• Reviews

• All
• Music
• DVDs
• Live
• Cinema
• TV
• Books
• Comic Books
• Video Games

Sep 18, 2011 Web Exclusive By Jeremy Nisen

Deathstroke #1 is easily my least favorite thus far of DC’s New 52.

In a major case of “show me, don’t tell me,” the first string of narration dialog—even if it’s from Deathstroke’s skeezy handler—is so over-expository and so just dumb that I didn’t want to keep reading. Seriously, the very first piece of dialog is “Deathstroke the Terminator—the scariest badass on the planet.” Duh.

He was a better manipulator and far more diabolical in Marv Wolfman’s classic Teen Titans story “The Judas Contract.” And he was a far scarier badass in such polarizing fare as Identity Crisis. Even the Teen Titans TV show version of Slade was more compelling. This book reduces DC’s most intelligent, incorrigible, and ruthless assassin into something far less than dynamic or interesting. One note.

Here’s the entire issue: Forced into a working relationship with a team of ho-hum young guns, Deathstroke and his young cohorts succeed in their mission, whereupon he grudgingly admits they have promise, and then [spoiler alert] kills them, basically because he doesn’t want the competition [end spoiler alert]. Believe me, the execution is even less interesting than that description.

The art is good, a notch or two above standard comic book fare. The concept of hirelings who’ve been infected with Clayface DNA, enabling them to be sort of clay monsters, is a pretty cool idea. But neither can elevate this to enjoyable. Again, worst of the lot, and unlike some of the other bombs, I have no glimmer of interest in seeing what comes next. (www.dccomics.com)

Author rating: 2/10