Deathstroke #29 Review

Some Other Beginnings End

Written by: Priest
Art by: Diogenes Neves, Trevor Scott, Jeromy Cox and Willie Shubert
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: March 7, 2018

It's the end of the Defiance Squad as we know it...and I feel fine?  Well, not really since I really wanted it to stick and keep going with the whole team thing, as well as Slade being a good guy.  But seriously, did anyone think that would be the case?  I didn't think so, but now that it's ending I am hoping that Christopher Priest ends it with a bang and ties up most of the loose ends before Batman waltzes into this series with a few issues...to kill.  So does he?  Let's find out...



The issue opens up by quickly going back and forth between our main players...Deathstroke and Terra  in Chinatown, Rose and Jericho on a rooftop and Wintergreen talking to Adeline while driving through Midtown.  We get a whole lot here including Rose "confessing" to Étienne's murder, Adeline putting out another hit on her ex-husband and Slade saving Claire.

We continue with New Super-Man grabbing Deathstroke while he was being attacked by Terra and Rose going to Kiâu Jiao-Long to let him know that everything is cool between them now that she has kind of figured out this whole Willow thing.  Now listen, if you haven't been reading this series up until now, you must be completely lost and even if you have, there is a chance that a bunch of this is just words on the page with little to no meaning.  However, if you really sit down and pay attention to this book, you will realize that Priest is rewarding you here for your patience and effort.

 After an almost mention of Eric Shea's old favorite, ICP, Slade takes out Kenan but is H**k smashed by Isherwood so that Rose can "find herself".  It's actually at this point that I wrapped my head around the fact that all this was happening at the same place.  Yep, I'm a dummy!

Then we find out a huge bombshell and something that Eric and I have been guessing at for a while now...Slade never had the Wintergreen A.I. talking to him.  Oh Shit!  Of course, Slade thinks it's all a setup to make him look crazy.  Yea, keep thinking that, buddy!

Things wrap up with Rose in a way that makes me like Kiâu Jiao-Long more than I ever would have in any other book and reminds me why I also like Hosun more than I ever thought I would.  Then we get the cliffhanger.  Okay, it's no secret that Batman is heading into this book...Hell, I mentioned it in my intro, but I never thought this would be the way it would start.  It makes complete sense with what we got and that's why it is so good...and a bit hilarious as well!

I really enjoyed this issue.  Yea, some things wrapped up a bit too easily and I'm not even sure if some of the things did wrap up (like the Étienne thing), but it felt less rushed and more "we will deal with that later".  I am not a mind reader and have no idea if the Batman versus Deathstroke is a Priest thing or a mandate from above, but unless this book is canceled, I know he will fill in all the open blanks and so, I'm not going to take points off for that sort of thing.  Plus, we talk about our final score being a "feel" thing and I had a ton of fun here and that combined with the great art put a big smile on my face.  I like smiling even though some people think I never do it!

Bits and Pieces:

Priest gives readers a pick up the pieces type of finale dealing with way more than the already defunct Defiance Squad.  Was everything resolved?  No, but readers who have been around since the Rebirth start will know the routine and will look forward to Batman versus Deathstroke and beyond.  I know I am!

8.5/10