Tales of the Teen Titans#44(1984)

At Titans Tower, Dick Grayson stands incredulous as Adeline Kane accuses Terra of collusion with their most hated foe Deathstroke the Terminator. As his former wife, Adeline has intimate knowledge of Slade Wilson's origins. She provides Robin with a complete history of Slade's life. :The Origin of the Terminator :Having lied about his age, Slade Wilson was sixteen-years-old when he first enlisted in the United States Army. After serving a stint in Korea, he was later assigned to Camp Washington where he had been promoted to the rank of Major. In the early 1960s, he met Captain Adeline Kane who was tasked with training young soldiers in new fighting techniques in anticipation of brewing troubles taking place in Vietnam. Kane was amazed at how skilled Slade was and how quickly he adapted to modern conventions of warfare. She immediately fell in love with him, and realized that he was without a doubt the most able-bodied combatant she had ever encountered. She offered to privately train Slade in guerrilla warfare. In less than a year, Slade mastered every fighting form presented to him and was soon promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Six months later, Adeline and he were married and she became pregnant with their first child. It was at this time that the war in Vietnam began to escalate and Slade was shipped overseas. At home, Adeline gave birth to their son Grant. :Some time later, Wilson volunteered for a medical experiment designed to stimulate his adrenal gland in the hopes of increasing a soldier's ability to resist truth serums. The experiment did not go as expected, and Slade fell into a coma. When he awakened however, he discovered that was now capable of using 90% of his brain capacity, and his strength, durability and agility were increased to near superhuman levels. He applied for re-assignment with the army, but they refused him. Although his condition was now stabilized, depression took hold of him and he was desperate to serve his country. At this time, Adeline became pregnant with their second child, Joseph. Unable to further his career in the military, Slade turned towards hunting. He became a world famous safari hunter and great wealth followed soon after. Adeline always suspected however that Slade felt unfulfilled. :A few years later, a group of hired mercenaries broke into the Wilsons' mansion and kidnapped young Joey. Adeline attempted to fight them off, but a gas grenade prevented her from saving her son. When Slade discovered what had happened, he knew he could not keep the truth from his wife any longer. Slade was not only a world famous safari hunter, he was also one of the world's deadliest and most highly sought after assassins - Deathstroke the Terminator. He promised Adeline that he would save their son. Together, they flew to Tangiers and squared off against a rival mercenary known as the Jackal wanted Slade to reveal important information relating to a client or else he would have his men kill Joey. Slade gambled on the idea that he could save his son before the Jackal could give the order. Though he succeeded in disarming the thugs and killing the Jackal, he was not fast enough to prevent one of them from slicing Joey's throat, permanently robbing him of his voice. Grief stricken beyond measure, Adeline attempted to shoot her husband in the back of the head. His lightning reflexes saved his life, but he could not avoid the bullet taking out his left eye. Slade and Adeline parted ways, but Addie always promised that she would finish the job she started. After concluding her tale, Adeline convinces Dick to allow them to help rescue the Titans. Dick runs upstairs to don a brand new costume, and with it a new identity. When he returns to the meeting hall, he is no longer Robin the Boy Wonder. He is now Nightwing. Joey too has a costume and has taken to calling himself Jericho. Dick is still unsure about having Joey around, but Adeline reveals that the experiments which gave Slade his powers, had a mutagenic side-effect in his son. Joey has the ability to physically possess the bodies of other people. After a quick demonstration, he communicates (through sign language) his desire to bring his father to justice. Nightwing is still reluctant, but agrees to accept his aid. They fly off in the T-Jet on the trail of Deathstroke and Terra.