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“Deathstroke” #4

By | October 14th, 2016
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Slade Wilson’s mission to find who has put his remaining family in danger continues as Priest and Bennett also continue their psychological dissection of this character called “Deathstroke the Terminator”. Let’s see where it brings us.

Written by Christopher Priest
Illustrated by Joe Bennett

“The Professional” part four! After an attempt on The Ravager’s life, Slade Wilson and his daughter head to Gotham City in an attempt to track down Rose’s would-be assassin.

“Deathstroke” is a good book.

Like, a really good book.

Like, so good that I kind of hate that it’s so good because it stars a character that I never understood his popularity and just found him to be a bastard. And here’s the thing: writer Christopher Priest knows this and rolls with this. Because while this issue solicit does tease a fight between Deathstroke and DC’s other overrated character, Batman – a prospect that will no doubt titillate many a fanboy – that is played secondary to the character-based family drama that is the remaining Wilson’s trying to form some sense of reconciliation.

The two aspects that have truly stuck out with me are the pacing and the lack of ever actually getting into the mind of the titular character. To put it simply, this is one of the finer paced comics I’ve read in a bit. I never feel bombarded with information, but it never seems to drag. Priest and Bennett also make use of repeating panels in ways that don’t come off as obnoxious. The opening scene of Slade and Rose on a road trip to Gotham in particular is one that stood out for me, creating a scene of two characters talking that manages to feel natural (or as natural comes for two such characters) and using just a hint of dialogue repetition to make it hilarious (which a certain Marvel writer should take note. It’s not about people repeating each other’s dialogue ad nauseum that delivers a humorous beat, it’s choosing that one specific repeat).

As for the second aspect, it’s a very smart decision to never actually go inside Deathstroke’s head. It allows the reader to use his actions, alongside the interpretations of everyone around him, to paint the portrait that is Slade Wilson. It’s Wintergreen, Slade’s biggest confidant and professional Revolver Ocelot cosplayer, himself that acknowledges that Slade is a villain. Not a psychopath, but not a good person, in spite of Wintergreen believing that Slade cares for his daughter. It allows people to make up their own minds about him instead of trying to shoddily hammer him into “anti-hero” or, even worse, “villain who fights worse villains”.

Speaking of daughter, I have to give special shout-out to the creative team all around for the portrayal of Ravager. I have to admit, Rose Wilson is a hard character to get down right. Being that she’s mostly been in team books, it is very easy for her to slip into “someone with characteristics” rather than “a character”. However, Priest and Bennett have been able to find that delicate balance of tough, witty, clever and vulnerable in both personality and body language that has really made her feel more compelling in a long time. The highlight being the aforementioned opening scene and the flashback to her training with Nightwing. It displays that bit of confidence she’s got and it works so well.

Now let’s get to the confrontation with Batman. There’s quite a bit of a switch up in terms of page structure. Bennett, inker Mark Morales and colorist Jeromy Cox get to show off some quiet scenes with a switch to 6-7 panels with any narration being excerpts from Wintergreen’s field report contained in the gutter space of the page. The silent depictions of a Gotham suburb do an effective job of revving up the tension until it springs into action. It’s actually here that I do have a bit of criticism. See, this scene starts with that page description I mentioned, but then transitions back into Wintergreen’s narration in every panel and while none of it is bad narration, it does hamper what Bennett, Morales and Cox were trying to go for to a degree. That only happens for one page, but it does bring the scene down a little.

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And it’s not just action scenes that this team soars with. I know I keep going back to that scene of Slade and Rose on their road trip but it really is just so good. Bennett captures the scene perfectly, rendering a variety of emotional expressions for Rose while maintaining that same steely intensity and focus for Slade. Morales actually provides quite a delicate hand with his inks, allow for great detail without going overboard. Finally, Cox provides a beautiful and bright color scheme for the idyllic countryside, wonderfully contrasting the hilarious arctic chill in the car.

Also, Bennett and Cox depict Naked Slade Butt. Now, I don’t know if this was supposed to be a fun poke at the infamous Nicola Scott-drawn Nightwing Butt but if it is: Well Done.

“Deathstroke #4” continues this book’s tradition of being really good. The whole “supervillain” and “mercenary” stuff is used wonderfully to portray a broken family trying to form something out of ashes, all the while combining some great wit and fun action. I can’t believe I’m writing this… but “Deathstroke” is my favorite book in all of Rebirth and that’s thanks to having such a great creative team.

Final Verdict: 8.9 – God help and forgive me, but Slade Wilson has a really good book!


Ken Godberson III

When he's not at his day job, Ken Godberson III is a guy that will not apologize for being born Post-Crisis. More of his word stuffs can be found on Twitter or Tumblr. Warning: He'll talk your ear off about why Impulse is the greatest superhero ever.

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