The only instance I can think of is this scene (and I don't even know where it comes from):

I know they have been facing each other in cartoons and games, but very very rarely in comics

why is that ? are the writers lazy? afraid? they know damn well everone wants to see more Batman vs Slade fights

why don't they make it happen ?

That's a great question. For the artwork you posted, my guess is that the artwork is by Jim Aparo, thus causing me to think this is from the Batman title book, sometime around the late 1980s-early 1990s, possibly during the "A Lonely Place of Dying" storyline since it involved the Teen Titans.

The writers probably don't view Deathstroke as a Batman villain, which he isn't.

@masterdetective: I think he is originaly a Teen Titan' enemy. Then he's encountered the Justice League a few times, that is where et faught against Batman the most. He was for a bit a Green Arrow vilain as wel.

In my opinion Batman has already many enemies. I don't know why but I don't see him as a Gotham vilain. He is not crazy like all of Batman's regulars.

Because Batfans would get mad everytime he wins.

In Deathstroke Rebirth they'll cross paths again and apparently they're swapping sidekicks. Or at least Slade kidnaps Damian. Wonder why Rose is hanging out with Batman though.

Tbh, I know my opinion is unpopular, by I like Deathstroke better than Batman. IMO he's Bats' true dark mirror. While Bruce struggles with not killing some his villains, the Joker in particular, I feel that Slade is constantly flirting with redemption. Obviously I don't want him ever white-knighting it, but I do like when he's playing the knight in sour armor.

Because if they stay true to the characters Batman isn't remotely a match for Deathstroke? It wouldn't be a very interesting fight if one person just roflstomps every time.

@ready_4_madness: They did? Who won?

@batmanplusjay: People always talk as if Slade is as skilled (or very close) to Batman. Do you have some exemples of Batman being much more skilled than Slade? Just want to know, I didn't really read a lot about Slade.

@gokussb: He is the goddamn Batman.

@batmanplusjay: World's Greatest Detective vs World's Greatest Assassin.

The reason Slade is a challenge for Batman is because they both have the same amount of training and experience.

Yeah Croc is a beast, but a mindless one. When Bruce and Slade face off in combat it might as well be a championship chess match. That's why he poses a threat to Batman like no one else.

In fight they are equal, but if you compare Detective skills or Chemistry skills they sure are not.

Well, here's a look at it. Batman's mastered every martial art in existence, and he combined those martial arts to create a new unique, dangerous, and unpredictable fighting style. If you don't know, Batman had a mentore by the name of David Cain:

And Batman defeated David Cain so easily it wasn't even funny. Now unless Deathstroke Mastered every form of martial arts like Batman and created his own unique fighting style, I think on the skill meter, from 1 - 20, Batman's 20/20 and DS is like 10/20(I've head DS only mastered like 12 martial arts). Batman should be able to put DS down using pure skill.

I agree that Deathstroke is pretty underutilized as a Batman character. While strictly speaking he's not a Batman villain, he still fits so much in the Batman universe. Hell even though he's not a direct villain of Batman, he's still Nightwing's nemesis, which is pretty close if you ask me. This of course disregarding the fact that Deathstroke is pretty much a villain counterpart for Batman, complete with an Alfred expy, so Deathstroke opposing Batman definitely makes a lot of sense.

I also agree that saying Deathstroke outclasses Batman is complete bull****. I haven't been keeping up with Deathstroke over the years, but from the way people talk about him on this site, you'd think he's an unstoppable immortal death machine, but who am I trying to convince ? These are probably the same people who think Captain America outclasses Batman, because his peak-human status was achieved through a serum instead of training like Batman, so Cap obviously stomps him with both hands tied behind his back >_>

Slade is a Captain America knock-off with a low level healing factor, which is nothing that Batman hadn't faced or defeated already. Slade is an exceptional soldier and a strategist, which again further draws the parallels between him and Batman. So in a fight, it could go both ways in my opinion. A fight between the two should be one of the best close quarters clashes in the DC universe, and I wouldn't mind seeing the two interact more. They're apparently doing just that in Rebirth. Here's hoping Batman can keep Rose, while Damian gets a bullet in his head after pissing off Deathstroke one too many times.

I like to point out that I can think of at least two more fights they had in the comics. There was the recent one a couple of years ago in Deathstroke #5, which ended in tie (but I think the fight was going in Batman's favor if I remember correctly). The other one I think was in Batman #710. In that issue, Slade came to assassinate someone, but Batman stopped him. During their first skirmish, Deathstroke won but had to retreat. During the second fight Batman managed to win, and he even had to use Deathstroke's own Sniper Rifle to save the life of Slade's target, and successfully took a shot that Deathstroke himself said was impossible to do. However, Deathstroke ended up escaping.

The point is, saying that Deathstroke has nothing to do with Batman doesn't make any sense, considering he was conceived as villainous counterpart to Batman. The two share a lot in common, so a story featuring the two should be very interesting.

The less fights make em that more sweeter when they happen.

Deathstroke was never created to match Batman. It just happens they have so many things in common. Honnestly a story featuring both would be good, but I don't see him as a recuring vilain.

@jb681131 said:

I don't know what you exactly mean by "match", but there are too many similarities and parallels between Batman and Deathstroke for it to be a coincidence. Also, this is not just me making an observation, the similarity has been pointed out before, although I couldn't find a quote from a writer. Personally, I think the similarities were intentional, since Slade is Nightwing's nemesis, and the idea was probably to have Nightwing face against an evil version of his mentor.

I agree that I wouldn't want to have Deathstroke as a recurring Batman villain, but his MO and background just fits Gotham like a glove, so much that it's hard to ignore. Still, having Deathstroke clashing with Batman every once in a while could be entertaining.

Also, while searching for background info on Deathstroke, I noticed that he made A LOT of appearencs in Batman related media over the last few years (Beware the Batman, Arkham Origins, Son of Batman), so it seems DC is already aware of the potential of Deathstroke coming into conflict with Batman, so I think we'll see more of him in Batman related books in the future.

Deathstroke beat up Batman in the first year of his first solo title. I wanna say early 90's. I don't think the Bat editors cared for it since a few months later they had Batman beat up Deathstroke in Batman or Detective I don't remember the specific title.

Slade is afaik above peak human. Even if thats often ignored.

It's a good rivarly, neither side has to get butt hurt. I'm glad that it doesn't happen a lot, because when it does it's something special.

And you guys got it backwards. Deathstroke isn't a Batman villain. Batman is a Deathstroke "villain".

Deathstroke wasn't concieved as a villanous counterpart to Batman though. The Captain America parallel makes far more sense, since a lot of the elements to his character that are common now didn't show up in his first appearance.

Also, Slade outclasses Bruce in some areas, Bruce outclasses him in some areas, which is what allows both to fight each other and not be instantly stomped. Same applies to Batman vs Captain America.

@aahz said:

Often ignored ? You sure XD Wasn't Slade the guy who defeated the entire Justice League, which included spotting the Atom while he was atom-size and knocking him out with a laser pointer, somehow tricking Flash into impaling himself on Slade's sword, and using his own Willpower to somehow override GL's ring ? That Slade ? Because as far as I'm concerned, he seems to pull off stunts that are way beyond his capabilities most of the time.

I can concede that. Not really sure about Cap though, as he has nothing Superhuman about him really. Slade however does have a couple of things going on for him that could give him the edge, like "enhanced" stamina and pain resistance.

Speaking generally however, I consider the three (Batman, Cap, and Slade) to be in the same "League" so to speak. They're very similar to each other in many points. Many people however seem to believe that Cap just purely outclasses Batman for some reason, and Slade being apparently godlike, which just baffles me.

Finally, I remain convinced that Deathstroke was conceived, at least partially, as a counterpart to Batman. Yeah, he does share his Military and Superhuman Soldier Serum background with Cap, but he also shares the whole Tactile genius aspect with Batman, with a very suspicious Alfred lookalike by his side. That seems too much to be a coincidence in my opinion.

@enzo991 Captain America and Deathstroke have the same basic attributes, with there then being standouts for each, such as Slade's healing factor being more powerful and Cap's use of a signature weapon in his shield.

Deathstroke shares far more in common with Captain America than he does with Batman, specifically at the time of his creation. I wouldn't even say being a master of tactics is a Batman thing, because Cap has that too.

@nathaniel_christopher: I don't remember Cap being anything beyond peak human condition when it comes to strength, speed, and agility. Not much of a unique powerset to share I think. Slade's super soldier experiment seemed to grant him some enhanced abilities however. That's why I don't find the two THAT similar power-wise. I mean I think they're no more similar than Batman is similar to Cap, with both being "peak" human condition. That's why I said the similarities between Cap and Slade are superficial to a degree. I don't deny that Slade was clearly inspired by Cap in some aspect, I just don't see it as being overt as you seem to think.

Come on you know what I mean. Slade's whole shtick with planning and executing tactical maneuvers, and taking down superhuman opponents regularly is what makes Slade's "tactical genius" more comparable to Batman's than Cap's. Yeah Cap has a brilliant mind for planning, but it's never been showcased in the same way as Batman or Slade. It's a "different" brand if genius if you want to call it that.

I do agree however, that Slade, especially in his first appearances, did have a lot of superficial similarities to Cap, especially in the custom and background. However, I think he shares as much similarities with Batman, the way he operates and having an Alfred lookalike as a butler, are clearly inspired by Batman. Now that I think about it, Slade is essentially a fusion between Cap and Batman. It's as if DC thought "What if Batman was a Super Soldier instead of a billionaire orphan".

When he fights against Batfamily members it is imo.

Both of their powersets come from a genetic experiment involving the military and they have the same basic powers/abilities. As I mentioned previously, there are just some areas that Slade edges Cap out, because his experiment had different/better results. Still makes Cap closer to Slade than Batman, especially in regards to the origin. So i'm not seeing how Slade would be based off of Batman when his origin and abilities are nothing like Batman's. Even his background is more similar to Cap's with the whole military thing. Peak Human for Captain America means something different than what it does for Batman, since Captain America is an enhanced individual capable of seeing bullets and such.

@nathaniel_christopher said:

That's news to me. I thought Cap's abilities were enhanced to be peak human, and unless humans can naturally see bullets flying in the air, then Cap's description of being "Peak physical condition" is false. The way I saw it, Both Cap and Batman are described as Peak human, the method they used to achieve that peak human condition is irrelevant.

It's like saying that a guy who inherit a million dollars, is somehow better than the guy who made a million dollars himself.....because reasons. If Cap is "enhanced" and can see bullets in slow mo as you say, then his description of being "peak" is flat out a lie. Personally, although I'm not a huge Cap follower, I read my share of stories with Cap, and never got the impression he was anything but human. I'd appreciate it if you pointed me in the direction of some Cap stories where his enhanced abilities are showcased.

The "see bullets" thing has been stated by Cap himself

Honestly it makes a fair bit of sense to me, seeing that Captain America's abilities are the result of an experiment. What else would he be called accept enhanced? I have to head into work now but I can search for more when my shifts are over.

@nathaniel_christopher: Interesting. To me, Cap was an unusually frail kid, who became a a perfect soldier, in a peak human condition, through a scientific experiment. That never gave me the impression that he was anything more than what his description stated, a peak human, which means he shouldn't have anything superhuman about him. However, having them now adding superhuman abilities to him feels kinda cheap :/ As I highly doubt that was part of Cap original powerset.

Not to mention of course that Batman was shown many times to be able to doge bullets too, without it being because of a superhuman ability to see things faster (as Cap puts it). I appreciate that you took the time to research this for me. I'll look into how "enhanced" Rogers is later on my own.

That's exactly what Cap is tbh. Every street-leveler can dodge bullet, "seeing" faster is just a dumb explaination.

@masterdetective: Idk probably becuase Batman is too OP for Deathstroke.

deathstroke has defeated batman a few times in the past , the last fight between the two was in a comic of deathstroke , ended in a tie , they doesnt fight a lot because allways deadstroke avoids fighting with batman because he is very hard to fight agaisnt (he doesnt work in gotham also)

Because Slade would and should humble Batman in the most humiliating of ways, and that would destroy Batfans.

Contrary to popular opinion it's for Deathstroke's benefit not Batman's. He can only beat Batman so many times before decay hits him, his encounters with the Batman and the Bat family are actually his worst showings overall.

You know if Batman is meh to you and Bat fans bother you so much then why do you keep posting on this forum? I feel the same about Deadpool but you wont find me in those forums.

@entropy_aegis: Because it's a public forum and I can post when or what I like? I didn't say I dislike Batman either way so there's no need to get triggered over Internet opinion man

@nerevarine_11: you can talk whatever crap you want in every other forums how about leave only this bat forum for only bat fans?? Im really sick of seeing you in every frekish bat thread's..

@bighero6: Dude seriously why are you upset? You sound like you pay way too much attention to what people on the Internet say. Calm down. As I said I don't hate Batman...Jesus you guys are more triggered than ever

If you dont like a group of people and a topic you're generally meh about, both by YOUR own admission, then common sense would indicate that you'd avoid such people and topics unless they happen to cross your paths(say in general discussion). Deliberately putting yourself in the midst of such people=trolling.

I already gave you an example of myself and Deadpool, I dont like him or his fans so going to his forums would be poor form on my part, therefore I dont. Then again I dont have a nagging desire to put his fanboys in place.

@entropy_aegis: When in any of my posts have I said I dislike Batman fans? I know plenty. But fanboys from any comic character can be troublesome on a RARE occasion which never even happens on the times on this site. It's usually a inert one....till now. Again, you're getting way too upset I typed a comment and you got upset. You say you don't post on DP forums...,that's cool you do you. I post whenever I see a topic of interest. It's gonna be alright.

@masterdetective said:

The only instance I can think of is this scene (and I don't even know where it comes from):

I know they have been facing each other in cartoons and games, but very very rarely in comics

why is that ? are the writers lazy? afraid? they know damn well everone wants to see more Batman vs Slade fights

why don't they make it happen ?

It's from Deathstroke's own title that came out in the 90's, issue 7, part of a 4 part storyline,, iirc.

@lordraiden: I was just reading that after Joe posted those on his Twitter

I still have them, fun times :-)

You're kidding right? read your first post on this thread. I'm not upset at all but it's clear to me that you get a kick out of posting snide comments on these forums that are directed towards the character or his fans. When was the last time you actually made a productive post? even on that Tom King thread where everyone was discussing the merits and demerits of Tom's work your response "it's meh, but then again Batman is meh". Once or twice is fine but you keep coming here again and again, certainly a lot more than you go to say Daredevil,Black Panther or Moon Knight forums.

@enzo991: That's news to me. I thought Cap's abilities were enhanced to be peak human, and unless humans can naturally see bullets flying in the air, then Cap's description of being "Peak physical condition" is false. The way I saw it, Both Cap and Batman are described as Peak human, the method they used to achieve that peak human condition is irrelevant.

Apologies for replying to a 2 month old post but I just feel the need to point out something. Cap is enhanced to the peak of human perfection, as in he is the peak of what humans will evolve to be one day in terms of physical prowess. He hasn't been a mere peak human since the 70s now.

Batman/Slade fights can be counted on the fingers of one of your hands because the effect of fighting Batman is never pleasant for characters like Deathstroke. Slade is a character that people are used to stomping everyone and having insane feats in each issue he appears in. But when he faces DC's face, Batman, he cannot pull off the same feats as usually because simply Batman is almost on his level, his popularity is bigger than Slade's and Slade can't just win easily. That's why basically DC haven't put up against each other so much because they know fans don't want to see Batman losing and other fans want to keep seeing Slade doing incredible and sometimes impossible things.