Poppy, she’s just?? running around in civvies. While Slade is in full Deathstroke attire???

GET YOUR NEW DAUGHTER A COSTUME AT LEAST IF YOU’RE GONNA BE TAKING HER OUT ON MISSIONS W/ YOU??? GOD SLAdE. (also stop grossing her out w/ dead bodies….)

anyways, I took the liberty of giving her one. I loosely based it off the costume Rose has in TTG…and then I played around w/ the colors cause..judging from her hair she seems to like pink?? (IDK about that one tho…like on one hand I feel like it’s a bit MUCH but on the other it’d be hilarious to see big bad scary Deathstroke the Terminator running around w/ this blob of pink teenager girl).

#Poprocket #deathstroke family #Deathstroke

[dogmeatthedead]

Slade Doodlin'

What an awful man though

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Not really. In the original run Slade and Oliver more or less got alone. Slade didn’t seem to have much of a problem with Ollie unless he was trying to stop Deathstroke from finshing his job. 

As time went on they got more hostile to each other, and then when Arrow came out it went over the top. In some of the classic runs they even teamed up to stop a common bad guy. It was helpful to show that Slade was evil unless he was acting as Deathstroke.

I’m not the biggest Deathstroke fan or anything but isn’t it out of character for him to try and save Ollie here?

[dogmeatthedead]

Wilson Family Flowers

I could have sworn that I posted this here before but I guess I haven’t so here it is. If I missed it, then here it is

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Comics have a long history with naming patterns. Superman and the double L's being the most well known example. However lots of characters has similar naming patters, the one that I want to talk about today is Deathstroke. (go fig)

Slade Wilson and the flower connection

Over the past 11 years of being a Deathstroke fan I've noticed a connection between Slade Wilson and the characters around him being linked to plants or flowers. Almost all of the "main" cast of characters can be linked to flowers, and in many cases, their relationships can be represented by flowers. The only two which don't have a direct connection is Joseph and Grant, so for these two, I've chosen flowers that would represent their relationship to Slade.

All flowers are flowers that I know of. If I've missed one that would have worked better, then chances are good, I just didn't know it existed.

Rose

I chose a Orange Rose to symbolize Rose Worth-Wilson. I know that red is the standard when thinking of roses, but I'm going based of off what flowers symbolize as well as what they are named and red roses are to closely tied to romance for my liking. White roses will be used later even though that would tie with Rose and Slade's hair, but I chose Orange because it symbolizes enthusiasm and new beginnings.

Rose was Slade's second chance, she was (run dependent) excited to become a hero, thus I think that a orange rose would best represent Rose.

Wintergreen

In the rotating cast of Wilson characters, Wintergreen is known second to only maybe the Wilson kids. William Wintergreen is the lifelong best friend of Slade Wilson, known by longtime fans as Slade's anchor from insanity, the wintergreen plant is known for its bright red berries and green leaves.

When Slade and Will met which you can read about here on my tumblr, Will was saving Slade. Their friendship went on to be strengthen over the years by them trading off saving each others lives.

Like wintergreen in the real world, Will provides Slade with health care, and is likely the only thing keeping Slade's mental health in the green.

Sweet Lilly

Amazing Art is from  alegonbilldeathstroke  

Lily's are rich in symbolism and is probably my favorite to write about. Most of you most likely know that lily's are connected to purity which would seem ironic given that Lily was a single mom and ran a call girl company. However in some cultures lily's are connected to rebirth (Slade's second chance as a father) and motherhood.

I think that tiger lilies best represent Sweet Lilly though. They are connected to confidence, wealth and pride. Lilly was proud of everything that she had accomplished and was confident in both who she was and in her skill as a parent and her choice to keep Rose hidden from Slade.

Poppy

Anyone who's known me for a hot minute would know me as Poppy. It was one of many names I went by on here, named after the forgotten daughter of Deathstroke. Poppy first made her appearance in terror titans before being bought back in Deathstroke: faces of evil, and becoming a cast member in outsiders before disappearing forever. I'd written in the past about why I think that this was a huge mistake for the fates of both characters and the Wilson family as a whole. You can read about that here although be warned, its now 4 and a half years old (damn I'm getting old.)

In pop culture poppies are tied to the idea of death and sleep, however I'm opting for the lesser known classical interpretation. The poppy flower is known for its bright scarlet color which in olden times was tied to the idea of resurrection after death, and in more modern times, it is worn as a symbol of remembering tragedy.

Moving away from more traditional forms of interpretation, to some poppies may invoke a sense of childhood, or childhood fear. In the wizard of Oz, Dorthey and friends fall asleep in a field of poppies. The idea of poppies bring on sleep is tied to the drug Opium which is derived from poppies its undeniably a dark theme for a children's story, but I would argue that it represents a child companion of Deathstroke quite well.

Pat

Geranium ‘Patricia are known for being incredibly hardy, however on a broader note, geraniums are known to symbolize both friendship and romance. I think that in terms of true fits, Pat Trayce's flower is the most representative of her character.  Geraniums also symbolize foolishness, cleverness, melancholy, expected and unexpected meetings and the dried leaves can be used to treat pain.

Pat and Slade love each other deeply, yet Slade accepts that they're relationship couldn't work out as Pat wants to replace Addie and Slade understands how unhealthy that is. Pat's desire for Slade is often shown to be foolish, and she swings between morning never having Slade undivided love, and accepting it. She was originally Slade's student but that mentor/ mentee relationship ends with Pat outsmarting Slade and when they next meet, they are on even footing.

Like Wintergreen, Pat heals Slade. She helps Slade move on from his relationship, and becomes the first long term relationship. Not counting Marly who is only mentioned, although she and Slade likely would have been engaged.

Adeline Rosemary Wilson

This was the name that sealed the connection for me. In Rebirth, Adeline was given that middle name of Rosemary giving a concrete connection to plants. Representing love, lust, and loyalty. Mourning and remembrance. Happiness and tragedy. Rosemary is probably the most layered plant that I've named here.

Adeline loves Slade, even after everything that happened in their relationship Slade never got over Slade. And yet, she could never truly take him back since her heart would always remember the tragedy that he put her family though.

I've talked in the past about how much I dislike Adeline's character, however she truly is a tragic character, she never gets a happy ending in the same way that Slade does. And like the herb she is named for, Adeline became bitter after being though so much hell.

Joseph

I think that a white rose best represents Joseph William Wilson. Like his sister Rose's orange rose, I think that a white one has just as much symbolism. White roses represent many things: Youthfulness, hope, new beginnings, a connection between two people, humility and silence.

While some like silence appears to be self explanatory when discussing Joe, others like humility may not be. Slade learned to put down his pride after Joe was hurt, and both men would carry a visible scar which would always connect them in a shared tragedy. Joe's injury represents a new beginning for all members of the Wilson family, although it was a good beginning for precious few. Still Joe represented the hope of the Wilsons and at times his youthfully optimism still shown though.

Grant

Perhaps an odd choice, but I chose orange and yellow zinnia's to represent Grant. Mixed colored zinnia's represent thinking of an absent friend, while the yellow ones specifically deal with daily remembrance of a dead loved one. Originally from Mexico, zinnia's were a dull color that was scorned by the ruler as being an eyesore. Over years of breeding, zinnias became the flower that we know today. Zinnias are known to grow quickly and heavily but, they only last for a year and once their time is up, they will wither and die, never to grow again on their own.

Morbid perhaps but of all the Wilsons, Grant always gets the shaft. He dies once and stays dead, he might come back once or twice, but he dies again quickly. Zinnias, like Grant is rather plain at first but both can be developed into something much better. Slade carried the memory of Grant everywhere with him and it really shaped the way that Slade would carry himself and his relationship with others.

Here is a commission I had of all the flowers together. <3

#deathstroke #rose wilson #william wintergreen #Adeline Kane #Adeline Wilson #Joseph Wilson #grant Wilson #Sweet Lilly #deathstroke family #just a fun post #cant believe its been 11 year #but my math is right

[dogmeatthedead]

I love! this take. I’ve been trying to find a way to talk about this so here is something I’ve been thinking about forever.

The original Deathstroke run is framed mostly as the retellings of Wintergreen in his journal right? These quotes are from that era and Slade in both books acts the same. In the Deathstroke book Wintergreen will often say that “Slade later told me what he did,” or “This is how Slade told me it happened.” That way the story can continue without having Wintergreen always around. So it’s clearly stated that Slade tells Will about his adventures.

What if, like he is to the Titans up above, he filters the reality for Wintergreen? To the Titans Slade wants to appear as more of a hero than he is because he knows that's what will either get him ahead or get them to work better with them. So would Slade change things in order to sound more cool?

Like would he change how he broke into a building? Or, as another example,  how he finished a hit in order to make the story that he is telling Wintergreen more interesting since Will mentions that he is writing a book about Slades adventure. Not everything he does is super cool so in order to help the story be better he might embellish things.

Or, on a darker note, would he make things sound better? Like how he tells Roy that he gets paid to do special jobs. He isn’t technically wrong since it’s a special job, but he’s leaving out the part where that job involves murder. So could he just not tell Will about the horrid things that he does during missions, or the jobs that he takes and doesn’t tell Will about. 

This idea could explain why Slade is framed as more of a hero during his original run. Wintergreen (and Marv Wolfman’s) bias explains this portrayal, but narratively, how it tells the story to Will could also play a part. 

I think that using this as a lens to reread the original run is a cool idea since, if true, would redefine what the run is about.

Can we all move away from talking about how cool Deathstroke is and move back to the natural state of the Titans making fun of him every time he opens his mouth?

Slade: Four months ago I took on a job. I was to deliver certain goods into this country. Not drugs. Not weapons. Medical supplies, or so I thought Vic: Yeah, right – they paid a merc big bucks to take legal supplies past the border. Sure. You gonna sell us swamp land in Jersey next?

Slade: You know I get paid by taking on… Special jobs. Roy: Translation: I’m a scuzzy mercenary. Hey, let’s all play “What he says, and what he means”

#Deathstroke #slade wilson #william wintergreen #my theory #marv wolfman

[dogmeatthedead]

ngl, slade with long hair was my default slade but from the feedback I got I concluded it surprised some people so I decided to try different hairstyles (not the dark crisis one, I pretend I don’t see)

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