Waller Vs. Wildstorm #1 Review

 

A dense political thriller starts

Book One 

Writers: Evan Narcisse, Spencer Ackerman 
Artist: Jesús Merino

Colorist: Michael Atiyeh 

Letterer: Dave Sharpe

Editor: Chris Conroy
Cover: Jorge Fornés

I was very surprised by this, went in for some dumb action, something like an 80's action movie. Instead this is more of a political thriller, pretty cool stuff. Still in line with the 80's vibe I wanted, Waller vs Wildstorm is a very distinct read, I fear that this might not be for everyone since it does feel a little bit dialogue heavy at some points. Regardless of that, very intriguing start. Can't wait to see where this goes. 

That's it for now, have a good one! 

Deathstroke Inc. Vol 2: Year One Overview

 Half worth it 

I'm not happy at all about what i'm going to say about this book, it had a perfect start but as it goes on it feels like a waste of time. 

What is Year One? 

As Joshua Williamson lost interest in writing and went in automatic mode, I mean, as Joshua Williamson got occupied with Dark Crisis, DC had no idea about what to do with Slade's solo title, so, origin story time. And you know, when a title or franchise results to this type of thing you have all the right in the world to be worried. 

But, at first glance, Deathstroke Year One does know how to use this opportunity, opting to fill gaps about Slade's origin and tell some of the already established parts via Slade's own eyes, something never done before. Yes, we never got Slade origin by his own thoughts and perspective. This was a genius move.

However... This books turns into a waste of time after the first issue. Nothing new or useful. Gratuitos cameos and a very underwhelming conclusion that amounts to nothing. Not a lot to say since not a lot of things happen. Not a bad book, but you can skip this and nothing will be lost. 

(Maybe a 2,5)

That's it for today, have a good one! 

Time to bring Jericho back! Talking about the upcoming Titans run

 And others of course 

Since we're getting a new Titans run that appears to sell itself as a spiritual sequel to Wolfman and Perez Titans I feel like this is the place to bring Jericho back and put the rest of the Wilson family to good use. Being honest, i have some problems with the premise of this book, we already have tons of runs showing a grown up Titans line up, and since we also already have confirmation about the Justice League coming back the idea presented here, that being the Titans taking JL position, feels useless. I have the impression that this has new readers in mind, not the old ones. But let's hope i'm wrong. 

DC forgot Joey 

After Christopher Priest run on Deathstroke the character of Joseph Wilson is missing. Even during pride month the company who owns him ignores him. A big shame since he is one of the most important Titans, being introduced in the classic Judas Contract storyline and used for many years after it. He ended up dying but Wolfman has said he regrets this. He was brought back during Geoff Johns Titans run and got used there a lot too.

Last time he got mentioned was during Dark Crisis and even tho he didn't show up, he got character assasinated. 

Joey always helps when needed, especially when his dad is causing trouble. This is so against his character, is insane. Williamson truly does not get the Wilsons. 

Joseph deserves a comeback, as a Titan, as the hero he truly is. 

Rose needs a comeback too

With Ravager things are a little bit different, she was used a lot recently but as a glue for the Robin and Deathstroke books, as a plot device, nothing more. For the last 3 years or so Rose was seeing but she got nothing, no character development or anything. She was made into a glorified background character.

She was introduced during a Titans and Deathstroke crossover and used in many Titans runs over the years. Sometimes as a mentor and mature figure, others as a teen full of anger. Regardless, I don't see a better place for her now. Make her part of the team, give her something to do(for the love of God). 

Respawn... Yes. 

The newest member of the Wilson family who got thrown away for plot convenience. He was shown alive so, he did comeback somehow. His place is in a Damian Wayne comic but since DC lost love for him and he's getting put aside maybe Titans could be a place for Respawn to exist. 

And you guess it... Deathstroke 

The character got turned into a generic grey MCU villain, he needs a comeback to his former glory. Slade is top 2 most important villains the Titans have ever faced and the most iconic foe of the team. Being used not only as an antagonist over the years but as an ally sometimes too. His presence feels obligatory to every Titans comic run. 

That's it for today. Sorry for the blog being dead, around march things should get back to normal. Have a good one and take care! 

Late Reviews: DC vs Vampires All Out War #6 and Dark Crisis #7

 Ok, ok. Very late to the party but let's get this done with. 

All-out war, Part 6

Writer: Matthew Rosenberg and Alex Paknadel
Artist: Pasquale Qualano

Colorist: Nicola Righi

Letterer: Troy Peteri

Editor: Ben Abernathy
Cover: Alan Quah

The conclusion to what has to be the best comic from 2022 with Deathstroke. I must admit that this issue was the weakest of all but not bad by any means. Another fun read as you can expect from this series, i guess my problem is the somewhat predictable ending. Anyway, if you fallowed the series so far you're going to read this regardless. 

Dawn of DC

Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Daniel Sampere

Colorist: Alejandro Sánchez

Letterer: Tom Napolitano

Editor: Paul Kamisky
Cover: Daniel Sampere and Alejandro Sánchez 

A whatever ending. I guess my problem with this series is how much it plays safe and this issue was that. The most safe ending possible.  It uses the characters in whatever way fits the story instead of using the characters to move it.  And i just hate how much this tries to lie to us.  This series asks us to look at the past, but not the actual past we read but a different version that the writer want us to. And yeah, at the end of the day this was just some eye candy with some cheap fan service. Not even 10% of  what the original crisis was. It goes in the complete opposite direction. Just another robotic cashgrab event. 

Deathstroke Inc. #15 Review

 

I mean it's alright 

Year One - Part 6 

Writer: Ed Brisson 
Artist: Dexter Soy

Colorist: Veronica Gandini

Letterer: Steve Wands

Editor: Paul Abernathy
Cover: Mikel Janin 

This time I want to talk about the cover for a second. Why only 2 of Slade's kids are there? Why Rose is there if she is not in the comic? It's hard for me explain it but this cover makes little to no sense to me. Anyway, and the comic? It's... ok. I loved the first issues but the ending here lacks punch. Year one biggest selling point was seeing some of Slade's feelings about his life that we never knew but the conclusion for this arc has nothing new for us. And nothing with real impact happens, the ending is predictable. This is not a bad comic by any means, it's fun and a good read but it offers nothing new. 

DC vs. Vampires: All-Out War #5 Review

 

Good news, the bus is back! 

All-out war, Part 5

Writer: Matthew Rosenberg and Alex Paknadel
Artist: Pasquale Qualano

Colorist: Nicola Righi

Letterer: Troy Peteri

Editor: Ben Abernathy
Cover: Alan Quah

Maybe the best issue so far(?)

Mary Marvel and Slade took the centerstage as this series gets close to the end while our group finds themselves inside Flash's museum. Does the story continues at its proper pace? Yes. Does the humor continues to land?  Yes. However what graps the attention here is Mary arc and Slade's narration. Her story isn't fully over but you can see a really good conclusion being set up. As for Slade he definitely feels like the same exact character he was back in the 90's during Wolfman's run. And that's all we could ask for. The art continues to fit this series very well. Again, solid recommendation.

Dark Crisis #6 Review

 

It took 6 issues but finally 

Legacy War

Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Daniel Sampere

Colorist: Alejandro Sánchez

Letterer: Tom Napolitano

Editor: Paul Kamisky
Cover: Daniel Sampere and Alejandro Sánchez 

The best issue so far, hands down. Finally the action that was needed for this to be a crisis. 

Everything with Jon was the highlight for me, and now it's fair to call this an event about legacy. I still have some problems, like how Pariah and Deathstroke are used to coment on fanboys who think that everything in the past was better and who hate legacy heroes, feels somewhat shallow and unecessary since we already had a similar thing with Superboy prime. Also, not a fan of some of the dialogue, specially moments like Nightwing trying to talk with Rose but I think it's fair to let that slide. As a Deathstroke fan, it pains me to see what is being done to the character but since we're almost at the end I don't care anymore. This was easily the most fun issue.

Batman: Shadow War Overview

 What would happen if M. Night Shyamalan made a comic 

First of all, I would like to explain my point of view. I was following all the titles involved here, I genuinely loved Robin, I thought Batman was not amazing but good and Deathstroke was ok if not good too. Williamson hyped this on twitter as a Batman vs Deathstroke event and I was all in for that, Batman inc. vs the society of Super Villains with Slade as the leader? Please, inject this on my veins. And then this came out. What a waste. 

First of all, this isn't really a war, it doesn't feel like one. Batman: War of Jokes and Riddles is a war. This is a quick, unespired and lazy story. Shadow Hunt would be a better name, but I guess the word war means more sales. 

The original premise is completely ruined by an unnecessary and lazy plot twist. Imagine a similar story but with Deathstroke really killing Ra's and Batman, Robin and Talia going after him. But then a actual war happens, not just the League attacking and huting Slade, a war, that lasts for months. But enough talking about what this could have been, let's talk about what it is. 

Shadow War makes poor use of it's characters. Only Talia and Brion feel like real characters(but not good ones), the rest is just people to be put on covers to sell. 

The new character, Angel Breaker, is a waste of time. She's there in the hopes of making some easy money for the writer if one day they pick her up for something else. She kills a character that already existed for years, Deadline, to show she's serious and thats it. About Deadline, did Williamson read the previous Deathstroke book? Why does he likes Slade now? What about his hand? Anyway. Also, about Slade, just like in Deathstroke Inc he continues to be just a punching bag, and an empty one. He's not a character, he's a plot device. On top of that, he's super out of character. According to Superman himself, Slade is the world's best tactician, but here, he's show as just an idiot with a sword(since that's easier to write). Batman almost does nothing here too, he has a good reunion with Damian but most of the dialogue with the two is insanely forced. Damian almost has a good conclusion about his story with Respawn but then Respawn dies to move the plot. Yes, in 2022 a character gets friged to motivate others. Good job! And we have Geo-force... The character that dies for real here is him. Character assassinated for an unnecessary plot twist. 

The art is just ok if not bad at some points.  Some characters like Respawn can be seen out of model and others with clothes that they should not be using(like, what was that cape with hood Slade uses? Did the artist confused him with the impostor Deathstroke?) 

How it all ends is ridiculous, characters getting defeated in contrived ways that should not be possible. Slade dies again, but this time he needs the Lazarus pit to come back? Did Williamson also not read his own Deathstroke series? This is also supposed to lead in to Dark Crisis but it does a poor job at that too, the connection to Dark crisis comes in only one page at the end that just raises questions which answers keep flip flopping. 

There is also a short story that breaks continuity and makes it so that Slade fought Batman first, therefore, impling he's a Batman related character. And that's super pointless, since after that he's put again as a Titans related character in Dark Crisis. What I'm trying to say is that most of the stuff here has no reason to exist. It has no vision, no purpose, no planning, no consistency. 

The tie ins are also pointless, making everything feel like a joke even. 

This is nothing but another soulless crossover.

Deathstroke Inc. #14 Review

  

His word is a bond 

Year One - Part 5 

Writer: Ed Brisson 
Artist: Dexter Soy

Colorist: Veronica Gandini

Letterer: Steve Wands

Editor: Paul Abernathy
Cover: Mikel Janin 

It's hard for me to talk about this one. Great action, great art and once again all the callbacks to classic Deathstroke are a win. But... Turns out this isn't only how Slade entered the mercenary world, but also how he learned the value of strategy, of planning his moves. And I don't see the point of that, he was in the army, knowing the value of prep time is something he should already know. There is also a plot twist here that was easy to see coming, but it's clear that the comic knew this and this doesn't matter that much. However, something that can be an issue is a certain sense of parts of this arc being unnecessary.  This could be a 4 part arc easily. Not bad, but the weakest issue of this storyline so far. 

DC vs. Vampires: All-Out War #4 Review

 

Midnighter vs Prometheus? Hell yeah! 

All-out war, Part 4

Writer: Matthew Rosenberg and Alex Paknadel
Artist: Pasquale Qualano

Colorist: Nicola Righi

Letterer: Troy Peteri

Editor: Ben Abernathy
Cover: Alan Quah

Another great issue, once again I must point out the consistency in pretty much everything. The humor continues to be spot on, I think it is safe to affirm that the jokes are the highlight of this series.  Alongside with the plot that just moves at the right pace. And last but not least, the action. That fight between Midnighter and Prometheus... Now that's why I read comics. And that also serves to encapsulate everything this series gets right. This is a short one since I'm late and probably everyone already gave this a read, regardless of that, another recommendation.

Dark Crisis #5 Review

 

So... (almost) nothing happened 

Together

Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Daniel Sampere

Colorist: Alejandro Sánchez

Letterer: Tom Napolitano

Editor: Paul Kamisky
Cover: Daniel Sampere and Alejandro Sánchez 

So far this series felt more like a regular Justice League story, not a Crisis, after the last issue it seemed that this would change. Not the case unfortunately. The scale of the battles feels small and rushed. This is supposed to be about legacy but all we get is some cheap fanservice. It lacks a real argument about legacy heroes, instead it just goes "hey, look, the young heroes look cool".  Also, this issue also was hyped as the return of the Justice League, which is horrible for a story about legacy, in my opinion. Some of this event is feeling like an Walking Dead ep, something insane happens at the end, to hook you up for the next ep, but then, nothing happens, people just talk and in the end another crazy thing happens. Last issued ended with the return of the infinite earths, today's issue should open with the insanity something like this should bring but we get stuff that should be at the begging of a story like this, like heroes being recruted. And again, nothing original. The return of the infinite earths? We got that years ago in another sequel for crisis on infinite earths, infinite crisis. Again, the art is amazing and at least the plot is rolling but it feels so empty. What is the point of this besides events with crisis on the name making easy money?

Deathstroke Inc. #13 Review

 

The dead walk again

Year One - Part 4 

Writer: Ed Brisson 
Artist: Dexter Soy

Colorist: Veronica Gandini

Letterer: Steve Wands

Editor: Paul Abernathy
Cover: Mikel Janin 

I guess is that part of the movie, oops, I mean comic, where the story slows down, we get some comedic relief and the characters take a breath. Except Slade does not feels like doing that. Anyway, the most interesting thing here is how the first pages mirror Part 1, I believe this is supposed to say that Slade died after the experiment, in a symbolic way. Or literal. Again, good stuff, love seeing Wintergreen and Slade together. The drama with Adeline works well too and the artwork, as always, great. So of course, I must continue to recommend this series. 

DC vs. Vampires: All-Out War #3 Review

 

R.I.P. school bus

All-out war, Part 3

Writer: Matthew Rosenberg and Alex Paknadel
Artist: Pasquale Qualano

Colorist: Nicola Righi

Letterer: Troy Peteri

Editor: Ben Abernathy
Cover: Alan Quah

I'm definitely happy with this series, today's issue continues with the consistency and tone you can expect. The humor continues to work really well(jokes about Florida are always welcome) and the plot continues to progress nicely. That's the key word, continues, the people behind this comic are definitely having fun and putting that energy into their work. One thing I must point, and I'm happy for it, is that Deathstroke acts like a strategist here. This is pretty much the only comic currently where the character acts like himself. And of course, the rest of the cast is nothing short of fun to see, how Batwoman was used is a highlight for instance. As always the artwork is great too, with one splash page in particular with most of the main cast just killing vampires and looking cool while doing it. It looks good, the plot just keeps going at the right pace, no character feels off, solid recommendation. 

Dark Crisis #4 Review

 

Lex Luthor vs. Deathstroke but it's the abridged version

Crossovers

Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Daniel Sampere

Colorist: Alejandro Sánchez

Letterer: Tom Napolitano

Editor: Paul Kamisky
Cover: Daniel Sampere and Alejandro Sánchez 

Alright, now I get why some people where saying this should not be a crisis. 

Not a bad issue by any means, it gets the job done, but the scope of the action feels small, especially compared to previous crisis. This feels more like a prelude to a crisis event. I'm confident that the next issue will be better but so far it's just ok. The art as always is nothing short of amazing. If I had to criticize something, once again, it would be the use of Deathstroke. And I was kind of right about it? Luthor did kick Slade's ass, Deathstroke lost every  fight he was in, I can't buy this guy as a big deal. This series always shows Slade as a pathetic loser and then talks about how he's a big threat, there's a disconnect. But whatever, he's just a puppet for the real villain. Anyway, it's just alright. 

Deathstroke in animation: Teen Titans

 Today we start a new series of posts, in the same vein as Slade Wilson Contract Journal, we'll be exploring the adaptations of Slade starting with his most iconic one, Slade from the Teen Titans animated series. This was how a whole generation meet the character and how he was nightmare fuel for many. So, how was this incarnation of the character? What did he influence? Let's see what Teen Titans brings to the table. 

Who is Slade?

We don't know, heh. This character is one big question mark. He shares some traits to comic book Slade, he has enhanced strength, speed and reflexes. He's cleary smart, always 10 steps ahead and hates losing.  However instead of being a mercenary trying to avenge his son, he wants to destroy Jump City, where the show takes place, have Robin as his apprentice and take over the world. Why? Still a mystery. 

Even how he looks is secret in the show, but in issue #49 of the Teen Titans Go! comic, no, not that Teen Titans Go, we see Wintergreen, who had appeared in the show but with no voice lines, relaxing at one os Slade's mansions with a picture of Slade behind him. 

Even though he might look exactly like comic book Slade in the picture, in costume during the show his look is unique. I assume they did take some inspiration from Deathstroke's blue suit from the 90's, due to the lack of color and the metal plating, regardless of that, Teen Titans Slade has his own unique and intimidating style blending classic with 90's Slade into something new. 

Another major difference is his name, he's never called Deathstroke the Terminator, only Slade, due to censorship. Not a issue at all, since Slade alone is a intimidating name. Intimidation and presence are the name of the game with this character. Still speaking about the visuals, the character is almost always surrounded with machinery and clock related imagery, I suppose this is made to reflect not only his army of robots but his cold and calculating nature. I don't know if this is just a coincidence or if it was intentional, but during Deathstroke Rebirth when Slade goes after the Clock King some similar visuals are used. 

Slade is an evil mastermind, always with a plan up to his sleeve, not the mercenary who never fails or the world's deadliest assassin. There's always this feeling that he's never really defeated that only adds to his sinister vibes.

 Now, the most important difference in my opinion is how Slade is Robin main nemesis. In the comics the titan closest to Slade was Beast Boy, not Dick. The show always makes some villain the main nemesis of a certain character, Blackfire for Starfire, obviously, for instance. I think it is safe to assume the people working on the show realized how much sense it makes for Slade to be Dick's main rival. Besides the similarities the cartoon points, Slade is an "anti-Batman" type of character. It just works.

 And this choice influenced how people see the two. with many thinking that Deathstroke is Nightwing main rival in the comics,  even though Slade is completely absent of some Nightwing runs or only present in small cameos. 

When Damian Wayne was the leader of the Teen Titans, however, Slade was his own main nemesis, maybe this show was the inspiration for that at some level? I mean, besides the Son of Batman animated movie, that we will be discussing at other time.  Another thing the show might have influenced is how Slade in the comics has been seen trying to be a mentor to young heroes. During Rebirth Deathstroke created the Defiance team, his own "dark" Titans, a group of young heroes he tried to teach one or two things. 

Also, since this show made such radical changes to Slade, every cartoon wants to give their take on Deathstroke, sometimes making he almost unrecognizable. 

Going back to the show, one of the most iconic traits of Slade is his voice, courtesy of Ron Perlman. His voice fits him so well, calm, intimidating and closer then you think. He sounds like he's behind you, hiding in the shadows and he's having fun with it. 

As we briefly mentioned before, Wintergreen does appear but doesn't really do anything to mark his presence. Jericho also makes a cameo in some later episodes. He feels more like an easter egg than anything else. Rose shows up in the Teen Titans Go! comic but it's somewhat of a underwhelming use of the character. 

Season 1 

Slade serves as the show first main antagonist, making small appearances along the season trying to manipulate others to work for him. During the two part finale, Slade infects the Titans, sans Robin, with nanobots and threats to kill the group if Dick refuses to work for him. At the beginning Dick reluctantly accepts, however Dick outsmarts Slade at the end, infecting himself with the nanobots, forcing Slade to give up. They defeat Slade and he disappears. 

His hair appears to be grey or brown, but I personally always felt that maybe he's blond like 90's Slade, with the lack of proper lighting making it look brown. 

Season 2

This season sees their spin on the classic Judas Contract storyline, but much like Slade, their version is so different that it might not even be fair to call it Judas Contract. In the comics, Terra was a cruel mercenary and a psychopath, she wokerd for Slade out of her own free will and desire to destroy the Titans. However in the show, she is a confused girl who can't properly control her powers. Slade took interest in her, wanting to use her to destroy the Titans. Promising to teach Terra how to master her powers, he succeed in manipulating the girl, but the Titans managed to help Terra overcome Slade's manipulation. In the end, she faced Slade and killed him.

Season 3

Slade only appears as Robin hallucinates him. solidifying Slade as Robin's archenemy and proving his impact on Dick's psyche. With the help of his friends, Robin's hallucinations stop.

Season 4 

Slade returns, as a servant of Trigon, since the demon promised to bring him back to life if he worked for him. Things don't go as planned as Trigon doesn't honor his word, Slade betrays him and ends up working with the Titans to defeat him(I suppose this is the show take on Slade teaming up with the Titans in the comics from time to time). Slade shows up at season 5 but then is revealed to be another one of his robots. He started out as a mystery and remained one. 

In Conclusion

Teen Titans Slade is his own character, being the most mysterious and iconic antagonist of the show. He's downright sinister and disturbing. You can find people online claiming to have nightmares with him, no joke. He is a great antagonist, for Robin in particular. 

Comic book Slade was about understanding him, he was the most human of all villains the Titans fought, cartoon Slade is a boogeyman always in the dark.  There is no denial, he is not like comic book Slade, but being different does not equal being bad. Although it would be cool to see a more comic accurate take the Teen Titans cartoon isn't about that. The only possible gripe about him is how he can be style over substance. He has some substance, yes, you can find  subtext about abusive figures written, but that does not change the fact he has no motivation or clear end goal, he's there to be scary and that's it. But since he does it so well, I'm not complaining, just acknowledging a possible criticism that can be made.

Now, for the ranking. Since this is the first post in the series, Slade finds himself alone for now, but, very high on the list. And, spoilers, he will stay there. 

That's it for today. Thank you for you time and hope you enjoyed, take care and have a good one. 

Lex Luthor and Deathstroke, the history

 

Who does the smartest man in the world call when he needs help?

Lex Luthor, one of the biggest comic book villains of all time, and Deathstroke, who I personally think should also be on that list but that's open for debate. As you can imagine, the two have cross paths in the past and today we will go over the history between the two in preparation for the next issue of Dark Crisis. But only what can be considered main continuity. 

Rude Awakenings

Let's go back a few years, when DC let the bad guys take over. No, not Year of The Villain. And no, not Forever Evil. Before that, before even Flashpoint. Back to Brightest Day era of DC, Deathstroke took over the Titans book, making his own team of Titans. Issue #24 sees Slade accepting a contract to kill Lex Luthor(?). But of course, there was a plot twist. Luthor knew that an assassin had been hired to kill him, in response, he called on whoever he thought was the best in the business to take out the mercenary. Slade Wilson. 

With some complications Slade and his team got the job done. Deathstroke still was the mercenary who never fails during that time.

The Black Ring

One of the most famous storylines for Lex Luthor, where Lex searches for the power he had during Blackest Night. This quest takes him into numerous places, and leads into some interactions with others characters. During part 3 of this adventure, taking place in Action Comics #892, Luthor calls in for a specialist. They end up finding a big dome of black energy, that messes with Slade's emotions making him go berserk. So Luthor suits up as Deathstroke goes after him. 

They fight and Slade wipes the floor with Lex, as he is about to kill him, one of Luthor's scientists managed to send the black energy into a "different type of spacetime", making Slade regain his senses. 

Forever Evil

DC Comics big event that marked the launch of the New 52 line, here, the Crime Syndicate takes over, with some of prime earth's villains at their side. Luthor is the protagonist of this event, taking action against the Syndicate with help from the likes of Bizarro and Batman. In the beginning Slade was working for the Syndicate, but during #5 he has a conversation with Luthor that makes him switch sides. 

(and Deathstroke does nothing for the rest of the story besides getting punched in the face) 

Blood Ties

Ok, not real Lex Luthor. But just so no one think I forgot this. Even tho I wish I  had. Rose got kidnapped and searching for her Slade ends in a Lex Corp building. Naturally he fights a AI of Luthor. 

The robot is too much for Slade, who ends up thrown into a lab with an army of Bizarros. With difficulty, Slade survives and escapes. 

And that's it, if I'm not forgetting anything. Lex and Slade are the best in what they do, if we can learn something from the times the two worked together, is the mutual respect for one another. Now, will any of this get mentioned in Dark Crisis? I highly doubt that. My bet is that Luthor is going to kick Slade's ass while talking about how Deathstroke is the worst person who ever lived(which would be funny since Luthor had a similar role to Slade now during Year of the Villain). But I'm hoping I'm wrong and that something different happens. Regardless, remembering some gems from the past it's always fun. 

That's it for today, as always thanks for your time and have a good one. 

Deathstroke Inc. #12 Review

 

 One of the most beautiful issues i've read

Year One - Part 3 

Writer: Ed Brisson 
Artist: Dexter Soy

Colorist: Veronica Gandini

Letterer: Steve Wands

Editor: Paul Abernathy
Cover: Mikel Janin 

The spotlight goes 100% to the art today, this was truly wonderful to look at. The art style, how every color was used, the pages layout, just beautiful. Easily one of the best looking comics i've read in a while. The story was good too, it had an interesting contrast. If you go back to DC's One Year Later line, where Deathstroke was Oliver's main villain, and compare to this, you can see how things change over the years. Even though this was more action heavy it still founds proper time to character drama. I have to tip my hat to how cohesive this Deathstroke is to Wolfman's and Priest at the same time. But I do have one complaint, even having in mind that this is a younger and inexperienced Slade, the character strategist side is nowhere to be found. This isn't a problem exclusive to this, in every project Slade is in currently they never bring this up, how Deathstroke is supposed to be of DC most brilhant tacticians. Again, I know this is the character's first contract, but he learned the importance of strategy while he was still in the army. Why is DC erasing this side of the character? Anyway, for the art and character drama, this is worth the read. 

Dark Crisis: Young Justice #3 Review

 

Hm... ok 

The Trinity of Trauma 

Writer: Meghan Fitzmartin 
Artist: Laura Braga

Colorist: Luis Guerrero 

Letterer: Pat Brosseali

Editor: Ben Abernathy
Cover: Max Dunbar and Luis Guerrero

First things first, wasn't Jericho, using Slade's body, the one who shot Impulse? Or am I remembering it wrong? Anyway. This issue was... something. The face your trauma part felt rushed, forced even. The conflict between our main trio didn't flow naturally, in my opinion. I liked the artwork but sometimes how the characters emote don't fit with what they are saying. Like when Superboy talks about being trapped in other planet. This issue jumps from one place to another so quickly that one can say this is all over the place, every section, every argument, feels like a parody. Maybe this is on purpese and maybe this is a good thing, but I just don't know. Trying to get what this wants to say is somewhat confusing. And it ends like issue 2, with a tease about who the main characters are going to fight next. Let's just hope the next issue utilizes its main threat better. 

DC vs. Vampires: All-Out War #2 Review

 

Even vampire hunters need a place to crash

All-out war, Part 2 

Writer: Matthew Rosenberg and Alex Paknadel
Artist: Pasquale Qualano

Colorist: Nicola Righi

Letterer: Troy Peteri

Editor: Ben Abernathy
Cover: Alan Quah

Today's issue felt more action oriented but the story still progressed  nicely. Showing the strengths of placing your story in an alternate universe, characters can and will die. The humor continues to work really well too, one joke in particular took me out of the story for a moment since it was an "ok boomer" joke but that  ain't a big issue. I'm really curious to see where Azrael journey is going and now I guess we have our main antagonist. This series is shaping up great. This time the surprise was the backup story that felt like an manga, one about vampires of course. Anyway, very fun read. 

Deathstroke Inc. Vol. 1 Overview

 King of wasted potential 

When the 2016 Deathstroke series ended it was said by it's editor that it might have been the last Deathstroke solo series ever. So the announcement of Deathstroke Inc excited me a lot since it was so unexpected to me. The premise, that being Slade and Black Canary hunting super villains for a mysterious organization was nothing short of perfect. I'm still waiting for that comic.

My first issue is how Slade doesn't feel like the protagonist, Black Canary feels more like the focus and Slade is just a side character really for the most of it, and a boring one at that. This isn't the first time the two worked together, years ago back in Birds of Prey the dynamic between the two was established. But since that was Black Canary's book it made sense for Slade to be just a side character. Slade doesn't really do anything "cool" until the very end of the book, and there is a lack of weight when he does. He becomes "the King of Supervillains" so easily, it does not feel earned. The part about hunting super villains isn't put to good use, it's as if the comic had no real interest in it and only existed as a prelude to an upcoming event. It even does the classic and hated "oh these two characters are going to fight, except, not really" sometimes. And of course, the "oh this character died, ops, he's back!". Can we ban these cliches from comics books already? 

It has it's moments, don't get me wrong. It gets the job done, some parts are fun to read, this isn't a horrible comic by any means, but it could have been so much more. I look at the pages and I see good ideas that deserved more time. I see characters that need more development. I see potential, wasted because DC wanted to do a big event.