Comics / Comic Reviews / DC Comics

Deathstroke #1

By Dan Horn
September 16, 2011 - 13:36

"Deathstroke the Terminator--The scariest badass on the planet."

That's how Deathstroke #1's narrative begins, and this issue definitely delivers the "badass." This isn't quite what I was expecting, however. The gorgeous Simon Bisley cover was taking me back to the original Lobo miniseries and the artist's long stint on Morrison's Doom Patrol covers; I was even reminded of a Danzig album image. All of which had me expecting something totally over the top, brash, ultra-violent, subversive, and while Kyle Higgins' Deathstroke seems poised to perhaps fulfill all of those things, the series' debut issue falls short on most accounts.

Deathstroke #1 finds the aging super-mercenary picking up odd jobs, like playing bodyguard, as his street cred falters. His handler finds Slade Wilson (Deathstroke) a chance to redeem himself, though, with a retrieval/assassination mission that's impossible by all accounts. The only catch is a rookie support crew has already been hired to help out Slade, who is absolutely annoyed and offended by the idea. With no better options, Slade takes the contract, which sees him assaulting a cargo plane mid-air to procure a mysterious briefcase from an arms dealer, but what at first seems a simple smash and grab mission is quickly complicated by an interesting twist.

This iteration of Deathstroke is kind of like an evil Superman that kills and can't fly, which is certainly something else I wasn't expecting, and even had me a little perturbed. I'm sort of used to Slade being a martial arts expert and assassin with some nominal super-soldier augmentations, not an unstoppable, death-dealing, armored juggernaut. I think the idea here was to create a clear line between Deathstroke and the now more popular Marvel character Deadpool. I suppose I understand the need for distinction, but Slade came before Wade! And that rhymed! And I'm suddenly realizing what a rip-off of Deathstroke Deadpool really is: Wade Wilson? Slade's first appearance was in New Teen Titans and Wade's was in New Mutants several years later?

The action in Deathstroke #1 is fast-paced and dynamic, though this issue is surprisingly light on violence. Bennett and Thibert's artwork also seems too polished and neat to communicate the repugnance of this vicious character. Slade does do something pretty cold-blooded, which I can't spoil for you here, which definitely changed my perception of where Higgins is going with this title, and the briefcase mystery absolutely has me hooked. It's a cheap episodic cliffhanger, but it's effective. I'm in this series for the long haul, I think. Deathstroke may not be what I was expecting, but that certainly isn't a bad thing, per se. Only time will tell whether this series is going to be simply OK or maybe more than that.

Rating: 7.5 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12