Joshua Williamson’s “Shadow War” arc has finally kicked-off with a bang. Here’s a little annotation for the Demon’s Shadow group that assembles towards the end of Shadow War: Alpha #1. The internet seems to be confused about a lot of these characters, and I’ve seen a lot of bogus info online.
Shadow War: Alpha #1 by Joshua Williamson, Viktor Bogdanovic, Daniel Henriques, Mike Spicer, & Troy Peteri (2022)
The first point of confusion for many starts with the Seven Men of Death, pictured toward the right of the splash. Technically, there are eight Men of Death. The original lineup featured Merlyn, Hook, Razorburn, Shellcase, Hook, Whip, and Maduvu. However, come “Bruce Wayne: The Return Home” (2010), Merlyn was no longer in the group, having been replaced by the eighth character, a domino mask-wearing guy in a trenchcoat-esque outfit, who is an expert at using shurikens. This guy, while never named in any comics, has appeared as a member of the Seven Men of Death ever since. Merlyn is obviously still affiliated with them, possibly acting as a mentor figure. The majority of internet sources, though, are content with erasing the very existence of this mysterious shuriken-wielding assassin. Any attempts I’ve made at correcting this elsewhere (*cough*, dc.fandom.com/wiki/DC Comics Database, *cough*) have resulted in strict gatekeeping in a bizarre effort to keep the erroneous status quo.
The second point of confusion for many internauts is Mad Dog, pictured toward the lefthand side of the image. Some people think this is Sportsmaster, but it ain’t. This is the version of Mad Dog, also known as Mad Dog Rex, that debuted in the New 52’s Suicide Squad. His appearance was modeled after a version of Sportsmaster from the Young Justice TV show, which is partly why folks get so confused. And yes, Sportsmaster in the late Modern Age does look a lot like Mad Dog Rex. However, the big differences are that Sportsmaster only has one shoulder pad, has slightly different armor, and is almost never pictured without some type of sports-themed weapon (not dual pistols, which is most definitely Mad Dog Rex’s thing). Not to mention, we’ve recently seen an updated Sportsmaster in the Rebirth/Infinite Frontier Era that has a very unique look, probably in an effort to differentiate him from Mad Dog! Note that Mad Dog Rex is not to be confused with Mad Dog Cain, yet another League of Assassins-related character.
The character at the forefront appears to be a new character. She gets center stage on the final page, attacking Deathstroke Inc, so I’m sure we’ll learn her name soon enough.
The rest of the characters shown in this splash have been labeled, and they can easily be Googled for more info. Hope this clears things up for everyone!
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Wow, I don’t recognize half these characters. I guess I need to brush up on all this Robin and Deathstroke stuff. It’s a shame the precise history of the League of Assassin’s leadership and adjacent characters (Shiva, Bronze Tiger, et al) is so scattershot in post-Crisis continuity. I’m interested in the League because it’s kind of crucial to Batman, but in order to keep up with it you have to stay abreast of shenanigans in Suicide Squad, Deadman, Deathstroke, Birds of Prey, Batgirl, etc. It used to confuse me somewhat as a new reader, and DC themselves don’t really care about the particulars of League politics, so we’re out in the cold.
I’m surprised that one guy doesn’t have a name. Actually it reminds me of Not-Harley, glimpsed in Scott Snyder’s Batman #1 and Forever Evil: Arkham War, who I’ve always been fascinated by, but is probably remembered by less than a dozen people on the entire planet. Wikis are definitely exasperating… for example, they all claim Zebra-Man’s name is Jake Baker but this name doesn’t appear in Detective #275 and I can find absolutely no other source that actually says this. I can’t figure out where this name came from. It could be tucked away in some Who’s Who or Bureau of Missing Villains. Remember anything off the top of your head?
That eighth man in the Seven Men of Death (lol) has never been named! If you go onto any issue that contains the character in the DC Fandom/DC Database site, they simply list the six named members of the team and completely ignore him. And when I’ve mentioned him to folks over there, they reply with stone silence or pure refusal to believe. It’s really something.
In any case, I think almost all of these characters are quite new, most first appearing in the New 52 or later. While the Seven Men of Death first appeared as a team in 2010, some of them (Merlyn and Hook) date back to the late 60s/early 70s. Hook first appeared in 1968. The oldest character featured is Dragonfly (who debuted in 1966), although I don’t believe her ties to the League of Assassins were made until around 2010.
Who is Not-Harley? I’m fascinated now, haven’t heard about that. And yeah, “Jacob Baker” so far as I can tell is never mentioned anywhere. The DC Fandom/DC Database site (them again, I know) says it is “referenced in relation to a Strike Force Kobra” but I don’t see it anywhere. I’ve read the Who’s Who? issues fairly closely to and don’t see it there either. A mystery!
In Batman #1, there is a woman in Arkham Asylum who is obviously drawn as Harley Quinn, but with brunette hair and regular skin, since Harley being there wouldn’t have been congruous with events in Suicide Squad (presumably). This character appears in Arkham War with a proper jester-themed supervillain costume. If I recall correctly she is just barely in one or two scenes but you can definitely make her out. With all the weirdness in the New 52 I’m surprised she wasn’t fleshed out in some obscure back-up story, or didn’t become some cult character on Twitter or Tumblr. The wikis don’t even mention her and Google isn’t much better since you just get back a bunch of Harley Quinn stuff. Kind of neat trivia though.
Very interesting indeed!
You can glimpse her in the bottom-left of the double page spread in this preview of Arkham War #3:
http://www.amazon (dot) com/Forever-Evil-Arkham-War-2013-ebook/dp/B00GYG0K6I/
Thanks! I just went through Arkham War and this is her only appearance. Not sure who it’s supposed to be, but yeah the “Harley” in Batman #1 can’t actually be Harley, and this one likely isn’t either. So maybe they are the same person. Or errors were made. Still very interesting!