Charging into Cheetah’s storybook fantasy on the back of a unicorn, Deathstroke, now a literal knight in shining armor, is desperate to apprehend the villain for the dubiously named organization, T.R.U.S.T. Unfortunately, when Minerva drops a knowledge bomb regarding the Terminator’s new employer, Slade finds his faith in the dubiously named society unraveling. Have Deathstroke’s hopes to play the hero been dashed, or will he find a way to right his past wrongs?
“Look at you playing hero. You want it so badly that you bought into T.R.U.S.T.’s fantasy?”
DC Comics
Fast-paced and action-packed, Deathstroke Inc. #3 is a story with the potential multiversal implications masquerading as a done-in-one tale. Much of this issue’s success is due to Joshua Williamson’s focus on propelling the overarching narrative forward, as well as Howard Porter’s expertly rendered action sequences. Unfortunately, Williamson’s drive to answer this series’ mysteries at a brisk pace is a double-edged sword. Although Joshua Williamson’s script allows the story to get to the point, it is also lean on necessary character development. Additionally, Williamson nails Deathstroke’s voice. However, a few instances of clunky dialogue do hurt some characterization. Despite these minor problems, Howard Porter’s artwork with Hi-Fi’s colors allows readers to immerse themselves in Cheetah’s fantasy.
Anyone familiar with Smallville is also familiar with the phrase “freak of the week.” For the uninitiated, this phrase was used to describe the storytelling structure that the series implemented in earlier seasons as Clark defended Smallville from a different “meteor freak” each week. As a result, the “meteor freak” would take the main plot for each episode, with each season’s overarching plot serving as a subplot until the conflict reached its boiling point. In terms of building a narrative, Williamson has largely taken this approach with Deathstroke Inc., as the title character takes on a new mission to catch a new villain in each issue.
However, Williamson twists this format by allowing the series’ overarching mysteries to take center stage while each issue’s mission essentially serves as a subplot. This is a refreshing take on this storytelling method, as the breakneck pace allows each moment to play a pivotal role in the story. But, unfortunately, this also comes at the expense of developing the characters. Thankfully, Williamson provides a moment later in the issue addressing how Cheetah’s desire to flee to a fantasy realm is the same as Deathstroke’s need to play the hero. Even though it is brief, this helps the reader draw a personal connection between the character’s motives and the theme for this issue.
Additionally, when the story relegates these missions to subplots, the reader doesn’t spend much time with the characters in these insane missions. This is a shame because, as Chris Coplan stated in this week’s edition of “Judging by the Cover,” the promise of Deathstroke as a Knight in Shining Armor riding a Unicorn bearing his colors is too much to pass up. Unfortunately, the entire Cheetah mission is wrapped up so quickly that the conflict never gets as insane as the cover would lead us to believe.
“Don’t forget what we’re doing here.”
DC Comics
Deathstroke Inc. #3 has such a fast pace that it would be easy for the casual reader to gloss over details that may seem superfluous to the overarching narrative. The reveal of Juliette Ballantine’s relationship to the villain Libra (by last name) is certainly something that I missed in previous issues of the series. Originally, Justin Ballantine was Libra, the leader of the Injustice Gang and later the Secret Society of Supervillains. As a result, it would make sense why Juliette is having the characters apprehend villains. She is recruiting members for the Secret Society of Supervillains and imprisoning anyone who refuses to join.
Additionally, it is important to note that the Secret Society of Supervillain’s benefactor was Glorious Godfrey, a member of Darkseid’s Elite. This would seemingly explain why our Deathstroke and Black Canary witnessed images of Darkseid upon rescuing The Weird in the previous issue. As a result, I have one question burning a hole through my frontal lobe: Is Darkseid returning? Although this issue doesn’t answer this question, I am certainly excited to find out.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Williamson absolutely nails Deathstroke’s voice in this issue. As a result, the character feels real. However, a few moments of clunky dialogue from Barbara Gordon and Dick Grayson took me out of the moment.
“…That paint is still fresh…”
DC Comics
Howard Porter’s artwork with Hi-Fi’s colors helps to elevate this issue. Porter’s artwork perfectly captures each action sequence involving the inhabitant of Che-terra and Deathstroke. Additionally, Hi-Fi’s colors are astounding and perfectly capture the storybook nature of this tale. The splash page of Deathstroke acquiring the unicorn particularly stands out among the rest. Reading Deathstroke Inc. #3 is as if I picked up a storybook from my son’s bookshelf, only filled with significantly more blood and violence.
Fast-paced and action-packed, Deathstroke Inc. #3 is a story with potential multiversal implications masquerading as a done-in-one tale. Joshua Williamson’s focus on propelling the overarching narrative forward allows the script to get to the point. Unfortunately, it also lacks necessary character development. However, Howard Porter’s expertly rendered action sequences and Hi-Fi’s colors help elevate the book by allowing readers to immerse themselves in this issue’s fantasy.
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