Tales of the Teen Titans 43 (the Judas Contract book 2) page 6 by George Perez and Dick Giordano

Last year, I put my first significant published Perez page during my CAF birthday celebration and I was lucky enough to pick up the very following page only months after that first one.

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 sequence 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, we get a great full figure establishing shot of the villain having reached street level in parc where Grayson escaped.

In the next 3 panels, Slade realises that Grayson is long gone and that he will never catch him, not minding being seen by the parc goers and snapping at them.

In the last 2 panels, he simply leaves the scene (in style!)

Those 6 panels not only offer great shots of Deathstroke, complete with both his blasting staff and his blade but also great internal monologue (remember those?) of what makes him tick, how he thinks and operates, having him look a bit weak, basically simply human, and offering much more human depth and drama to the whole saga. Great characterisation by Marv Wolfman who defined the character to this day.

The last panel shows us his ex-wife plotting her revenge against him. So he worries about Tara where he should probably have worried about another woman in his life ;)

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, especially considering that it is a 2 pages sequence.

This is part 7 of my 2024 CAF birthday party.