D*C Review: Slade

In honor of the Tribal Gathering at Dragon*Con 2006, one last review: Slade, played by Matt Robinson who returns to D*C this year.

And we thought Bray was a loner?

When Slade walked into the picture ("walked" is a figurative term) in S-5 of The Tribe, he made our S-1 mystery boy look like a social butterfly in comparison. Where Bray showed up at the mall with some personal baggage (a pregnant-by-Zoot Trudy), Slade showed up in Liberty with a time bomb--Ram--and an agenda he was VERY closed-mouth about (how many times did he say some version of "that's MY business"?).

He made friends fast. Well, sort of. He seemed determined to empower Ram, first by saving his life & getting him whatever he could to build a computer & then by pushing him to get his ass out of that wheelchair. He & Ruby became...close. Without much effort, he seemed to take over Liberty's rebel element. He rescued Daryl from the trash heap. And then there was his fixation on Ebony. That boy truly did get around. Turns out his best-kept secret of all was that Slade's brother just happened to be Mega.

All in all, it was a damn shame S-5 turned out to be The Tribe's last. We were starting to see the potential for a nasty Slade/Ebony/Ruby triangle--not to mention the greater plot-potential of all our characters disconnected from the city.

In a short time, Matt Robinson brought a powerful character to life. He was one of the best at being an audience-tease; you just never knew where he was going next.

Fans are eager for this 2nd chance to meet him at Dragon*Con!
--Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"