Deathstroke #19 (Lazarus Contract Part 3)

[ZeroBG82]

I can't say I got that from it at all.

Considering the final panel of the issue is literally Slade, one of the biggest a-holes in comics, making a snarky comment and turning his back, I thought the subtext was pretty clear. Maybe that's just me. I grew up in Chicago, so the issue gets personal for me, and I thought the comic was quite critical of the attitudes that let people just continue to ignore the problem.

[Caivu]

Considering the final panel of the issue is literally Slade, one of the biggest a-holes in comics, making a snarky comment and turning his back, I thought the subtext was pretty clear.

Oh, I got that there was subtext. But the one I got was "eh, what can ya do?", not "Don't be like this".

[ZeroBG82]

Oh, I got that there was subtext. But the one I got was "eh, what can ya do?", not "Don't be like this".

Really? I guess that's sad, but I don't know what to say to you in that case. The core of the story is Slade only being involved tangentially with the issues, and only insofar as he has personal investment, and then turning his back on the whole mess. Ignoring everything else that was presented. It really struck me that the supervillain at the core of the tale just doesn't give two piles of crap about any of this when it isn't his immediate problem. Right down to his biting one liner and complete abandonment of a the entire larger situation in play. Which, while being totally in character for Slade, seemed like valid metaphor.

[Alycat]

They did have a point that his whole "Wow, I can't believe DC didn't censor me!" thing in that article was pretty irritating. The stuff he brought up as being taboo is not taboo. Not frequently a topic of stories maybe, but that's different.



And the fact that he doesn't seem to be aware that the standards changed doesn't exactly reflect well on him.



That's fine, but the trade-off of presenting a totally balanced view of such things is that you often end up having not a lot to say. I know that "Chicago" basically amounted to:

"Gun violence, what can we do about it?"
*shrug*

Or in other words, "Gun violence is a complex problem." Wow, profound.

I mean even if he is exaggerating, coming from where he does hat might be a completely honest reaction. Sure that stuff isn't taboo, but it's rarely handled. Or at least imo opinion rarely handled in a good way. I still don't know why you and this other person simplify it all down to hype, and even if it were, of course someones gonna promote their own stuff as being amazing in some way.

Sorry , but they way most comics handle sensitive issues like gun violence, religion, etc. is often pretty terrible and heavy handed. These are complex problems and a lot of time the solution isn't as simple as what's presented. I thought gun violence was presented pretty well in Chicago and not one solution offered on its own and several sides of the problem were shown. That's what made it interesting and surprisingly realistic. Sorry you didn't find it profound, but I think that's also why it resonated so well.

[darkseidpwns]

Here's an interview with Priest about The Lazarus Contract:
http://lamerciepark.com/wp/?p=579

Some takeaways:
-This isn't the story Priest wanted told. He originally intended to revisit TJC but was prevented from doing so because of continuity.
-Priest wanted to use the NTT in the flashbacks, continuity be damned.
-There is no actual reference to TJC in this story, but Priest hints they may do so later.

This means that there is a chance that NTT may soon be back in continuity. On a side note, I think that I'm in love with Christopher Priest.



Every writer needs to read this. This sums up my issues with Titans and Rebirth in general.

LOL did he tear Batman and Harley Quinn a new one in the comments section?

[Caivu]

Sorry , but they way most comics handle sensitive issues like gun violence, religion, etc. is often pretty terrible and heavy handed. These are complex problems and a lot of time the solution isn't as simple as what's presented. I thought gun violence was presented pretty well in Chicago and not one solution offered on its own and several sides of the problem were shown. That's what made it interesting and surprisingly realistic. Sorry you didn't find it profound, but I think that's also why it resonated so well.

I'm not asking for a 20-page comic to solve gun violence or any other huge issue like it. What I would like to see is some sort of stance beyond "it's complicated" or "this is just to start a conversation". Everyone knows these are complicated issues.

I still don't know why you and this other person simplify it all down to hype, and even if it were, of course someones gonna promote their own stuff as being amazing in some way.

I'm not sure what you mean here, but my whole problem is that Priest is acting like he's being subversive or something when he's really doing nothing of the sort. Slade's quoting the Bible? Oh no! The next villain is a gay Christian? Why, I just might faint. Tanya gets *gasp* birth control!
He really does sound like someone who doesn't actually read comics anymore, which is bizarre.

[darkseidpwns]

I'm not asking for a 20-page comic to solve gun violence or any other huge issue like it. What I would like to see is some sort of stance beyond "it's complicated" or "this is just to start a conversation". Everyone knows these are complicated issues.



I'm not sure what you mean here, but my whole problem is that Priest is acting like he's being subversive or something when he's really doing nothing of the sort. Slade's quoting the Bible? Oh no! The next villain is a gay Christian? Why, I just might faint. Tanya gets *gasp* birth control!
He really does sound like someone who doesn't actually read comics anymore, which is bizarre.

There is no stance, Priest didn't want a stance and that's what makes it different because everyone wants to give a stance because they want to prove their left wing loyalty.

When was the last time you saw a gay Christian villain in mainstream super hero books? and if he doesn't read comics I cant fault him because they're mostly crap anyway. Either way he gives examples and offers insights to the editorial process in his interviews so its not like he's being vague or anything.

[DragonPiece]

I'm gonna be honest, I don't agree with Priest's idea of saying we messed up and just getting to the continuity that fits his story. Job of being a writer in serialized canon is making a story fit into continuity, that's what the fun is for readers reading these monthly stories. I've seen people on other sites point to superman reborn being a good example and while the stories are good, it honestly just looks messy overall how much they had to do to achieve that status quo. I'd rather the writers just work with making the best of the continuity they have available.

[skyvolt2000]

I read that article earlier today, and I'm going to quote here scans_daily commenter mrosa, who summed up my reaction better than I could:

To be fair certain writers are allowed to do things what he can't do.

Also what books were Morrison & Moore doing versus the books Priest has done.

Remember this is the same Priest that made John Stewart a widow in a story that has never been put in trades and killed Ironfist.

Every writer needs to read this. This sums up my issues with Titans and Rebirth in general.

FANS too. I think most writers agree with Priest and just want to tell a story.

The crossover is very fast paced and making young Wally so gullible was probably the fastest way to get the story from point A to B but it doesn't come across as very realistic.

It's Wally is nothing more than a plot device syndrome.

[Zero Hunter]

Here's an interview with Priest about The Lazarus Contract:
http://lamerciepark.com/wp/?p=579

Some takeaways:
-This isn't the story Priest wanted told. He originally intended to revisit TJC but was prevented from doing so because of continuity.
-Priest wanted to use the NTT in the flashbacks, continuity be damned.
-There is no actual reference to TJC in this story, but Priest hints they may do so later.

This means that there is a chance that NTT may soon be back in continuity. On a side note, I think that I'm in love with Christopher Priest.



Every writer needs to read this. This sums up my issues with Titans and Rebirth in general.

I'm sorry but Priest sounds like a pissy child here mad they would not let him reference stories he read as a kid. If you don't want to get hung up on continuity then don't try to use past continuity to tell your new story. You can't have it both ways. You can't say screw continuity and then write a whole story that is nothing but continuity nostalgia.

The NTT are not coming back anytime in the forseeable future and people just need to accept that.

[Grayson - The Dark Heir]

I'm sorry but Priest sounds like a pissy child here mad they would not let him reference stories he read as a kid. If you don't want to get hung up on continuity then don't try to use past continuity to tell your new story. You can't have it both ways. You can't say screw continuity and then write a whole story that is nothing but continuity nostalgia.

The NTT are not coming back anytime in the forseeable future and people just need to accept that.

What?

He literally says that he didn't want to waste time telling a story about how to bring TJC back into continuity so he skipped it and focused on telling the best story he could, a spiritual successor that brings back the connection between the Titans franchise and Deathstroke, which is incredibly important to both books, imo (and obviously his).

I don't get the "pissy child" part of your post when the only ones who seem even a little upset about it is you (for calling someone a pissy child when all they're doing is writing a blog post about the current story they're writing, come on) and maybe even me (for going out of my way to call you out when I could just ignore your post, sorry). All he says is that he's tired of stories that spend more time dealing with continuity than ones that focus on being good, and I think we can all agree with that to some extent. I loved Superman Reborn and the Aftermath and stuff, but I still agree that we don't need those stories to exist. If anything, Priest agrees with you more than you think, in that he doesn't want to get hung up on past continuity.

Lastly, are you really upset that Priest is using the Titans story that is part of Deathstroke origin in a story about Deathstroke and the Titans? Like, what exactly did you want for a Titans/Deathstroke crossover? To completely pretend like they never met, completely diminishing any reason for it in the first place? Was Flashpoint also continuity nostalgia, or did it not count because Flash: Rebirth was a recent story? If that's true, then the story that retconned New 52 Deathstroke and his origin, which was Priest's Rebirth run, wouldn't count as continuity nostalgia either.

[Frontier]

Here's an interview with Priest about The Lazarus Contract:
http://lamerciepark.com/wp/?p=579

Some takeaways:
-This isn't the story Priest wanted told. He originally intended to revisit TJC but was prevented from doing so because of continuity.
-Priest wanted to use the NTT in the flashbacks, continuity be damned.
-There is no actual reference to TJC in this story, but Priest hints they may do so later.

This means that there is a chance that NTT may soon be back in continuity. On a side note, I think that I'm in love with Christopher Priest.



Every writer needs to read this. This sums up my issues with Titans and Rebirth in general.

This was exactly what I was worried about when it was announced they would be re-inserting Judas Contract into continuity (and now they aren't even doing that much), and it explains a lot about the problems regarding this crossover.

Priest's hints about TJC in the future makes me wonder how Terra's role in the upcoming arc will factor into things.

No. But to bring up any such issue like that, and not take some kind of position beyond "meh, it's complicated"... I can't help but think that that's just a waste of time.

Fair enough, but I think it's an equally valid approach to depicting a complicated and heated issue without any real easy solution.

[Caivu]

All he says is that he's tired of stories that spend more time dealing with continuity than ones that focus on being good, and I think we can all agree with that to some extent.

Maybe, but he acts like the two are mutually exclusive.

[Outside_85]

I'm sorry but Priest sounds like a pissy child here mad they would not let him reference stories he read as a kid. If you don't want to get hung up on continuity then don't try to use past continuity to tell your new story. You can't have it both ways. You can't say screw continuity and then write a whole story that is nothing but continuity nostalgia.

Why could he not when Rucka was basically allowed to do whatever he wanted with Wonder Woman?

The NTT are not coming back anytime in the forseeable future and people just need to accept that.

And why should they? Why should they accept this tribute band version of the Fab 5 or yet another rerun of Johns Teen Titans, when they know DC could do alot better if they just brought the A-Team rather than trying to force people to fall in love with a couple of placeholders?

[Zero Hunter]

And why should they? Why should they accept this tribute band version of the Fab 5 or yet another rerun of Johns Teen Titans, when they know DC could do alot better if they just brought the A-Team rather than trying to force people to fall in love with a couple of placeholders?

You act like just bringing the "A-team" back is enough to recapture that magic of the early NTT run. They HAVE brought the so called a-team back many many times and you know what? By an large it sucked. It was never anywhere near as good as the original run. It is hard enough to capture lightning in a bottle once let alone twice and that is why it pretty much never works.