Tales of the Teen Titans 43 (the Judas Contract book 2) page 5 by George Perez and Dick Giordano

Full disclosure (hi guys ^^), I have been excited about what to write for this entry for quite some time now. Since I purchased it, actually.

If you were reading comics in the 80s, there were two books of major importance, competing in sales and for the love of the fans: Uncanny X-Men by Claremont, Byrne and Austin and Teen Titans by Wolfman, Perez and Tanghal. Both runs would prove to stand the test of time, making comic history and each culminated with their own game changer arc: the Dark Phoenix saga and the Judas Contract, both remaining the top of what can be achieved in straight mainstream super heroes comics (note that I’m not counting all the deconstruction series on purpose here; Miracleman,Watchmen and the likes).

If you are/were/will be a Marvel Zombie like many proudly professed to be, there is still a very good chance you have read or at least heard of the Judas Contract. If you have not, you are frankly missing out on a great run and a great story. Because to me, this story is indeed on the same quality level as the Dark Phoenix saga.

It also holds a special place in my comic reader heart as I basically came to the DC universe through George Perez, namely through Crisis and Titans, both of which I experienced mid-story, with all the disorientation you can imagine can come with that first contact, especially with the less new reader friendly Crisis. And the first Titans story I experienced was precisely the Judas Contract, namely the very issue this page comes from.

In this second part of the story, Deathstroke’s long term plans to destroy the Titans are escalating in pace as he burst into Dick (Robin) Grayson’s apartment, thereby revealing he knows who he secretly is and kicking him around.

That page was laser burned in my young mind. That Deathstroke the Terminator seemed like the ultimate badass and his fantastically designed costume, complete with a full mask (which I have always loved) and cool weapons was so exciting. Plus he seemed to have his own dubious moral code (complete the contract at all cost, minding the civilian collateral damage…). The kind of well-thought, well fleshed out baddie any good super hero book would need. And Perez really owned the character artistically, having created him. He remains a personal favorite and I can’t recommend Priest’s recent take on the character enough.

In panel one, said morale code comes into play as Deathstroke recognizes his prey’s merit in escaping him.

The second panel is of note for Perez’ ability to expertly depict body language. Dick Grayson is limping while running, having hurt his foot in a fall and I find this is immediately obvious here.

That third panel close up on D-stroke is probably my favorite and bears the responsibility that this page is so memorable to me. This is a D-stroke centric page and this panel is just gorgeous. You can really feel the intensity in his stare. He won’t let his prey go!

The fourth panel offers a pause in the storytelling and Perez made great use of both the horizontality and the environment for Grayson to escape, leading the reader’s progression from left to right effortlessly. I love how bystanders are reacting/paying attention to his running away for instance as it really grounds the scene.

The fifth panel is probably my second fav’. A typical Perez dynamic pose as D-stroke jumps out of the window, with his body close to horizontally parallel to the ground. The guy is clearly confident in his abilities.

As the sequence continues in panels 6 and 7,it shows a badass sequence of him jumping after his prey while bouncing off car’s rooftops. I mean, how cool can that be for a young brain :)

The last panel reveals that Slade Wilson (what a great name btw)’s ex-wife, Adeline, has been watching him all along executing his plan. She is also ex-military and I find that Perez nailed her look. Beautiful middle-aged woman with some hard facial features showing she is not to be trifled with either.

This is unarguably peak Perez here and comic book royalty. A fantastic and thoughtful storyteller, creating the illusion that it is all so easy, always mindful to varying the shots and angles so that his pages look interesting to the reader.

Dick Giordano and Mike DeCarlo are both credited with inking this issue. I can not be 100% sure who did what on this page but I’m pretty confident I detect some Giordano lines on this page. Some would lament it’s not Romeo Tanghal inking this issue but for one, I find Giordano’s more gritty/straight line approach perfectly suited this scene and second, if I had to pick another inker for this issue, it would have been Perez himself as he clearly demonstrated (with the baxter series relaunch) that he was his own best inker when time allowed for it.

As you can probably tell by now, I’m elated to add this little piece of (Super Hero) Comic Book History/ Royalty to the collection.

This is the ninth day of my 2023 CAF birthday party.