Deathstroke Inc. is NOT ending with issue #7 after all - a DC "typo" to blame according to writer

Deathstroke Inc. #5 cover
Deathstroke Inc. #5 cover (Image credit: Howard Porter (DC))

Update: DC has officially corrected its January 2022 solicitations, stating that the publisher "erroneously" lists Deathstroke Inc #5 as being "part 4 of 7", after previously announcing the series as ongoing.

"The series remains ongoing and we will be updating our materials to correct this. We apologize for any confusion that this may have caused," the publisher states Friday afternoon. 

Although Newsarama contacted DC about what appeared to be an apparent change to the series length/format Thursday evening, no correction was offered by the publisher at the time and before the publication of the original story below and was apparently not realized and corrected by DC until Friday afternoon.

"This is just an unfortunate typo in the catalog," Deathstroke Inc. series writer Joshua Williamson tells Newsarama. "It's not ending at #7 at all. Without getting into details, it is 100% continuing past that."

With the correction, it corroborates our running theory Williamson is the busiest writer at DC. He is now writing three ongoing series (Deathstroke Inc., Batman, and Robin), as well as co-writing the Justice League Incarnate limited series. That's before considering a possible follow-up to his 2021 event series Infinite Frontier, which hinted at a Crisis event of some sort in 2022.

Original story follows...

Sorry, Deathstroke fans…. DC has decided to shorten the upcoming Deathstroke Inc. ongoing series to a limited series. But there could be a good reason.

News of a surprisingly soon end to Deathstroke Inc. comes less than three weeks after Deathstroke Inc. #1 was released and a few days after retailers' orders for October 26's Deathstroke Inc. #2 were due. Could the sales numbers have affected the decision to truncate the series to seven issues? The publisher declined to comment.

Deathstroke Inc. #2 cover (Image credit: Howard Porter (DC))

Another possible reason could be series writer Joshua Williamson's schedule - he just picked up the writing duties on DC's flagship title Batman, in addition to his work on the monthly Robin series and the upcoming Justice League Incarnate limited series (which he's co-writing). Between the demands of that (and especially that Batman title) and delays already hitting Justice League Incarnate, perhaps the writer's plate is full - or perhaps Deathstroke Inc. is ending to make room for the new Crisis event Williamson teased over the course of the recent Infinite Frontier event series.

Williamson told us back in August there was something bigger on the horizon for his DC books, afterall.

Deathstroke Inc. #5 cover (Image credit: Howard Porter (DC))

"That's why we started doing Deathstroke, and that's why it's Deathstroke Inc. because it became this idea of a team revolving around him and some of the mysteries we're building," Williamson told Newsarama. "It really worked out with a lot of the stuff we're doing in Robin and plans I have in other books. You'll see gradually how Robin and Deathstroke are eventually going to connect with the stuff we're doing in Infinite Frontier and some of the stuff with Justice League Incarnate down the line."

Deathstroke Inc. is anticipated to run through March, and that April/May window is a common time for DC to launch its tentpole event each year. 

It's not a matter of 'if' there's a big 2022 DC event, but what it is. Here's our list of the most impactful DC events to date. 

Chris Arrant

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)