Slade Wilson finds himself a changed man outside of the Speed Force, but no one is really taking this change of heart seriously. Can the man known as “Deathstroke” really be on the side of the angels now? Probably not, but it will be a lot of fun finding out.
Written by Christopher PriestCover by Ryan Sook
Illustrated by Diogenes Neves and Jason Paz
Colored by Jeromy Cox
Lettered by Willie Schubert‘DEFIANCE’ part one! A new day has dawned for Deathstroke. Having emerged from the Speed Force a changed man, Slade Wilson takes aim at living a better life – a life in service of justice. But when the world refuses to accept the new Deathstroke, Slade recruits a group of young heroes to join him including including former Teen Titans, Kid Flash and Power Girl, his children, Rose and Jericho, and the bombastic Terra! But has Slade truly shed his villainous past? And what other shadowy forces are working against him? Find out as Deathstroke’s bold new direction begins here!
When you pick up an issue of Deathstroke you’re probably expecting a tale of Slade Wilson, assassin for hire. Who’s the target? Who ordered the hit? How will Slade eliminate them? Who’s probably going to double cross Slade? All of these things come to mind, but what readers are probably not expecting is to see Slade surrounding himself with a team of teenage heroes working for the government with his ex-wife, the one that shot out his eye, but that’s what readers will get with this new issue and it is probably one of the more entertaining issues of the series up to this point.
In the last story arc, Slade went face-to-face with a lot of heroes calling themselves “Titans”. If history has shown readers, Deathstroke and Titans don’t mix well, but everyone was able to walk away at the end of the “Lazarus Contract” without too many scars. Slade’s trip within the Speed Force provided him a new sense of clarity, and now he finds himself working with his ex-wife, who doesn’t buy his changed heart. If there’s a character that should know him inside and out it’s Adeline Kane.
Project Defiance is Adeline’s idea and she’s the one that seems to have put in all of the work getting it approved and cleared for action. Her intent is to have her son Joey, aka Jericho, lead the team, but anyone reading this book knows that Slade won’t let that happen.
Christopher Priest found his pace with this series early and he has been building up this series since that point. The changes that the “Lazarus Contract” made to Slade aren’t like flipping a switch on the character. This issue shows that, and Priest shows this by allowing Slade to remain who he is at his core – a master strategist. Priest doesn’t allow the readers to see Slade until the second half of the issue, but his presence is felt throughout. The lead character of a solo series can only appear on the last page of an issue as long as the writer shows the reader the effects that character has on all of the other characters that do appear. Every discussion is about Slade and what he is doing, has done, or has told others characters he will be doing. Priest weaves Slade in and out of this issue with ease. When he does appear there’s immediate impact as Adeline and Wintergreen enter the room where Slade is sitting flipping through the television channels. Adeline begins yelling and the pedal that Priest has been slowly pressing down get pressed a little harder as the story intensifies.
This issue debuts Diogenes Neves as the new series penciller. Neves has a good history working at DC Comics, most recently with a few issues of the Raven miniseries. Neves’s linework is very clean and provides a lot of open space for the inks and colors to have their room to develop the art on the page. There is a decent amount of action in short bursts in this issue and Neves jumps with both feet into those moments. There’s a good energy in those scenes that differentiate from the panels of characters standing and talking to one another. His storytelling in this issue is good. The page and panel layouts flow nicely. There is a pace from panel to panel and page to page that moves along well with Priest’s storytelling showing how each complement the other.
Continued belowJason Paz has worked on about half the issues on this series and has worked with Carlos Pagulayan and Larry Hama with a lot of success. There is a nice consistency with a series when parts of the art team remain and Paz’s efforts are much appreciated in this issue. His inks over Neves’s pencils are neat and crisp which is always nice to see with a penciller and inker team. Paz’s inks definitely provide a nice depth to the pencils. There are some tight spots, but Paz jumps in and hits those spots effortlessly.
Adding to the returning art team is Jeromy Cox, who has been working on this series since the first issue and has been the one that really has set the tone for the art and how it’s seen throughout this series to this point. Cox has provided that look and feel from a coloring standpoint that is the first thing that hits the reader as they turn each page. That initial impact on their eyes is the choices of color and how each are used to breath life into the page hits readers before they begin to focus on the pencils and inks. There’s a lot to be appreciated by that kind of contribution to a series, and Cox deserves it.
Final Verdict: 7.0 – This issue provides a nice jumping on point for new and returning readers. The entire creative team seems to gel well and is providing readers with a series that is worthy of their attention and their cash.
