Deathstroke the Terminator #1 – Tony Fleecs, Writer; Carmine Di Giandomenico, Artist; Ivan Plascencia, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: For one of the most despicable characters in the DCU – being both a sexual predator and a cosmic threat, most recently playing the role of the main villain in Dark Crisis, it’s surprising how many excellent solo comic runs Deathstroke has had. Most famously, Priest wrote him for over fifty issues, and now it’s time for indie hitmaker Tony Fleecs to have his turn. Fleecs is known for some of the bleakest comics out right now – usually starring adorable animals. This is not that. This is a hard-boiled action thriller as Slade gets right back to business after his recent dust-up with the Titans, taking a high-priority contract. Wintergreen, his one true friend, is trying to get him to reconnect with his daughter and acknowledge that he’s getting older, but Slade is more interested in reminding everyone of just how dangerous he is – even if that means breaking from the client’s orders and making more of a scene out of this kill.
This issue is a particularly good character spotlight for Slade, who is one of the DCU’s oldest villains both in terms of time on the job and in terms of age in-universe. He’s a grizzled man who was hurt by people he trusted and hurt a whole lot of innocent people in return, and he has zero desire to change. That makes him a fascinating character to be inside the head of, even if he’s utterly loathsome – similar to great villain protagonists like Walter White. But the Slade we meet at the beginning is surprisingly free of conflict, knowing exactly who he wants to be and setting out to prove it – and that makes what happened at the end of the issue all the most compelling. I love the addition of the Body Doubles, two obscure 1990s cult favorite villains who make perfect foils for Slade. That’s a prelude to a fantastic gut punch that throws the entire series for a loop and surprisingly makes Slade the underdog for the first time.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
