Deathstroke #37
Cody White
Recap
Last time we saw Slade, he was off on an interstellar adventure following his escape from Arkham with Devon, the Spaceman. Except, maybe none of that happened, as there is no Devon at Arkham. As Slade begins to come to terms with the notion that none of the past two weeks he just experienced, including his escape from Arkham, may have occurred (although he later is seen still clinging to the notion that they still may have), Joseph recruits Rose (under the guise of an escaped Slade) for a mission to kill a death row inmate.
Here's where it gets complicated (because it wasn't already complicated enough)...
Somewhere along the way, while a virtual Two-Face was speaking to Deathstroke inside the virtual video game therapy session, Two-Face appears to have escaped, jumped Joseph and stolen the Deathstroke suit, and resumed the mission to kill the death row inmate with Rose, seemingly in order to get some face/time with Rose's alter-ego, Willow. And there's a zeta beam involved.
Review
I honestly don’t have a lot to say in terms of a review here. Priest continues to write the best characterized Deathstroke I’ve ever read. The art is fantastic. I feel like that cycle of praise has been consistent since I took over reviewing this title. I could speculate as to which events are occurring in virtual reality and which are in the real world, but that seems a pointless endeavor. In the end, what is real and what is virtual is as blurred as the lines we experience in our every day lives, and perhaps that is the point of this particular narrative. As the doctor said, we’re all a little crazy, aren’t we? As I write this review, I’m having multiple conversations, both with my wife as well as with Comic Watch colleagues and friends. I haven’t spoken a word out loud in several hours. What is real? Is virtual reality any less reality? What is normal? Abnormal? All of these important questions that define what it is to be alive are playing out in this fictional arc. Of course, fiction is in the eye of the beholder too, is it not?
Final Thoughts
Not a statement I often use, but this arc may actually read better in trade format. It is interesting and engaging, but difficult to follow up to this point.
Deathstroke #37: 21st Century Digital Assassin
- Writing - 9/109/10
- Storyline - 7/107/10
- Art - 9/109/10
- Color - 9/109/10
- Cover Art - 9/109/10
