Tales of the Teen Titans #43
Published and © by DC, June 1984
Title: “Betrayal!”
Synopsis: Dick Grayson flees a home invasion by the Terminator to discover the other Titans defeated … and a horrible betrayal!
Writers (co-plotters): Marv Wolfman and George Pérez
Writer (script): Wolfman
Penciler: Pérez
Inkers: Mike DeCarlo and Dick Giordano
Review: Marv Wolfman and George Pérez’s slow-burn story of depravity and betrayal boils over with this second chapter of “The Judas Contract.” The Terminator, whose involvement here dates back to New Teen Titans #2 (see review), is a terrifying villain. And the switch from the “day-in-the-lives” approach of the previous issue (see review) to Dick Grayson’s singular POV accentuates the hero’s growing sense of dread and isolation. On the art side, Pérez has fully arrived as a master sequential artist, mixing strong character work, exquisite detail and clear page design with cinematic flair. Collectively, this is superhero storytelling at its best.
Grade: A+
Second opinion: Recommended by The Slings & Arrows Comic Guide (second edition), 2003.
Cool factor: An all-time creative team at the height of their powers.
Not-so-cool factor: Still having a hard time taking the Hierarchy of International Vengeance and Eliminations seriously.
Notable: First full appearance of Joseph Wilson, who would later join the Titans as Jericho.
Collector’s note: According to the Grand Comics Database, there is a 95¢ Canadian variant of this issue. … According to MyComicShop.com, there is also a Mark Jewelers variant.
Character quotable: “Tara Markov works with the Terminator.” – Adeline Kane, dropping a bomb
Editor’s note: This review was written May 20, 2025.
