Doug: We hope you enjoyed Mike Wilson's introduction to his reviews of the books that made up "The Judas Contract" storyline. He's back today with the body of that tale, one of the best of the latter Bronze Age.
"The Judas Contract" by M.S. Wilson
Tales of the Teen
Titans #42 (May 1984)
"The Eyes of Tara Markov"
Marv Wolfman-George Perez/Dick Giordano
"The Eyes of Tara Markov"
Marv Wolfman-George Perez/Dick Giordano
They drop by Dick's
apartment next, and Tara is still taking pictures. As they leave, Tara speaks
for readers everywhere and asks Gar why he acts like such an idiot all the
time. Gar says he feels inadequate around the other Titans, since all of them
would be successful without their powers, but he's got nothing else going for
him. Tara tries to give him some advice, but he doesn't want to listen. They
drop by a park and watch Vic (Cyborg) Stone attempting to ice skate ... and
failing miserably. Of course, Gar makes fun of him, with a nod to Bambi. They
go by Vic's place, which is in a run-down neighbourhood. Vic finds a letter
saying his grandparents are coming home and freaks out, though he won't explain
why. Later, Gar and Tara get all smocchy-smoochy down at the docks, even as
we're reminded that Tara's still spying. At Titan Tower, Tara tries to get
Raven to open up, but Raven's empathic abilities mean she can detect some bad
vibes coming from Tara. She's not sure if it's Tara herself, or just some
residue of Trigon's evil, but she's pretty snotty to Tara. That makes Tara mad
and she vows that she'll take care of Raven herself when the time comes.
The next day, the
Titans are testing themselves at their HQ. Cyborg lifts a magnetized five ton
weight (Pfffft, Spider-Man can lift twice that!) to prove that he can still
push himself beyond his limits, like he did when he was fully human. Wonder
Girl and Starfire do their best Robin Hood vs. Little John impersonation,
fighting each other with quarterstaves. But instead of fighting on a log over a
river, they seem to be on an air matress in the swimming pool; either way, the
loser gets wet. Starfire wins, extending her unbeaten streak, but they hug it
out afterwards. Next up are Changeling and Terra, who mix it up outside. Of
course, Changeling is an obnoxious ass and Terra lets her psycho side show when
she freaks out and tries to kill him. She apologizes profusely and says it's a
delayed reaction from when she was held by the terrorists. Strangely, they all
seem to believe her (with the possible exception of Raven, but she isn't really
the type to share her feelings anyway). Anyway, this one doesn't end with a
hug.
Back at Casa
Terminator, Slade Wilson tells Tara she almost blew it by letting her true emotions
show. She isn't worried, but Slade says the Titans shouldn't be underestimated.
They prepare to attack the Titans, using the knowledge of their civilian
identities gleaned by Tara. It seems Slade is completing the contract his son
Grant (aka Ravager from issue #2) had with HIVE to kill the Titans. Since Grant
died, Slade figured it was his obligation to finish what his son started. They
leave to carry out the assignment and we see that Slade is a spyee as well as a
spyer; a woman (plus someone with blond hair and a really funky perm) is
watching Slade and Terra ... and she seems to know Slade from way back. Who is
she? We'll have to wait until next issue to see.
Tales of the Teen
Titans #43 (June 1984)
"Betrayal"
Marv Wolfman-George Perez/Dick Giordano/Mike DeCarlo
"Betrayal"
Marv Wolfman-George Perez/Dick Giordano/Mike DeCarlo
This one gets crazy
right away. We see Dick Grayson working at his desk (on a typewriter... man, I
feel old) and Terminator comes busting in the window. I'm assuming this is
Dick's apartment, where Gar and Tara saw him last issue, but why does his desk
have a name plate on it? Do people use name plates in their own homes? Maybe
he's at some kind of office? I have no idea. Anyway, Dick and Terminator fight,
and it's obvious Terminator knows his secret identity. He mentions the HIVE contract
and says he doesn't want to kill him, since the terms are "dead or
alive". Dick starts analyzing the situation (that's what a decade hanging
out with Batman will get you) and he gets Terminator to knock him out the
window so he can go look for the others. Termy goes after him, but Dick gets
away. We see the woman from the end of last issue and the blond dude, whose
name is Joseph; he not only has that wild perm, but some pretty crazy
mutton-chops too. They're still following Terminator, who's kinda shook up
about losing Dick Grayson, and is worried about Terra double-crossing him. He
actually sounds pretty paranoid.
When his emergency
signal goes unanswered, Dick starts checking on the other Titans. He finds Kory
and Donna's place blown up and we get a flashback of Kory opening a
"present" supposedly sent by Dick himself. It explodes and knocks her
out. Dick checks Donna's studio and realizes she was taken too. 
We get another
flashback of her mixing photo chemicals and the mixture giving off a gas that
knocks her out. Dick deduces that Terminator must've switched chemicals so
Donna would accidentally create ether. It's obvious Terminator had knowledge of
their civilian identities, so Dick takes Donna's car and goes to look for the
others. He doesn't seem to notice the woman and Joseph (who we learn is her
son) following. He checks Cyborg's place and sees he was taken too, this time
with the old "electrically-charged metal bands in the kitchen chair"
trick. I'm not sure how Terminator got the bands, the mechanism, and the power
source inside that chair... it looks pretty spindly to me. Anyway, Dick heads
for Titan Tower next, hoping to find Terra or Raven.
But neither of them
are there, though there are signs of a fight, including some of Terra's
"earthworks". Dick is worried that Terminator has taken Terra and
Raven, but the woman who was following him made it to the Tower ahead of him
and tells him Terra was working with Terminator all along and she's the one who
pounded Raven. Dick doesn't want to believe Terra betrayed them, so he calls
Gar Logan's place. The maid (who's dressed like someone from a 1920s burlesque
show) goes to find him. Gar hasn't been jumped... yet. In fact, he's
autographing photos of himself and sticking them in envelopes; it seems someone
sent him a bunch of photos (and return envelopes) out of the blue begging him
to sign and return them... nothing suspicious about that, nosirree. Naturally,
the envelope glue is poisoned (maybe that's where Seinfeld got the idea?) and
Gar keels over, as Terminator calls him a "vainglorious dolt"; hey,
when he's right, he's right.
When Gar can't be
found, Dick realizes everyone but him has been taken and it must've been an
inside job. He starts to believe the woman (whose name is Adeline), but wonders
how she knows so much about Terminator. She then reveals the shocking truth: "He
was... my boyfriend!" No wait, that was "Young Frankenstein";
what Adeline actually says is that Slade Wilson used to be her husband. We then
see Terminator delivering the Titans to a HIVE base in the Rocky Mountains. And
on that dramatic note, the issue ends. I like how Dick was acting kinda like
Batman in this issue, putting clues together and going about everything
methodically instead of rushing off half-cocked. I guess there's a reason he's
the leader.
Tales of the Teen
Titans #44 (July 1984)
"There Shall Come a Titan"
Marv Wolfman-George Perez/Dick Giordano/Mike DeCarlo
"There Shall Come a Titan"
Marv Wolfman-George Perez/Dick Giordano/Mike DeCarlo
Adeline starts
telling Dick (and us) Terminator's life story. Slade Wilson lied about his age
and fought in the Korean War (I think Marv was trying to do things in somewhat
"real time" at this point) and he and Adeline met in the early 60s.
She was some kind of highly-trained combat expert, and Slade volunteered for an
elite military force. This was just before the Vietnam War really got going.
I'm not sure if these are meant to be early Green Berets, or something even more
"elite". Adeline trained them and Slade impressed her with his skill.
Apparently, she impressed him by showing him up on the combat range. Instead of
getting pissy about it, he asked her to teach him everything she could. So,
they fought together, fell in love, got married, and he was sent to Vietnam.
She was pregnant (with Grant, aka Ravager), so she stayed behind.
Dick doesn't believe
her story, because Terminator is almost superhuman. Adeline explains that he
volunteered for some experiment (to resist truth serum) and it heightened all
his abilities, but it screwed him up a bit too, making him manic at times, then
almost comatose at other times. He was discharged from the Army and became
depressed, although not too depressed to knock up his wife again. She gave
birth to Joseph and they moved to Africa where Slade became a Great White
Hunter. Later he became something of a bon vivant, hosting lavish parties and
rubbing elbows with the fancy people. He taught his kids to fight; Grant took
to weapons readily, but Joseph was more sensitive, learning to play piano and
sing beautifully. (See where this is going?)
But their cozy world
was shattered one night when some guys showed up to kidnap Joseph. Adeline
wasted a couple, but they gassed her and took the kid. That's when she found
out her husband was actually Deathstroke the Terminator. They go to get Joseph
back from a terrorist called the Jackal; I'm not sure if he's supposed to
represent a real person or not. He doesn't look much like the real-world Carlos
the Jackal and he looks nothing like Edward Fox, so maybe he's not meant to
parallel anyone from real life. Jackal wants the name of whoever hired
Terminator to kill a friend of his, but Terminator refuses to tell him, saying
he gave his word and his word is his bond. Terminator takes out Jackal and all
his men, but one of them started to cut Joseph's throat. He survives, but his
vocal cords were severed, rendering him mute. Apparently, Slade never came to
the hospital to see Joseph, which pissed Adeline off so much she tried to kill
him. His superhuman reflexes saved him, but he lost his right eye. Adeline then
filed for divorce. (If you can't kill 'em, divorce 'em)
She tells Dick she's
been tracking Terminator, but couldn't get too close while Terra was around,
otherwise she might've gotten buried under a ton of rock. She says she knows
where the Titans are being held, and Dick gives her hell for wasting time with
the A&E Biography of Slade Wilson. But she reminds him he's only one man,
and he isn't even Robin anymore, so what can he do? Dick goes upstairs and puts
on a new costume while reflecting on his life. He comes back down and says his
new name is Nightwing. Adeline announces that her son is a mutant (man, they're
everywhere!), has powers (and got a costume from somewhere, apparently), and is
now called Jericho. She says Joseph's powers were kept secret from Slade. Dick
is hesitant to work with him, but Adeline tells Joseph to demonstrate his
powers. He does some kind of "eye contact" thing and disappears into
Nightwing, taking over his body, although Dick is still aware of what's going
on and can still talk. Jericho then demonstrates the control he has over Dick
by doing the classic "stop hitting yourself" move. He pops back out
of Nightwing and Adeline points out that Jericho could've just taken Dick over
and forced him to do what they wanted.
So Dick decides to
trust them and he and Jericho jet off to find the Titans. I'm not sure why
Adeline stays behind, if she's such a hotshot combat expert. As they're flying
away, Nightwing says the team already has aliens, witches, shape-changers, and
cyborgs, so why not a mutant? He adds, " 'sides, I hear you guys aren't
half bad." which I'm sure is meant as an X-Men reference, since NTT was
being endlessly compared to the X-Men. Some people thought they were a rip-off
of the Marvel mutants, but to me, the styles are quite different. I'd say X-Men
has much more in common with the Legion than with the NTT. Anyway, next issue
is a biggie (figuratively and literally).
Tales of the Teen
Titans Annual #3 (1984)
"Finale"
Marv Wolfman-George Perez/Dick Giordano/Mike DeCarlo
"Finale"
Marv Wolfman-George Perez/Dick Giordano/Mike DeCarlo
This one opens in the
HIVE complex where we see the Titans held powerless in the enervator, a
gigantic Kirbyesque machine that drains (or dampens) their powers. Terminator
gloats (and kinda makes a skeevy pass at Starfire) while the HIVE minions
gather. Terminator tells them about finishing Ravager's contract and introduces
his helper, Terra. They can't believe she betrayed them, especially Changeling,
who assumes she's been brainwashed and urges her to fight it. Outside,
Nightwing and Jericho find the base and start sneaking in.
At the HIVE base,
Nightwing and Jericho conk out a couple of guards and disguise themselves;
well, Nightwing disguises himself, but Jericho takes over the guard's
unconscious body. We learn that if the person he takes over is unconscious,
Jericho can animate their body and even speak, although only in the other
person's voice. They infiltrate the main chamber where the Titans are being
held, but the guy Jericho took over starts regaining consciousness, which means
he'll be able to use his own voice and warn the other HIVE members. So
Nightwing and Jericho come out punching. Jericho hops from person to person,
adding to the confusion. Nightwing tosses some gas grenades and they beat the
hell out of some more HIVE goons. But they run into Terra and she buries them
... literally.
Terminator is aware
of what's happening, but can't stop himself from decking Terra and freeing the
Titans, who quickly take advantage and attack HIVE. Not knowing that Terminator
is being controlled, Terra thinks he turned on her and really loses it. She
goes nuts and tries to kill him. Even after everything, some of the Titans
(notably Starfire and Changeling) still can't accept Terra as an enemy. The
Titans cut a swath through the HIVE goons and start destroying the complex.
Terra is still trying to kill Terminator and drops him into a chasm. Nightwing
realizes how crazy she is and bops her with a stun disc. Before he can reach
her, Terminator sucker punches him and tries to reason with Terra. But she's
too far gone and is ready to kill him.
Changeling takes that
as a sign that she's still on their side, but she quickly gives him the facts:
she never cared about the Titans, has always been filled with hate, and all her
friendliness (including the smooching with Gar) was fake. She admits the Statue
of Liberty terrorists were working for Terminator and the whole attack was just
a way of getting them to trust her. She covers Changeling and Nightwing in mud,
almost smothering them. Raven tries to use her empathic abilities to reason
with her, while Cyborg pins Terminator and tries to get him to call Terra off,
but Termy says she's too crazy ... then he cuts Vic's hands off. He threatens
to cut Vic's head off next, but Jericho zaps him before he can. Terra freaks
out and decks Raven, then goes nuts and pulls lava from underground to destroy
the complex. Changeling flies into her eye and she goes completely off the deep
end, bringing half the complex down on top of herself, though none of the
Titans are hurt.
Gar and Wonder Girl
search through the rubble, and Gar is still convinced (or trying to convince
himself) that Terminator somehow turned Terra evil. Jericho and Terminator
(who's tied up) are both upset at the circumstances of their
"reunion" and both end up crying. Speaking of which, Gar finds
Terra's body and is devastated. Later we see Terra's funeral, with all the
Titans and the Outsiders, including Batman. Terra's brother, Geo-Force, gives a
speech about nobility and sacrifice and all that. Watching from nearby, Adeline
and Joseph realize the Titans didn't tell Terra's brother (or anyone else) that
she was a raving, hate-filled lunatic. Adeline says the Titans are very noble
and Joseph will fit in well with them, but his mind is elsewhere.
And that's the Judas
Contract. In the intro to the trade paperback, Wolfman and Perez admit that
they created Terra with this story in mind; they always knew she was a spy
working for Terminator, and they always knew she was going to die. Talk about
playing the long game. So I guess all the little moments where it looked like
Terra might be having second thoughts were just red herrings. In fact, during
the final fight, just before her death, Wolfman's captions say that Terra was
too full of hate, too far off the deep end to ever be rehabilitated. Maybe that
was his way of silencing all the fans who were going to say "Did she have
to die? Wasn't there some way she could've been saved?", questions the
Titans will be asking themselves too. Apparently she couldn't be saved. But I
think that makes the story better, because it makes the wound deeper, and it
affects the way the Titans look at the world. It could make them less open,
more suspicious, but overall i don't think it does.
The art is
spectacular, of course, and Wolfman's writing is great too. He shows subtlety,
humour, and a real grasp of the characters. I know a lot of people find
Changeling annoying (and he is!), but I can't help feeling bad for him here.
Terra's betrayal hurt him more than anyone, and he keeps blaming Terminator for
it. I think this arc is where Gar grows up a bit, and even though he doesn't
lose his sense of humour (such as it is), Wofman writes him as more mature from
here on out. If I remember right, when the Titans break up, it's Gar and Victor
that rally to get them back together. And there's the follow-up to this story,
where Gar gets the chance to exact revenge on Terminator for Terra's death, but
chooses not to. It's also great to see Dick finally getting out of Batman's
long shadow and becoming his own man. At this point, Jason Todd is already
acting as Robin, so there's no need for two of them. But we also see Batman's
continuing influence when Dick uses his deductive ability to figure out what's
going on. That becomes something of a trademark (like when he investigates
Donna's past).
So, I'd say the Judas Contract deserves its
"classic storyline" appellation. NTT was definitely on a roll back
then!