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    Deathstroke

    Character » Deathstroke appears in 1328 issues.

    Genetically engineered to surpass all human limits, Slade Wilson was once a soldier but now works as one of the most feared assassins in the DC Universe. He has frequently clashed with the Teen Titans, Batman, Green Arrow, the Justice League, and even gods!

    Christopher Priest Talks DEATHSTROKE Rebirth

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    gmanfromheck

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    Edited By gmanfromheck

    Deathstroke is a supervillain most heroes in the DC Universe don't want to mess with. Over the years, he's changed from a ruthless assassin to an unstoppable super-killing machine. He's faced massive threats and defeated impossible odds.

    With DC Comics' current Rebirth initiative, the focus has shifted to exploring who the characters are in their books. Creators are looking at what is the core essence of the characters that fans have grown to love over the years. Christopher Priest is known to readers for his takes on characters like Black Panther and Quantum and Woody. He's now taking a stab at Deathstroke in order to establish what exactly makes him tick. We talked to Priest to find out about the series and how Deathstroke will try to connect with his kids while still being a cold-blooded killer.

    Cover by Aco
    Cover by Aco

    Comic Vine: How are you approaching Deathstroke?

    Christopher Priest: Very cautiously. That's the only way to approach a guy like that. I see Deathstroke as being a multilayered and multifaceted character. A lot of time supervillains, in general, are portrayed as one-dimensional. There's almost a rule in literary fiction where your main protagonist has three dimensions, your secondary characters have two, and then other characters, who are often the villains, are just kind of flat so your main characters pop out. Back when Stan Lee and Gerry Conway were writing Spider-Man, we never really got into the nuances of Doctor Octopus or what his particular challenges were. You can't do that when the villain is the protagonist of the series. I can't write Deathstroke in one-dimension in his own comic book.

    Marv Wolfman brilliantly breathed so much life into this character. I've been trying to peel the onion and just explore who he is. There's a tagline I'm trying to sell, "Journey through the mind of a killer." I want to explain, not only his rational for being a supervillain but to really explore, thematically, the whole concept of villainy versus justice. In a way, justice enables villainy because justice requires due process and fairness. The only way to deal with a guy like Deathstroke is for Superman to lock him up, Guantanamo Bay-style and hold him without charge forever. That's not justice though. That's vigilantism.

    What will be Deathstroke's focus? Will he go on mercenary missions or fight other heroes?

    Yes. [laughs] He'll be doing all that. In the Rebirth issue, he has a contract to kill a supervillain who is under the protection of an African despot. He makes a deal to go get the villain. Then the villain wants to make a second deal with him. It's kind of this round robin of who's double crossing who? This is what he does for a living. Over the course of the series, sometimes the missions are foreground, and sometimes they're background. We're also obviously focusing on his struggle to form a reasonable relationship with his children and his ex-wife. Well, I don't think he really thinks too much about forming a relationship with her, but she's definitely in the mix there.

    The solicit info for the Rebirth issue mentions redemption. How might someone like Deathstroke go about seeking redemption?

    As I see him, Deathstroke is an emotionally tortured individual. He's a guy who desperately wants to love and be loved, but he's incapable of either. In other words, he's incapable of expressing his emotions and incapable of receiving familial love. For example, there's a line in, I think, issue 3 or 4 with Wintergreen where he says, "That's the rule, you can hug him. He can never hug you." It would not occur to Deathstroke to hug his daughter Rose. It may occur to him, but he's just not able to do it. The way we're looking at Deathstroke is he's like emotionally arrested. He's like House M.D. but with a machine gun. He's this tortured person who really wants to go to the party and be social, but he just doesn't know how.

    How big of a role will his kids have in the series?

    Rose is the virtual co-star. She's Robin to his Batman. We will not see her until about issue 3. The reason for that is I am writing the book as though the book has never existed before. People who have never read Deathstroke or don't know anything about him, they should arrive with no fear. We're rolling this out in a way that's like, "Once upon a time there was a man named Slade…" and moving forward from there. In the Rebirth issue and issue 1, we're really establishing who Slade is and getting that foundation in. In issue 2, we introduce Wintergreen. Issue 3 introduces Rose. Jericho will not appear until issue 6, I think. His ex-wife Adeline [Kane Wilson] will also be in issue 6. The series will kind of be like The Sopranos with supervillains. We have this family patriarch who makes his living running around killing people. We'll see the effect that has on the people he loves.

    Will he be working with someone like Wintergreen on his mercenary missions? Will he have someone to take care of the paperwork?

    Wintergreen doesn't do the paperwork. He's actually a field agent. Wintergreen is still his Barney Rubble to his Fred Flintstone. I'm mixing metaphors now. Marv Wolfman kind of created him to be his Alfred to Deathstroke's rough Batman. Wintergreen's more of a partner. He's not his butler. They have a sort of contentious relationship because when they were both in the military working as independent contractors, Wintergreen was alright with Slade running around wacking dictators or doing something in the name of national security.

    Over the years, Slade has evolved from Slade Wilson into Deathstroke. Deathstroke, as we currently know him, he is eeevil. He is a super-villain. He has some sets of morals. There are things that are extreme that Deathstroke will not go to, but they are few and far between. Wintergreen becomes his moral compass and has less comfort with some of the things Deathstroke does. He does not always agree with the choices Deathstroke makes. There's some interesting tension between these two friends.

    How much violence and action can we expect?

    Less than before, if only in that the action, violence and bloodletting are no longer the focus of the book. The focus is the consequences of the action and violence and bloodletting. We'll also look at the impact it has on his family. It's not going to be wall-to-wall swordplay and machine guns. Although, that is in here. We'll eventually ratchet that up more than we see in the initial stage of the series. The first handful of issues are really dealing with character. We're trying to flesh them out so when we do put their lives in danger, someone actually cares. If we just focus on the action, then everyone's a cardboard character. Nobody really matters. If Rose gets stabbed or Jericho gets run over by a bread truck, who cares?

    We're focusing on character-driven stories. Then we'll eventually bring back more of the over-the-top stuff that the fans have come to love. My position on Deathstroke is he's a supervillain. He's an assassin. With all due respect to previous writers, they've evolved Deathstroke from being a pure assassin to being this uber-threat. We're bringing him back to being a corrupt dark mirror image of Batman. He's stealthier and doesn't carry all that gear he used to, unless he needs it. If we're dropping him into a war zone, you will see him suit up the way he has been currently. Our version of Deathstroke is silent and stealthy. He creeps out of the shadows, slits your throat, and vanishes back into the black.

    Deathstroke: Rebirth #1 is on sale August 10. The action continues in Deathstroke #1 on sale August 24.

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    Batman3000

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    Excited for this.

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    Lone_Wolf_and_Cub

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    I would love a Batman series with Deathstroke and Prometheus.

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    Goellterator

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    Nice. Now do Lobo Rebirth. The REAL Lobo...

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    Lanstar777

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    #4  Edited By Lanstar777

    I love Deathstroke. Its been one of my favorite runs in the last year or so. Ras versus DS, sweet! I would like to see more interaction with the DC hero's. When he went up against WW and Supes it made for an interesting situation for him to deal with. He's seen as a pure villain BUT he does have a side where he is doing what he feels is simply necessary and it's stuff the "hero's" won't do and he just isn't willing to explain himself. He is a paid assassin and mercenary, but a part of his 'good side', is he is loyal so he has a part that shifts him to that of a hero on occasion.

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    NightFang3

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    Overlander

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    "The focus is the consequences of the action and violence and bloodletting. We'll also look at the impact it has on his family. It's not going to be wall-to-wall swordplay and machine guns."

    This book just got interesting.

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    Heatblaze

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    Chris Priest is writing DS? I know what title I'm getting!!

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    donmeca2020

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    Nice. Now do Lobo Rebirth. The REAL Lobo...

    I agree !!! the twilight looking lobo was an insult to the original characters name. As for this version of Deathstroke, im looking forward to it, however i miss the red eye in the helmet.

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    Saint_Talker

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    #10  Edited By Saint_Talker

    Never have I ever been interested in a Deathstroke series. Until now! Praise the Priest!

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    Nathaniel_Adam

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    Can't wait!

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    SP4RT4N

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    #12  Edited By SP4RT4N

    I've been looking forward to this one from the get go. However, for Deathstroke to truly be the badass he's meant to be... he NEEDS to kill somebody higher up on the food chain. Him being the best merc in DC means nothing if he doesn't kill somebody semi-important. To this point it's been a bunch of nobodies and there was the couple times he's crippled Flash/Kid Flash. Since Hawkman can be reborn and currently doesn't star in his own title... he'd be my first choice. And I LOVE Hawkman. Or let him kill Damian Wayne. I hate Damian. Let him start a war with Ra's.

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    apokos7

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    I'm looking forward to this. I'm not that big of a Deathstroke fan but I have a feeling that I'm going to enjoy this a lot.

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    BrotherEye

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    Now this is the Deathstroke book I've been waiting for! Inverse Batman, looking at his psyche, his family and supporting chars like Wintergreen. That's what I wanted the most. Good to hear Rose will be his 'Robin' but I do hope they don't forget Grant. Grant could be his 'Nightwing'; the kid who left the nest.

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    deactivated-5b3ffc872a35d

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    Oh yeah, copy and paste that Deathstroke in 4 straight panels and re-use the other guy's one in 3 of 5. Lazy art at its finest!

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    casper4690

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    Wow ! I was buying this book regardless , but Priest really described how to properly write a character. I'm more excited because it's going to be more character driven ,and I have a feeling we are going see more of an emotional side to the character. I'm definitely sold for now . Art looks stupendous as well

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    SP4RT4N

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    @Opalance:

    I've literally seen this sort of thing in Marvel's comics on the regular and not once have I ever heard a complaint. How much more dramatic do you need a scene to be where two people are just standing around talking?

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    AriesWarlock

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    "How much violence and action can we expect?

    Less than before"

    Disappointment.

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    Shintakie

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    @arieswarlock: Opposite of disappointment for me. The hyper focus on murder and mayhem in the Deathstroke titles does a disservice to how deep the character can be. He's not just a killing machine and I'm super excited that a writer outright realizes this and is making it the central focus of the new title.

    Aside from that, there's only so much murder and mayhem that you can pack into and book before you get sick of it. That's why I checked out of the original new 52 Deathstroke titles super early.

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    Bluefox170

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    @arieswarlock: Opposite of disappointment for me. The hyper focus on murder and mayhem in the Deathstroke titles does a disservice to how deep the character can be. He's not just a killing machine and I'm super excited that a writer outright realizes this and is making it the central focus of the new title.

    Exactly. It sounds like for the first time in years there will be a solid story built brick by brick. It'll make great source material in the future of the dceu.

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    casper4690

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    @Shintakie: @bluefox170: agree with both . A character driven deathstroke that focuses on less hack and slash is what I'm looking forward to

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    Wandering_Wand

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    I'm excited for Priest's run on Deathstroke, who I think is a superb villain/anti-hero who doesn't get quite enough credit as it is.

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    BappyRonChantin

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    #23  Edited By BappyRonChantin

    I need fight, lots and lots of strategic fights. I want politics, crime, gore, character defining moments, Deathstroke overcoming lots of odds, tough assassination challenges and also cool featzzz

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    deactivated-5a3162faeafe3

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    Love his new look!

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    deactivated-5b3ffc872a35d

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    @sp4rt4n said:

    @Opalance:

    I've literally seen this sort of thing in Marvel's comics on the regular and not once have I ever heard a complaint. How much more dramatic do you need a scene to be where two people are just standing around talking?

    Well maybe people don't notice it normally. If you are trying to make a comic with more subtly, then you should convey emotions and reactions with subtle body language.

    Don't tell how they are feeling, shoooow how they are feeling. Comics are a visual medium. Artists should do as much or even more of the story telling as the writer. Look at great comics like Kingdom Come, Alex Ross conveys more meaning with a single look from a character than most writers get across in a whole page of text.

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    SP4RT4N

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    @Opalance said:
    @sp4rt4n said:

    @Opalance:

    I've literally seen this sort of thing in Marvel's comics on the regular and not once have I ever heard a complaint. How much more dramatic do you need a scene to be where two people are just standing around talking?

    Well maybe people don't notice it normally. If you are trying to make a comic with more subtly, then you should convey emotions and reactions with subtle body language.

    Don't tell how they are feeling, shoooow how they are feeling. Comics are a visual medium. Artists should do as much or even more of the story telling as the writer. Look at great comics like Kingdom Come, Alex Ross conveys more meaning with a single look from a character than most writers get across in a whole page of text.

    Alex Ross paints Superman [and Capt. America as he uses the same reference for both] nearly the exact same face and demeanor every time. Just looks like a serious old man 99% of the time.

    No Caption Provided

    ^^^^ This Superman and every character in the shot has nearly the exact same face and expression as everyone in this shot...

    No Caption Provided

    ... and that's two completely different works of art. Am I the only one who sees that? Superman is the same right down to the pose. But again... nobody seems to be complaining about that. He's no better than Greg Land in my eyes.

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    deactivated-5b3ffc872a35d

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    @sp4rt4n: Yes, Superman looks like a serious, grumpy old man in Kingdom Come because that's his character there, that's who he is, he's tired of all the upstarts not following the old ways of doing things.

    And in those two pictures not a single character is the same or traced. Superman in the top had wider shoulders and chest and his arms are turned at a different angle. And the reason they have the same expressions is because he's modeling the picture off of painted portraits like he draws and they used to draw, in which people had this type of expression, in part because it was hard to hold a smile for several hours. That's how they all look in real life.

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    jsawyerjj

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    CAN'T WAIT!

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    Vikhalla

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    #29  Edited By Vikhalla

    Sounds like a good read. The art looks decent but not as striking as it was in the last series. Is it really that hard to nail the kickass trifecta of art, plot, and character?

    Edit: Of course it is, that was a dumb question. I'm just slightly disappointed.

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    daak1212

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    If its anything like Sopranos I can't wait for the pine barrens issue

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    deactivated-5b3ffc872a35d

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    @sp4rt4n: Also the two paintings are done from a different perspective, the Kingdom Come one from a lower angle, likely to convey a more menacing or dire feel since the book does afterall feature a lot of death. Smiling in general for pictures or portraits wasn't a thing until fairly recently in history. So yeah, if you are doing a portrait like he did here, it makes perfect sense for them to all have a very stoic expression. I don't see how anyone can compare someone who just copy/pastes with a computer program, the same exact image over and over, with someone who someone who sometimes uses similar expressions with similar characters when he paints them by hand. Superman and Captain America are very similar personalities, standing for the American way, characters often portrayed to have outdated ideals, an older figure to guide everyone by example, standing tall.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/01/researchers-have-discovered-a-surprising-reason-we-smile-in-photos/

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    jpatricks

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    Probably gonna check this out now. Really interesting stuff

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    blackkitty

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    So... when it comes to Rose.. can we safely say we're just gonna sweep Ravagers under the rug and pretend that never happened then?

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    blackkitty

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    @Shintakie: I'm just upset he didn't say bad ass 10 times

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    Darkseid_Prime

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    "being a corrupt dark mirror image of Batman"

    I'd rather see him be more of a corrupt dark mirror version of Steve Rogers

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    ScouterV

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    @sp4rt4n said:

    I've been looking forward to this one from the get go. However, for Deathstroke to truly be the badass he's meant to be... he NEEDS to kill somebody higher up on the food chain. Him being the best merc in DC means nothing if he doesn't kill somebody semi-important. To this point it's been a bunch of nobodies and there was the couple times he's crippled Flash/Kid Flash. Since Hawkman can be reborn and currently doesn't star in his own title... he'd be my first choice. And I LOVE Hawkman. Or let him kill Damian Wayne. I hate Damian. Let him start a war with Ra's.

    He killed a Titan on Paradise Island, that was giving Superman and Wonder Woman trouble. Granted, he had a magic sword, but still.

    @goellterator said:

    Nice. Now do Lobo Rebirth. The REAL Lobo...

    I agree !!! the twilight looking lobo was an insult to the original characters name. As for this version of Deathstroke, im looking forward to it, however i miss the red eye in the helmet.

    The Space Dolphin-loving parody of Wolverine? But the post-Flashpoint version that actually had some depth and an engaging personality is the insult? When did I step into Bizzaro-World?

    @Shintakie said:

    @arieswarlock: Opposite of disappointment for me. The hyper focus on murder and mayhem in the Deathstroke titles does a disservice to how deep the character can be. He's not just a killing machine and I'm super excited that a writer outright realizes this and is making it the central focus of the new title.

    Exactly. It sounds like for the first time in years there will be a solid story built brick by brick. It'll make great source material in the future of the dceu.

    So you take up a character called "Deathstroke the Terminator" but he won't be doing a lot of terminating? I could see how others would be a little disappointed.

    Anywho, it's not like this is new. Between Daniels and Bonny in the last series, Deathstroke actually didn't do that much killing on-panel. And when he fought it was usually fun to watch. He killed lots of fodder, but threatened more than outright killed, and what sounds like the complete disregard for that is disappointing to me, because the series left lots of potential after doing a lot of world building for Slade between a supporting cast and rogues gallery. He even left on a solid note with his children. Just decided he was better off alone, but had come to peace with that.

    And now we just forget all about that?

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    donmeca2020

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    @scouterv: a parody of wolverine ?? I can't see how... lobo wasn't 5 feet tall, and had 3 blades shooting out of each hand, nor was he Canadian. If he was just a parody, do you honestly think he would have lasted as long as he did? You thought the angelic saint like lobo was a good character ??? Funny you think that, because both saint lobo and twilight lobo lasted very briefly and apparently no fan following whatever so ever and sales don't lie.

    Same goes for this past deathstroke series. If it was so bad how did it last almost a full run ? Daniels run was very enjoyable.

    It's hard for me to figure out which crowd whines more the comicvine crowd or the BC group.....

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    ScouterV

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    #38  Edited By ScouterV

    @donmeca2020: Angelic saint? Was there a third Lobo I missed, because post-Flashpoint Lobo was as much a killer as anyone.

    And I never said the previous Deathstroke was bad. I thought it was awesome. I'm troubled by the notion all the development from it is getting thrown away.

    And I don't, dude. Ask someone who knows what BC is? Might help?

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    donmeca2020

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    #39  Edited By donmeca2020

    @scouterv: BC = bleeding cool.... there is only 1 lobo. it's the the version Bisley and Giffen created.

    As for Daniels run, not sure why they're deciding to change so much stuff in the new volume. However this guy should be getting more of the spotlight then he has been. He's very under rated and under used.

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