Deathstroke & Doomsday Merged Into One of DC's Weakest Villains
Of all the mashed-up villains DC has created, the combination of Deathstroke and Doomsday may be one of the weakest. While both heroes are independently tough to beat with their own special skills, they don't complement each other well when combined. Brute strength and skilled weaponry aren't balanced out or well-utilized in this iteration.
Deathstroke is an assassin whose iconic weapon is his swords. He also knows martial arts and is a skilled marksman. Slade Wilson frequently faces off against the Teen Titans, which is half true within Superman/Batman #60 and #61. On the other hand, Doomsday is best known for killing Superman. His brute strength marks this alien monster as a major threat and one of the toughest opponents Superman has faced. Combining the two doesn't quite hit the right notes, however.
Superman/Batman #60 and #61 (2009) have the creative team of Michael Green, Mike Johnson, Francis Manapul, Brian Buccellato, Rob Leigh, Adam Schlagman, and Eddie Berganza. These two issues introduce a myriad of mash-up villains and heroes, including Doomstroke: an amalgamation of Doomsday and Deathstroke - and also T. O. Morrow. Unfortunately, this character crossing is highly disappointing considering how incredible both villains are independently. This is especially true when adding in one of DC’s superior intellects and letting it go to waste.
Initially, Doomstroke is seen in a threatening, promising way. He wields a very large sword that bears resemblance to Doomsday's spiked body while being a weapon that Deathstroke could choose thanks to his superior swordsmanship. However, by the second appearance in Superman/Batman #61 and his next fight, the sword is gone. It's barely shown in use at all, making it a disappointing waste of his overall persona. Instead, the decision was made to have him use predominantly brute strength, throwing his fists at the Justice Titans (amalgamation of the Justice League and Teen Titans). His T. O. Morrow aspect is used simply to explain how a robot spy was implanted into the Justice Titan's group. It isn't an actual advantage for the character.
Overall, this is one of the worst uses of a villain combination. When both villains have such high profiles and incredibly noteworthy characteristics, underutilizing them is one of the worst things that could be done. Deathstroke's skill has no business being paired with the bumbling strength of Doomsday if there won't be any tactical counterbalance to the action. What could be one of the most fearsome foes in this line-up is one of the weakest aspects of it. These DC villains' skillsets and abilities are not complimentary nor are any measures taken to make them balance out. Instead of being the ultimate powerhouse, Doomstroke is a misguided pairing of villains - which is a shame considering Deathstroke and Doomsday are hard to take down in DC's usual iterations.
Source: Screenrant
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