“The Professional” part seven! After Deathstroke confronts the enemy behind Wintergreen’s abduction and the attempted murder of his daughter, he soon finds himself abandoned on a suicide mission where he confronts an unbeatable foe—the Man of Steel!
Writing
Despite its interesting start, and the more personal look at Deathstroke that this book has offered, things are starting to feel a bit dragged out. The flashing back and forth element worked earlier in the series, but now is starting to feel a bit overused and played out. The emotional development of Slade, his ex-wife, and his children is coming off as a bit too much like a daytime soap opera than the web of lies and secrets an assassin creates. It’s feeling less like the problems of the world’s greatest killer and more like the problems of a rich investor whose scorned lover wants revenge while trying to connect with his forgotten children. All this and more on this week’s The Young and the Restless.
Writer Christopher Priest probably should have wrapped this one up already and moved onto the next storyline. The appearance of Superman as a true force to take down Deathstroke is a nice touch but the flash forward within the second and third pages of the issue spoils any type of surprise or build up for how the fight is going to go before it even gets started. The opening feels more like it should have been at the start of the next issue than this one.
Artwork
The artwork of Jason Paz and Carlo Pagulayan is the only saving grace of this issue. The hard details of the characters helps to show the emotion they are experiencing. Also, the brief bits of action which do appear in the issue are delivered brilliantly thanks to the team’s mix of color and choreography.
Conclusion
There is one more issue left in this first arc of Deathstroke. It is still a good possibility this first storyline will end with the a great bit of reading. For now though, it just seems too clogged by all the emotions, overplayed elements, and daytime levels of betrayals.
