Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Five Chapter #35 Review

Zero Days 'Till Retirement

Written by: Brian Buccellato
Art by: Mike S. Miller, J. Nanjan and Wes Abbott
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: August 17, 2016

This Year of Injustice is coming on fast and furious and as we get closer to the end (beginning?), more and more characters are jumping into our story.  It's still all about Batman and Superman, but I like seeing other characters and last issue's cliffhanger promises some very crazy possibilities.  That's not for the here and now, however, as we are still a little ways from that. What I am interested in is seeing Deathstroke on the cover of this new arc.  I'm not normally a huge fan of Slade Wilson, but for some reason, seeing him kicking through the cover has me really excited.  So, was my excitement well founded or was it just the matter of another cover leading me astray?  Let's find out...


The issue opens with what I alluded to in my introduction.  Lex Luthor wants to get alternate Earth versions of the Justice League members to unlock the kryptonite weapon.  For how crazy that sounds, it's established in this world...STAR Labs has been studying alternate Earths for years and Lex has been "borrowing" Speed Force from Barry for something like this.  They just need a Mother Box to make it all complete.  Easy, right?

Well, the Mother Box is located in one of the most secure places in the world and with everyone looking for Batman, he goes to who he considers the next best person...Deathstroke.  I'm not totally sure why Slade agrees...boredom, revenge, a challenge?  All that really matters is he agrees and Buccellato wastes no time in getting to the heart of the matter.

Deathstroke gets to the armory and with a little help from Lex, is in.  As Slade gets closer to his target, he takes down Regime soldiers as he complains to himself about the mistreatment he received from Superman and the Regime.  Watching him, I think he could have taken down Batman if Supes would have given him a chance.  Oh well, instead he's getting Batman the means to eventually take down the Man of Steel. but first there is going to be a huge battle.  Come on, you think Buccellato would put Deathstroke in an issue without letting him fight a ton of guys at once?!?

The answer is no and Deathstroke mows through soldier after soldier all while trash talking with the best of them!  It's a pretty cool couple of pages, but the coolest part is saved for the cliffhanger.  That's when Deathstroke finds himself face to face with...I can't spoil that!  It's a crazy character for this book which makes it cool as hell to see him!

This is a odd issue that is mostly setup, but Buccellato makes it fresh and exciting by adding Deathstroke to the mix.  Could he have written this issue with Batman doing it all?  Yes, I'm sure he could have, but it wouldn't have been half the fun.

Mike S. Miller draws a kickass Deathstroke and since that's pretty much the main focus of the entire issue, I can easily say that Mike S. Miller drew a kickass issue.  The action is well laid out and exciting and he also draws a pretty good (character to be named later).

Bits and Pieces:

A setup issue with 100% more Deathstroke is 100% more fun than a regular setup issue.  Brian Buccellato proves that this week and I had fun reading this issue.  The cliffhanger promises more fun, but at the end of the day, this is still heavy setup and I have to score it accordingly.

8.0/10