Deathstroke First Appearance: New Teen Titans #2 Value

Deathstroke first appeared in The New Teen Titans #2, cover-dated December 1980, created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez (Wikipedia). His real name is Slade Joseph Wilson, a former U.S. Army soldier who gained his abilities from an experimental super-soldier serum. He came in as a villain for the Teen Titans and has stayed tied to that team ever since.

PriceCharting lists the issue as the first appearance of Deathstroke and notes that it also carries early appearances of Starfire, Cyborg and Raven.

PriceCharting tracks two listings for this issue, the standard copy and a Newsstand copy. Values retrieved September 25, 2026:

• Ungraded: $72.00 (Newsstand $75.00)
• CGC 4.0: $50.00 (Newsstand $55.00)
• CGC 6.0: $80.00 (Newsstand $68.15)
• CGC 8.0: $99.99 (Newsstand $112.50)
• CGC 9.2: $164.83 (Newsstand $182.02)
• CGC 9.8: $723.09 (Newsstand $690.00)

Two things stand out. A CGC 4.0 slab is listed below the average ungraded sale, so in low grade the slab adds little to the price. The jump comes at the top: a 9.8 is worth roughly four times a 9.2. PriceCharting shows the standard 9.8 selling about once a week, so that figure rests on regular sales rather than one outlier.

Deathstroke, by about ten years. He debuted in December 1980; Marvel's Deadpool first appeared in The New Mutants #98, cover-dated February 1991, created by artist Rob Liefeld and writer Fabian Nicieza (Wikipedia). Deadpool's civilian name, Wade Wilson, began as an inside joke from Nicieza comparing the character to Slade Wilson. Nicieza has disputed that Deadpool is a copy of Deathstroke: he says the name was only an affectionate nod and that the two differ in personality, backstory and design (Wikipedia). See our Deadpool first appearance page for The New Mutants #98 values.

His wife, Adeline, shot it out. Their son Joseph was taken hostage, and Slade refused to give up a client's name; the kidnappers cut Joseph's throat. Enraged that Slade had put Joseph in danger, Adeline tried to kill him with a gunshot but only destroyed his right eye (Wikipedia). Joseph survived but was left mute, and later became the hero Jericho.

No. Wikipedia describes Deathstroke as the archenemy of Dick Grayson, the first Robin, and of the Teen Titans, not as a relative. The feud began when his eldest son, Grant, died and Slade sought revenge against the team. His own children are Grant, Joseph (Jericho) and Rose Wilson, who also used the name Ravager. For Dick Grayson's first appearance, see our Robin first appearance page.

Wikipedia names Dick Grayson and the Teen Titans as his archenemies; beyond them he has fought Batman, Green Arrow and the Justice League. The issues collectors look for after his debut:

• Tales of the Teen Titans #42 to #44 and Annual #3 (1984): The Judas Contract. Terra joins the Titans after a staged fight with Deathstroke, then betrays their secret identities to him.
• Deathstroke the Terminator #1 (August 1991): his first solo series.

The serum gave him enhanced strength, speed, healing and reflexes, and Wikipedia says it lets him use up to 90% of his brain's capacity.

• Arrow: Manu Bennett
• Justice League (2017): Joe Manganiello
• Titans: Esai Morales

All from Wikipedia's Deathstroke article.

• Indicia: the small print on the first page or inside cover gives the title, issue number, date and publisher; reprints and facsimiles say so there.
• Cover price and barcode: a price or barcode that did not exist in the cover year means a later edition.
• Paper: decades-old newsprint tans at the edges; bright white pages on an old date are a warning sign.
• Restoration: color touch, trimmed edges and replaced covers are common on expensive keys; a grading service such as CGC can detect them.

Shoot the front cover flat and straight on in even light, then the indicia and the back cover. PriceCharting prices the Newsstand copy separately, so photograph the whole cover clearly and compare it with the photos on both listings. ComicLens reads the title, issue number and cover art from the photo, and there are free scans every day.

Research and drafting were assisted by AI and checked line by line against the sources listed on this page. Prices are the figures shown by the named source on the date given; they change with the market, and a grade that trades about once a year can move a lot on a single sale.