CREDIT: DC Comics
Rating: 3.5/5 – An Intensely Violent Second Chance for Deathstroke.
by ComicSpectrum reviewer Shawn Hoklas.
When DC launched the first Deathstroke series in the New 52 it started out strong, but because of revolving creative teams and numerous different directions it eventually lost it’s way and its readers. Deathstroke became a better supporting character in books like Suicide Squad, or just became more interesting as a stand alone villain. Now, DC has decided to relaunch an all new Deathstroke series under the creative hands of Tony Daniel who, like his previous DC and New 52 work on Batman, is both writing and pencilling this series and I thought it was a solid start.
Tony Daniel’s art is as strong as ever here and the violence is intense. Not only do we get to see a sword hilt go through the back of someone’s head, but we also see numerous decapitations and Deathstroke’s healing factor pushed to the limit as he’s sliced, diced and blown up too many times to count. Each violent scene is excitingly pencilled by Daniel, and the action never becomes messy or too muddy to follow exactly what’s going on. Daniel’s layouts are extremely creative and the angles he chooses to show the action are unique and fresh. My main complaint in the art department is that the “villains” of the book don’t have the distinct or visual appeal of everything else around them and feel generic at times.
As far as story goes, there isn’t a whole lot new in terms of ideas. Deathstroke is given an assassination job, much like the ones he’s had plenty of times before that lead him into a setup that becomes a little more than expected and also more then he can handle. It’s pretty common for assassin or hit-man stories to have this type of formula, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. I was still excited to read the story as it led to it’s surprising and crazy cliffhanger, that will hopefully not lead to a permanent change for the character. The idea behind the story won’t win any awards for originality, but it executes on what it sets out to do, and that’s to show how lethal and violent a character with the name Deathstroke the Terminator can ultimately be.
Reviewed by: Shawn Hoklas
(shawn@comicspectrum.com)
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