*WARNING: Review may contain spoilers!
There are many iconic heroes and villains in the DC universe but one of my favorites has to be Deathstroke. From his first appearance in the new teen titans to his exploits even on the hit TV show Arrow he is a character that has to be seen to believed. DC has decided to restart this great franchise with Deathstroke #1 but is this a comic that you will want to pick up? Or is this a contract that even the world’s greatest assassin would pass on?
The story begins with a congressman getting a package by courier and then jumping out the window to his death. Scattered around his body are photos that were questionable and would have caused a world of pain for Congressman Hasgrove. After the initial few pages we are shown the villain of this story and it is none other than the Clock King and expands on Deathstroke’s role in the story on how he wanted to have the congressman taken out so he could be re-elected. The rest of the book deals with the return of Deathstroke and by the end of the story you feel as if the world’s greatest assassin is here to stay.
What I didn’t like about this first issue is that the story felt disjointed. It felt as if it was being told in a series of vignettes but to me it was kind of hard to follow. For someone that is not familiar with Deathstroke this might be a hard jumping on point. The story is written by Priest who has a long and extensive writing history for both Marvel (Deadpool and Falcon) as well as DC (Ray and Justice League Task Force). The writing is solid but as I said above it feels a bit disjointed (which could be in part as the Clock King is the villain?) The art for the book is done by Carlos Pagulayan (pencils), Jason Paz (inks) and Jeremy Cox (color). This team lends a great visual style to the book and makes it enjoyable to read.
If you are new to the DC universe and this is your first experience with Deathstroke this would be a great jumping on point. But for the hardcore fans this is definitely an issue to pick up as it may be a little hard to follow but it is an excellent read and sets up for the next issue. So head out to your local comic shop and give this one a look.
