A DC Supervillain Has Gathered a Familiar Team to Take Down the Titans

The Titans are facing off with an old enemy who is rebooting a villainous team to take them down. When it comes to members of the Titans’ rogues gallery, there isn’t a bigger name on the list than Slade Wilson, aka Deathstroke the Terminator. Whether it’s using Terra as a spy inside the Titans or trying to take over the world during Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, Deathstroke always finds himself losing to the Titans. Looking to learn from his mistakes, Deathstroke is taking a slightly different route by gathering various villains from across the DC Universe for one final confrontation.

DC released a preview of Titans #25 by John Layman, Pete Woods, and Wes Abbott. Beast Boy is our narrator for the 25th anniversary issue, and readers are dropped right in the middle of a fight between the Titans and Deathstroke’s new team: the Crime Syndicate. The name has been used several times, most notably by the evil incarnation of the Justice League from Earth-3. Joining Deathstroke and Terra in the Crime Syndicate are Clock King, Killer Frost, Mammoth, and former Titan Vanadia. She was the newest recruit to the Titans who can control electronics. She desperately wanted to be a Titan, but now she’s trying to end them.

Vanadia uses her powers to force Cyborg to attack his friends, knocking Nightwing and Donna Troy over with a concussion blast. Meanwhile, Terra and Beast Boy are catching up on old times. Beast Boy had a crush on Terra back when she was a Titan, but there’s no love lost between them now. Just as Terra is about to squeeze Beast Boy’s neck, he changes into a tiny insect to fly away.

With this being the 25th issue of Titans during DC’s All In era, it’s fitting that they should face off against Deathstroke. The cover by Pete Woods features Deathstroke flanked by Killer Frost and Terra, with the “Dark Reflections” subtitle displaying Nightwing, Starfire, and Beast Boy below the villains.

“Crime doesn’t pay? Try telling that to Deathstroke the Terminator, who spent the last few months gathering members for a brand-new Crime Syndicate with the intention of making the Titans pay — with their lives!” the description of Titans #25 reads. “Terra, Clock King, Killer Frost, and Mammoth are deadly enough, but ol’ Slade Wilson has a few more dirty tricks up his sleeve, all of them lethal. Who wins, who loses, and who will be terminated?”

Future issues tease that the Titans may make it out alive in their fight against Deathstroke, as they look to catch a breather by visiting Beast Boy’s first found family, the Doom Patrol. However, bad guys are never too far behind, and the two teams have to work together to stop Samuel Register, the Zookeeper.

Titans #25 goes on sale Wednesday, July 16th. Let us know your thoughts on the preview in the comments below!