Deathstroke Makes His Debut in The BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES Comic
The story of Batman: The Animated Series has continued in a DC digital comic series titled Batman: The Adventures Continue. The latest chapter in the story introduces Slade Wilson, a.k.a. Deathstroke. This offers fans a look at what the DC Animated Universe would be like with this badass character.
While Deathstroke has mostly served as a villain in the world of DC, in this third chapter of the story, which is titled "Mentors," Deathstroke shows up in Gotham City to help Batman, Batgirl, and Robin stop Clayface, who is on a rampage. It turns out that Deathstroke's partner Sunny provided Clayface with drugs that were supposed to cure him of his condition, but instead the drugs caused him to go a little crazy.
While Deathstroke is helping Batman in this story, he’s still a mercenary who is wanted by Interpol. We don’t know what the long game is for Deathstroke yet, so he could eventually turn against the Batman Family. At one point gets Batgirl alone and offers to be her new mentor if she decides she wants to expand her horizons beyond Gotham City.
Here’s the story summary:
Slade Wilson has come to Gotham City, and his arrival is making the Dark Knight very suspicious. Robin, on the other hand, thinks the swashbuckling mercenary is just here to help. Is Deathstroke a friend or foe...and what are his plans for Batman?
Artist Ty Templeton talked about bringing Deathstroke into the series, saying, "Deathstroke is one of DC's enduring hero/villains. I've always loved his design and his history with the Titans, which makes him part of Dick Grayson's history, which makes him part of the Bat-World. Slade is kind of a 'Batman-but-with-guns' type of character, only with a very different moral code. That kind of tension, where characters have different approaches to similar problems, is always a fun undercurrent to play with."
Writer Paul Dini added, "It was fun to come up with a first encounter between him and Batman and rework his character and motivations in a way that made sense of the animated series at that time. We've also given him someone new to interact with, a female protégée named Sunny—yes, her name is ironic. She's sort of a Batgirl gone way wrong. "
Batman: The Adventures Continue Chapter Three is available now on Comixology. It will be released in print as part of Batman: The Adventure Continues #2 on June 3rd.