Marv Wolfman Never Saw Deatshtroke as A Villain

I found a good Marv Wolfman quote from BACK ISSUE MAGAZINE #33 (which is on sale from the excellent TwoMorrows Publishing):

“Actually, I never thought of Deathstroke as a villain or bad guy.” Wolfman says in justification of this decision. “I thought of him as someone who was put into a bad situation and couldn’t find a way out so he kept getting deeper and deeper into the hole he was digging around himself.

"I think one of the best Deathstroke stories was one I did in Titans called ‘Shades of Gray’ where he and Changeling go to a diner and just talk. I think that showed who Deathstroke was. I’m not comfortable with him being a mega-villain. As for how he acted after Terra—well, he was in the early process of redeeming himself.I think of Terra as the manipulator, not Deathstroke. She was his means of getting out of the HIVE quagmire he was in. He was her means at getting revenge against the world.”

Interesting, huh?

I really miss the conflicted, complicated Slade Wilson of the 80s and 90s. Before DC decided to turn him into an uber-villain.

It's a shame a lot of writers cite the Wolfman/Perez NEW TEEN TITANS as a major influence, yet ignore some of the rich characterization of that run.