Tales of the Teen Titans 43

The Judas Contract
Book Two: Betrayal
by Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Dick Giordano, and Mike DeCarlo
Jun 1984

- Dick Grayson survives a kidnapping attempt by Deathstroke who makes it perfectly clear that he knows exactly who he is
- Deathstroke mentions to Dick that he has accepted the contract from H.I.V.E. that was originally given to Ravager, his son, back in New Teen Titans 2 to capture or kill the Titans
- Dick goes looking for the other Titans only to discover that they have all been captured by Deathstroke
- the individual captures of the other Titans are told in flashbacks; each one is subdued by a trap except Raven; I love the ingenuity of these traps which show how a supersoldier like Wilson defeats much stronger oppoents like Cyborg, Starfire, Changeling, and Wonder Girl
- Dick is the only one who Deathstroke tries to take through combat, which is probably why he survives, unlike the others who all got blindsided by traps that knocked them out
- When he reaches Titans Tower and discovers evidence that Raven was captured by Terra, which he doesn't recognize for what it is until Slade Wilson's ex-wife (Adeline Kane Wilson) and his other son (Joseph) show up at the tower
- letters column correspondence about the Who Is Donna Troy? issue (38) makes me want to read that, I never have
- Dick Girodano's Meanwhile column talks about the DC Comics 50th anniversary plans and the upcoming 12 issue History of the DC Universe maxi-series which later became Crisis on Infinite Earths
- The Judas Contract has not been reprinted since 2003, the cover price at that time was $19.99, trades of it go for $40-50 on Amazon and eBay but you can buy it electronically from Comixology for $2 per issue; the trade includes New Teen Titans 39, 40; Tales of the Teen Titans 41-44, Annual 3
- the second season of the Teen Titans cartoon from the early 2000s is based on the Judas Contract, I need to get the whole series and watch it, I saw some of it on Cartoon Network when it first aired and enjoyed quite a bit, it isn't cast from the same mold that the Bruce Timm Batman, Superman, Justice League, etc. cartoons were made