As Deathstroke proclaims himself King of the Villains, the longtime supervillain finds himself on a collision course with Talia al Ghul and the League of Shadows in the crossover event "Shadow War." Written by Joshua Williamson, the story kicks off with the one-shot special Shadow War: Alpha #1 before running through the pages of Deathstroke Inc., Robin, and Batman. The estranged Dynamic Duo reunites to solve a mystery at the heart of the war between the League of Shadows and Secret Society of Super-Villains stemming from the shocking murder of Ra's al Ghul.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, Williamson sets the stage for "Shadow War," introducing the key players in the coming crossover and hinting at how the story will inform DC's big summer event Dark Crisis. Also included is an exclusive unlettered preview of Shadow War: Alpha #1, penciled by Viktor Bogdanovic, inked by Daniel Henriques, and colored by Mike Spicer.
CBR: In addition to Robin and Deathstroke, how do Batman and the new direction for Batman, Inc. play into "Shadow War?"
Joshua Williamson: In Shadow War: Alpha, Talia says she's going after everyone associated with Deathstroke, which includes the Secret Society. There's a hit on all of them. Batman and Damian are trying to figure out what's really going on, find Deathstroke, and figure out the crazy mystery behind "Shadow War." During "Shadow War," Batman needs help and someone to basically protect the villains. That's where Batman, Inc. comes into play. A big piece of the story is how Batman utilizes the new Batman, Inc., which is now run by Ghost-Maker. You'll [see] how that plays into it.
There's the Batman Annual coming out in May. Ed Brisson's writing that, and it actually takes place in between Batman #121 and Shadow War: Alpha. It'll come out with the last part of "Shadow War" but it takes place in between. You'll see Batman and how Batman has been changed by all of this. I think he just really wants his son back and now there's this other hurdle in the way of that. "Shadow War" is the first time they see each other in over a year. The moment they finally see each other, they can finally talk but there's this whole other problem when "Shadow War" happens.
Batman and Robin have gone through a lot since the last time they saw each other. Batman had "Fear State" and Robin grew closer to Talia and his newfound friends. How will they react to these changes when they inevitably reunite?
I think Batman is surprised by it! He obviously thinks about his son but he didn't know that Damian was with his mom and he also saw another side of Ra's al Ghul. He saw who Ra's was before, this human side of Ra's nearly nobody has ever seen before. When Ra's finally makes the decision to pay for his actions and do something different -- which is so much of what "Shadow War" is about... People have the ability to change but they still have to deal with the repercussions of their actions. Ra's accepts that and believes he can be a better person but knows that that's not going to be easy with everyone that he's done.
When he makes a speech about that and gets killed by Deathstroke, Damian has essentially lost another grandparent. He lost Alfred and now he's lost Ra's. In Robin #12, when Damian is speaking with Connor Hawke, he says that it's [his] father that needs to do all the talking. Damian recognizes that he's done a lot of talking and made his speeches to Bruce in that Teen Titans Annual and Detective Comics. Damian is open to talking to his father, desperate to talk to him, but wants his dad to talk and say "I'm sorry" first.
When "Shadow War" happens, it's another source of conflict between them. They're at odds again. You'll see throughout "Shadow War" that they have a case together and [are] able to come together. Batman is skeptical of all this. He doesn't really know this version of Ra's. To him, Ra's is just a villain. Even when he's there listening to Ra's, he doesn't believe it. He thinks it's always a scam. For Damian, the idea that Bruce could never accept that Ra's was capable of more and moving on from his past, that means something because of some of the things Damian has done. If he can never accept Ra's can move on, does that mean he can never accept that Damian can move on? That's something they have to work through. Damian has gone through a lot, so he has to decide how much he wants to tell Batman and if his father will judge him. That's stuff we explore over the course of the book.
Talia has played a more prominent role in the DCU since the start of Infinite Frontier, including mixing it up with Leviathan. What's her mindset like after watching her father get killed?
She's pissed! There's a lot going on there, with a bit of "I was right. The world will never accept the al Ghuls because of what they've done and what their potential could be." The funny thing is, the way "Shadow War" rolls out, Talia is not a villain. Her argument, and part of my original pitch, is that she [maintains that] Deathstroke and the Secret Society are bad and she's going to take them out. Does that make her a villain? She's out for revenge which is what a lot of characters do and it's something we explore. She still thinks she's doing the right thing and saving the world. Her father has always been about saving the world at all costs, and here's Talia's turn to take out Deathstroke and the Secret Society.
That was part of my thought process on her, looking at Leviathan and Checkmate. It might surprise people but the stuff that happened with Checkmate and Leviathan are important for "Shadow War." It all comes together in the story. The adventure that she has gone through has always been leading to this moment. She's in charge of the League of Shadows. What does that mean and how does that impact her relationship with Damian and Bruce? Those are all elements we play with in "Shadow War." There's also big surprises and reveals.
Another wild card is Black Canary, who had been partnered with Deathstroke. How is she going to react to him embracing just how twisted he really is?
She's pissed off, too, because she always knew he was bad but there was a moment when she trusted him to watch her back, and then she gets blindsided. In Deathstroke Inc. #6, she tells him to stop and walk away from being a villain but he says "No, this is who I am." She feels responsible that she let things go as long as they did and [for] some unresolved stuff. We're introducing a new character in Shadow War: Alpha, Angel-Breaker. She plays a major role in "Shadow War" and has a run-in with Black Canary. One of the short stories in Shadow War Zone #1 is Black Canary versus Angel-Breaker because Oracles tell Canary that if [Talia is] killing anyone that's worked with Deathstroke, she's on the list.
That's what brings Black Canary into it, but she also kind of feels responsible for it. Once she figured out what was going on it all happens so fast. Deathstroke Inc. #3-6 is all literally one night of their life. The moment she could tell the Justice League what was going on she did, but there's part of her that thinks she should've thrown Deathstroke off that cliff. She's going to have her own guilt and that's going to get pulled into "Shadow War" and the Dark Crisis stuff that we're planning.
There's also the matter of Lex Luthor, who has recently appeared to menace Batman and is aware of what is building to "Shadow War."
The piece with Lex doesn't factor into "Shadow War." The Lex piece is part of Dark Crisis. Part of Calculator's pitch to Deathstroke [about] why they were forming the Secret Society was also to stop the Legion of Doom. That was part of what Calculator, Libra, and the rest of Secret Society come to the conclusion about, to unite in case anything with the Legion of Doom ever happened again. Cheetah knew about that stuff because we reveal it in Deathstroke Inc. #3, but Lex is going to wait and see what happens with "Shadow War." "Shadow War" helps us set up a major piece of Dark Crisis, with Lex seeing how all of this stuff plays together.
The preview for Dark Crisis has Deathstroke continuing his villainous path. How crucial is "Shadow War" in setting up his role in Dark Crisis?
It's crazy crucial! "Shadow War" can really be read by itself. All the pieces will be there, but you'll get a lot more if you've read everything else. The same [is true] with Dark Crisis. You can read Dark Crisis #1 and get all the information you need but there are other bigger pieces you can get to see if you've read "Shadow War." You'll get a bigger understanding. It's crucial for Deathstroke in Dark Crisis because he is where he is because of "Shadow War." That's a big piece of it, but there's some major twists coming that will play a piece in all of that.
Let's talk about the art of "Shadow War."
Viktor Bogdanovic was the person I asked for to draw that issue. We were talking about finding somebody who could hit a certain art style for the opening with Alpha. I asked for Vik and he did amazing work. It looks really cool. Daniel Henriques has been inking it and Mike Spicer has been coloring it. It just looks cool and really lands. When we get to the actual crossover stuff, Howard Porter is doing the Batman issues and it looks really cool. Paolo Pantalena is doing Deathstroke Inc. I really wanted to make ["Shadow Crisis"] a muscle-heavy, action-packed event partially because Dark Crisis is a different kind of event. It's a much bigger-scale event. I wanted an event that was mostly just fighting ninjas and wanted an artist good at drawing that. [laughs]
You mentioned Dark Crisis was a more intimate type of event but "Shadow War" really feels like a grounded, down-and-dirty family feud.
Yeah, that's what I was trying to do! You look at what we were building with Infinite Frontier and Justice League Incarnate, that was the big multiverse cosmic piece of the puzzle. What I was building with Robin, Batman, and Deathstroke Inc. was the much more grounded piece of the puzzle. You'll eventually see how both of those pieces attack from different sides. I wanted "Shadow War" to be a much more grounded, intimate event that you could easily understand what was happening. All those emotions are right there on the page. You could read Alpha and understand what was going on there.
With Lady Shiva back in the mix, any chance we can see more involvement from her, Richard Dragon, or Cassie Cain?
I haven't really used Richard Dragon but I've thought about using him in some stuff. Shiva is going to be in the Birds of Prey story in Batman: Urban Legends and Cassie is in Batgirls right now. They're not going to be in "Shadow War" at all but I have some plans later for some of them -- definitely Shiva.
What else can you tease about "Shadow War" as we get closer to launch?
It was a story I always wanted to tell in the DCU. I wanted to do something that I felt was a different kind of crossover -- a fun, violent crossover. [laughs] That's what we're building over in Robin. That's a fun book and what we're trying to do with this [is] make something that's really fun, massive event. I have all these ideas of what I want to say about the DCU with all these stories and I think by the time we get to the end of it, we can talk about what I was trying to say.
Written by Joshua Williamson and illustrated by Viktor Bogdanovic, Shadow War: Alpha #1 goes on sale March 29 from DC Comics.