Im telling you all. One year later, somewhere down the line,�@Garth WILL�@ be joining the Shadowpact. Just they might not get a card for him in this set...

Those Magic plot twists are really quite magical. Plus, the version is something that can be reused in later sets.

Now, onto that Shadowpact prediction.

Ya know, I doubt UDE will make 2 versions of each of the important guys and gals on that team. They almost always reserve that for really big characters like Wonder Woman. They might make doubles of a few of them, but I wouldn't put money on it.

Also, Enchantress will likely be called June Moone*Enchantress, as not to be confuzzled with the Marvel Enchantress.

Also, based on the actual Day of Vengeance series, rather than just the Special, Black Alice should be on the team somewhere. She was a key piece, rather than a sideliner like a few of the recruits we saw. Could she be a new Power Absorption?

Deathstroke?

It's still a possibility that the second Deathstroke is on another team, unless I missed something.

I'd actually put Deathstroke at about #3 in the DCU as far as Villianous Importance. Right behind Luthor and The Joker (Purely because of his constant interaction with the Batman).

He's got his hands in everything. It seems like they can't right a storyline anymore without dropping at least a Deathstroke reference, if not giving him some face time. He's had knockdown-drag out fights with everybody except Supes (at least not that I can remember). He is a founding member of the most influential Villian Group of the moment, and he has been featured rather prominantly in the build up to IC, if not throughout.

I think he probably deserves 2 versions. :)

Blackbriar Thorn, Druid of Cymru is #44 on vsparadise

And he's excellent. That's a solid 3-for-3 for the Shadowpact so far.

Good grief! There's another character choice I never saw coming! At this rate, I'm glad I never posted my "over/under" for Villains United!

Comparing Deathstroke's marketability to anyone on the respective rogues galleries of the World's Finest is ludicrous. Deathstroke spent a good solid year making the guest appearance route and dwelling in character-limbo while secondary World's Finest villains like Brainiac and Penguin would show up almost annually. "Season-ender villains" like Darkseid and Ra's al Ghul verged on over-exposure (especially the former). Even gag villains like Toyman and the Ventriloquist got more appearances under their belt during that time period than Deathstroke has gotten throughout his entire existence.

However, that being said, since the rogues galleries of Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, and the JLA have all been allowed to languish in the modern age until very recently, I'm willing to concede that Deathstoke is probably the most marketable DC villain if one ignores the rogues galleries of Superman and Batman in their entirety.

I think the appearances on the TT cartoon puts his marketability a shade above Atomic Skull, KGBeast and Terra-Man.

And Blackbriar Thorn has joined my ever-increasing list of obscure comic characters I find amusing for some reason, with the likes Congorilla, Beta Ray Bill, and Captain Nazi.

And I would disagree, since all three have made appearances on Justice League Unlimited. :)

B'wana Beast had more screen time than the three of them combined, and yet I don't expect his popularity to shoot up, as much I want it to.

The problem there is that Batman's traditional enemies already have cards that could concievably see play. As do a lot of Supes's rogues gallery. Additionally, with the advent of Dual Affiliation, both those teams got a huge shot in the arm from DJL. I'm sure there are some hardcore fanboys or people with a more in-depth background in this area than me that would like to see some obscure characters from those groups see print, but I really can't see why you would think they were being ignored.

Deathstroke as a villian has gone up against the JLA, the Teen Titans, the Outsiders and the Bat-posse in recent memory. And that's with my limited background in the recent past of the DCU. He's gone up against the big dogs on multiple occasions, he has had some of the most memorable fight scenes (EVERYBODY remembers the fight from Identity Crisis), and he has set much of the tone for the Villianous side of the DCU during IC.

I personally think that, and remember that this is just an opinion, Deathstroke is quickly becoming one of the coolest and most interesting personality in comics in general. He has good characterization, solid motivations that are generally just murky enough to make you think and one of the best personalities to counter the "do-goodery" of the average 4 color-esque hero that wears a cape in the DCU. This is all assuming that he is well written, of course.

Judging from the fanboy response to his card, and yes I realize that the ones that are happy chime in the loudest, Deathstroke is a very popular personality. I for one am very happy to see him in multiple versions that may actually see play. :)

Not really comparable. Deathstroke played a big part in seasons 1, 2 and 4 of TT. He got more exposure than poor Starfire ever did. Did Atomic Skull et al ever make it above generic brute/minion status on Justice League?

Anyways, Blackbriar Thorn is going up now.