Art by George Perez
By Bill Walko
Joe (Joseph) Wilson is the son of Slade Wilson (aka Deathstroke, the Terminator) and Adeline Kane Wilson. The couple met while in service in the United States Army (Adeline had been Slade’s instructor in guerilla warfare). Sparks ignited immediately between the two, and they quickly fell in love and wed. Shortly thereafter, Adeline gave birth to a son, Grant (who would later become the Ravenger). Slade continued on active duty, and volunteered for a medical experiment in resisting truth serums. The experiment had an unforeseen side effect: it gave Slade enhanced strength and heightened reflexes. Shortly after this, Adeline gave birth to a second son, Joseph.
Slade soon was discharged from the army. He took up hunting for awhile, but it failed to quench his thirst for the life he once led. Unknown to his wife and family, Slade secretly became a mercenary known as Deathstroke, the Terminator. One one of his assignments, Slade assasinated a Colonel from the country of Quarac. The president from Quarac sent a terrorist known as the Jackal to find Slade, and find out who hired him to kill the Colonel. To gain leverage, the Jackal kidnapped a young Joseph Wilson (who was now 5 years old, or so).
This forced Slade to admit to his wife that he was secretly the mercenary known as Deathstroke, the Terminator. Adeline and Slade (outfitted as Deathstroke) together confronted the Jackal. Slade refused to give the Jackal the information he requested, becuase it would violate his professional code of ethics. Slade gambled he could react fast enough to save his son; He saved Joseph’s life, but not before one of Jackal’s men had begun to slit his throat. Joseph was now mute.
Adeline, furious at Slade’s betrayal and risking her son’s life, confronted Slade… with a gun. Slade’s quick reflexes saved his life, but he lost his right eye due to the gunshot inflicted by his wife. Adeline then divorced Slade and raised her two sons by herself. Grant followed in his father’s footsteps and attended military school. Joseph, however, was quite different from his brother; He was a kind, gentle soul who flourished in the arts. Joseph was both a talented artist and musician. Adeline nurtured this side of Joseph, and he grew up to be a fine young man under Adeline’s care.
Sometime after her divorce from Slade, Adeline established her own organization, Searchers, Inc. As he grew older, Joseph worked closely with his mother, apparently recieving combat training and tactical fighting maneuvers from her. Searchers, Inc. provided espionage services for a number of clients. On a mission for the US government, Joseph and his mother seperated briefly for reconnaissance. Joseph spotted his mother in danger from an assasin she did not see. Joseph wanted to scream, but couldn’t. The assasin laughed and prepared to fire at Adeline. Joseph intensely stared at him across the room, desperately wanting to stop him. It was at this moment that his mutant power first manifested; Joseph felt his body separate and enter into the assasin, controlling the man’s motor skills.
Joseph’s DNA had been mutated, because of the biological experimentation that had been done on Slade Wilson. Joseph was a mutant. Joseph’s half-sister, Rose Wilson, was also born with the meta-gene. Sadly, the two siblings would never meet. Joseph continued to use his abilities for Searchers Inc. Shortly thereafter, Adeline discovered the Terminator’s latest activities involving the Titans. With the help of Terra, Slade had finally fufilled the HIVE contract to deliver the Titans into their hands. Adeline and Joseph surveyed Slade’s activities, and approached Nightwing, offering to help rescue the captured Titans. At this time, Joseph first adopted the name Jericho, and fashioned a costume for himself. Nightwing and Jericho sucessfully freed the kidnapped Titans and brought Slade Wilson to justice. Adeline was quite pleased with herself; It appears she wanted Joseph to become a member of this team of young adults.
It took awhile before the Titans fully trusted Joseph and offered him membership to the team. Joseph was, after all, the Terminator’s son. And the Titans had just been betrayed by Terra. Changeling in particular was still hurting from this and convinced himself that Joseph was duplicituous as well. It didn’t take too long for Jericho’s true colors to show through: he was a loyal friend and team-mate. Joseph was a caring and sensitive individual; he reached out to anyone in need. He found a sad quality in Raven and reached out to her many times. Unfortunately, this would ultimately end in tragedy. Raven felt Trigon’s presense grow within her.
Trying to help, Joseph entered Raven’s soul, and was immediately thrown into a state of shock. This, however, brought him to the attention of Trigon. Raven’s dark side took over and Trigon returned. The elders of Azareth gathered their strength and souls together; this force proved powerful enough to enter and overcome Trigon. Unknown to the Titans, however, the souls of Azareth (now tainted by Trigon) needed a vessel to survive. They sought Raven, but she was protected by her soul self. The souls of Azareth were aware of Jericho, and his powers made it easier for the souls to enter him. The souls of Azareth resided in Jericho, but were still quite weak. They would lay dormant, and build up strength as time passed.
In the meantime, Jericho continued to be a valuable asset to the team and a trusted friend to all. Notably, he helped a lost soul, a crystal spinner known as Kole; he provided emotional support for Dick and Kory through Koriand’r's marriage of state to Karras; and he always sought to help the troubled Raven.
Time passed. Slowly, the souls of Azareth regained their strength and merged with Jericho. The souls now needed powerful vessels for each of them to survive. Now possesssed by this force, Jericho sought to acquire superhuman beings as vessels for the souls of Azareth. Jericho also acquired new abilities to help in his mission: a savage and poweful soul self that took the form of a lion and a healing ability that repaired his throat and enabled him to speak. Jericho found a unique opportunity: He invaded and took over the Wildebeast Society (which was a petty group of villians made up of former HIVE operatives). Using them as a front, he abducted current and former Titans to act as vessels for the souls of Azareth. The remaining Titans Nightwing and Troia (along with new allies Arella, Phantasm, Pantha, Red Star and Deathstroke) found the Wildebeast lair and came into conflict with Jericho. During the soul transfer process, Jericho resurfaced briefly, begging his father to kill him; He was beyond help and killing him might destroy the twisted souls of Azareth. To spare his son any more pain and save the remaining Titans, Slade Wilson was forced to drive a sword through Jericho, killing him instantly.
Jericho died a hero, trying to selflessly save others. He showed that he was a compassionate and caring man, even with his last breath. His memory is cherished by his Titans friends. They would remember him as he was: A sensitive soul with a heart of gold. But now he’s returned and isn’t the same sensitive guy he once was. Could it’ve been he was teased one too many times about the mutton chops?
Though Jericho was clearly straight in the New Titans series, it had been commented in a few places that his creator, George Perez, may have initially intended for him to be gay. We e-mailed George to ask him once and for all to clear up the matter for us. This is what George had to say: “While Marv and I did discuss the possibility of Joseph Wilson being gay, Marv decided that it was too much of a stereotype to have the sensitive, artistic, and wide-eyed character with arguably effeminate features be also homosexual. While I think that may or may not have been a righteous concern, we did establish the character as heterosexual throughout the series.”
Well, it’s true he fit many of the stereotypes of a gay person – and it may have been too obvious to make him gay. He probably ended up more interesting as a heterosexual character, while having those traits. Still, it would have been nice to see a gay character in the Titans, regardless – though knowing his ultimate fate (crazed and killed by his father and later evil), maybe not.
Jericho is able to enter another’s body and control their motor functions by makign eye contact with an indivdual (except their speech). If the person is unconscious when Jericho enters, he can also speak through them, but retains any speech patterns the person may have (such as an impediment, lisp or accent). Jericho prefered solving things through non-violent means, but he is an above average fighter, having been trained by his mother, Adeline Kane.
[This bio doesn't include events and info since the character was resurrected.]
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