TDKPH Villain of the Month -- Deathstroke

Just this past week, Geoff Johns confirmed that Joe Manganiello will portray DC's deadliest assassin, Deathstroke, in the Cinematic Universe. While this news got a lot of fanboys shiting in their pants, this could mean trouble for the Caped Crusader.

New Teen Titans #2

Slade Wilson a.k.a. Deathstroke was created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez. He first appeared in New Teen Titans #2 which was released on December 1980. A mainstay adversary to the Teen Titans, Deathstroke also made a lot of enemies in the DC Universe like Batman, Harley Quinn, and Lobo.

He was a soldier who agreed to undergo experiments for the purpose of creating a super-soldier. The result activated Wilson's meta-gene which allowed him to use 90% of his mental capacity. Consequently his speed, agility, endurance, and healing capabilities were also enhanced.

Tales of the Teen Titans #42-45 - Judas Contract

Judas Contract expanded Deathstroke's origin. Slade kept the experiment hidden from his wife, Adeline Kane. They lived as husband and wife and had two offsprings--Grant and Joseph. Jakal, another mercenary, tried to learn who had put the hit out on his client by kidnapping Joseph for the purpose of making Slade talk. Before Slade could've saved his kid, Jakal slit Joseph's throat, rendering him mute. Adeline was enraged and tried to kill Slade for his failure to save their child. As a result, she was able to injure his tight eye. This is also the very reason why Deathstroke's mask is covered in black on the entire right side.

Tales of the Teen Titans #44

At one point, to save the world, Deathstroke made a hard choice by killing his son, Joseph, code-named Jericho. At the moment of his death, Jericho entered Deathstroke's mind, where he would reside for years. In that time, Deathstroke became a feared killer. Despite those circumstances, he occasionally fought on the side of heroes when it is demanded of him. In one instance, he fought alongside the Titans against the H.I.V.E., which was then led by his ex-wife, Adeline.

Deathstroke the Terminator #6-9 - City of Assassins

In City of Assassins, Deathstroke proves to the DC Universe that he is the best when it comes to hand-to-hand combat. Slade was able to incapacitate Batman in a gruesome battle across Gotham City twice in the same issue!

Deathstroke the Terminator #7

Identity Crisis 

In one of the most controversial story arcs in the DC Universe, Deathstroke was hired by Dr. Light to act as his bodyguard when he was sought by the Justice League of America. When the League confronted Dr. Light, Deathstroke was able to defeat the likes of Green Arrow, Elongated Man, Flash, Zatanna, and many more. He systematically incapacitated them one at a time to protect his client. Slade almost killed Oliver Queen but was tackled by the league to the ground. In that moment, Dr. Light managed to teleport himself together with Deathstroke away from the League.

Identity Crisis #3

Armed with a power staff, pistols, and knives, Slade was an expert in most forms of hand-to-hand combat as well as comfortable with any form of weaponry. Using his marksmanship and fighting skills along with his enhanced  physique, he became a feared threat known as Deathstroke the Terminator.

If you want to read more Deathstroke stories, here's a link to the chronological list we've found laying around the web. However, it seems to be outdated.

Also, please make sure to follow Deathstroke Rebirth! Two of our very own, Carlo Pagulayan and Jason Paz are handling interior and cover duties for the said book.

TDKPH villain of the month -- Deadshot

Whether you loved the film or not, Suicide Squad has taken the internet by storm. The movie is very unconventional. You have a bunch of bad guys set out to do something good.

One of the characters that really stood out was Deadshot. Will Smith was Will Smith. Its hard not to feel bad for the character. I mean, have you seen Pursuit of Happiness? He was able to melt a lot of hearts by making his character very relatable. He did the same for Deadshot. Smith broke down the character to its core and revealed Deadshot's humanity.

Despite Deadshot taking the center stage for Suicide Squad, we're not actually experts when it comes to the "I never miss" assassin of Gotham City. Floyd Lawtom (aka Deadshot) first appeared in Batman #59 (1950). Many thought that Deadshot is a one-hit wonder villain because after his stint in Batman #59, none of the writers made use of his character. Later on, Steve Englehart would revamp the elite assassin in his Detective Comics #474 "The Deadshot Richochet." From there on, the rest was history. Deadshot became a main staple in Batman's rouge gallery.

The Lawtons were a very affluent family. Their success was dependent on Floyd's parents. Once the marriage turned sour, everyone in the family started to do things their own way. Floyd found out that his mother, Genevieve, tried to convince his brother, Edward, to kill their father, George.  Floyd tried to stop Edward but accidentally kills his brother with a gun. Filled with guilt, remorse, and hatred, Floyd began a self-destructive path that he felt would not end until his eventual death. After cutting ties with his family, we went on to train with David Cain -- the famous assassin at that time.

Batman #59

As an adult, Floyd transferred to Gotham City and lived as a millionaire playboy. The life of a socialite bored him so he donned a domino costume and initially appeared as a vigilante trying to replace Batman. When Batman and Robin went on a vacation, Deadshot succeeded in replacing Batman. When the dynamic-duo returned to Gotham, they found out that Deadshot was working with Commissioner Gordon in order to distract the police from serious crimes. Batman easily defeated Deadshot and revealed his iniquitous ways.

Detective Comics #474

Deadshot was able to escape prison by snatching Penguin's laser monacle. Hardened by prison life, Deadshot blames Batman for making his life miserable. He made it his personal vendetta to kill the Batman. Renewed and rejuvenated, Floyd donned his new costume -- the one that we're accustomed to -- the classic red and gray suit with wrist magnums.

Other teams

In addition to his work with the Suicide Squad, Deadshot was also a brief member of the Killer Elite. It is a team of assassins including Deadline and Bolt (Justice League of America #105). During this time, he had begun dating Carmen Leno, a member of the mercenary team known as the Body Doubles. When the Elite and Doubles were competing for a contract, Floyd sabotaged Elite's chances.

In Suicide Squad (the movie), Deadshot was revealed to have a daughter. However, it is very different in the comicbook universe. In the comics, Floyd has a son named Edward -- same name as his brother's. He brought Edward to Gotham when he transferred there.

When DC revamped their whole universe and came up with the shtty New 52, they  also gave Deadshot an unusual loveteam in Harley Quinn. Well, kids, this is probably a "better #RelationshipGoals"

"I never miss"

TDKPH villain of the month -- KGBeast

In light of his movie debut, the boys of The Dark Knight Ph decided to give KGBeast the spot light that he deserves. Our Villain of the Month is none other than The Beast himself, Anatoli Knyazev!

Anatoli Knyazev played by Callan Mulvey

Many people were wondering who was that Russian henchman assisting Lex Luthor Jr. in Batman v. Superman. No need to do some research! Bruce Wayne already tagged him as Anatoli Knyazev. Those who've read Ten Nights of the Beast will be familiar with the name. But for those who missed that 4-issue mini-series, Anatoli is KGBeast.

Anatoli is a highly skilled assassin trained by The Hammer, a top secret cell of the KGB. Just like Batman, Anatoli, or better known in the KGB as "The Beast," is a master of numerous martial arts. With his strength and mastery of many weapons, The Beast is considered to be one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Not to mention, his strength was further enhanced through cybernetics. It is said that The Beast is as strong as four healthy men and is able to literally tear a person in two with his bare hands.

There came a point that the Russian government shut down the KGB division for safety reasons. But before the division was dissolved, The Beast was given a last mission--to kill nine people who are crucial to America's Strategic Defense Initiative called The Star Wars Program. Upon entering Gotham, the CIA tagged him as KGBeast.

To Batman's misfortune, these nine targets came to Gotham City. KGBeast has no regard for human life. He showed that he is a ruthless assassin. Despite Batman's involvement in stopping KGBeast, he was successful in killing seven of the nine targets. In their first confrontation, KGBeast was able to out class the Dark Knight.

In another confrontation, Batman was able to catch KGBeast's left hand with a noose. To insure his escape, he chopped off his hand and replaced it with a prosthetic gun with a bayonet.

Ten Nights of the Beast ended with Batman not wanting to fight KGBeast. The only take away that the Dark Knight got was that he was able to outsmart KGBeast and trapped him in the sewers. Instead of surrendering him to the officials, he decided to let him rot in the sewers since KGBeast has diplomatic immunity being a secret agent for Russia. 

From that time on, KGBeast was considered to be a supervillain that Batman does not want to battle with. But after some time, he was demoted to an assassin for hire. He, once, became a paid assassin for The Penguin but was later on killed by The Great White Shark. In The Blackest Night, he was chosen by the black lantern ring as part of the black lanterns.

So there you go! Anatoli in Batman v. Superman might be a different incarnation of the comicbook character, but at least you know his origin. And here's a little prize for reading until the end of this article. NKVDemon is his protégé.