SMASH and DC Comics Mexico bring you The New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract, an unmissable story for fans of the DC Universe
Every superhero or super team in the DC Universe has a story or two that define who or what they are at their core (their own stories in the style of THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, so to speak) and for the Teen Titans, that story is The Judas Contract. .
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Arguably one of the most famous Teen Titans stories ever told, The Judas Contract was published at a time of general turmoil in the DC Universe.
It beat the Crisis on Infinite Earths that shattered DC’s reality for about a year, but the general mood of change on the horizon is hard enough to miss. If you think of Crisis on Infinite Earths as a storm, The Judas Contract would be the wind before the storm.
Of course there is more to the story than just metaphor, now is the perfect time to see why The Judas Contract helped shape the future of the Teen Titans forever.
Written by Marv Wolfman and George Perez, drawn by Pérez, and originally published in 1984, The Judas Contract was a four-part story that spanned Tales of the Teen Titans # 42-44 and Tales of the Teen Titans Annual # 3.
Deathstroke and his hatred of the Titans
However, despite his rather late position in the ongoing comic book career, he was pulled from the multi-year build-up that involved not just the Titans, but Slade Wilson and the evil HIVE organization.
If you are familiar with the story of Deathstroke, you will know that between the mercenary and the Teen Titans there is a lot. In fact, that’s where it started. Slade’s first appearance was in New Teen Titans # 2 in 1980, where he faced the team to get revenge and complete a mercenary contract for his dead son, Grant.
Since then, the idea that Slade was under contract with HIVE had been an on and off element of his plot, slowly but steadily simmering in the background. The Judas Contract presented that, the definitive and inevitable climax of Slade’s work with HIVE against the Titans and the next step in Slade’s feud with all they stood for as a team.
Changes and betrayals
The arc also came at a critical time for Dick Grayson, who had just given up his identity as Robin and was officially on a super heroic hiatus while doing an examination of conscience. Wally West was also officially retired at the time. (That wouldn’t last either, but it would be almost a year before Barry Allen’s tragic disappearance forced Wally to earn a new title of his own.)
If The Judas Contract had not happened, it is possible that the Nightwing we know would be very different. Even with the intervention of Crisis on Infinite Earths and the subsequent redesign of Nightwing’s identity, the role that the Wilson family and their manipulations played in that transition was undeniably important.
Tara Markov, also known as Terra, was featured two years earlier in The New Teen Titans # 26 and although she was not a member of the team in the official sense, she had unofficially become as good as the other members.
Her powers allowed her to telepathically manipulate the earth using “geo-kinesis”, making her a great combatant in a fight, on par with someone like Starfire as far as general utility is concerned.
Terra was a growing superstar. But like so many in the superhero world, she too had her secrets … and in The Judas Contract, those secrets were turned into fuel for a room full of dynamite.
New faces
The revelation of Dick’s new identity as Nightwing was just one of the introductions made in The Judas Contract. Slade Wilson’s family was also honored to be featured on the page for the first time.
It was known from the beginning that Slade had a son, Grant, who had been murdered, but the details of his family were vague. In fact, Slade’s origins were shrouded in mystery. Judas’s contract crashed through those walls in spectacular fashion, bringing not just his ex-wife, Adeline Kane, but his second son, Joey Wilson, to the scene.
Over the course of the story, more and more mystery of Slade’s past was brought to light in a cascade of betrayals that, curiously, would eventually result in Joey himself adopting a code name, Jericho.
But whether or not his newfound luck in life would find him on the path of heroism or villainy is another matter entirely. Either way, we can say one thing for sure: His future relationship with the Titans would make his own father’s run for his money on the complexity scale.
Adeline, too, would continue to be a driving force in Slade’s development as a person, for better or for worse, with and without the costume. In fact, she’s one of the biggest factors in triggering the Terminator’s eventual change from a persistent cameo villain to an infamous and wildly popular solo antihero.
It may interest you: Top 5: What works in Teen Titans: The Judas Contract
Source: DC Comics
Accept The Judas Contract at SMASH and DC Comics México
In the early 1980s, Marv Wolfman and George Pérez’s The New Teen Titans was the most popular DC Comics title, and the series reached its zenith with the groundbreaking plot called “The Judas Contract.” An epic multi-issue story that cleverly played up to readers’ expectations and delivered shocking revelations and surprising twists every moment.
From the retirement of Robin and Kid Flash to the birth of Nightwing, from Jericho’s introduction to the ultimate betrayal of a Teen Titan, The Judas Contract kept Teen Titans fans positively enthralled during its initial run – and still does. today.
SMASH and DC Comics Mexico brings to you in their DC Modern Classics line, The New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract. The acclaimed work of Marv Wolfman and George Pérez that should not be missing in your collection.
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