Deathstroke #6 - "The Professional, Part 6: Love and War"

[laughing_tree]

'I am very much going my own way espec with Joseph who will be less of “the other” than has been traditionally portrayed. My take on Joseph is he’s a normal, happy, well-adjusted postgrad-age young adult not unlike Peter Parker. The only difference being Joseph cannot speak. Doesn’t–should not–make him a freak. I respectfully disagreed with the Joe As Psychopath direction and even, with all due respect, Marv [Wolfman]’s Joe As enigmatic Flower Child." -- Christopher J. Priest

Comments

I Like Christopher Priest but....

[blue_bolt]

Given that Priest is one of the writers here I want to have faith...
but DC has handled homosexuality poor in the past.

Making a gay character EVIL! is just annoying.

This is why I rarely buy comics anymore...
Well, this and cheesecake - I can't stand looking at a woman casually breaking her spine.

Re: I Like Christopher Priest but....

[thanekos]

There's the nuance of both parties in the relationship being flawed, at least- Joseph does what he does on the last page, and Doctor Ikon is irritatingly insistent on identity and sarcastically says things like " I love my cat. "

Re: I Like Christopher Priest but....

[icon_uk]

In this, since both Dr Ikon and Etienne are his lovers, I'd say bisexual Evil

But even then, not sure of the extent of the evil yet, not without knowing more about Dr Ikon

Re: I Like Christopher Priest but....

[shadowpsykie]

Ikon does seem a bit... assholey here... whether or not that deserves this is another question. But I am very against forced outing. And while cold, I don't see this as evil.

[thanekos]

Congrats to Joseph for doing that thing everyone eventually tries in most games with possession mechanics.

[sarahnewlin]

Is it the same Joseph from New Teen Titans? I remember he was originally going to be gay but they changed it...(editorial mandate perhaps?)

[beyondthefringe]

Yeah. This is the New52 version of Jericho--blonde, mute, and capable of possessing people.

And even back in the old days, he dated a lot of girls but always came off coded as gay, so it's about time he was allowed to be more flexible. It sounds here like he's either bisexual or pansexual. "Only idiots make it about bodies" or whatever. Makes sense for someone who can hop into other people to fall for the inner person and not be so focused on physical attributes?

I haven't read this, so that's just my take on what's been shared.

[sarahnewlin]

Let us hope he can be a happy successful living and non-evil bisexual character for once. One that doesn't get fridged and one that has a partner (looking at you Alan Scott....)

If all else fails he could menage-a-trois with Midnighter?

[starwolf_oakley]

Wolfman and Perez decided it would be too stereotypical for Joseph to be gay: sensitive, artistic, etc.

[icon_uk]

More likely playing against type. Joe was the long haired, sensitive aritst (as contrast to Slade, and Adeline and Grant) but he was also one of the most prolific heterosexual lovers in the DCU , and not an ounce of shaming at any point. (When having to contact his recent/current partners to warn them about a potential threat, NIghtwing has to call at least seven different women)

[shadowpsykie]

NIghtwing has to call at least seven different women

heh I remember that... that was Titans Hunt right? or that "new" graphic novel that came out a while back

[icon_uk]

Yeah, the one I'm thinking of was in the more recent graphic novel, "Games" .

Though there's another example where we hear Joey's answering machine in his studio after he's been away for a while and there are over a half dozen messages from ladies saying how much they're missing him and looking forward to seeing him again, and as the messages continue we pan around the studio seeing the stunning oil paintings he's done of each of them (or that's the implication at any rate)

[beyondthefringe]

Chatty Jericho is really disconcerting. I grew up on mute, ASL-using, enigmatic flower child Jericho, so it's weird seeing him just have actual conversations with people. :)

[ruhig_knight]

Same here even though I always thought they'd take some kind of short cut with Jericho's muteness eventually. Like break Wolfman's rule on thought boxes or something. At least they're keeping him mute finally.

[ruhig_knight]

On one hand, I am very intrigued and ecstatic at Joey being canonly bisexual (or pan) as it's something I always saw his character as reading NTT. Really what Rebirth Joey is saying here about loving someone and not caring about their gender or body really feels like something I could see NTT Joey also believing...unless we get a "deep in denial gay man" storyline after all like Isherwood is insisting which will be a slap in the face to many people in similar positions to Joey's.

But of course, there's the question of Joey's morality. I like Priest and from his work on this book and others I feel like he can do this respectfully yet DC's crushed my hope for Joey too many times before I don't know what to think. At least Priest also dislikes shoving Joey into the CRAZY VILLAIN role so this will probably be more nuanced than say, Deathtrap. But really Priest, Flower Child!Joey was wonderful please tell me he's at least an artist still (I mean yeah, no character is still 100% like their original self but that was some of Joey's charm).

Also hope if they haven't figured out if the Wilson kids were Titans or not soon... it be just cruel we have Canon Bisexual Jericho who never knew Dick Grayson.
ALSO also, I'm not sure if they messed around with how Joey's power works. Again.

[strejdaking]

Okay, I am bit confused about the situation. Is the implication that they used to be in a relationship some time ago, or that they were till now, even when Joey was dating that girl? And guys... Forced outing is wrong, but it doesn't justify murder and even if Ikon was a crappy person, that still makes Joey look pretty bad, being in relationship with him and all.

I gotta ask, I am not terribly familiar with the character but out of his many falls to the dark side, was there like one that everybody loved or something? Because it seems to me like nobody likes him being evil, yet DC again and again insist on making him a villain. At best, he's a sympathetic attempted murdered now and right from the start. It reminds me how many Villain's Month issues revolved solely around "man, what an asshole" theme. You can always make characters more evil, but it's rather hard to do more sympathetic portrayal after you have them eat few babies. Unless you just ignore the continuity all together which hey, never stopped them before.

[laughing_tree]

It would appear that they used to be together but aren't anymore.

[ruhig_knight]

NONE of his fans liked him being evil. Even his co-creator who wrote the story where Jericho was possessed into evil and ultimately killed by his father regretted doing it but for some reason DC insists on putting him in that role, mostly in very hackneyed ways that just continue to taint his character from Deathtrap in prereboot continuity to being written AND drawn by Liefeld for his New 52 debut. All in all, about as bad as Class's treatment under Beecher and aftwrwards. While not sure what to think here, it seems Priest will be handling this more delicately especially going by what he writes about Joey on his website. And yeah, I do hope he really didn't kill that guy too and was a fake out...there's quite a few in this series so far.

I had to reread the issue a couple times to make sure about if adultery was there. By use of past tense word and how clueless Ikon seemed about Joey's relationship with Etienne I'd say they were a thing in the past... yet how some read it that could still easily be interpreted as that way.