Deathstroke #1:
What Happened: Just to remind us who exactly Deathstroke is, this issue opens with Deathstroke(Slade Wilson) killing a bunch of armed men in Moscow in order to assassinate his target. Deathstroke's contact, Christoph, gets Slade an assassination job, but there are two catches... The first is that Slade has to work with three newbie mercenaries, the second is that Slade has to do the assassination while the target, an arms dealer, was on-board an airplane. Slade goes through with the mission, and upon getting onto the airplane carrying the arms dealer, kills a few bio-weapons, which leads to the arms dealer handing Slade a suitcase. The mystery contents of the suitcase seems to momentarily surprise Slade, but he regains his composure, drops an explosive on the plane, and jumps out right before it blows up. Later on, Slade kills the mercs he was forced to do the mission with before showing Christoph the contents of the suitcase. Christoph seems surprised by the contents, and tells Slade that “they” didn't think Slade could handle himself on the field anymore. This issue ends with Slade declaring that he had some work to do to prove “them” wrong.
The Good: Um, everything? Seriously, I had no complaints here. I mean the only real complaint I DID have was that those mercenaries were annoying, but Deathstroke took care of them for me, eliminating that particular gripe. Slade was the ultra-serious, uber-cool bad-ass he SHOULD be here. There was no fooling around with children, or manipulating junkies. It was Slade killing the hell out of people and proving why he was called the Terminator.
The Bad: I was a bit annoyed that we never saw what the suitcase Slade got from the arms dealer contained. It was never really made clear why “they” thought Slade had lost a step. Was it because he had done some bodyguard work? Was it because he failed some big mission or something? That was never revealed.
The Verdict: This was, by FAR, my favorite rebooted DC series thus far. It told us who Deathstroke was, and set the stage for future issues. On top of that, it was a great read with really good art. This is the first DC comic I've read since the reboot that I'd say was great. Not really good, but great. This series is definitely a keeper.
Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.
There's the Deathstroke I know and love!
I liked this issue but for some reason as not as you. I don't know why, it wasn't bad but it wasn't amazing either, in my opinion anyway. If I'd reviewed it I probably would've given it a 7.5, but I'm glad you enjoyed it. And is that dude Wintergreen? Cause I kinda miss that old bastard.
ReplyDeleteThat's cool. For me though, I'd take THIS Slade over the Slade we've been suffering through for the past year or so in Titans. I mean if I were writing a Deathstroke comic book, it would be like this issue was. Deathstroke kicking ass and not even bothering to take names. Plus I marked out pretty hard when he turned his gun onto his annoying partners. I loved that because I'd have done the same thing in Slade's position! :P
ReplyDeleteOh no don't get me wrong. I enjoyed this Slade WAY more than the other Slade of late, but I just didn't get as engrossed in this as I did with Batman and Robin or a few other books.
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping my issue of Bats and Robin #1 is in the shop on Wednesday... Damned flooding!!!
ReplyDeleteSorry for being so anti-blogger but I'm back!!!! It's been a long weekend at work.
ReplyDeleteAnd you know what, you've make my night. I was patiently awaiting your review for Deathstroke, especially since JT said it was "Okay".
I freaking loved it. This is what I want Deathstroke to be like. A ruthless S.O.B. not giving a damn lol. I mean from the scene with the paperclip and fly to him taking out the crew that was with him. Aww man this is also my favorite of the reboot so far.
X great job on the reveiw!! lol. JT's a lame for giving it a 7.5 lol.
All right! I'll be looking forward to all of these pent-up comments, Lisha!
ReplyDelete"I freaking loved it. This is what I want Deathstroke to be like. A ruthless S.O.B. not giving a damn" YES!!! Thank you!!! That's exactly it! That's why I loved this comic more than any of the other reboot titles. Deathstroke NEEDED fixing, and DC delivered. He was one of those characters that needed to lose the past few years of crap and get back to basics, which was exactly what happened here. I mean everything about this comic was awesome. I didn't even mention the fly and the paperclip in my post, but that's one of those little scenes that I can close my eyes and recall perfectly! Ask me to remember what happened in a comic like Static Shock or Daredevil and I'd be hard-pressed to. But this comic was full of awesome, memorable scenes. I was thisclose to giving it a perfect score too. I don't know what's up with JT, but at least we know he was WRONG! :P